Has the 2015-16 Television Season Begun? You Could Fool Me.

What will all of this mean over time How will advertisers respond Will they still value shows that do not demonstrate relative strength for several days weeks or months as much as shows that do well the night they premiere Will they come to accept DVR viewing as important and impactful even though the thing people love most about using DVRs after timeshifting is the ability to speed through all those annoying commercials Will they say itamp8217s okay to run their ads during VOD plays that disable fastforward functionality even if that fosters resentment among viewers of said spotsRegardless it seems to me that the start of this new season has been greeted with one big yawn including by reporters who report about television What can they say about new network shows that open soft as most of them have or about returning shows that are losing ground as so many of them appear to be Any reporting about early results has suddenly become largely irrelevant at least at the moment Perhaps when certain expectations are set and met for timedelayed viewing more specific correlations between a showamp8217s performance at the time of its premiere and its performance over time will make themselves known Or notWhat all of this means right now is that all of the urgency that typically greets the start of a new television season has somehow dissipated replaced by a general sense that every program that is available at this moment will be there days or weeks or months from now so why pay attention Thatamp8217s either detrimental to the business or instrumental to its survival in the new media order depending on whom you askIt doesnamp8217t help that the broadcast networks which famously fuel a renewed sense of excitement about television at this time of year have delivered a crop of new shows best described as mediocre Among the freshmen clamoring for attention there isnamp8217t anything that has enthralled audiences or advertisers right out of the gate the way so many new shows did one year ago including The CWamp8217s amp8220The Flashamp8221 and amp8220Jane the Virginamp8221 ABCamp8217s amp8220How to Get Away with Murderamp8221 and amp8220blackishamp8221 and CBSamp8217 amp8220Scorpionamp8221 and amp8220NCIS New Orleansamp8221A look back over recent years reveals at least a few sparkling stars from various fall seasons such as The CWamp8217s amp8220Arrowamp8221 Foxamp8217s amp8220Sleepy Hollowamp8221 which fell flat in its second year CBSamp8217 amp8220Momamp8221 and NBCamp8217s amp8220The Blacklistamp8221 Remember when shows like CBSamp8217 amp8220The Good Wifeamp8221 Foxamp8217s amp8220Gleeamp8221 and ABCamp8217s amp8220Modern Familyamp8221 and amp8220Revengeamp8221 came along They brought instant attention to their respective networks in particular and to broadcast television overallMeantime certain freshmen shows that the press has been salivating over all summer long including ABCamp8217s amp8220The Muppetsamp8221 Foxamp8217s amp8220Scream Queensamp8221 pictured aboveamp160and NBCamp8217s amp8220Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harrisamp8221 havenamp8217t exactly lived up to expectationsAll of these observations suggest that broadcast television during its most critical time of the year is now being regarded as something to amp8220get to at another timeamp8221 There is no urgency about it except for NFL games and those durable live competition shows NBCamp8217s amp8220The Voiceamp8221 and ABCamp8217s amp8220Dancing with the Starsamp8221 Again maybe thatamp8217s the way the networks and studios want it because with less attention being paid and expectations being dramatically altered if not lowered everyoneamp8217s product gets more time to develop an identity and an audience Or not if people simply drift away and stay awayConversely these developments have made the early weeks of the 201516 season a great time for cable television All of the excitement once owned by broadcast is now being directed elsewhere especially to FX with returning powerhouses amp8220Fargoamp8221 and amp8220American Horror Storyamp8221 pictured above and to AMC with the justconcluded amp8220Fear the Walking Deadamp8221 and the returning amp8220The Walking Deadamp8221 Meanwhile Comedy Centralamp8217s amp8220South Parkamp8221 is still proving to be more relevant and in the moment than almost anything else on television while Lifetimeamp8217s amp8220Project Runwayamp8221 Syfyamp8217s amp8220Face Offamp8221 and Discoveryamp8217s amp8220Naked and Afraidamp8221 continue to deliverSome of broadcastamp8217s most promising new attentiongetters have yet to arrive including CBSamp8217 amp8220Supergirlamp8221 and ABCamp8217s amp8220Wicked Cityamp8221 Perhaps once they get here and all of the broadcasters up their game for the November sweeps weamp8217ll start to feel some of that old network magic once againThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers amp160amp160amp160amp160 amp160

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Has the 2015-16 Television Season Begun? You Could Fool Me.

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