Could someone explane to me

[Abakai2003 0]

I was just wondering.

I'm from the UK and I have no idea how US TV works. I've heard talk of Sweeps and such like but have no clue as to what they are.

Would some one care to enlighten me to the intricate nature of American TV?

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

The TV season begins in September or October, depending on the show, and ends in May.

 

Sweeps is when we have, say, 6 episodes in a row. For example, when the season began this year, we had 5 or 6 new episodes in a row. This is called "season premiere sweeps". Starting in mid-January, we'll probably get 4 or so new episodes in a row, this will be called "new year sweeps", and so on.

 

Hope that helps.

[Takara_Soong 4]

Actually CJLP sweeps has to do with Neilsen Ratings and setting advertising rates. The networks will run new episodes that usually have some type of gimmick (such as big name guest stars, something BIG happening to a main character, etc) to try to bring in more viewers.

 

Definition of Sweeps:

 

The monthlong periods, usually in February, May, July and November, when Nielsen Media Research measures audiences in all television markets. These periods are important to local stations because they provide comparative ratings across the nation and important to networks because they provide an indepth view of their audience. Advertising sales for the upcoming programming season are heavily affected by the outcome of the sweeps.

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

Ah, don't ya miss the days when TV was about the story being told and not about demographics, figures, and ratings?

[VaBeachGuy 12]

TV's always been about ratings and advertising, stories and show content are important to drawing viewers but don't think for one moment that they (the execs) really care about show quality beyond the amount of money it will bring from advertisers.

 

But that's correct Takara, Sweeps are what the Networks try to do to "Win" the ratings war for the month or week or whatever the time period might be.

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

TV's always been about ratings and advertising, stories and show content are important to drawing viewers but don't think for one moment that they (the execs) really care about show quality beyond the amount of money it will bring from advertisers.

Yes, but some shows actually get freedom to do whatever the producers want them to do. TOS, except for the third season, and TNG were pretty much left alone as far as NBC & Paramount were concerned, same goes for DS9. It's only been VOY & ENT where UPN has been all power-hungry, wanting catsuits and all.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

TV's always been about ratings and advertising, stories and show content are important to drawing viewers but don't think for one moment that they (the execs) really care about show quality beyond the amount of money it will bring from advertisers.

Yes, but some shows actually get freedom to do whatever the producers want them to do. TOS, except for the third season, and TNG were pretty much left alone as far as NBC & Paramount were concerned, same goes for DS9. It's only been VOY & ENT where UPN has been all power-hungry, wanting catsuits and all.

I think Gene Roddenberry might disagree with the assessment of TOS, he was always butting heads with the Network.

 

Don't be fooled though, a show will have more freedom if it's an over all money maker. But as a whole it's all about money.

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

Well, that's a shame. I would expect it to be about good story telling, not greed.

[Klingonmike 0]

Yeah Gene Roddenberry and the powers that be were always arguing about what they could and could not show. he fought hard just to keep Mr. Spock as a character, the network people thought he looked too much like Satan. But Gene managed to keep him in. Also the kiss between Captain Kirk and Lt. Uhura was a big mess with the big-wigs, they did not want to show a white man kissing a black woman, but Gene fought for it along with Bill Shatner and Nichelle Nichols who thought it would be great. The powers that be do not care for a good story, all they care about is the profits they will be making from the story or show.Now Gene, he cared for the stories and wanted them told the way they should have been told.

[removed 0]

Well, that's a shame.  I would expect it to be about good story telling, not greed.

do you really expect that? the entire world is based on money! :biggrin:

[Theunicornhunter 2]

,,,TNG were pretty much left alone as far as NBC & Paramount were concerned, same goes for DS9.  It's only been VOY & ENT where UPN has been all power-hungry, wanting catsuits and all.[/color]

TNG & DS9 were syndicated shows - after Roddenberry's experience with NBC he didn't want to go back to the networks. Syndication means they are produced without network affiliation and market themselves to local or independent stations. A lot of game shows are syndicated - as is Andromeda and as was Xena etc.

 

Major networks may place their popular series in syndication by selling the rights for second runs of the episodes - many people saw TOS for the first time in syndication.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

Well, that's a shame.  I would expect it to be about good story telling, not greed.

do you really expect that? the entire world is based on money! :biggrin:

Yeah I don't think it's reasonable to think that programming will ever be solely about quality content. There will be quality content for sure, but that's only because the better quality the content, the higher the viewership the more they can charge sponsored for advertising. If they could put complete crap on TV and charge the same amount for sponsors they would. It's all about the bottom line, money.