Let's try something new! Introducing "Five-Spots"

I've mentioned on a couple other occasions that the holy grail of this blog is some sort of "regular" format that lets me keep up with current events a little better. But my standards for this kind of thing have been too high to make it happen. I simply don't think there's a particularly effective way of making day-to-day Nielsen ratings all that interesting. And since this is a labor of love with a pretty insubstantial audience size, doing things I find interesting is high-priority. I applaud the TVByTheNumbers and TheLiveFeeds of the world for trying to make daily ratings interesting by putting such a massive focus on week-to-week fluctuations. I'm in no position to bash that approach from a business standpoint. But it doesn't change the fact that I personally don't find most of those fluctuations all that exciting or compelling, even for shows I really care about. I do the Demos Year-to-Year posts because I think they are a nice piece of context that nobody else looks at very consistently, but even those don't usually warrant much commentary or have much entertainment value on a daily basis. So I'm still unconvinced the nature of the beast really allows for what I want to do.

However, I do have an idea I want to try: break it down by week rather than by day.

Demos Year-to-Year, Thursday 11/4/10

What's In a (Producer's) Name?

NBC's Undercovers got the news yesterday that it would not be getting an episode extension, making it one of just six fall newbies (out of 21 total) that won't. The show's ratings consistently underperformed my expectations, particularly the mere 2.1 demo it scored on premiere night. I didn't think a show not just from J.J. Abrams, but seemingly right in the Abrams wheelhouse, could possibly be so close to DOA.

But perhaps I should stop making ratings prognostications based on the names behind the scenes. Some of these "names" are becoming overrated. Let's take a look at the history of a few of TV's most heavily promoted behind-the-lens names. For the most part, these guys haven't created much new show success on TV screens in at least half a decade.

Demos Year-to-Year, November Sweeps 2010 Week One Recap

Back into weekly recap mode!

Demos Year-to-Year, Wednesday 11/3/10

Hoping for a more generally useful set of comparisons in week 2 of sweeps as we move past the World Series and election coverage. For now, notice that nine of 13 shows on ABC/CBS/NBC/CW improved their timeslots year-to-year on this evening. It's the effect of no World Series plus plenty of year-ago duds (Hank, Eastwick, Christine/Gary, Leno, post-Top Model repeats) out of the way.

Demos Year-to-Year, Tuesday 11/2/10

Because of the election night coverage, and because I'm not able to break down a lot of these programs to make good timeslot comparisons, I've decided to limit the Tuesday post to just a few shows that actually did have originals airing both on Tuesday night and during the year-ago week. Back to normal next time!

Demos Year-to-Year, Monday 11/1/10

Recent W orld Series Ratings

Everyone projected it before the 2010 World Series began; "No Yankees, no Red Sox means baaaaaad ratings!" And everyone was right. But just how bad?

Demos Year-to-Year, Sunday 10/31/10

It's about to get ugly, but of course keep in mind the very important note that it was Halloween this Sunday and it was not Halloween on the year-ago Sunday. So these aren't some of the most relevant comparisons ever.

Demos Year-to-Year, Friday 10/29/10