Nielsen Ratings Woes: Pimp Your Favorite Low-Rated Show
Oct 23, 2013
Beauty and the Beast Cancelled Shows Hannibal Mom Parks and Recreation The Mindy Project The Neighbors
Nielsen! The name drives fear into cult-favorite show aficionados and holds millions of TV fans at its mercy worldwide. It can kill a good show instantly or keep a plot-dead one going for years. If you've been enthralled by TV for any stretch of time, chances are it has broken your heart. So what's a hapless fan to do against such a behemoth? In reality, not much. You could always try to hack your way into Nielsen itself or hold a Nielsen family hostage for their TV, but those come with long-term prison sentences and chances are your new prison buddies aren't going to give you control of the remote any time soon.
Instead, I propose a Pimp Your Show alternative. It might not raise demos but it will give you a chance to persuade others to try your show. At the least, it gives you the opportunity to extol all of its virtues. Here are the rules:
1. The show must be currently on the air or returning in the 2013-2014 TV season. No cancelled shows please.
2. Only scripted shows please. No reality TV, although we may try that sometime later.
3. The show does not have to be in danger of cancellation but priority will be given to those which are.
4. The purpose is to persuade others to watch your show. Saying "IT'S THE BEST SHOW EVER!!!" over and over again won't help. In fact, triple exclamations and having all letters capitalized will probably work against you. Instead focus on why someone who doesn't watch the show should take their precious time to try it. Enthusiasm is only good when backed by details and thoughtful discourse.
Instead of having hundreds of people say the same things over and over and consequentally make people want to run from the show, please send your "Save Our Show" submissions to dahne@spoilerTV.com or fill in the form below. If you use the form, it is easier to cut and paste it in. I will take submissions for one week and then post the best from the shows we receive.
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UPDATED TO ADD - This is not a popularity contest so there is no need for anyone to nominate their show multiple times with the same comment. I'm going to take the most thoughtful comments for each show nominated so all shows nominated will be represented. As long as the show fits the 4 rules, it will be in the article.
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I'll be accepting submissions until next Wednesday. Can't wait to find some new shows to try.
ReplyDeleteI would just like to say that the Nielsen Ratings are a terribly flawed mess and television would probably be better in general if someone would invest the time and money to either improve it or make a new one entirely. These ratings are making it difficult to find TV shows that have any originality. Instead, television is loaded with 50 different kinds of comedies, cop and medical dramas. Most of anything that don't fall into those categories barely has a chance of making it past a single season.
ReplyDeleteWhen you look at the cancellation table and pretty much everything you like is about to be axed, that's a huge problem.
Well, the show I'm going to pimp you've already given a big fat no but maybe I can convince you to try Awkward (first season at least).
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, when it lists "name" should we provide a penname? first name? full name? please answer asap! thanks!!! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this opportunity. -No matter what shows react, it gives any fan the chance to watch a series that they may have thought would not be worth watching, looking forward to your article in 2 week's time. Submitted my comments.
ReplyDeleteHowever you want to be listed in the article.
ReplyDeleteYou were right about Teen Wolf so I trust you more than most.
ReplyDeleteSubmitted my comment too. BATB deserves all the love for this show is simply awesome on so many levels ~ its ridiculous that the ratings don't reflect that. May the force be with BATB always.
ReplyDeleteHey guys, I appreciate the response we are getting for 10 shows already. However, there's no need to post your comment several times. It's not a popularity thing. Any show meeting the criteria will get into the article. I will select the best comments and showcase them so let's make it a one nomination per show per person thing. Of course if you have several shows you'd like to see saved, please feel free to put in one nomination for each of them.
ReplyDeleteI on board with you. I love BATB...die-hard fan!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great opportunity you've given us, I will definitely put something up soon - thank you :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome idea. I will get into this later today and send in something.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really cool idea- thanks for doing it, can't wait to see the article when it's done.
ReplyDeleteYou should have specified that. I wrote my real first name because it was Google Forms (and I have a Google account) and I didn't know if TechDevil would be accepted by it. Oh well...
ReplyDeleteIs there a way you could make the "Reason to try the show"-box bigger?
ReplyDeleteThough not in danger of cancellation, I've submitted Revenge. I think it's one of the greatest show on TV right now, with the great characters, twist and feeling of pleasure like non other. I would love to see it being the hit it was on season 1 (and on the beginning of season 2) as the ratings it is getting right now it's not the ones it deserves
ReplyDeleteI know from previous posts your not a BATB fan, and I imagine the big fat no is to BATB, (just guessing, could be way off) but since you are doing this, I hope you would give it a chance and be open minded. :) I will do my best to write a convincing submission! lol ;)
ReplyDeleteI looked for a way to do that but could not find one. Your best bet is to either type it in another program and copy/paste it in the box or you can just e-mail me your submission. My e-mail is dahne@spoilertv.com
ReplyDeleteI wanna use the submission box since it would be less work for you. :)
ReplyDeleteI guess I'll just type it in Word and paste it into the box.
@dahne Just set the Input type to Paragraph.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone should watch The Mindy Project because it's just plain hilarious.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the oppurtunity Dahne,Have gone for BATB
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! Fixed.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the opportunity, I hope it helps BATB, it is one of the most unique shows on TV right now
ReplyDeleteI submitted an article earlier for #BatB is there anyway to be sure it was received?
ReplyDeleteIt's not only getting bad ratings but it's dropping on a weekly basis.
ReplyDeleteI have a submission in your name.
ReplyDelete'Beauty and The Beast' is virtually EQUALLY as popular as 'The Walking Dead' and 'The Vampire Diaries' on SpoilerTV! It is true, our show & our fanbase ROCK!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.spoilertv.com/2013/10/most-popular-shows-on-spoilertv-we-25th.html
Previously submitted comments..thanks for the opportunity to express thoughts with regards to shows that are so worthy but may need some additional recognition!! BatB phenomenal show!!!
ReplyDeleteBATB for me ...it has improved a lot ...and it keeps getting better and better ... it pretty much has every thing now...action romance etc
ReplyDeleteLast few days to get your submissions in for your favorite ratings-challenged show. We've got 21 shows mentioned already. I would love to have more.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this will actually help any shows ratings?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely not! Which I mention in the text at the beginning. That's not the point. It's a fun way to be able to cheerlead for your favorite show, start a conversation with people who haven't seen it, and maybe give someone a new show to try. Since there are so many shows out now, I know I have missed some that I would have liked. I consider this a lot like the Best Show competition, a place to find shows to add to my future TV viewing list. After all, I would never have watched Veronica Mars if it weren't for things like this. Same goes for Primeval, Motive, and Teen Wolf this last year.
ReplyDeleteWhen is this article going to come out? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI am currently through the first 270 repsonses and will finish on Tuesday. The article should come out on Wednesday or Thursday. I have been swamped with reviewing 4 shows right now and have not been able to devote as much time to this article as I expected, Sorry.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the quick reply! 270+ responses---very impressive but a lot to wade through, I'm sure. I look forward to reading it!
ReplyDelete