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Rating Analysis - Fantasy Schedule - ABC (UPDATED: ABC in the run to acquire Thusday Night Football)

Jan 17, 2014

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Update (17/01):

TV Line is reporting that ABC has placed a bid to acquire the rights to air Thursday Night Football next season! If that happens, both Grey's Anatomy and Scandal would have to be moved, which certainly opens up a number of infinite possibilities.

Personally, I have no interest in football and the more scripted content the better. But as far as ABC is concerned, this is the best move they could do! For reference, here are some numbers posted by Thursday Night Football vs how ABC has rated those nights:

(Date - Thursday Night Football vs. ABC)
12/12 - 3.3 vs. 2.2
05/12 - 1.7 vs. 2.1
21/11 - 2.9 vs. 2.1
14/11 - 2.4 vs. 2.1
07/11 - 2.4 vs. 2.1
31/10 - 2.5 vs. 2.6
24/10 - 1.8 vs. 2.4
17/10 - 2.3 vs. 23
10/10 - 3.1 vs. 2.5
03/10 - 2.8 vs. 2.8
26/09 - 3.2 vs. 2.7

So yeah, football has been slightly higher rated than ABC (2.59 vs. 2.35) but, IMO, that's not the correct comparison to be making here! If football takes up Thursdays in the fall, ABC would be able to move up GA and Scandal to another problematic night (Monday or Tuesday seem the likeliest)! Assuming the ratings of theses show hold more or less, that means the correct comparison would be to compare the ratings football gets with the hours it would replace on the other days (in other words, the slots of Lucky 7/Killer Women, the Sunday at 10 hour and potentially the Nashville or the Tuesday comedies hour) and when you make that comparison, the win is incredible for ABC!

This certainly opens up a lot of possibilities schedule wise!! How would you go about it? Remember, there are three issues here:
- Which hours would go to make room for this?
- Where would you move Grey's Anatomy and Scandal to? (Remember: football takes up all the 3 Thursday hours!)
- What would you program on Thursday in the winter/spring?

Have at it and let's see some opinions!

Original Post

Hey everyone.

Today I've decided to leave the analysis a bit on the side while the networks finish premiering their winter schedules and go for something a bit different. It's an experiment around here, so let's see how it goes! We've all been puzzled with the way network program certain shows and we've all come up with suggestions as to how they should do it better - today I've decided to give us the power to effectively do so in an integrated manner!

I will be presenting my own fantasy schedule and then I will invite you to do the same, following a series of guidelines that aim to keep the situation as realistic as possible! Hopefully you find it fun and it is also an interesting way to get some more insights on what goes behind networks' decisions.

Let's kick things off with the network that is having by far the worst start to the Winter Season, which is ABC. Here is how I would do it:

Bearing this in mind, this is how I would program ABC next year:


The main points I would highlight from this schedule:
1) The most important move to me is for ABC to change its reality to Sundays and to get OUAT out of Sundays. Sadly, I cannot in good conscience move Revenge as well at this point, because the show is already too weak for a slot that is not at 10pm and I cannot justify premiering a new show on the Sunday environment while giving Revenge the midweek slot (it could be swapped with Nashville, maybe even at midseason, but for the sake of minimizing moves, I am leaving them put). ABC should have moved it this past season but now I think it's too late for Revenge. Regardless, I could see it severely improving with The Bachelor as lead-in and with no major competition at 10pm while also avoiding awards season entirely. As for OUAT, maybe it doesn't improve much on what DWTS does Mondays at 8 but I think at least the bleeding slows down and if the reality franchises improve with the swap, it's already a win anyway. It's not like OUAT as a bunch of drama competition at Mondays at 8 anyway and despite the presence of the voice, remember that the slot should be significantly easier next year as How I Met Your Mother departs. As for DWTS, reducing it to 1 season a year should slowdown the bleeding and making it feel more like an event type of program.

2) On Tuesdays, I would absolutely swap Shield and the comedies because 1)it gives less comedy competition to the comedies, because 2)it takes Shield away from NCIS which is clearly hurting it as seen by the numbers it posted when the CBS procedural went into repeats and because 3) it would give the Shield lead-in to a 10pm drama. Why ABC hasn't done this already at midseason is beyond me!

3) The main point about Wednesday would be to have it STABLE the entire year. They cannot keep changing the block as much as they have been doing and they cannot keep mixing up originals and repeats as they love to do as no show can benefit from that. Keep Suburgatory where it belongs and post a FAMILY (no more hangouts there) comedy that is able to make for a consistent block.




4) On Thursdays, it's all about moving up Shonda one hour. While I understand ABC's resistance to do this, I think it's sort of inevitable, especially with the news that Shonda will launch a third drama, which seems the perfect fit for this 10pm slot. The other alternative I see is if they find a strong reality brand that they can get behind and seriously promote to take the 8pm slot, but if that doesn't happen, I think they ought to move GA and Scandal up an hour.

5) Keep Fridays consistent as there are already plenty of moves everywhere. I realize they could probably do a bit better than TN but I doubt a new show would do better than MC and that wasn't good enough for them, so I don't know what they can expect. I want to avoid them premiering too many new stuff anyway, which is also why I think Suburgatory should remain on Wednesdays. I don't think it's too big of a deal to leave TN here, but I don't feel strongly about it anyway.

6) Keep airing serialized shows in bunches and replace them with reality at midseason like they are doing on Thursdays this year.

7) Order another couple of dramas and comedies in case the new ones flop. Worst case scenario, they are included in the summer scheduled replacing some of the low-rated reality or repeats planned.

8) For the summer schedule, try to launch two new dramas and promote them as serious investments like CBS did with Under the Dome. Repeat the comedies and the procedural (Castle) but replace the rest with cheap stuff.

9) This assumes that Mixology, Ressurection and Mind Games are all cancelled. If the ratings warrant a different outcome, I would have to adjust this accordingly. This also assume that shows that are not here have been cancelled (Trophy Wife, Killer Women, Super Fun Night, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Betrayal).

10) I have two big moves on the fall schedule which are The Bachelor to Sundays and OUAT to Mondays. There are also moves within the same day both Tuesday and Thursday but I think those are easier to promote and for people to realize. Therefore, I consider my amount of moves to be reasonable!

11) Remember that this is how you would program REGARDLESS of your preferences! Sometimes that will require you making tough choices like putting shows you like on bad slots or cancelling shows you like!

So, there it goes, this is my ABC schedule! Thoughts about it?

I would now like to invite you to follow my lead and come up with your own schedule as well. A few guidelines for that:
1) Aim for year-round programming, which means including Summer (that's the challenge networks have too!)
2) Use repeats as you deem fit but remember that you should not have systematically programmed repeats for the fall.
3) Decide which shows to air with repeats and breaks the whole year (except summer) and which to air with split seasons.
4) You must premiere 4-5 new hours (comedy, reality or drama) in the fall. No limits for the winter, summer or spring, but remember to be reasonable (networks cannot promote too many shows not they have the budget to greenlight too much)
5) If you do two cycles of a reality franchise, remember that it requires a replacement for the hiatus in between
6) Watch out for the moves you make! Networks cannot make too many moves at once as it requires a lot of promotion!
7) You cannot program a Sunday edition of DWTS during fall because the judges are busy with the UK version of the program. Winter, Spring or Summer are available.
8) No more than 25 episodes per season of any comedy, 24 of any procedural and 22 of any serialized drama.

To facilitate your making of the schedule, just copy paste what is below and fill it up in the comments section. Add half hour slots whenever you need to or simply use a "+"! Separate the four different seasons (Summer / Fall / Winter / Spring) with "/" (Ex. In My schedule, Monday 8h: The Bachelorette/ Once Upon a Time / The Quest/ Once Upon a Time!)

Monday 8h:
Monday 9h:
Monday 10h:
Tuesday 8h:
Tuesday 9h:
Tuesday 10h:
Wednesday 8h:
Wednesday 9h:
Wednesday 10h:
Thursday 8h:
Thursday 9h:
Thursday 10h:
Friday 8h:
Friday 9h:
Friday 10h:
Sunday 8h:
Sunday 9h:
Sunday 10h:

I will be looking forward to see what you can come up with and also to see what are your thoughts on my own schedule! Thanks for reading, as always!

131 comments:

  1. Why aren't you ABC's president ?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Monday 8h: OUAT
    Monday 9h: New female drama
    Monday 10h: Revenge (there is just too many procedurals here; there's an whole audience of females to grasp and Revenge would face less competition from more male-skewing shows)
    Tuesday 8h: New drama
    Tuesday 9h: S.H.I..E.L.D
    Tuesday 10h: New drama
    Wednesday 8h: The Middle/The Goldbergs
    Wednesday 9h: Modern Family/Trophy Wife
    Wednesday 10h:
    Thursday 8h: Grey's Anatomy
    Thursday 9h: Scandal
    Thursday 10h: New Shonda Drama
    Friday 8h: Last Man Standing/Suburgatory
    Friday 9h: Shark Tank
    Friday 10h: 20/20
    Sunday 8h: DWTS/The Bachelor
    Sunday 9h: DWTS/The Bachelor
    Sunday 10h: Castle

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice piece. I've agreed with you on SHIELD since May, when the schedules were announced. 7 months later, SHIELD is still in the same slot. ABC = idiots. ABC isn't my network at all so I'll just go with what you said. CBS is my network of expertise.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nicely done but i would rather keep Grey's at 9pm. until all the new shows air i really can't say one way or another...

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think I would put Revenge after Scandal.
    Grey's at 8/7
    Scandal at 9/8
    Revenge 10/9
    I think it may work!
    Liked reading what you wrote!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nice Post i agree with most things except maybe putting Castle at 9 as a lead in for a new drama , i would put Nashville at 9 on a Thursday in between greys and scandal and put a new drama after modern family.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm not a huge ABC-er, but I agree with the suggested move for Once. It has to go Sundays 8pm is a death trap for that show. They need some fresh blood.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Monday 8h:
    Monday 9h:
    Monday 10h:
    Tuesday 8h:
    Tuesday 9h:
    Tuesday 10h:
    Wednesday 8h:
    Wednesday 9h:
    Wednesday 10h:
    Thursday 8h:
    Thursday 9h:
    Thursday 10h:
    Friday 8h:
    Friday 9h:
    Friday 10h:
    Sunday 8h:
    Sunday 9h:
    Sunday 10h:

    ReplyDelete
  9. Monday 8h: Once Upon a Time
    Monday 9h: NEW DRAMA (or Nashville/Resurrection)
    Monday 10h: Castle
    Tuesday 8h: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
    Tuesday 9h: NEW DRAMA
    Tuesday 10h: TBA
    Wednesday 8h: The Middle / Suburgatory or The Goldbergs
    Wednesday 9h: Modern Family / NEW COMEDY
    Wednesday 10h: NEW DRAMA
    Thursday 8h: Grey's Anatomy
    Thursday 9h: Scandal
    Thursday 10h: NEW DRAMA
    Friday 8h: Last Man Standing / Suburgatory or The Goldbergs
    Friday 9h: Shark Tank
    Friday 10h: 20/20
    Sunday 8h: The Bachelor/DWTS
    Sunday 10h: Revenge

    ReplyDelete
  10. They should've done that ages ago. It would've been two birds with one stone - finally fixing the Thursday 8pm slot after sending so many shows there to die, and giving Revenge a boost with a lead-in that's both compatible and high-rated (Scandal). I know networks are often afraid to fix something that isn't broke, but if you keep GA and Scandal together, I don't see the big harm in moving them one hour earlier. GA is a freaking decade-old show, viewers aren't going to bail on it because of a minor timeslot change.

    ReplyDelete
  11. They're definitely done a poor job of counter-programming and making the most of what they've got. As many have noted, the network's line-up is solid, it's just the scheduling that screws it over. OUaT and AoS in particular are shows that could soar if scheduled right. And for the love of god, yes, move the Shonda block an hour earlier on Thursday. Don't you get tired of scheduling poor new shows against The Big Beast Theory and watching them die?

    ReplyDelete
  12. I seriously doubt they would want to put up Grey's Anatomy against The Big Bang Theory, which is the number one show in network television. While Greys is still bringing okay (not great) ratings, it will greatly suffer against TBBT.and ratings will fall even further. This season, it hit its lowest ratings ever. Also, there is no guarantee that a third drama from Shonda will be picked up. They didn't pick up the Gilded Lillys drama.from her a couple of years back. Also, with the amount of sex in Greys, 8 o' clock hour may not be suitable.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Now this is a good schedule! Well done omabin! You surely do better calls than ABC themselves

    ReplyDelete
  14. Right! After 10 seasons, I don't think people would mind a change about the time of the broadcasting -_- ABC is just stubborn
    I mean, the biggest dramas on ABC are Scandal and Grey's so the drama following these 2 will gain audience, I'm sure of it!
    And I would put OUATIW after OUAT in March, it would make sense to put OUAT and then its spinoff... I mean it sounds right to me, don't know about you!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Monday 8h: The Bachelor / New Reality / Dancing With The Stars
    Monday 9h: The Bachelor / New Reality / Dancing With The Stars
    Monday 10h: Castle
    Tuesday 8h: Once Upon A Time
    Tuesday 9h: Agents of SHIELD
    Tuesday 10h: New Fantastic Drama
    Wednesday 8h: New Sitcom + Suburgatory
    Wednesday 9h: Modern Family + The Middle
    Wednesday 10h: New Soap Drama
    Thursday 8h: Grey's Anatomy
    Thursday 9h: Scandal
    Thursday 10h: New Shonda Rhimes Drama
    Friday 8h: Last Man Standing + New Multicam Sitcom
    Friday 9h: Shark Tank
    Friday 10h: 20/20
    Sunday 8h: The Goldbergs + New Sitcom
    Sunday 9h: Revenge
    Sunday 10h: Nashville

    ReplyDelete
  16. Monday 8h: DWTS/The Taste/DWTS or Rising Star
    Monday 9h: DWTS/The Taste/DWTS or Rising Star
    Monday 10h: Castle
    Tuesday 8h: Once Upon A Time
    Tuesday 9h: Agents Of Shield
    Tuesday 10h: New Drama
    Wednesday 8h: The Middle / Suburgatory
    Wednesday 9h: Modern Family / New Sitcom
    Wednesday 10h: New Drama or Nashville
    Thursday 8h: Grey's Anatomy or The Shark Tank
    Thursday 9h: New Drama or Grey's Anatomy
    Thursday 10h: Scandal
    Friday 8h: Last Man Standing / New Sitcom
    Friday 9h: New Reality Show or The Shark Tank
    Friday 10h: 20/20
    Sunday 8h: The Bachelor / The Quest / The Bachelorette
    Sunday 9h: The Bachelor / The Quest / The Bachelorette
    Sunday 10h: Revenge / New Show ( 8 episodes ) / Revenge

    ReplyDelete
  17. I would have a slightly different approach


    Monday 8h: New Drama
    Monday 9h: Castle
    Monday 10h: New Drama
    This is a very risky move, but I think Castle could draw enough viewers on its own to hold the night together. The two dramas premiering on the night should be highly anticipated ones, that means ABC getting some pilots that are being looked forward to, maybe the new Shonda show (that could also go to Thursdays). I think Castle could do good in a timeslot that is fairly more watched than 10PM

    Tuesday 8h: OUAT
    Tuesday 9h: Shield
    Tuesday 10h: New drama
    OAUT and Shield seems like they can be compatible and it can fix Tuesdays. OUAT is a drama that offers something very different from the others show and that should be stable (or even increase its ratings) and Shield could do better without NCSI, and then it can launch a new drama.

    Wednesday 8h: The Middle/Suborgatory
    Wednesday 9h: Modern Family/ The Goldbergs (if it can stand well on its own, I bet it can do great after MF)
    Wednesday 10h: Nashville or New Drama

    Thursday 8h: Greys
    Thursday 9h: Scandal
    Thursday 10h: Revenge or new Shonda show

    Friday 8h: Last Man Standing/New comedy
    Friday 9h: Shark Tank
    Friday 10h: 20/20

    Sunday 8h: The Bachelor / DWST
    Sunday 9h: The Bachelor/ DWST
    Sunday 10h: Nashville, Revenge or New Drama

    ReplyDelete
  18. I think you suggest a really good schedule (and that is why there is no way ABC will do anything similar). Just one point of disagreement regarding Thursday 8h: I don’t think that ABC has any chance of improving this hour (I believe that The Vampire Diaries will be the runner-up of TBBT in the upcoming spring), so why not let Revenge gets its fourth season for syndication reasons. Revenge has its fans and they will probably follow it (and in any case, it will not be worse than OUAT in wonderland). I just think it is too big of a risk to put a successful show in this time slot.
    By the way- I am really enjoying your articles. They make the rating system much clearer, Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I would cancel the Neighbors because if ABC can't do better than a 1.0, it's a doomed network. And while I generally agree that ABC needs to be smarter about airing comedies together without repeats, I do think they were right to do so at least once this fall to test all the different freshman with repeats for lead-ins. That's how ABC knew the Goldbergs would perform better than Back in the Game.

    A small part of me also clings to the delusion that Trophy Wife might be renewed since it apparently is done on the cheap with no marketing support.

    ReplyDelete
  20. That's exactly what i would do. If it were up to me I would put Suburgatory after The Middle since it only needs a couple of episodes after this season to reach syndication. On fridays, after Last Man Standing I would put a new multi-cam comedy. If not, then the Goldbergs.

    ReplyDelete
  21. i agree with you on most of the schedule you have chosen except i would put revenge after the bachelor as the bachelor gets a huge audience and revenge would benefit from it and castle on Monday at 10.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I think Revenge would fare better on Monday 10 p.m.. That hour is FILLED with male-skewing shows which means that Revenge going there, and with good promotion, could draw the female viewers that don't have much to watch after The Voice finishes. So, I think it would go really good.

    ReplyDelete
  23. While I agree with DWTS/The Bachelor moving to Sunday, moving Castle along with it is a really, really bad idea. During the fall it would have to go up against football and it would die a horrible painful (for all of us fans) death. I know many, many men who love Castle but wouldn't give up even a minute of their football for any show, even Castle.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Why do you assume that REVENGE is exclusive to females? I know plenty of males who used to (during its glory days), and even some who still do watch REVENGE. And no, (I'm not homophobic or stereotypical but I know this is what some people would be thinking) they are not all homosexuals.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I don't think they would make this change midseason, but I'm really hoping they have the guts to move REVENGE after SCANDAL for S4. OUATIW won't be around then though.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Murder Revenge? Let's not.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Because even if it looks easy to move and shift shows which we as viewers think would be most compatible, there is more to it. There are logistical matters, advertising investors and competition with other networks to think of. Paul Lee might not be the best president but it is by no means an easy job.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Revenge isn’t doing so well in its current
    time slot, and if we consider the year to year drop in rating, we must admit
    that there is a very low chance that the show will get a fifth season. If it
    wasn't for the syndication reasons I think ABC might have canceled it after
    this season. But we must also admit that Sunday 9h is a tough spot for any show. Therefore I do think that Revenge has its loyal fan base that will follow
    it to Thursday 8h. And if Revenge will be able to keep a similar number from
    its current location in Thursday 8h, it will justify a renewal for a fifth
    season. The main point about revenge is that I think it can't gain the fans it lost
    in the last year, but it will still do better than any new drama we put in this
    time slot. But I do think it is too big of a risk to put there a successful show,
    like Gray or Scandal..

    ReplyDelete
  29. Ahah thank you for that ;) I take it that means that you did appreciate the schedule I came up with! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  30. While I obviously more than lack the knowledge to be the president of a network, I do think that it wouldn't be too hard to make a better job than Lee. Yes, I realize it is not an easy job and that moving shows is always tricky. The best example, IMO, is probably how so many people have screamed that ABC should have placed TG and TW on Wednesdays without offering as much as a suggestion of what their replacements on Tuesdays should be - there is always the other side of the coin. However, there is stuff that can be done that really couldn't hurt and he doesn't do it. He basically insists on plugging existing holes with new shows and he insists on picking up shows whose odds of surviving are less than 10% (Betrayal, Lucky 7, Killer Women, Red Widow, Zero Hour, Work It, etc etc). You mention the logistical matters and the advertisement that it takes and while I recognize that I am not privy to all the process, I do think moves have to be watched out for, that's why I say that in the text and that's why I minimized the moves I made (only two moves to different days... Plenty of networks, including ABC have done way more moves in the past). You also mention competition but that's one of the factors I am considering the most there! Ex. I am using The Bachelor on Sundays because of all the male-drama and sports competition. I am moving GA against TBBT to avoid launching a new show there. I am moving Shield to avoid having it go against NCIS with which it clearly shares an audience.

    Anyway, this is obviously just for fun, no other purpose at all, as much as I think Paul Lee should be fired for what he has been doing!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hey there! Thanks for participating!

    I don't dislike your schedule but I think it's too heavy on drama. The closest thing in the last 4 seasons we can find of an all drama night working is this season's CBS Tuesday. Other than that, each time NBC, ABC or CBS has tried it at least one of the dramas has failed. I think them aiming for that on 3 nights would be risky, which is why I would keep a comedy hour either Monday or Tuesday (or reality). My other issue is that I think Trophy WIfe is now too weak to be renewed, I don't see how they justify it, it's pulling the same numbers as TN on a weekday. How do they cancel that one on a Friday and give TW the best slot on the network? You would also have to swap TB and DWTS since you cannot have a fall edition of DWTS on Sundays due to the UK version.

    Finally, as for swapping Revenge and Castle, I don't hate it, but I have a hard time seeing the benefit. I don't see either show benefiting big time and it would be another huge move to promote. I think that Mondays at 10 timeslot is very tough with the NBC powerhouses there so I would prefer to leave there a proven performer.

    But hey, even with disagreements I prefer yours to what they have so ;)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hey there, thanks for stopping by! I also dislike the idea of moving Castle but I am not sure if Castle is as male skewing as you are suggesting, I think it's primarily female skewing.

    ReplyDelete
  33. a) But ABC has no comedy to anchor the 8 p.m. hour so they can lead another hour. I very much doubt they'd put Modern Family or the Middle on 8 p.m. at Tuesdays, scrambling the Wednesday block entirely. I'd, at least, hold off that extra hour until some semblance of a comedy anchor can be provided at 8 p.m. and the 8 p.m. that serves as an appropriate lead into SHIELD. Suburgatory isn't strong enough, imho;


    b) Well, Trophy Wife is, indeed, weak. I wish for that show to survive so it could get the post 9:30 p.m. after Modern Family because I think it would benefit greatly from having a compatible lead-in like that. Also, it could, in due time, serve as said lead-in to anchor the 8 p.m. hour.


    c) Regarding the whole Revenge/Castle swapping... Is very unlikely that The Blacklist will stay on Monday 10 p.m. It will probably serve to anchor Wednesday/Thursday. So, and unless NBC gets another major hit next year, which s unlikely, I think the change would be safe. Revenge would benefit from the lack of competition and it *would* serve as good counter-programming to CBS' procedural, primarily male-skewing drama (Intelligence, if it survives) and the likely procedural NBC puts there. So, I think it would benefit from the move. And since Castle is a six year old drama, soon to be seventh, I think it would survive the move and ABC is ought to be pleased with anything in the range of 1.7-2.0 in that hour. Well, The Bachelor is the stronger show of the two.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Why would ABC waste their biggest drama lead-in, Scandal, in a four year drama when they could use it to launch a new one?
    The only other possible variable is having a special finale showing out of Grey's own finale (sans it ending two-hours again). That should get it more eyeballs that would seek, hopefully, into watching the third season and coming back for a stronger fourth season.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I think you overestimate how many shows in TV actually skew male. Take a look at this excellent analysis from Spotted Ratings. It's a bit old so you won't find the exact same shows you want but you get the idea. http://www.spottedratings.com/2009/08/gender-in-tv-ratings-in-conclusion.html


    Castle had a 36% male skew back there, which is very low, meaning it skews primarily female. The CBS procedurals are also mainly female skewing. I haven't seen detailed numbers for The Blacklist but seeing how it follows the voice I would be surprised if it has anything more than the 40% range, meaning it will also skew majorly female. Comedies and FOX Dramas are usually the exception apart from one case here and there (Shield, Arrow).

    ReplyDelete
  36. I am a guy and I watch Revenge but I understand where you are coming from in that it is indeed mainly female skewing. The only thing is that so are most shows on TV.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hey there, thanks for stopping by! I could see where ABC was coming from in May because they could think that Shield would be the biggest hit of the season and would be able to beat NCIS and prop up the whole night. The problem is that once it became clear that Shield, even though a very solid and underrated performer, is not that super hit, they burried their head in the sand as they always did and refused to acknowledge the problem. It's sad!

    CBS will come next week or in two weeks ;)

    ReplyDelete
  38. Hey there. Thanks for stopping by and for the compliment on the schedule. As for Grey's, yes, I understand that. I did say in my comments that it was either GA/Scandal/New Thing or Strong New Reality/GA/Scandal. The problem is that it's just seems odd that a network with so little heavy lead-ins to use doesn't use the Scandal lead-in on anything else. To me, that bothers me more than whatever happens at 8pm to be honest.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hey there. Thanks for stopping by and for the compliment! I wanted ABC to have done that this year and I wanted ABC to have done that this midseason as well. They didn't, unfortunately, and I think we are now past the point in which I can reasonably argue for that. I adore Revenge, it's one of my favorite shows, but honestly both ratings wise and storyline wise, I cannot imagine it going for more than 5 seasons, maybe 6 if they are VERY lucky, but I doubt it. I cannot therefore justify ABC giving the biggest drama lead-in on the network to that show all the while spending money promoting its move from Sunday to Thursday. As much as it pains me to say this, they are better off allocating those resources (and that timeslot) to a new, promising drama. That doesn't mean they don't need to fix the Revenge situation, but I think the bachelor lead-in and the 10pm slot would be an improvement for that.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Yeah we had talked about it before and I agree. It's sad that, as I've explained in the comment above, it seems that we are now past the point in which they can do that. ABC is sort of a lost cause unfortunately.

    ReplyDelete
  41. The problem with using Wonderland to bridge the OUAT cycles is that OUAT airs on Sundays which means that you simply cannot launch something there midseason due to Awards Show Season, the show would be DOA. The fact that it was also DOA on Thursdays doesn't mean it wouldn't have been on Sunday. I think that had they moved OUAT to a weekday as I wanted them to and still want to, having used the spin-off to bridge cycles would have been a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  42. I seriously doubt they will be doing it, unfortunately, which sucks. I had wanted them to do that all along. I now think it's too late.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I'm a guy and I too watch Revenge. But there are certain shows, like Revenge, that cater to a female audience more than they do to a male one. Revenge being a soapy drama would be attract more females than males.


    And, yes, I know that. However, compared to the other two dramas currently presented on the Monday 10 p.m., Revenge is by far the most female drawing.

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  44. I understand that in theory but my point is that in practice it's not as clear throat. Castle is ridiculously high female skewing for instance. I don't have the time right now but I will try to compare the skew from Revenge with The Blacklist and Castle so far this season. While I suspect that you will be right in that Revenge is the most female skewing of the three, I highly doubt the difference is very significant. I could be wrong of course. I will look it up later when I have time and get back to you on that.

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  45. I actually think they could do that considering they only have 18 episodes of Scandal this year due to Kerry Washington's pregnancy. It's kind of a waste to use the Grey's lead-in on repeats. I think they should air a special Revenge or Mind Games there!

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  46. Hey there. Thanks for stopping by and for the nice compliment. Well, while I understand the idea behind moving Castle, I think that's maybe asking too much of the show. It's doing a very solid job in a tough timeslot so I don't see the upside of messing with that, but that's just my opinion. As for Nashville, I don't think it's showed enough promise to be given such a favorable scheduling IMO. I think it can do a better job at 10pm Wednesdays if they fix the horrible lead-in it has.

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  47. Hey there. Thanks for stopping by. In regards to OUAT, yep, I definitely think the show has to leave Sundays. However, in reality, I think the show will probably air all of its episodes in that slot, it just seems like one of those shows that ABC doesn't want to move no matter what. I hope to be wrong!

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  48. Hey @CrimTV , thanks for stopping by, nice to have you around! We have a pretty similar schedule with just minor differences ,so I like what you have of course. My main disagreement is keeping Shield put because I think it's clearly hurting by NCIS. But then again, if you are going to program a drama there, that drama would probably suffer from the same thing. Also, I think moving Castle and Nashville around is a pretty lateral move and I doubt it would have much of an impact. Nashville doesn't have major female skewing competition Wednesdays at 10 either and hasn't improved, I am not sure why it would improve on Mondays and it just seems like extra work and money to promote those moves. Don't hate them, but I wouldn't do them.

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  49. Hey @Alex Forrest! Nice to have you around, thanks for stopping by. I agree with you, ABC is the dumbest network ever because it's not that they don't have the right programs, they are just incapable of scheduling them properly.

    In regards to the Thursdays at 8pm hour, I must say that, yes, the timeslot is terrible, but I also think it has turned into kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy because of the quality of the shows they've put there (Charlie Angels, Zero Hour) or because they shows are completely incompatible with the rest of the night (Last Resort). Flashforward proved that it is possible to succeed there, the only reason that one failed was because people weren't liking what they were seeing. I also have to note that the best example of how you can indeed succeed in a horrible timeslot is TBBT. This slot has been the death slot for ABC for ages but it didn't used to be because of TBBT, it used to be because of American Idol. The fact that TBBT was able to change that shows that sometimes it is doable. But yes, TBBT is not the best example because it's the biggest broadcast hit currently airing. I just think that there is stuff that ABC could have tried in the hour but never did. They always went for male skewing shows, action shows or very old skewing shows for some reason. They never went for a low stakes female skewing procedural in the veins of Castle, Body of Proof, Murder in Manhattan. I think something like that had a much better chance at succeeding there than everything else they've tried. That's why I think it's a mix between horrible slot and horrible or misplaced shows.

    But yes, I agree that it's gotten too much and that they now must change their strategy instead of continuing to bury their heads in the sand.

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  50. Hey there. Thanks for stopping by. In regards to your comment about GA, well:
    1) I do agree with you that I seriously doubt they will put GA at 8pm Thursday. I think ABC won't do this, this is just what I think they should do.
    2) GA is still bringing in more than okay ratings, it's bringing in great ratings. There are 6 programs on television with better ratings this season than GA (TBBT, MF, The Blacklist, HIMYM, Scandal and NCIS). Six. That's it. How is that not great ratings?
    3) GA has hit its lowest rating ever each of the past 6 seasons! That's just normal. Shows peak up to a certain level (in GA's case was season 3 or 4 I think) and then they just decline every year. The abnormally are the shows that grow, not the opposite. So saying that it's hit its lowest rating ever doesn't really have a meaning.
    4) Yes, the Shonda drama may not be picked up but I am sure ABC can find a decent female skewing drama to take advantage of the Scandal's lead-in
    5) Revolution and 2 Broke Girls, two of the most adult oriented shows on TV, air at 8pm. I am sure Grey's could do the same, it is not nearly as graphic.
    6) All this being said, I understand your resistance to moving GA. I proposed a solution in my post which was to invest seriously in a new reality franchise to 8pm (not some cheap reality like they get for Winter, but a new big reality franchise). It's all a matter of how risk averse you are. The upside of moving the Shonda block up an hour is bigger, but yes, the downside is also bigger, so it's a matter of risk preference .

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  51. Thanks @Pablo Troncoso! Nice seeing you around! Thanks for the compliment ;)

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  52. Hey there. Thanks for stopping by. In regards to your schedule, I have some issues with your Sunday and Wednesday. I think ABC is better served having a reliable anchor at 8pm like The Middle that it can use to prop up a bit the 8h30 show while using MF to prop up some other show than to concentrate all the wealthiness on the 9pm hour. The 8pm hour could easily collapse and even affect MF in the process. It's a very risk, low return move IMO. Also, I think ABC should try to get all serialized shows out of Sundays, not move more there. I suppose you are using it as a syndication factory, hence sort of giving up on it. It's a possible approach, I would just prefer see them trying reality there. I have to say I don't dislike the idea of putting family comedies on Sunday at 8 though. Not at all. I could live with that, that's a nice one.

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  53. Hey @darkness! Thanks for participating! I certainly like your schedule better than ABC's. However, there are certain points that I think are complicated:
    1) You would still have DWTS facing The Voice which means it would probably continue to fall too much per season. It's an acceptable choice though. What's that Rising Star show? I am not aware of it.
    2) You want to use The Bachelorette on Sundays midseason. However, that would leave ABC with a big hole to fill during Summer since that's a main staple from their summer schedule. What would you schedule there instead?
    3) Using The Taste and The Quest to bridge the reality cycles sounds good, but what would you then use to bridge the serialized dramas seasons? (Tuesday and Thursday) Or you would have them running straight seasons with repeats in between?

    In general I don't dislike the idea of having more reality in the schedule at least temporarily while they fix their problematic slots and I definitely agree with reality on Sunday, I just think it would be hard to implement.

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  54. Hey Pablo! Nice one, thanks for participating. In general, I do like your schedule better than what ABC could come up with and it is pretty similar to mine. I agree with you that I like the pairing of OUAT and Shield, I toyed with the idea but ultimately couldn't implement it. My only issues are:
    - I don't really see the point of moving Castle up an hour. While it's performance is very respectable for 10pm, it would be less impressive at 9pm. I imagine you are assuming the higher PUT hour would increase its viewership but that's a big risk and I am not sure I would toy with a known quantity like that that is doing a solid job in the slot it currently is. Besides, Castle is still wildly propped up by DWTS (the fact that it does grow from it doesn't mean the opposite), which means that taking away its lead-in would already be a risk, I think moving its timeslot on top of that could be too much.
    - The only situation in which I have seen a 3-night drama working in the last 4 or 5 years has been this season's CBS Tuesday. For some reason, it appears that viewers need a little variety on the night. Maybe it means nothing and it's just a weird coincidence, but anyway, I do think that a little variety helps. I think having 3 full nights only with dramas is too much of a risk, which is why I would keep either a comedy or a reality hour on the Monday or Tuesday schedule.

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  55. Hey there. Thanks a lot for stopping by and for the kind words! I am glad you are enjoying the articles and that they are helping out. In regards to the Thursday 8pm slot and to your suggestion, I have two issues:
    - I don't think Revenge is as dead yet as you suggest. If it's decently nurtured a bit, which could mean as much as giving it the compatible bachelor lead-in and moving it away from the walking dead, it could easily have a useful Season 5 for ABC and by the looks of it, they will need it. Moving it to the death slot would kill that.
    - Remember also that you would need to promote the move even a bit. If you are just moving the show to die, you are better off leaving it where it is on Sundays, since Sundays are dead zones anyway. The money you save there not promoting the move could be better allocated promoting another move or a new show.
    - I disagree that ABC has no shot of improving the 8pm slot. They could try move the solid Grey's Anatomy there, they could premiere a strong reality brand there or they could try a procedural show there. They haven't run out of options yet. They just have to stop trying out the first option over and over again.

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  56. The year to year drop you mention doesn't affect Revenge's chances the slightest. Practically all shows have that year to year drop. The average broadcast year to year drop is around 11%. It's all about whether or not Revenge (or any other show) falls more or less than that. Revenge is now performing at 90% of ABC's most recent drama average (1.8) considering the average of its most recent episodes (1.6.). By no means that's cancellation territory and you don't even have to consider the syndication argument to say so. If it's taken care of, it can serve ABC on a 5th season, easily.

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  57. Hey there, thanks for stopping by. As for your comments:
    - Regarding the Neighbors, I think the 1.0 is a psychological thing that makes it look worse than it is in reality. Relative ratings are all that matter and the show, once you account for a Friday factor of about 20%, is performing at 60% of ABC's comedy average. While that's more than enough for cancellation, I don't think it's nearly the flop people make it out to be. It's underperforming but it's by no means a terrible performer. I think the question is whether or not they can realistically do much better there for the same profit. I think a new show could probably improve a bit, but not that much, but they would have to spend marketing money there, not to mention forego the syndication gains they would get from TN. They could move Suburgatory there and that one should be a better improvement but I think it's better used on Wednesdays. You are probably right and TN will be cancelled (that's my prediction anyway), I just think it's by no means a horrible flop, just an underperformer like so many.
    - You have a point with the repeats thing. Yes, ABC should test their shows a bit sans lead-in, but I am talking about systematically airing shows in a sea of repeats and then wasting perfectly good lead-ins on burnoff shows and repeats. A balance must be found.
    - I cannot find a reason for ABC to renew TW. Yes, they own it and it's cheap but then again, they also own TN and that one is a season closer to syndication and they have virtually the same ratings.

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  58. Regarding Greys hitting its lowest ratings ever, three times this season Greys hit what was its lowest series rating ever at 2.6. It was becoming a trend. Then for Episode 11, it hit a 2.3, the lowest ever in its entire series. Not since the third episode has Greys even ventured hit a 3.0 or above ratings. Last season in the first 12 episodes, Greys hit in the 2's just once. This season, nine of the 12 episodes are in the two's, with many hovering in the mid 2's, Just to point that out. I seriously doubt that Greys can even hit in the 3's ever again. It will be slaughtered against TBBT which normally hits 5 or greater every week. A lot of the same viewers watch TBBT and Greys, including myself. I would predict an even greater erosion of Greys ratings.

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  59. All of that is true but you are too focused on the absolute numbers. This season its lowest rating so far is a 2.3. Last season, a 2.6 was a new low. Two seasons ago, a 2.8 was a new low. Three seasons ago, a 3.2 was a new low. Four seasons ago, a 3.5 was a new low. You get the idea. You say it doesn't hit a 3 anymore and you may be right, but so what? ABC's drama average is now a 1.8 and it certainly wasn't that low back when GA was hitting 3s. There was a time in which the show would constantly pull 7s, then 5s, then 4s, then 3s... Now it's 2s. It's just the normal thing.

    GA's averages per season:
    - Season 1: 8.09
    - Season 2: 9.13
    - Season 3: 9.38 (Peak Season)
    - Season 4: 7.16
    - Season 5: 5.73
    - Season 6: 4.82
    - Season 7: 4.10
    - Season 8: 3.56
    - Season 9: 3.10

    If you account for the normal year to year average declines, this is what these ratings would be equivalent to as of last season (All credit of this goes to http://www.spottedratings.com/):
    - Season 1: 4.19
    - Season 2: 4.72
    - Season 3: 5.28
    - Season 4: 4.60
    - Season 5: 4.05
    - Season 6: 3.64
    - Season 7: 3.42
    - Season 8: 3.17
    - Season 9: 3.10


    So yes, while it has been declining in "real" terms since season 3, which is normal due to its age, after the steep declines of Seasons 4-6, it's been remarkably stable year to year in real terms, which is all that matters!

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  60. Hey there. Thanks for stopping by. While I would also air Suburgatory after The Middle, I would note that it doesn't need just a couple of episodes for syndication. After this short third season, it will still need a full season 4 and at least half a season 5 to reach syndication numbers.

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  61. We will agree that it will never be put up against TBBT. ABC loves its one-two punch with GA at 9 and Scandal at 10. A reality series should be placed at 8. Why waste a scripted show in that spot when it is going to get slaughtered against TBBT? It should be noted TBBT is one show that is bucking the trend of declining ratings. It is actually growing year to year.

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  62. Monday 8h: OUAT
    Monday 9h: New Drama
    Monday 10h: Castle
    Tuesday 8h: IDK, some counter-programming against The Voice/NCIS
    Tuesday 9h: Agents of SHIELD
    Tuesday 10h: New Drama
    Wednesday 8h: The Middle/The Goldbergs
    Wednesday 9h: Modern Family/ New Family Comedy
    Wednesday 10h: New Drama
    Thursday 8h: Shark Tank
    Thursday 9h: Grey's
    Thursday 10h: Scandal
    Friday 8h: LMS/Multi-Cam comedy (it worked with MC, but ABC was dumb and canceled it)
    Friday 9h: Revenge (final season)
    Friday 10h:20/20
    Sunday 8h: The Bachelor/DWTS
    Sunday 9h: The Bachelor/DWTS
    Sunday 10h: Nashville

    I don't think Grey's can be put on a 8pm slot or Scandal on a 9pm slot because of the content of both shows.



    And ABC already killed Revenge, so let the show end and put Nashville on sundays until it reaches syndication.


    I would hold Suburgatory for mid-season because I don't like the idea of putting this show on tuesdays, it could be for ABC what Community is for NBC and Mike and Molly (in the past, Rules of Engagement) is for CBS.

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  63. While it's clearly too late for Revenge to move to Thursday 10pm, I still think it would be wise of ABC to move GA/Scandal an hour earlier and clear that slot. They're fighting a losing battle with the Thursday 8pm slot. Maybe a female-skewing new drama would sustain less damage from TBBT, but it would have to compete with TVD, at least. I really think the smart play for them would be to pair a compatible new show with Scandal. With Scandal being so strong, it seems like a waste for it not to be a lead-in.

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  64. I get what you mean about the self-fulfilling prophecy. Last Resort going there, in particular, was such a befuddling move - on the one hand it was clearly going to skew male so pitting it against TBBT was crazy, on the other hand it led into a very female-skewing show (GA) so it clearly wasn't going to benefit from it, or vice-versa for that matter. Same with Zero Hour.


    I agree that IF they continue to be so stubborn with that slot, they need to at least try something that doesn't share much of TBBT's audience, like a procedural or a female-skewing drama (although the latter would have to contend with TVD - but that's about a fourth of TBBT's audience, so it's a start... :D).

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  65. Rising Star : http://www.deadline.com/2013/11/abc-rising-star-singing-competition-series-the-voice-keshet-dcp-summer-2014/ :)
    If Once Upon A Time move to tuesdays or mondays, I don't think ABC will air next season in 12 episode batches. I think ABC only do this because of the Olympic Game. Same thing for Grey's and Scandal.

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  66. I said May that SHIELD wouldn't live up to the expectations and compete with NCIS on a regular basis. ABC are still yet to do anything about it.

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  67. Your right about them having poor lead-ins.The ones that were good they cancelled,so Grey's might be good for them at the 8pm hr?
    As you can see i didn't have to much to say considering i only watch Grey's and Once...I look forward to the other networks...wait,maybe not,lol!!!

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  68. I really, really hope someone from the ABC network sees this, makes you in charge of everything going on there, and finally their amazing shows can stop bleeding beause of the stupid mistakes that ABC makes in their schedule. I'm not saying they do it on purpose, because of course they don't, but your schedule and a lot of the schedules in the comments make so much more sense to me. :)

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  69. Maybe their being wary because they think they might destroy the show - like they did with Revenge..

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  70. Almost no show has survived the Thursday 8pm slot. They need to nurture Revenge, not shove it into its grave. If they put Revenge in that slot, it will NEVER regain the viewers it lost. As there is a chance a new show could be successful, there is also a chance Revenge could win back the viewers, buzz and glory it lost, in fact it's already on its way. They need to move Revenge to a sensible, weekday timeslot at 10pm. What they should do with the Thursday 8.00 slot is either throw repeats in there, or make a show successful enough to rival TBBT.

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  71. I can see that, there's always the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" principle. But I think the risk would be lesser in this case since Scandal would be keeping its obviously effective lead-in and the competition wouldn't be major (Glee? Reign? Meh). Revenge was yanked off its slot to a completely wrong one, with an incompatible lead-in and brutal competition. This wouldn't be nearly as bad.

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  72. Nice article! Looking forward to more of your fantasy schedules! I am not really into ABC, so I will just agree with what you've done here. I did start to make another schedule, but in the end it looked almost the same as yours.

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  73. I agree with most of your schedule, especially Thursday and the need to move Shield to 9PM (they can't be serious thinking it would last against The Voice and NCIS, right?) but I'd personally leave Once on Sundays at 8PM. I think you are underestimating the competition it would have from The Voice and FOX's drama and think it will struggle at Mondays at 8PM.

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  74. It appears that you were certainly right though. The thing with Shield is that the expectations don't let us appreciate the huge success it has. For a new show to tackle NCIS head to head on a weekly basis with nothing but local programming as lead-in and in a night surrounded by shows that have nothing to do it, it is quite the accomplishment! The truth is that the only new show still doing better than it is The Blacklist and that's the biggest hit we've had in a while.

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  75. Ahah why wouldn't you want to see the other ones?

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  76. In ABC's defense (I can't believe I am doing this), I can't hate them for moving Revenge because back then I didn't foresee how bad of an idea it was. Two factors: 1) Back then, it was nearly as obvious as it was today that cable would become this powerful on Sundays. The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones et all were not yet beating the broadcasters and I think they weren't even on the same level. The number of options was also smaller. 2) I didn't anticipate (and yes, this is their fault, but in terms of judging the move per se is worth mentioning) the way they were going to treat it during Awards Season, which IMO, was what doomed the show. Two years ago, most people (myself included) were over the moon about the OUAT/Revenge/666 Park Avenue lineup and we thought ABC would be dominating over everyone apart Sunday Night Football. I think the fact that Revenge did indeed do very well there during Fall was proof that the move per se was not totally inadequate. I've said this before, but I will say it again: what doomed Revenge was ABC not picking up those Desperate Housewives' contracts for one more season. Because that was the season that Sundays became the problem they are today. Had DH been the witness of that instead of Revenge, I think ABC would have quarantined Sundays like they are doing now and kept Revenge out of there (like they are keeping Scandal).

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  77. I don't think it will never be put up against TBBT. I think there is a chance ABC does what so many people want and move the Shonda block up an hour especially if they pick up the third Shonda drama. It's a small chance and I think it most likely won't happen, but it could happen.

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  78. Interesting about Rising Star, I wasn't aware of it. I think I must adjust my summer schedule accordingly then!

    As for the batches, that's your choice (it's your schedule after all eheh, that was the whole idea of asking people to do them). I still prefer networks to do it by batches with serialized shows (as long as they aren't 4 months long like Revolution's last year) and I think it's better for networks because the reality filler will typically rate higher than repeats of serials while also helping the ratings of first-run episodes of said serials. The season has roughly 32 weeks excluding Christmas holidays. So you would have to run 10 repeats of OUAT which would most likely go sub 0.8 or something while subjecting the show to breaks. But hey this is just a perspective and I know other people disagree with me on this.

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  79. Networks can't just program repeats systematically in a slot during regular season. That's extremely poorly received by advertisers.

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  80. Hey there. Thanks for stopping by and for participating! And thanks for the compliment and for, despite that, trying to do your own thing eheh, appreciate it! Overall I don't dislike your schedule either, it has some interesting ideas! Some thoughts:
    - the "IDK" type of situations are exactly the trickiest part because something has to go there. Would you put a new drama there? I only insist on this because it's easy to say "move Shield" or "don't air comedies on Tuesday" etc but the reality is that everytime we suggest something like that a counter move has to come attached or else the slot will be empty, which cannot happen.
    - I find your idea of using Revenge on Sundays quite intriguing. It's probably a decent enough trade-off to move Shark Tank but I think Revenge is not as dead as you are suggesting, I think it could still be useful for ABC for longer. One suggestion: in your schedule, assuming the basis of it, why don't you keep Revenge on Sundays and move Nashville to Fridays instead? You want to use Nashville just for syndication anyway and that would save you one move of promotion!
    - I don't dislike that usage for Suburgatory either (as a programmer anyway, from a viewer POV I don't like it because I adore the show and want it to have longer seasons)

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  81. Ahah thanks ;) Thank you a lot for the kind words, as always! I am pretty certain I don't have the capabilities to run a network, this is just for fun, but I don't think it's that much harder to do a better job than ABC is currently doing, that's for sure!

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  82. Hey there! Thanks for stopping by and thanks for your kind words! Eheh, cool to know that you gave it a try. I thought about not publishing my own schedule right away because of that, but at the end, it just seemed to overcomplicate this a lot, so I went with it. Hope to see you around when it comes the time of other networks which are more into!

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  83. Hey there! Thanks a lot for stopping by and for taking the time to comment! We definitely agree about Shield then! As for OUAT, I totally understand where you are coming from. I think it would be risky and it wouldn't have that much upside for the show. However, there is really no female drama on the hour and I think there could be room for one. FOX is clearly going for a male drama that night, so I doubt that changes. I doubt OUAT would be doing worst than DWTS, which is basically the same that it is doing on Sundays. But my biggest rationale for the move isn't exactly how much OUAT would gain (my guess is it would stay roughly even) but how much the reality that would be moved away from the voice would gain - from a programmer point of view, that's the way we should think and, by that logic, the move would already be a win if that happened.

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  84. Oh no,i was only teasing! I do look forward to it. Do you have an idea which Network you plan on doing?

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  85. I think if it was getting these ratings in a different slot when it wasn't up against something as high-profile as NCIS, then people would not be calling it an underappreciated success. The problem is that its ratings are depleting rapidly, so although it will probably get renewed for publicity purposes (Marvel promotion), unless ABC move it or it gets begins to get better ratings, it will get cancelled next year. As you say, SHIELD has been successful, but nowhere near as much as The Blacklist. Although, if The Blacklist hadn't had The Voice as a lead-in, it would not have succeeded as it has done.

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  86. I'm agree with you for the hiatus ! I just don't think ABC will do this again with The Asset's and Killer Woman's rating. I think ABC will want to keep Scandal and Grey's the entire season. ( I don't have a great english so i maybe made some mistake...)

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  87. It's perfect, don't worry. English is not my native language either. Well, I doubt ABC tries to use scripted shows again to bridge seasons but unscripted are certainly an option. The Taste is beating what Grey's repeats and Wonderland repeats (not to mention originals) would be doing, easily.

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  88. The thing is that I haven't seen many people calling it an unappreciated success, on the contrary lol.


    Also, I think people exaggerate a bit the whole "the ratings are depleting rapidly" thing. Sure, the first 4 episodes were awful, but the last 4 have been decently consistent excluding the week in which there was no NCIS competition where it jumped again. I also disagree with you saying it will only get renewed for publicity purposes. It's performing at 130% (!!) of ABC's drama average, that's some 30% more than it would need for renewal, worst case scenario.

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  89. Ah ok ahah ;) I will do all 5!

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  90. Oh thanks and I hope you're right ! I hated last season's schedule !

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  91. I still care about Once more than any reality show so I guess we'll agree to disagree about this particular show :)

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  92. Oh you misunderstood me. I care about OUAT way more than a reality show. But my point with doing these things is to do it as if I didn't have any preference, so not from a viewer's POV.

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  93. Thank you.


    Good suggestion about Nashville/Revenge, thinking better, a DTWS lead-in would mean a huge number of people tuning on Revenge after, despite skewing older, I think the show could pull sometinh between 1.5-1.8 (not bad for a ABC show at 10). Meanwhile, Nashiville would be protected for 2 more seasons because of the syndication.


    Sometimes I think about airing comedies on tuesdays 8-9, but keeping 4 hours of comedy is too risky for a channel whose only solid performers are Modern Family, The Middle and maybe Suburgatory (LMS does well on fridays, but I don't see it being moved since is a performer too marginal to go to another day but has been solid for friday standards).


    They would need at least 4 good comedy performers and they won't have it, but if Suburgatory goes there, it may end like Happy Endings/Apt. 23. Their only option of family drama is OUAT (already used) and a new reallity would face The Voice.


    So, tuesday is a tricky day on ABC, a bit less than last year but still complicated since their revamp didn't work.

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  94. You're underestimating yourself, my friend! Someday you'll see ;)

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  95. Well then the second option (as tough as it may be) it is..

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  96. In regards to the comedy thing, I think people overestimate the importance of a good lead-in to launch them. The Middle and Modern Family, arguably two of the most successful comedies on TV, were launched without any proven show as lead-in, on a complete new night. I would also say that The Goldbergs is quite a solid performer for ABC and they have the chance to turn it into a The Middle type of player.

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  97. I feel bad for Grey's. Hasn't had a proper lead-in since Ugly Betty. On the flip side it seems to be doing well even without a proper lead-in and in its 10th season.
    Moving it to 8pm on a Thursday means it will compete with The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men over at CBS and American Idol in the spring over at Fox. So putting anything in that time slot sounds like a death sentence to me. So I can understand why anything in the 8pm on Thursday nights for ABC bites the dust easily. (OUAT:IW is surprisingly the longest running show in that spot since Ugly Betty ended)

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  98. Hey there! Thanks for taking the time to stop by!


    Well, I understand where you're coming from and, to me, Grey's redefines what a self-starting show is, year after year. I don't know any other show that grows as much from its lead-in as it does, it's truly amazing. However, I think it's not about maximizing the show's ratings, but about maximizing the network's overall ratings and when you think about it, what else besides Grey's can they put in that slot? There is Shark Tank but that would leave a Friday hole and there is new reality, which I would also appreciate - but then it would render the Scandal lead-in useless, that's the problem.


    Anyway, according to recent news, ABC may move both Scandal and GA to a new night!

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  99. So ABC can move Scandal or Grey's to Sundays with Revenge :) ?

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  100. I know you said in your ABC Dramas analysis that Grey's was an almost certain renewal, but I've heard a few rumours that this could be its last season. Obviously, that would help make way for the NFL. Not that I beiieve them of course.

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  101. Simplest solution to airing football on Thursday nights is just wait until January to begin the seasons of Grey's Anatomy and Scandal cause if you change them to another night once football is over in December you'll have 3 hours to fill with new programming and if you wait till January you can air all 22 episodes of both continuously without any repeats.

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  102. I doubt GA will end this season it's ratings are still too good to lose.

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  103. Since Monday Night Football belongs to ESPN (their sister sports channel) until 2021, TNF is the only option for ABC regarding the NFL and no NFL = eternal 4th place on the ratings (although ABC is in fact 2nd considering only scripted shows).


    IDK what is better to ABC, air Grey's and Scandal beggining on the winter like they did with most seasons of Lost or move them to other days like monday/tuesday, but they have to considering the audience overplaping between them and The Voice.


    When ABC had Monday Night Footbal, they were never able to find good replacements to air in the winter/spring, after the NFL season, ABC mondays were always a mess, I don't think they want the same for thurdsays, which is one of their best days.

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  104. Hey there!

    Please no, that's the last thing I think they should do. Networks should realize that there is no place for serialized dramas on Sundays anymore, cable has taken over and they should program reality accordingly or, alternatively, use it as syndication factory (Effectively the new Friday) which is what CBS is doing. The way to go would be to take Revenge and OUAT out of Sundays, not move more serialized shows there, in my opinion!

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  105. Hey! Yes, I did say that Grey's was predicted to be renewed. I did note that it was a "likely" renewal and not a "certain" one like Scandal, but that's just spitting hairs, I am fairly confident that it will be back. ABC will not let go of Grey's without an announced final season. Also, Grey's is still so potent ratings wise, it's consistently and by far their third best performer (second among dramas). Another thing is that GA has been replacing cast members throughout the years so I doubt its costs are that much out of control.

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  106. Yes, I misread. I do agree with that. Just wanted to see what your thoughts on it were. ABC would be stupid to cancel Grey's (tbf they're pretty stupid for keeping SHIELD Tues 8pm, but we've had that discussion) considering its success.

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  107. Honestly, that solution didn't ever occur to me. I am not sure how I feel about that. I don't think I really appreciate it. Two reasons:
    - They would loose 4 episodes from their 2 highest rated shows, meaning 8 valuable hours (there is not enough space on the winter+spring schedule to fit all 22 episodes). In GA's episode, they couldn't also do the usual 24, so 10 hours would be lost.
    - These shows, particularly Scandal, live a lot from buzz. I don't think it would help the shows to have that long hiatus. I am all for these 2/3 months winter hiatus, but we would be talking about almost 8 months out of the air and I don't think that would benefit the shows. Another point related with this is that I am certain GA and Scandal are the prime slots for ABC to promote its other female skewing dramas and loosing them could potentially hurt the others.

    I don't totally hate your idea and it's quite clean, I gotta give you that, but I think these two reasons are a bigger problem for me. I like the idea of Dancing with the Stars Thursdays mid-season to be honest.

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  108. Let's just agree that ABC is pretty stupid in almost all of its decisions ;) I don't think cancelling Grey's will be one of them though

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  109. Agreed. That would be taking stupidity to a whole new level.

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  110. Meh, I gotta say I think they have done worse. The most recent one from them (although not nearly as bad a possible GA cancellation) has been scheduling the premiere of Mind Games for the same night The Voice returns to Tuesdays. Oh well.

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  111. I will copy pate my answer from above since you guys had the same idea:

    Honestly, that solution didn't ever occur to me. I am not sure how I feel about that. I don't think I really appreciate it. Two reasons:
    -They would loose 4 episodes from their 2 highest rated shows, meaning 8 valuable hours (there is not enough space on the winter+spring schedule to fit all 22 episodes). In GA's episode, they couldn't also do the usual 24, so 10 hours would be lost.
    - These shows, particularly Scandal, live a lot from buzz. I don't think it would help the shows to have that long hiatus. I am all for these 2/3 months winter hiatus, but we would be talking about almost 8 months out of the air and I don't think that would benefit the shows. Another point related with this is that I am certain GA and Scandal are the prime slots for ABC to promote its other female skewing dramas and loosing them could potentially hurt the others.

    I don't totally hate your idea and it's quite clean, I gotta give you that, but I think these two reasons are a bigger problem for me. I like the idea of Dancing with the Stars Thursdays mid-season to be honest.

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  112. True, true. I'm sure they'll figure out new ways of making us go "What did you do that for?"

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  113. Dancing With the Stars for mid-season is a good idea, when ABC had MNF this show was in the beggining, so, it's a better solution. And yes, considering the episode order, it's too hard to fit them on a winter/spring schedule, Lost had reduced orders, for example (17-18 episodes) and wasn't a female skewing show like most ABC dramas, so, good point.

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  114. Thanks!

    The problem with my own solution is that I am not sure what should be programmed in Sprig Sundays... Assuming The Bachelor takes the fall portion of Sundays and that DWTS is busy taking up Spring Thursdays, something Maybe if Rising Star does well this summer for them they can use it for that?

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  115. I should consider making a post of all ABC incompetent decisions, even though I am sure I would miss some lol

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  116. Sometimes lesser amounts of episodes make a show better though with less filler episodes. Look how good Lost was in seasons 4-6 with less episodes compared to season 3 and cable shows have 12-13 episodes and it makes them routinely better then some broadcast shows.

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  117. Lost is my favorite show of all time and yes, I think the hiatuses were good for it. The Following is one of my favorite shows right now and I also think the hiatus and the straight run are good for it.

    But I think Scandal and GA are different because they live more from the buzz and from the female audience which is typically more fickle with their shows. Besides, these shows allow for procedural episodes and filler ones every now and then and ABC can only benefit from airing those 10 extra hours. I just don't think taking the off for that long would be good for them. Straight runs like they are doing this year, yes, it's perfect, but not huge hiatuses. Like I've said, I don't hate your idea, but I just think that with ABC needing those shows so badly basically every where, there are more balanced options.

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  118. With the thursday night football I think ABC has a fighting chance to rise next year should they play their cards right,

    Monday 8h: Grey's
    Monday 9h: Scandal
    Monday 10h: Castle
    This would be how ABC withstands the move of DWTS to Sundays; with Grey's starting the night with its base loyal audience it has leading into Scandal, which has proved to be very strong outgrowing Grey's for most of this season. It could give Castle a boost, plus a fighting chance against CBS comedies, NBC The Voice and the demo friendly Sleepy Hollow/The Following on FOX. The competition is quite fierce, but I think Scandal can make it there, it has a lot of hype, it does wonders on the 10PM timeslot and with the right promotion and social media it can do pretty well.

    Tuesday 8h: OUAT
    Tuesday 9h: Shield
    Tuesday 10h: New drama (possibly fantasy/sci-fi and make a brand of "Fantasy Tuesdays" or something of the sort)
    OAUT and Shield seems like they can be compatible and it can fix Tuesdays. OUAT is a drama that offers something very different from the others show and that should be stable (or even increase its ratings) and Shield could do better without NCSI, and then it can launch a new drama.

    Wednesday 8h: The Middle/Suborgatory
    Wednesday 9h: Modern Family/ The Goldbergs (if it can stand well on its own, I bet it can do great after MF)
    Wednesday 10h: Nashville or New Drama

    Thursday 8h: Football
    Thursday 9h: Football
    Thursday 10h: Football

    Friday 8h: Last Man Standing/New comedy
    Friday 9h: Shark Tank
    Friday 10h: 20/20

    Sunday 8h: The Bachelor / DWST
    Sunday 9h: The Bachelor/ DWST
    Sunday 10h: Revenge

    Though I really wanted to move Revenge at first, I think at a 10PM timeslot it could do good and it should be compatible with both The Bachelor (it already rated the same after a Bachelor special) and DWTS, so I think it could perform good in a timeslot that, although has less viewers also faces less competition (no GoT, TWD or things like that).


    The only trouble is that with Thursdays being filled with football it means less scripted hours, and following this suggested schedule, ABC would have to premiere ONLY 2 dramas on the fall (and that's if they cancell Nashville) and 2 new comedies. Sure, they can have some shows ordered for midseason, but still it'll be a very different landscape

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  119. I mind a change. Putting GA wants Big Bang is a very good way to ensure that it doesn't last past season 11. With the new development of ABC potentially getting football, I think GA and Scandal will have to be split up.

    Since everyone think Scandal will make a great lead ( if ABC doesn't get football) then why not move Scandal to a different night at 9 and keep GA on Thursdays. Scandal is a newer show and has a better chance that their fan base will move with it. That way the top 2 dramas on ABC could be used a lead ins for new shows.

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  120. I'd forgotten TBT when I wrote this!
    But anyway, TBT lasts 30 min whereas GA lasts 1h so I think people who watch both GA and TBT would tend to watch GA and DVR TBT. I mean, that's what I would do if I watched any of these shows ^^
    But Scandal and GA both being a lead in could be good!
    Though I don't think ABC will split these 2 up because I think they put them like this because they are Shonda's shows

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  121. That is a ridiculous number of changes to the schedule

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  122. I have a question how many weeks and roughly what dates would TNF run for?

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  123. Hey there. Thanks for taking the time to participate. While I broadly like your schedule and the main idea (we are in total agreement about the need to move reality to Sunday), I do think you have some problems there. You've mentioned the main ones, which is nothing to occupy Thursdays for most of the season and also barely any new dramas. But I would also add barely any new comedy (just one on Friday). I think you need some compromise in there. Maybe one way to premiere more new stuff in the fall and solve the Thursday midseason issue would be to hold some renewed stuff for Thursday midseason?



    Anyway, despite my disagreements, I do agree with the broad idea in there ;)

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  124. I cannot seem to find reliable information about this, I've seen different sources quoting different things. Probably because that is up for debate depending on the final deal I guess. Anyway, from what I understand, the most likely options are that it either runs through December or that it runs until early November. If it were to run until early December, then I think ABC should simply premiere GA and Scandal in November Sweeps and let the run uninterrupted the entire season (Excluding holidays). The Taste could then be used as a filler for some other night at midseason (ex. Sundays)

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  125. I know this is an old article, but I wanna give my two cents anyway (NOTE: In this, Wonderland, Betrayal, Killer Women, Mind Games, Resurrection, Trophy Wife, Mixology, Nashville,

    Monday 8h: Suburgatory/New Comedy
    Monday 9h: New Drama
    Monday 10h: Castle

    Tuesday 8h: Once Upon a Time
    Tuesday 9h: SHIELD
    Tuesday 10h: Agent Carter (NEW)

    Wednesday 8h: The Middle/The Goldbergs
    Wednesday 9h: Modern Family/New Comedy
    Wednesday 10h: New Drama

    Thursday 8h: Wipeout
    Thursday 9h: Grey's Anatomy
    Thursday 10h: Scandal

    Friday 8h: Last Man Standing/New Comedy
    Friday 9h: Shark Tank
    Friday 10h: 20/20

    Sunday 8h: The Bachelor (Fall)/Wife Swap(Winter)/Dancing with the Stars (Spring)
    Sunday 9h: The Bachelor (Fall)/The Taste (Winter)/Dancing with the Stars (Spring)
    Sunday 10h: Revenge (Fall)/Repeats and Specials (Winter)/Revenge (Spring)

    For Monday, I originally thought about giving Tuesday 8h the comedy block I had earlier, but I thought about giving it to the Monday @ 8 slot because of my theming on that night I'll get to later. I do believe that Suburgatory could have a chance to succeed if it still continues to do well in it's current slot, but if not, then I would place it after LMS, and said new comedy I would put after LMS would be with the one on Monday. I decided to also give a new drama at 9, because I don't believe ABC should create 2 2-hour comedy blocks a la CBS, and Castle does consistently well in the 10 slot, so why ruin perfection?

    For Tuesday, I believe Once, SHIELD, and if the Agent Carter pilot is passed, they should be together for a fantasy/adventure block.

    For Wednesday, I want Goldbergs to be after Middle, as both have heavy compatibility, and please a FAMILY comedy to air after Modern Family; please. I don't see ABC limping Nashville into syndication, especially as Nashville shows nothing special at all, so a new drama.

    For Thursday, ABC should really give up on the Thursday 8 slot and give it to a show that actually does well (if my memory serves me right.) Grey's and Scandal do perfect where they are, don't need to change it.

    For Friday, LMS, Shark Tank and 20/20 are perfect where they are; just put another comedy, either new or Suburgatory, and it's perfect.

    Please give me any and all feedback, especially since this is my first time doing my own fantasy schedule, and I want to improve. (Also, to Oma bin: Have and/or Are you going to make fantasy schedules for the other networks? I searched and I couldn't find anything.)

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  126. Hey there. Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to participate, I am sorry it has taken me this long to get back to you. I regularly check my older posts to see if I got additional comments but I hadn't done that in a while.



    Anyway, some thoughts:
    - while I love Suburgatory, I do not think it's reasonable to expect it to anchor an hour at this point, especially not one on Mondays against the Voice and CBS comedies. I think that would end up very poorly, so I don't see why ABC should go for it. It would also be an extremely risky proposition for the new drama that would have to launch at 9 against the voice and sleepy hollow with an unproven and possibly incompatible and low rated comedy lead-in.
    - other than that, I agree with the broad strokes of your schedule, which is reality on Sundays (this is a must for me), and I don't dislike your Tuesday either.

    - the only other thing I dislike is Wipeout. The show was barely good enough during summer as it was, I cannot see how ABC could possibly sell that idea to advertisers during regular season. The plan of launching a new drama there has failed time after time and I think they should try something else (either reality like The Quest or moving up the Shonda block up an hour) but I would still prefer them to try out a new drama than to stick with Wipeout. At least a new drama has upside potential (and I still think that even though the slot is awful to launch a new drama, most of the blame is for the actual shows they've placed there), Wipeout not so much!


    I will make some more fantasy schedules, yes. I intended to have done some more, but in part because I haven't had much time and in part because I feel that most of the other networks are still contingent on developments to come (ex. how will the CW's The 100 perform? how will NBC's Sunday dramas perform? how will CBS Monday comedy block hold up once Mother ends?, how will Glee hold up Tuesdays at 8?), I have been postponing it. I will probably give it a go to FOX or CBS soon though.

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  127. I was wondering when we will get another fantasy schedule to speculate on. Really like these, and hope there will be more to come!

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