Upfront and Personal

So the networks are wrapping up their upfront sessions in which they sell a large chunk of their advertising time to gi-normous ad agencies.

The income for the five big nets (yes, The CW apparently still qualifies) totals some $9.23 billion. That's right billion - with a B.

That number got me to thinking.

In the coming age, where DVRs skip over commercials and more and more of the network programming is becoming available online (bypassing the local stations), one wonders how much longer the networks are going to be able to continue to demand that much money for an ever dwindling audience.

Case in point: In the most recent TV season (yes, there was a strike - but still!) all of EIGHT scripted shows increased their audience vs. 2007:
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (+3%);
THE UNIT (+1%);
LAW & ORDER (+19%);
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE (+1%);
MEDIUM (+21%);
BONES (+2%);
KING OF THE HILL (+20%)
30 ROCK (+12%)

Note that two of those shows are old-timers that were helped in the doldrums of the strike by a combination of reduced competition and better time slots. The results for MEDIUM are probably the most promising on the list.

So shy do the advertisers keep paying increasing rates for this slipping medium? Because it's the best there is, that's why.

It was announced today that the average household in the USA gets over 100 channels on their TV. You can advertise online to your heart's content, but there's no way you're ever going to get as broad and instantaneous a reach online - even if there are billions of web pages out there.

And for those of you who are complaining about all those commercials... the money ponied up by those sponsors is the equivalent of a $6.99 monthly subscription from each and every of the 100,000,000 TV households in the nation. (HBO has 40 million subscribers)

Good luck getting me to pay for any package that includes CBS.

Idol Down, But Fox Still Wins

Much was made in the industry trades this spring that AMERICAN IDOL's ratings were down this season. While the finale's numbers were on par with last year, the ratings for the run up to the final showdown were, indeed down.

But somehow all the gleeful naysayers managed to miss something rather important in TV land.

FOX as a whole was UP for the season - and not just because it aired the Super Bowl. Scripted fare like BONES and HOUSE mixed with smartly programmed stuff like MOMENT OF TRUTH and ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER more than made up for IDOL's slippage.

For the first time EVER, FOX finished a season #1 in total viewers. Now, there were plenty of factors in the victory, not the least being the writers' strike. But - FOX had to deal with it just like every other network. And they did a better job by going to their bench and developing imaginative game shows.

While CBS relied heavily on reruns of their scripted dramas, FOX threw in new shows like NEW AMSTERDAM and THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES.

And they won - without airing a single episode of 24.

Congrats to everyone at FOX. It took 20 years, but the revolution has finally arrived.

The tough news for the other nets for 2008-2009? Jack Bauer returns in November with a 2 hour TV movie, followed by 24 all-new hours starting January.

And word is, he's pissed.