doctor who

Wait… What?  Are you wondering how can I slap out an article about The Walking Dead mid-season TV ratings record and pull in a Doctor Who editorial to boot?  You’ll see, and it will be a very relevant editorial.  Trust me!

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It seems that every time The Walking Dead has a premiere or a finale, it manages to pull everyone in and set TV ratings records.

Case in point, the Sunday night mid-season return/premiere episode pulled in just over 12 million viewers.  That destroyed its last record which was set by the season 3 premiere that generated almost 11 million viewers.

And when AMC TV tallied up the premiere and encore episodes that aired just Sunday night/Monday morning, they ended up with a  total of almost 17 million viewers for the mid-season premiere episode.

AMC went on to point out that this number outperformed the average ratings for other basic network series like Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, and NCIS.

Zoinks.  That’s impressive for a cable network.  Don’t you think?

Ratings Are Great, How They Got There Isn’t

What scares me about this latest ratings record is that I don’t think this would have happened if they didn’t have a mid-season break.  We, the television viewing consumer, just sent a huge message to all of TV land, meaning network execs, advert execs, sponsors and the networks.  That message is that mid-season breaks work.  They generate interest and drive up the ratings numbers.

This mid-season break made it possible for a basic cable TV network to dust the four major networks in some specific numbers.  Something that traditionally, never used to happen.  That is, until AMC and The Walking Dead.  (And various other cable TV series of late.)

And this record comes on the heels of the BBC responding/addressing Doctor Who fans that are pretty miffed about the BBC taking a cue from their American cousins and splitting up the seventh series (season) of Doctor Who.

In addressing the ire of the fans, the folks at the BBC called the season split a creative decision.  “we’re sorry you are unhappy about this.”  But they didn’t say it would not happen again.  And when records get crushed like they did for The Walking Dead, networks and their ecstatic advertisers are going to take note.

That note being not only can splitting up a season be a great excuse to sell TV seasons in more than one package, but they can drive up the number of eyeballs on an advertisers fare.

All win-win for the networks.

The really sad part is that fans will probably never get tired enough of this practice and quit a show.  They will come back.  How can you not when it’s a good show?

So the TV consumer is stuck, so to speak.  Even if we manage to muster the bravery to not watch, then I’m guessing, fans will then buy the DVDs.  But that’s just a guess. And if DVD’s are purchased, the network/distributors win.

I’m not saying consumers lose.

We love what we love and as ratings go up and advertisers reap their income, they continue to make the shows we love.  But sometimes, when things like DVD releases, part 1, part 2 come out, it’s a bit annoying compared to the day when whole seasons could be had in one purchase, not two.

doctorwhotv.co.uk

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