Fringe being killed by "TV Glut" on Thurs.

Television, Movies Games and Books Other Science Fiction
#1

From io9.com article here.

			[b][u][TV Glut Is Killing Your Favorite TV Shows](http://io9.com/5384033/tv-glut-is-killing-your-favorite-tv-shows)[/u][/b]

			 	   		 			 		
	 	   		 			 			[IMG]http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/8/2009/10/thumb160x_fringe.jpg[/IMG]Fox's [i]Fringe[/i] is suffering in the ratings for its second season. But is that because of the show itself, or does it have more to do with the night it's broadcast on?
 							The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibbard has a theory that Thursdays are just too full of programs aimed at the same audience to give [i]Fringe[/i] a fair chance in its new timeslot:

[W]hen you look at what’s on the night, you have two of the coolest soaps (“Grey’s Anatomy” and “Vampire Diaries”). You have the two arguably hippest crime procedurals — “Fringe” and CBS’ “The Mentalist.” You have two of the most fashionable comedies, NBC’s “The Office” and “30 Rock.” And you have the most geek-friendly freshman drama, “FlashForward.” Also crowding things is “Survivor,” a highly rated show fans tend to watch the night it airs lest they’re spoiled the next day. This doesn’t read like a single-night’s lineup, it’s like a list of Entertainment Weekly cover stories. Very contemporary, wholly or semi-serialized, blog-friendly shows. And there’s only so many titles a viewer will watch in a single night.
Hibbard argues that this has mix of programming is arguably the reason behind Fringe’s fall in ratings this season:
The idea to put “Fringe” here was sound: “Grey’s” and “CSI” and “The Office” are slipping. There’s an opportunity to put a new sheriff in town. This move wasn’t Fox devaluing “Fringe,” this is Fox showing faith in “Fringe.” But then ABC and The CW and CBS put their new cool shows on Thursday too.
Thursday isn’t the only night this is happening; Friday sees Stargate Universe air at the same time as Dollhouse, with the younger-skewing, but still geek-friendly Star Wars: The Clone Wars showing on Cartoon Network. So what’s the answer? Moving shows around, timeslot-wise? Investing in more DVRs or watching them online? Or dropping shows because nobody can watch everything…?
Did Fox blunder moving ‘Fringe’ to overstuffed Thursdays? [THR Live Feed]

											Send an email to Graeme McMillan, the author of this post, at [EMAIL="graeme@io9.com"]graeme@io9.com[/EMAIL].
#2

I have to agree that a newer show has a hard time with some many older, loyal fans not wanting to change what they watch on thursdays. I guess if the only way to keep a show alive is have the top rating of the night, lets change the time slot to 7pm mondays, can’t think of another show that kills in that time slot.

#3

I’m really hoping that FOX moves Fringe. Right now I’m DVR’ing it & CSI (which I’ve watched from the beginning and still entertains even if it isn’t what it once was). I generally watch Flash Forward and Survivor live. Survivor is one show that we like to watch with our kids–they get a kick out of the challenges and guessing who will get voted off from week to week.

I’d like to see Fringe move to help its ratings. It’s a great show with great characters. I look forward to watching it every week. In fact, it’s honestly better than Flash Forward. I’m not sure why I’m bothering to watch FF live. Maybe I should switch my allegiance. I’ve got a whole other post about why FF isn’t really “watercooler” TV. The thing is, I know that I’m probably among the minority that feels that way and meanwhile, Fringe is losing in the ratings. The best solution at this point in time is to switch it to another night, where it can stand on its own two legs and outshine all other shows around it.

#4

They should have renamed the article ‘Competition is killing your favorite tv shows.’ If Fringe was a better show(subjectively speaking), it wouldnt be slumping.

#5

Isn’t it amazing that we finally have more then one show a week that is worth watching, and it is being perceived as a problem.

I agree that the show that has the best story and is the most gripping will not only hold its audience but will pull people from the lesser shows.

I also think the bright shining thing in that article is that they only mention 1 reality show. Don’t lose track of the fact that this dawning of the cool scifi age of TV, is happen at the demise of the “main stream reality” show craze.

thank the lords of Kobal.

#6

I’m probably in the smallest minority, but I just try not to watch anything on Fox (my only exceptions are Dollhouse and SCC [waffling on football]). I’ve never seen Fringe and only one episode of House and Bones (I liked both), but I’d probably watch them if they were on another network.

I do find it ironic Fox has more of the decent shows like 24, Bones, etc.

#7

Yup, sure is great. I wonder though what brought about the shift from heavy reality programming back to scripted TV. I guess people are bored of it(reality shows)? I dont think reality tv will ever go away but Id prefer it to be a niche market as opposed to all pervasive.

As to Fringe, I imagine they moved it because they had confidence it would siphon viewers from other ‘top’ shows. If it doesnt(but still holds) Fox may very well put it back or move it to another, less contentious, timeslot.

#8

Trying to remember the last show I actually watched that was on broadcast TV.