Picking up Cancelled TV Shows, Nielsens and How Streaming has Changed TV

[DramatistDreamer]

Just a warning that this discussion at the Paley Center was quite lengthy. I wish I could condense the video but it was take a bit of work that I don't want to do.

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Debra Lee of BET did offer some interesting nuggets, some of which I wasn't aware of some of which I already knew.

I already posted her about interest in Underground in the dedicated thread but cancelled shows (on air and online) are a big topic of discussion as well as the murky ratings system that determines their fates.

 

One thing that stood out from this discussion was that Debra Lee discussed how networks that produce shows get little to no credit for time-shift viewing.

For example, one of theshows that BET produces Being Mary Jane, itself a cancelled show from CW, has the first few seasons streaming on Netflix.  

According to Lee, BET only gets "credit" for the show when it does it's first run on BET (during "appointment viewing) during the regular weekly timeslot. The show/producer does not get "credit" when people binge-watch the series on Netflix.   

* my question was what about cord-cutters and never cable people who only use Roku/Netflix/Hulu?*

She also made it sound as if BET didn't get much benefit from DVR viewings since people often skip the commercials, which is how TV shows pay for themselves. 

 

Lee also griped somewhat about the Nielsen system being stuck in her opinion. I was surprised that she only recently learned how the Nielsen system worked. Having spent a brief amount of time being a "Nielsen Family", I can agree that the system is antiquated and needs to recognize the various ways in which we watch shows. (TV, online, DVR, etc).

I was 'offered' the chance to do Nielsen for online viewing but I found the apparatus more intrusive and cumbersome than I liked with having to install software instead of say, inserting a removeable flash drive or opening and closing a window in a browser.

 

Oh well, here is the discussion if your interested.  Also, I'd love to hear thoughts on any or all of this.