Author Archives: Anjani Iman

Deception #12

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Deception has returned after a two week break between episodes 5 and 6 of the first season. Episode 6, entitled “Black Art,” received a .6 in a 3 share with 3.38 million total viewers. Deception stacked up on Sunday at 10pm against Madam Secretary on CBS and Timeless on NBC.

The competition between these shows is somewhat fierce. Madam Secretary and Deception share very similar ratings and shares. Both received the same .6 in 3 share this past Sunday. However, the CBS Sunday hit show raked in nearly double the amount of total viewers.

Over at 30 Rock, the NBC show based on science fiction time travel struggles to compete in the Sunday time slot. Timeless received a .5 in a 2 share, with 2.36 million total viewers, a full million fewer than the ABC competition.

Madam Secretary has a leg up as it is already on season 4. Whether Deception is picked up for a second season is still in question. Once we know the answer, audiences will find it easier to know which Sunday show will make it out on top.

Deception #11

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Episode 6 of Deception, ABC’s new magic-crime-action drama, did not air this past Sunday, April 15th, 2018 as scheduled due to a special that aired on ABC. “James Comey: ABC News Interview” raked in a 1.7 in a 7 share with 9.87 million total viewers. This was a timely and necessary move made by ABC executives for the Sunday evening, 10PM timeslot.

Comey, former FBI director under the Trump administration, released his book that criticized Trump’s practices in the White House earlier last week. The interview aired on Sunday and led scaled the ABC network average to a 1.3 in a 5 share, with 7.17 million viewers total.

Deception will air normally next Sunday, with the finale airing two days afterwards, an abnormal timeslot, Tuesday.

Deception #10

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The fifth episode of ABC’s Deception, “Masking,” holds its lowest rating and total viewers of the first season. According to TV By The Numbers, the magician-turned-FBI-agent crime drama series scored a .7 in a 3 share, and 3.7 million viewers overall. In true hockey stick formation, the show has dropped from a 5.9 to around 4, and now down to 3.7. The series has ceased to be downward adjusted which shows some stability.

Ilfanesh Hadera (@ilfenator) took over the @DeceptionABC instagram for Sunday’s premiere. The attempt to connect audiences to the actors of the show, especially the lesser known actress, did not increase average likes. Hadera’s “takeover” posts received around 600 likes on average, while the instagram usually rakes in around 900-1,000 likes.

Hadera only made her acting debut in 2010. The Ethiopian-European actress is most well-known for her role in Baywatch. However, the actress has 181K followers, which is vastly more than the series’ 5.5K followers. Instead of the series moving followers to Hadera, it might just be the other way around.

Deception #9

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The Sunday, April 1st premiere of the fourth episode of ABC’s “Deception” came up a tenth of a point in adults 18-49, to reach a 0.8 rating in a 3 share. The episode entitled ‘Divination’ had 4 million total viewers. The network average for ABC is a 1.2 rating in a 5 share, and 5.82 million viewers for this past Sunday. This is the first week that “Deception” has not been downward adjusted since the show’s premiere date on March 11th.

The producer of the show, David Kwong (@davidkwong), is clearly the most prevalent on social media, showing his passion in magic and dedication for his new show. Aside from being one of the crossword constructors for the New York Times, Kwong reveals many of character Cameron Black’s (Jack Cutmore Scott) magic tricks from the show, with help of Francis (@MenottiMagic). Whether that is more popular among magicians, whose potential tricks might be revealed, or viewers, whose curiosity may be satisfied, is undetermined. What shows, regardless, is his driving interest and experience in magic.

 

Deception #8

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Season one of ABC’s Deception continues with episode 2, “Forced Perspective”, and episode 3, “Escapology” premiering on the past two Sundays at 10 p.m. The second episode focuses more on Cameron Black’s vendetta against the criminals who have framed his brother and ruined the twins’ careers as illusionists. Relationships between Black and the FBI team, especially Kay Daniels, progress, making the series deeper than just magic tricks. Episode 3 covers an art museum heist that gives rest from the underlying plot of the Black twins’ revenge.

Rotten Tomatoes’ Audience Score for Deception shows 77% liked it. There has not been a consensus yet, but the Tomatometer shows a 63%.

According to TV By The Numbers, Episode 2, which premiered on March 18th, received a .8 rating in a 3 share, with 3.97 million total viewers. Episode 3, which premiered on March 25th, received a .7 rating in a 3 share, with 3.86 total viewers. Bother were higher rated than Timeless on NBC which aired during the same time slot. Deception has had downward adjustments in adults 18-49.

Deception #7

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ABC’s Deception premiered on Sunday, March 11 at 10PM. According to TV By The Numbers, the premiere adjusted down a tenth to 1.2 in adults 18-49 in a share of 5. This was at its regular time slot of 10PM. Deception goes up against Timeless on NBC and Madam Secretary on CBS. It received the highest rating at 10PM among those shows. Deception accumulated 5.93 million viewers. The network average of total viewers for ABC is 8.21 million to give you some perspective.

The premiere itself was graded an A for Awesome by 36% of TVLine.com readers, and 35% for B, Very Good. The pilot itself was interesting and details of the protagonist Cameron Black’s failed career as a magician were revealed. The episode ends by establishing a stable antagonist character who framed Black’s twin brother that he worked alongside in performance tricks.

Deception #6

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It’s no secret that the stars of the new crime drama are not A-list celebrities. That is not to say that they are not the best actors for the roles. Sometimes, a fresh face can bring an unbiased and surprising love for a new show.

The @DeceptionABC Twitter account is following only 10 people–the producers, the stars, and the ABC network Twitter account. Interestingly enough, the two stars of the show, Jack Cutmore-Scott and Ilfenesh Hadera are the only accounts followed that are not verified. Justin Chon, a writer, actor, producer, and internet celebrity, is verified and he is not even the lead of the show.

The producers and writers are expected to have a professional and respected social media presence, even if many of them have not tweeted since 2017. The two stars of the show, Cutmore-Scott and Hadera should make more of an effort to interact with potential audiences and promote the upcoming series themselves.

Being a TV actor comes with being personable, especially with fans. Hopefully once the show begins next Sunday, the fans will tweet at them and encourage the actors to connect with them.

Deception #5

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With just a week until the premiere of the new combination magic and crime series, Deception, the marketing team is enhancing its social media presence. Its Twitter presence embraces meme-culture with GIFs of the stills of the show and humorous captions, in hopes that the ability to relate to the show will improve retweets.

More boomerangs are reposted on Instagram and Twitter as well as more formal Facebook posts. The essence of the social media posts show that the team is appealing to a younger demographic–A18-49.

Next Sunday, March 11th on ABC, we will be able to see if this social media presence has paid off.

Deception #4

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by Anjani Iman

Though “Deception” has not released many teasers or promos for the upcoming premiere date of March 11, that is not to say that the creators of the show have not made appearances at high-profile events–i.e. New York Comic Con 2017.

The panel at NYCC17 featured the executive producers Chris Fedak and Martin Gero as well as the co-stars Jack Cutmore-Scott and Ilfenesh Hadera. You can read more on their repertoire in my last blog post linked here.

Gero said that the series may be dubbed “Magician Impossible” with the stakes of the main character’s illusions running high and possibly costing people’s lives.

Gero also uncovered that he used to be a birthday magician, having been obsessed with magic and David Copperfield specials since he was very young.

The full list of EPs includes: Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, David Nutter, Chris Fedak, and of course, Martin Gero. The production companies involved with the making of “Deception” are Berlanti Productions, Quinn’s House, and Warner Bros. Television.

“Deception” will premiere on Sunday, March 11 at 10/9C on ABC.

Deception #3

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by Anjani Iman

With the premiere of ABC’s new crime drama, “Deception”, less than a month away, its marketing team is pushing social media with more force. The target demo for the new series is A18-49, so its social media presence is important for its success.

Unsurprisingly, the show is most prevalent and popular on Facebook as it is the #1 leading social media site in the world. On FB, the page rakes in 22,429 likes and posts with a wider variety of multimedia ranging from articles to livestreams (by ABC Television Network, not “Deception”) to promo videos.

On Twitter, the series’ second most prioritized social media, the account is just shy of one thousand followers, a huge difference from Facebook. This social media account reposts a lot of the stars and producers’ Twitter content, as well as Boomerangs from Instagram. On the whole, the account is weaker than Facebook and less personal.

The weakest link for “Deception” is their instagram, which has even lagged on the logo rebrand that is prevalent on Twitter and Facebook. There are only 8 posts and just over 700 followers.

Social media does not seem to be a driving force for the “Deception” series, whether that is the folly of the social media/marketing team or simply not a priority for the producers and development team.

“Deception” will premiere on Sunday, March 11 at 10/9c on ABC.