Author Archives: Tejah Robinson

Black Lighting #12 – Streaming on Netflix

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Throughout the premiere season of Black Lightning, The CW has consistently advertised streaming platforms where new episodes could be watched. On Twitter/Instagram accounts for the show, the cast, and writers, advertisements for The CW’s online streaming service occurred weekly. Now that the season has ended, there is a new approach to advertising streaming services for the show that includes Netflix.

Only a week after the final episode aired on April 17th, the entire season 1 of Black Lighting was available on Netflix only in the US and UK. It appears that the network planned this to happen after the success of the show on the network, drawing in a constant viewership of .5 for audiences 18-49.

The CW also has a good relationship with Netflix where most of their original shows are available and consistently updated every season (in the US). For Black Lightning, it will be interesting to follow how viewership changes considering the first season will be available until season 2 premieres.

Sources:

http://comicbook.com/dc/2018/04/25/black-lightning-season-1-streaming-netflix/

Black Lightning released on Netflix TODAY – what is the DC Comics series about and who is in the cast?

 

Black Lighting – Series Finale

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This Tuesday, April 17th, the season finale of Black Lighting will premiere. As promised, this will be the show’s 13th episode, and it is titled “Shadow of Death: The Book of War”. With the closing of the season 1, the show has proven their spot on The CW. With a constant rating of .5 for audiences 18-49 and a share of 2, Black Lighting is the third most-watched show on The CW (only a .01 difference from Supernatural).

With the renewal of the second season, The CW has many options on how they choose to continue to promote and increase viewership of the series. As mentioned before, the cast and well-known writers of the show completed serval interviews months before the premiere. They however mainly focused on gaining audiences already interested in comic book characters and to the Black community. For the future of the show, there may have to be different areas/demographics that the network chooses to focus their marketing strategies.

This upcoming summer will be a critical time for the network, especially considering the close of season 1.

Sources:

CW 2017-18 Season Ratings (updated 4/17/18)

 

Black Lightning #10 – Past Promotional Success

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Before the premiere of Black Lightning, the cast and writers of the show interviewed on several news shows and magazine platforms. This is an expected marketing strategy for series before their 1st season on a network. However, Black Lighting heavily focused their promotions in 2 primary demographics: African Americans and comic book fans. Prior to the show’s premiere, the cast and writers all conducted serval interviews at the 2017 Comic Con and several interviewed with Black-owned news outlets.

Essence Magazine held interviews with each cast member regarding the show and their thoughts about being a Black superhero. Throughout the article, the author stresses the importance of having a Black-centered show on television. As I have mentioned before, the show received attention for breaking records such as being the first show to show a Black female, lesbian superhero.

In July of 2017, the cast and writers of Black Lighting interviewed with a variety of companies at the Comic-Con International Festival in San Diego. Hollywood Reporter, Variety, CNet, and Deadline are just a few of the news compies that reported on Black Lighting and shared interviews with the main character and Samil and Mara Akil (the shows writers).

Sources:

http://www.etonline.com/tv/222204_exclusive_black_lightning_cast_opens_up_about_being_the_first_black_superhero_family_on_the_cw

https://www.essence.com/entertainment/black-lightning-cast-exclusive

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIUQXLny1nU

Black Lighting #9 – Renewed for Season 2

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Monday, April 2nd The CW announced renewals for 10 series for the fall of 2018. That list includes Black Lightning, Supernatural, and the other DC Comic series and excludes iZombie, Life Sentence, and The 100. Along with the announcement of the ordered shows, The CW also shared that they will be expanding their original programming from Sunday-Friday nights.

This will be important in how the network considers scheduling their fall shows considering Black Lightning and Dynasty, both debut series on the renewal list. As I have mentioned before, Black Lightning aires during a popular time with shows including Blackish, This is Us, and Bull. With a consistent audience, The CW may consider how to gain a wider live audience.

Research by the network should be conducted to see if the audience demographics for the competing shows relates to the consistent audiences of Black Lightning. If there is a connection, The CW may consider how they can profit from a larger audience if it doesn’t have a huge competition night. We will have those answers in May when The CW releases its programming schedule for the fall.

Sources:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/riverdale-flash-supernatural-10-cw-renewals-1098997

http://www.tvguide.com/news/the-cw-fall-2018-schedule-supernatural-the-100-izombie/

Black Lightning # 8 – Streaming Services

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As Black Lightning continues, The CW and Black Lightning’s social media accounts are taking advantage of the show to promote their streaming services. In 2016, The CW released its own streaming service with the slogan “No login. No Subscription. Just FREE.” The site offers a way to stream The CW shows on Roku, Chromecast, AirPlay, Apple TV, Xbox, and Amazon Fire TV. There are also likes for the app on IOS and Android devices. According to TechCrunch.com, the network also allows Netflix to stream their scripted shows including all the DC comic series.

Since the premiere of Black Lighting, the Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook account for the show weekly post about streaming past episodes. This appears to be the main subject for posts made by the show’s official accounts.

I have mentioned before, the cast and writers of the show have a strong social media presence that mainly advertises the live shows. When looking at the other shows based on DC Comics, the social media accounts appear to have the same tactic. The CW does not have high live ratings compared to shows on ABC, FOX, and NBC, so their main goals with advertisings their shows are focused on streaming. More research will need to be conducted to compare The CW’s streaming views of their shows such as Black Lightning.

Sources:

http://www.cwtv.com/thecw/the-cw-app

The CW goes after cord cutters with its own free, cross-platform streaming service

 

Black Lightning #7 – Powerhouse Show

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As Black Lightning continues its first season, the show has proved to be a huge success for  The CW. According to TV by the Numbers, the show consistently pulls in a steady viewership of .5 and a 2 share, just a .2 difference from the networks leading show The Flash. TV Series Final averages the show’s constant viewership at 1.8 million for viewers 18-49, which makes it the third most viewed show on The CW behind The Flash and Supergirl.

This is important to notice considering both The Flash and Supergirl have a year to year change in viewership of  -16.82% and -15.50%. The CW’s top shows are decreasing in their viewership and it is important to consider how Black Lighting will help them pull in a larger and consistent audience (especially since it is a DC Comic storyline).

These numbers will be crucial to the progression of Black Lighting and how The CW plans to continue growing their overall viewership.

 

Sources:

CW 2017-18 Season Ratings (updated 3/27/18)

TV Ratings Tuesday: ‘Rise’ holds up in week 2, ABC comedies improve

Black Lightning #6: Tuesday Night Competition

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After special programming, this year shows on every network are settling into their scheduled times for the remainder of this season. With that being said, every premiere of a new episode of Black Lighting is in heavy competition with popular shows on other networks. At 9:00 p.m., NBC’s This is Us, CBS’s Bull, FOX’s LA to Vegas, and ABC’s Black-ish air and are proving to be huge competition for Black Lighting.

This past Tuesday, February 27th gives a sense of the how viewership and share of these shows will most likely continue to have in weeks to come. This is Us and Bull are in the lead with a 2.5 and 1.1 viewership for adults 18-49 and a share of 9 and 4. Although having a re-run episode, Black-ish ties La to Vegas with a .7 rating for adults 18-49 and a 3 share.

Although strong in ratings for The CW, Black Lighting only had a .5 rating for adults 18-49 and a share of 2. With heavy competition on Tuesday nights but still staying strong, it will be interesting to see if The CW renews the show and places it on another night where they can demand higher audience ratings.

Sources:

TV Ratings Tuesday: ‘The Flash’ ties series low, NBC down but still on top

TV Ratings Tuesday: ‘Black Lightning’ solid vs. Olympics, ‘Bachelor Winter Games’ has so-so debut

TV Ratings Tuesday: ‘This Is Us’ gets no Super Bowl bump, ‘Chicago Med’ ties season high

Black Lightning #5 – Cast Advertisements

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As Black Lightning took a week break, the stars and famous writers of the show are ramping up on advertising. I have mentioned before how the cast of the show has taken a lead role in the advertisement of the new series. We a one week break from airing new episodes, The CW’s star characters and writers posted various advertisements urging their followers to watch the episode live. When viewing different social media platforms, it seems as though Instagram and Twitter are the main tools used by the cast and crew. When averaging the total followers of China Anne McClain, Cress Williams, Nafessa Williams, Christine Adams, and Krondon they alone reach over 4 million people on Instagram.

According to TV by the numbers, the show stays consistent with its 0.5 rating after a week off due to the Winter Olympics. The constant advertisements of the show from the cast and crew seem to aid in the steady viewership of new episodes.

 

Black Lightning – The Affects of the Winter Olympics #4

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As the Winter Olympics continues to air, networks are making the decision to hold off on airing new episodes of their premiere shows. The CW is among this group that chose to skip airing a new episode of Black Lighting for this week (February 20th). Black Lighting had a drop in rating’s last week (February 13th) from 0.8 to 0.5 for viewers 18-49. The Flash also experienced a similar drop that same night. The decision to skip this week is a good strategy for The CW to maintain good ratings of their premiere shows/episodes.

On the other hand, The CW has turned their social media aim towards advertising other ways to watch Black Lighting. This may allow for the show to continue to gain viewers on other streaming sites and applications. Roku, Amazon Fire Tv, and The CW app are just a few of the services highlighted on The Cw’s social media pages.  With special programming continuing of the Winter Olympics, The CW is using their opportunity to advertise the other streaming sites that allow for viewers to watch their shows.

Black Lightning – Crossover Contender #3

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Before the premiere of Black Lightning, several articles and news stories were written that speculated the possibility of the series doing a crossover with the other DC comic series on the CW. Mark Pedowitz, the current president of CW Television Network, stated in May of 2017 that the Black Lightning world would be separete from the other series known as the “Arrowverse”. They claim that the network at this time is not planning on doing a five way cross over.

Now that the show was premiered, there has been no word from the network if there is a change in that original plan. According to TV Line, Black Lightning is the networks best series launch in 2 years (since Legends of Tomorrow, one of the hit DC comic crossover shows). With the show’s constant ratings between a .8 and .6 with viewers 18-49, the network may have reason to re-consider there initial response.

 

Sources:

So, Is Black Lightning In the Arrowverse?

http://tvline.com/2018/01/17/black-lightning-ratings-season-1-premiere-cw/