Category Archives: Spring 2018

Deception #2

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by Anjani Iman

The premiere date of ABC’s new crime drama, “Deception,” is still a month away on March 11 at 10p. With no viewership ratings to go off of, I will be exploring the stars that make up the show.

Jack Cuttmore-Scott is the series’ star, playing magician-turned-FBI-agent Cameron Black. He is a British actor known for playing Cooper Barrett in “Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life”. He also had a role in the blockbuster film, “Kingsman: The Secret Service.” Could this ABC crime drama be a breakout role for Jack Cuttmore-Scott leading to more film? My guess is that he’s found that TV is his place, and he’ll most likely stay there.

Ilfenesh Hadera is the take-charge FBI agent turned magician’s assistant, though really, Cameron Black is her assistant. She is only known for Baywatch (2017), Old Boy (2013) and Billions (2016). I’m excited to see yet another strong and intelligent female role on such a huge network as ABC. It will be interesting to see her reinvent her previous roles as a generally attractive actress.

A secondary character that led me to follow this show is Justin Chon, playing Jordan Kwon. He was raised in my city of Irvine, California and went to my high school, but this hometown patriotism is not to say that he isn’t full of pure talent and drive. He’s already acted, directed and produced several of his own films, which feature his friends from the digital sphere on YouTube–Gook (2017), Man Up (2015) and 21 & Over (2013). Needless to say, I can’t wait to see him on ABC.

Alex, Inc. (2)

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ABC’s Alex, Inc. holds the 8:30 timeslot on Wednesdays in its inaugural season. With this timeslot, the program competes head-to-head with, among other shows, CW’s Riverdale and CBS’ Survivor. Through one full season, Riverdale averages about a 1 rating. This is a solid performance by a CW show, but it still leaves room for Alex, Inc. to achieve success. Furthermore, while Survivor used to garner incredibly high ratings during its prime, the program is no longer the behemoth that it once was. Again, this illustrates that Alex, Inc.’s timeslot is not dominated by a particular show. It is also notable that Alex, Inc. will not have to compete with The Blacklist, the relatively popular NBC show that usually holds the same timeslot. The program will have finished its series of new episodes before Alex, Inc. begins its run on ABC. Because the aforementioned shows do not achieve enormous ratings, Alex, Inc. has an opportunity to contend in the 8:30 Wednesday timeslot.

The Resident #2

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I decided to watch “The Resident” on Fox.com to analyze the advertising and to see if that can tell me anything about who Fox is trying to target. Since I am watching digitally, there are fewer commercials. There are five commercials in total. The first commercial at 12:10, but it skipped right through. At 20:53 I received the option to select one ad or multiple ads. First I watched a heartwarming commercial for Nationwide that felt family oriented. Next up was a Verizon commercial. Then a Hidden Valley Ranch “without ranch, pizza is naked” advertisement. Then a Royal Caribbean ad. I would then assume “The Resident” is trying to advertise to adults with families, which is why the 18-49 audience makes sense. Finally, Showtime showcased its original drama “Homeland”. I found this ad odd since Showtime is owned by CBS Corporation, not Fox. On the next commercial break I selected the “one ad” option. FoxNow asked me questions to make my ad experience more relevant by selecting my gender and age. It asked me about children, pets, housing, vehicles, entertainment, if I buy the latest technology and gadgets, if I travel, and if I want to watch ads in Spanish. I find it fascinating that the technology to target audiences and enhance the viewer ad experience exists.

Life Sentence #2

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With the premiere date approaching, CW’s Life Sentence, created by Erin Cardillo, Richard Keith, is stepping up their game with promotions.  While having a twitter account since January of 2017, a Facebook account Instagram account created around the same time, and actors from the show tweeting, the shows social media presence is ever growing. Actress, Lucy Hale, is consistently sharing photos from set on her personal Instagram and twitter to promote the show to her already consistent fan base. CW also released new promotional trailers this past week.

While looking at the facts of the show, one needs to look at the upcoming competition. The television listings showcase that Life Sentence will be competing with shows like Law and Order: SVU on NBC, Relative Success with Tabatha on Bravo, Guy’s Grocery Games on Food Network, Property Brothers on HGTV. Along with these comes the ever growing popular online service programs, and reruns being shown on television as well.

Check out the website for video links! http://www.cwtv.com/shows/life-sentence/life-got-real-trailer/?play=76ffa236-9b7a-475e-b886-167b98c5c44f

Alex, Inc. (1)

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The two primary names behind ABC’s “Alex Inc.” are Zach Braff, who stars and directs the show, and Matt Tarses, who created and writes the program. Both also hold producer credits (Nguyen). This is not Braff and Tarses’ first creative endeavor together, as the two partnered for the comedy series “Scrubs,” which aired for nine seasons, splitting time on both NBC and ABC. While the success of Scrubs cannot be blindly used to predict the potential success of Alex Inc., it is still notable that the partnership of Tarses and Braff has paid off in the past. At the show’s peak in season two, it achieved an impressive average of 15.94 million viewers per week, giving it a 10.28 rating and a 7.9 rating for the 18-49 demographic (Consoli). While the show would eventually decline in ratings, switch networks, and get cancelled, Scrubs was a tremendous success during its prime. Given the promotion for Alex Inc., the new ABC show appears to be less edgy than Scrubs, yet the network clearly hopes to regain the spark that Braff and Tarses’ partnership can bring.

 

 

Work Cited:

Consoli, John. “A Look at the Good Ol’ Days of Broadcast Primetime TV: You Know, 2003.” Broadcasting & Cable, 14 Mar. 2013, www.broadcastingcable.com/news/news-articles/look-good-ol-days-broadcast-primetime-tv-you-know-2003/114241.

Nguyen, Hanh. “’Alex, Inc.’ Trailer: Zach Braff Is Back in Business on TV – Watch.” IndieWire, 16 May 2017, www.indiewire.com/2017/05/alex-inc-trailer-zach-braff-abc-1201817372/.e

Grammy Awards

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An Overview of The Show

The 60th Annual Grammy Awards was held on Sunday, January 28th 2018 at Madison Square Garden by the CBS network–the first time since 2003 that the Grammys were not held in Los Angeles. The Grammys aired at 7:30 EST, hosted by late night television host James Corden for the second year in a row.

Kendrick Lamar opened with a compelling performance with the American flag and men in fatigues and ski masks as backup dancers. U2 and comedian Dave Chapelle joined in, with Chapelle saying the most quoteable line of the night–“The only thing more frightening than watching a black man be honest in America is being an honest black man in America. Sorry for the interruption.”

Ke$ha supported the #MeToo movement clad in all white during a performance alongside Cyndi Lauper, Bebe Rexha, Andra Day, and others. Janelle Monae made a direct tribute in her speech to the Time’s Up movement.

Politics were highly addressed at the 60th annual awards. Hillary Clinton appeared in a video reading an excerpt from “Fire and Fury”. Camila Cabello made a timely tribute to Dreamers in the midst of Trump’s reform DACA.

 

The Winners

Kendrick Lamar and Rihanna accepted the first Grammy of the broadcast for “Loyalty” as best rap/sung performance.

Ed Sheeran won Best Solo Performance for his song “Shape of You”. Following speeches by Kesha and Janelle Monae, Sheeran was met with boo’s despite his generally agreeable demeanor and presence in the music industry.

Bruno Mars dominated the award show, accepting the Grammy Award for album of the year (24K Magic), song of the year (That’s What I like) and record of the year (24K Magic).

 

The Ratings

The Grammys have a key demographic of A18-49 and reached 19.81 million viewers with a 5.9 rating on January 28th, down a full 24% from 2017’s February viewership number. This was the lowest viewership a ceremony CBS has received since 2009. Even so, the 2018 Grammys were the most watched primetime entertainment show since the 2017 Oscars. (Deadline)

Metered market ratings were 12.7/21, worse than early returns suggested. It fell 20% from the early returns for the 59th annual Grammys, which had 26 million viewers and a 7.8 rating among the same demo A18-49.

The unique viewers on the livestream of the Grammys was up 40% over last year’s telecast, however. The Sunday had the second-highest sign-up day for CBS All Access. The big boost stemmed from the streaming service offering a live stream of the event on its service. This is especially helpful to the millennial and/or cord-cutting population who do not have cable and focus on SVODs. Unique viewers and subscriber sign-ups reached record numbers for the CBS service. This could also be due to the airdate for a highly anticipated episode of “Star Trek: Discovery” that is only streamed on All Access.

 

Social Media

Nielsen reported that the 60th Grammys was the most social TV event this year. If we look at the mobile app store, the CBS app rank in free apps was at #325, according to Sensor Tower. After the awards show, the app’s rank jumped up to #89 among free iPhone apps in the US, just 5 below the very popular dating app, Tinder. (Tech Crunch)

The Twittersphere reacted to much of the poltiical aspects to had negative reactions to the delay of the delay of the red carpet precursor to the awards ceremony, due to delays in programming.

 

Programming and Competitive

CBS had aired the 2018 Farmer’s Insurance Open on Sunday night. The golf tournament ran into the Grammys’ red carpet’s scheduled time, which yielded backlash on Twitter and social media. (Business Insider)

CBS assured users that the Grammys would still air at 7:30p.m., but many on Twitter in their key demographic were unable to view a much red carpet celebrity fashion. The Farmer’s Insurance Open already had a delayed airtime as the Michigan State and University of Maryland basketball game went into overtime. Although overtime in sports can be often unpredictable, we can only fault the program planning team at network for the adverse effects on the highly anticipated red carpet fashion show.

As for competitive, there was not much up against the 7:30pm CBS special. Premieres included Real Housewives of Atlanta on Bravo, Sister Wives on TLC, and Beachfront Bargain Hunt on HGTV. None of these shows even compare to the gravity of the Grammys.

 

Advertising and Sponsorship

Procter & Gamble aired an “oddball and bizarre” ad for the Old Spice deodorant and its target consumers, male A18-34. The ad agency Wieden + Kennedy produced the campaign that features a suave gentleman talking to women about “the man your man could smell like.”

The ad was broadcast entirely in French, with a woman crying of a loss of someone relating to Old Spice. The company’s marketing director sought to generate buzz for this huge media opportunity. According to a media buyer, CBS sought roughly $1 million for a 30-second spot during the Grammys. For that money, the ad really needs to make impressions. (Variety)

While the Grammys hit a huge viewership decline, its advertising revenue remains strong. CBS made $81.1 million in national TV revenue. Last year they earned $81.4 million,
Big advertisers include Target ($7.8 million), Lincoln Mercury ($5.8 million), Google Phones ($3.9 million), Uber ($3.9 million) and Warner Bros ($3.5 million).

Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies

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An Over view of The Show

The 23rd Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony was held on Friday, February 9th, 2018 in PyeongChang, South Korea. NBC network aired the ceremony, and is set to air the entirety of the games. The ceremonies aired at 8 PM EST.  Mike Tirico, a Newhouse alumni, and Katie Couric hosted the Opening games. The event was streamed live to the network, but was aired on tape-delay with commentary from the hosts.

The ceremony opened with a showcase of the popular U.S. Olympic team members, Lindsey Vonn and Shawn White. It went into the stories from the towns across the U.S. and across the world. This was to showcase to the viewers that the athletes were normal people, competing in the competition of their lives. It showcased snapshots of their stories.

There was a political presence at the opening ceremony. Mike Pence was in attendance to lead the U.S. with guest Fred Warmbier, the father of Otto Warmbier, the student imprisoned for months in North Korea. Kim Yo-Jong, Kim Jong-Un’s sister, was also in attendance, the first member of the family to visit South Korea.

Those Who Stole the Show

South Korean gold medalist figure skater, Yuna Kim, lit the Olympic Cauldron to start of the ceremony.

The Parade of Nations alway takes over the show. Each nation came out with flag in hand and a display of the population number and number of athletes competing.  

Something that stole the show was when North and South Korea walked out during the Parade of Nations as a group.

Imagine by John Lennon was performed was performed by 4 popular Korean musicians with the outline of a dove being created by candles.

There was also the use of augmented reality during the ceremony that only the viewers at home were able to see. There was a dome of constellations and added elements to events that added a visual effect that those watching at home were only able to see. Virtual reality was also incorporated into the ceremony to display the advancing technology that is taking over the world. Drones were also used to depict the olympic rings, a snowboarder and the follow athletes down the mountain. This was sponsored by intel and it was the first use of drones at the games.

The popular Tonga flag bearer was back during for this ceremony, which was a fan favorite during the previous Olympics.

Portions of the show were pre-recorded to ensure that that the weather conditions were good for the showcase at the opening ceremony.

The Ratings and the Competition

The opening ceremony at the Winter Olympics adjusted up from its initial ratings Friday, pulling in strong numbers. While strong, it wasn’t as strong as the 2014 Winter Games.

NBC’s broadcast adjusted its initial numbers up 0.8 in the 18-49 group, changing to a 6.5 rating. It also brought in  27.84 million viewers, which is off 24 percent among the 18-49 demographic and 12 percent overall from 2014. While this is true, the ceremony did beat the total viewer figure, 26.7 million, for the 2016 Summer Olympics opening.

The viewership peaked between 9:00-9:15 PM. This was when the U.S. olympic team entered  the arena. The top local markets for the broadcast were: Salt Lake City, Denver, San Diego, Seattle, Sacramento, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, West Palm Beach, and Buffalo

The Olympic Opening Ceremonies went up against various shows throughout the three hour time slot it took up. From 8-9 PM, the ceremonies was up against Big Brother: Celebrity Edition on CBS, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown on ABC, Who Shot Biggie and Tupac? on FOX, and Crazy Ex Girlfriend on the CW.  From 9-10pm there was Child Support on ABC and Jane the Virgin on the CW. from 10-11pm there was 20/20 on ABC and Bull on CBS.

Social Media

#PyeongChang2018, #WinterOlympics, #OpeningCeremony and #Olympics were all popular Twitter hashtags on Friday night, with viewers tweeting their favorite moments, funny moments, and notable moments.

There was a political outbreak that followed the ceremony on social media. People are also reacting now on social media towards Mike Pence not standing during the opening ceremony. People are tweeting about how Pence sat during the Korean entrance during the Parade of Nations. Sen. Chris Murphy tweeted about how Pence had made statements about kneeling during NFL games, yet sat during the entrance of Korea.

Advertising and Sponsorship

NBC showcased less advertisements during the opening ceremony this year, changing up the normal advertisement model. Dan Lovinger, evp of ad sales, NBC Sports Group, explained that the decision to feature 30 percent less than the Rio telecast did: “It’s not because of the feedback specifically, but because we wanted to create a more continuous viewing opportunity, and we thought it was important,” said Lovinger. While there was a cut back in advertisements, NBC took in over $900 million in sales for the games.

The opening ceremony was sponsored to the viewers by Carnival, Peloton, the 15.17 to Paris (film), Chevrolet, 23andMe, Google, Toyota, McDonald’s.  Xfinity also brought the the NBC coverage to the viewers. There is also a exclusive partnership between Toyota and the Olympics during the 6 second ads.

Throughout the ceremony, advertisements filed with athletic themes aired. Some examples of this was Samsung, Oreos, Dunkin Donuts, Snapchat, Peloton, Apple, Visa, Comcast and . NBC also took advantage of their broadcast to promote their programs. There were advertisements for their new shows Rise, Good Girls, and the next season of their hit show The Voice.