ACM Honors

The ACM Honors was recorded on August 23^rd, 2017 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN.

The Honors cover awards in categories that the ACM Awards in the spring (April) were unable to.

Normally, the ACM Honors is not televised but premiered last year on CBS and CBS continued by airing it Friday, September 15^th at 9:00 pm EST / 8:00 pm Central and can now be seen on CBS On Demand.

A radio special will follow from honoree, Bob Kingsley’s “Country Top 40.”

The Honors came in first place with “America’s Got Talent” coming in second on NBC in the first hour. “Dateline (NBC)” tied with a 4.66 rating for the second hour Friday night. The other competition was “20/20” and “What Would You Do?” on ABC, which came in at third place, though “20/20” at the 10:00pm hour had slightly higher ratings than “What Would You Do” with 3.39 and 3.01respectively. “Penn and Teller: Fool Us” on the CW claimed fourth place and “Beat Shazam” on Fox, ranking fifth with a 1.29 rating according to tvbythenumbers.

For a Friday, it makes sense the show it came in at number one. According to a study by the Radio Advertising Bureau in June of 2015, Country radio ranks as the number one listened to format in the U.S.

The lead-in was “Big Brother” and local news followed.

According to the website “The Boot,” honorees included, Kelsea Ballerini for the Gene Weed Milestone Award for having three number one hits off her first record.

 Eric Church was awarded the Merle Haggard Spirit Award and is the second person to receive it behind Miranda Lambert. This award focuses on the storytelling aspect of performance.

 Toby Keith, Willie Nelson and Shel Silverstein (posthumously) received the Poet’s Award for songwriting.

 Reba McEntire and D.J Bob Kingsley were recipients of the Mae Boren Axton Service Award for their longevity as part of the Academy of Country Music.

Lori McKenna received the Songwriter of the Year Award.

Nashville was the recipient of the Tex Ritter Film Award for being a show that features country music.

 Dolly Parton received the Gary Haber Lifting Lives Award for her work following the wildfires in her native East Tennessee.

Finally, George Strait was awarded the Cliffie Stone Icon Award for assisting in popularizing country music through his participation in it.

Some of the honorees already mentioned will be performing alongside Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Little Big Town, Maren Morris, Brad Paisley, Thomas Rhett, Hillary Scott and Chris Stapleton.

Presenters included, Jason Aldean, Bobby Bones, Ross Copperman, Lady Antebellum and Jimmy Webb among other previously named performers.

At the time of taping, the Troy Gentry helicopter crash had not yet taken place. Gentry was part of Grand Ole Opry inductee Montgomery Gentry. Also, Country Music Hall of Famer, Don Williams also passed away September 8^th. Both will most likely be honored at future music award ceremonies.

Photo courtesy of CBS.com

During its primetime Monday slot, Me, Myself & I competes with Dancing with the Stars season 25 on ABC, So You Think You Can Dance season 14 on FOX, and The Voice season 13 on NBC. Me, Myself & I serves as excellent counter-programming. Firstly, it is the only scripted show on broadcast TV, and may appeal to escapists on a Monday night, looking to unwind after the start of the workweek. Not only are the other 3 shows unscripted, they all fall within the reality-competition format, which some audiences may find manipulative or anxiety-inducing.

Secondly, these long-running series have captured the higher end of the W25-54 bracket, by perfecting the art of using household celebrity names, easy banter between judges, and sentimental stories of participants. This leaves the door wide open for Me, Myself & I to bring in M25-54 and B9-14, as the multi-generational sitcom offers an inside look into the adventures and mishaps of a 14, 40, and 65-year old man. The CBS comedy likely wants to encourage co-viewing amongst fathers and sons. However, at 9.30 p.m. on a school night, the sitcom may be positioned a little after young boys’ bed times.

Two weeks out from its premiere, initial reactions to the “Ghosted” pilot have been mixed. The primary complaint is that it deals too much in exposition and explanation at the expense of actual comedy.  However, critics remain hopeful that the freshman offering from Fox can pick up steam in episodes to come. The looming question is whether or not viewers are willing to give the show a chance. In our fractured and bountiful TV environment, can a show survive with a mediocre pilot? Or will the audience turn elsewhere before giving “Ghosted” a second chance?

The Entertainment Weekly TV team argues that Scott and Robinson make up “this season’s best new bromance” and perhaps audiences will agree and stick with the likable stars. Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not the rest of the season will live up to expectations, and if “Ghosted” can succeed in a Fox Sunday night timeslot where so many others have failed.

CBS as well as other networks have attempted to make tech-based shows in the past that have not lived up to expectations ie CBS’s Bull and FOX’s APB. As a result, CBS has been trying to promote their new tech-crime drama show, Wisdom of the Crowd, in numerous ways. The show has been advertised on CBS’s website, newsletters, billboards, on-air and online promos, and YouTube and Google Plus. Both CBS and Wisdom of the Crowd both also have their own Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Wisdom of the Crowd’s lead, Jeremy Piven, will present at the 69th Emmy Awards on Sept. 17th, giving the show more publicity. The show has also been a sponsor. In August at the Iowa State Fair, they sponsored a cow. Fair goers had to guess the weight of Bunny the cow, who was at the time 1,182 Ibs. Wisdom of the Crowd also sponsors Matchbox Twenty on https://settheset.com/ , allowing fans to make the band’s playlist during their concerts. Hopefully all their advertising and sponsorship will be a good investment.

Vixen: The Movie had such promise and was a highly anticipated event with a huge following, but unfortunately it let us down; Almost as down as its numbers were. It only got 690,000 viewers, which was less than half the viewers than other shows that aired that night got. To see a comparison The Goldberg’s got 3 million viewers, Master Chef got 3.6 million viewers, Big Brother had 6 million viewers, and America’s Got Talent got 11 million viewers. As stated in the last post Vixen showed promise because of the shows it shared the same world with, such as The Flash. Vixen also showed promised because it appealed to both males and females viewers. Males tend to be the popular audience for super hero content, but since Vixen has a strong female lead character it had the potential to interests and bring in female viewers. Unfortunately it only got a 1.2/5 on the 18-49 demographic. Now the only question is why? The reason is marketing. The CW had next to no marketing or advertising for this franchise. Here are some quotes from fans who would have raised the ratings- if only they had known.

‘Vixen’ Animated Series Premieres To Dismal Ratings On The CW

The Mayor will premiere on Tuesday, October 3rd, at 9:30pm on ABC. The Mayor boasts a very promising cast with Brandon Michael Hall, commonly known for his work on TBS’s Search party,  Yvette Nicole Brown, of NBC’s Community and Lea Michele of Fox’s Glee.

The Mayor is a story of a young hip-hop musician struggling to find success in the rap game and decides to run for Mayor as a publicity stunt, and somehow ends up winning. The Mayor is said to have been inspired by Chance The Rapper, as per producer Daveed Digs. The show has been dealt a tough draw due to the timing block it shares with hit show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine.  It will also compete with third highest watched show, Bull on CBS. However, it is slated to air right after Anthony Anderson’s hit show “Black-ish.”

The Mayor has recently been heavily advertised on ABC, especially on Saturdays during College Football and also on ESPN during Monday Night Football. The show is produced by Jeremy Bronson and “Hamilton Breakout” Daveed Digs and in association with ABC studios and Bluegrass Fanfare.

CBS has dominated the television prime-time market for several years. Shows that air on Sundays nights tend to attract the most viewers. That being said, there is a lower risk for new shows on CBS that air on Sundays compared to other networks. Wisdom of the Crowd (WOTC) premieres Sunday October 1st at 8:30 P.M, bumping NCIS: Los Angeles to 9:00 P.M. NCIS: LA is a very popular show. Moving its time may attract those established viewers to try WOTC since they are used to watching at that time. Both shows are also crime drama genres.The target audience is the same. In 2016, when NCIS: LA aired at 8:00 P.M, a 30 sec ad would cost $108,145. An ad on WOTC could then potentially reach those figures if it becomes an established show. CBS’s strategic consideration of time slots is a good investment into Wisdom of the Crowd, but whether or not the show gains traction is something that has to wait to be seen.