A viewer noted that "take some cancellation in Atlantis continuing. I wish there was more I could do to save my favorite show but I'm all out of ideas, short of some kind of hunger strike."
Two things are becoming evident re the Sci-Fi channel as well as TV dramas overall: Shows are now being produced to take advantage of an initial high ratings spurt, and seem to be designed to have no life after that period.
NBC was a bit leading edge in this regard (and not coincidentally NBC is a Universal property along with the Sci-Fi channel) with its Surface show a year ago, which seemed to have a one-season-only arc. Firefly appears to be another example of lead-on-the-viewers-then-dump-em -for-another-ratings-burst-via-yet-another-short-lived-show programming methodology.
The second trend is to goad on of fans to get them fired up about "saving" the shows, so as to cynically build a secondary market for a "TV movie or two" afterward, as well as sell syndication deals.
We can't likely save SG-1, but as viewers we can adopt a systematic method worldwide to defeat the cynical manipulative marketing that is used to get us to watch long enough for ratings spikes before shows are dropped. And that is to be selective about the shows we watch and perhaps spread our viewing time around, in part by watching our shows via methods that don't feed the advertising ratings machines. Use your digital recorder, borrow a DVD disc (legally bought) to watch the show, watch a friend's time-shifted VHS tape or DVD-time-shifted -recorded disc, etc.
And moreover, don't fall into the trap of humoring the "save the show" marketing, which only encourages this kind of spike-the-ratings-then-kill-the-show mentality at Sci-Fi channel.
This approach by Sci-Fi is becoming common with a lot of major Pay-TV and specialty dramas; and there are signs the actor community isn't too pleased with the trend, if actress Blythe Danner's Emmy dig at the cancellation of the series Huff is any indication.
If we want to be effective viewers in this regard we should perhaps pen simple letters to our cable companies, noting that the that programming antics of pay-TV channels makes us doubtful as long-run customers. Cable firms already know this pain through customer churn; letting them know the WHY of this churn could move mountains in the right direction.
Pay-TV channels and specialty channels are already compensating for viewer churn by now splitting seasons of some shows across two time periods--and there is sneaky old NBC at this game on network TV with LOST this season!
Personally I've lost a lost of enthusiasm for the second SG-1 series because of the way the first was handled.
cc: My Cable TV company
Two things are becoming evident re the Sci-Fi channel as well as TV dramas overall: Shows are now being produced to take advantage of an initial high ratings spurt, and seem to be designed to have no life after that period.
NBC was a bit leading edge in this regard (and not coincidentally NBC is a Universal property along with the Sci-Fi channel) with its Surface show a year ago, which seemed to have a one-season-only arc. Firefly appears to be another example of lead-on-the-viewers-then-dump-em -for-another-ratings-burst-via-yet-another-short-lived-show programming methodology.
The second trend is to goad on of fans to get them fired up about "saving" the shows, so as to cynically build a secondary market for a "TV movie or two" afterward, as well as sell syndication deals.
We can't likely save SG-1, but as viewers we can adopt a systematic method worldwide to defeat the cynical manipulative marketing that is used to get us to watch long enough for ratings spikes before shows are dropped. And that is to be selective about the shows we watch and perhaps spread our viewing time around, in part by watching our shows via methods that don't feed the advertising ratings machines. Use your digital recorder, borrow a DVD disc (legally bought) to watch the show, watch a friend's time-shifted VHS tape or DVD-time-shifted -recorded disc, etc.
And moreover, don't fall into the trap of humoring the "save the show" marketing, which only encourages this kind of spike-the-ratings-then-kill-the-show mentality at Sci-Fi channel.
This approach by Sci-Fi is becoming common with a lot of major Pay-TV and specialty dramas; and there are signs the actor community isn't too pleased with the trend, if actress Blythe Danner's Emmy dig at the cancellation of the series Huff is any indication.
If we want to be effective viewers in this regard we should perhaps pen simple letters to our cable companies, noting that the that programming antics of pay-TV channels makes us doubtful as long-run customers. Cable firms already know this pain through customer churn; letting them know the WHY of this churn could move mountains in the right direction.
Pay-TV channels and specialty channels are already compensating for viewer churn by now splitting seasons of some shows across two time periods--and there is sneaky old NBC at this game on network TV with LOST this season!
Personally I've lost a lost of enthusiasm for the second SG-1 series because of the way the first was handled.
cc: My Cable TV company
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