Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Last week, we analyzed all of the new fall TV shows to find out which ones are worth watching. As the new TV season kicks off this week, several media buyers have targeted the very same freshman programs as having the best chance to connect with audiences this fall: Designated Survivor, Pitch and This Is Us.

But they're also scratching their heads over other fall trends, including the surplus of shows revolving around time travel, and another round of programs based on movies, despite the failure last year of Minority Report, Limitless, Rush Hour and Uncle Buck.

The new TV show that is top of mind among buyers, and consistently the first one brought up when talking about the fall season's best bet, is ABC's Designated Survivor, starring this week's Adweek cover subject, Kiefer Sutherland. Sam Armando, lead investment director at Mediavest | Spark, said in the Sutherland profile that putting together a hit series is like completing a puzzle, "and you need all these pieces to kind of fit for success."

Designated Survivor, he noted, boasts Sutherland's star power, a relatable premise about an Everyman thrust into an extraordinary situation and propulsive storylines. "All those pieces come together very nicely, so you think it would be successful," said Armando....

The "golden age" of TV shows might appear to be in full swing still, and it certainly is in terms of output. The industry is on pace to handily beat the 409 scripted shows released in 2015, continuing an upward trend.

But there's a problem: people aren't tuning in, at least in the same numbers. For new episodes last quarter, "average viewership for the top 200 general entertainment series declined 20% year-over-year," according Pacific Crest (using the L+3 measurement, live plus three days). 

Networks are still pumping out shows, people just seem to have lost a bit of interest.It's even worse with kids' shows, which saw the top 500 series take a 30% viewership dive in Q3 versus last year, the analysts noted in the report....

Better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why: Santa Claus is coming to town, and this year he's handing out 2015 ratings victories to seemingly everyone.

Several networks are closing out 2015 by declaring calendar year ratings wins, some in the traditional demographics, others in more creative categories. It's the TV version of "everyone gets a trophy." Here's a rundown of which networks seem to be on top in certain demos this year, according to Nielsen...