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More Stats: 1950-2005
14 Apr 2006 10:04:17 -0700 rec.arts.tv
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Taking a bit of a different slant from the last
Stats posting, this one looks at which have been the 11 most successful fall seasons for new series renewals and which have been the 11 least successful. This rundown covers 1950-2005 and, for consistency's sake, only the Big 3, ABC, CBS and NBC. This time around, there's no distinction made between Successes and Failed Successes as last time; if a series got renewed, it got renewed, regardless if it lasted another 20 years or 20 minutes after its first season. The year is followed by the number of new series renewed out of the total number of new fall series followed by the percentage of renewals. Top 11 Successful Fall Seasons 1968: 15/24 = 62.5% 1969: 15/25 = 60.0% 1954: 18/30 = 60.0% 1957: 25/45 = 55.5% 2002: 10/18 = 55.5% 1955: 17/32 = 53.1% 1996: 13/26 = 50.0% 1986: 11/23 = 47.8% 1967: 12/26 = 46.1% 2004: 8/18 = 44.4% 1965: 15/34 = 44.1% Bottom 11 Unsuccessful Fall Seasons 1979: 5/19 = 26.3% 1981: 5/20 = 25.0% 1976: 6/23 = 26.0% 1978: 5/21 = 23.8% 1994: 5/21 = 23.8% 1983: 5/22 = 22.7% 1990: 5/23 = 21.7% 1973: 4/23 = 17.3% 1951: 5/30 = 16.6% 1975: 4/26 = 15.3% 1997: 4/26 = 15.3% Observations: 4 of the 11 most successful seasons fall between 1965 and 1969, being the only 5-year period of any permutation of 5 consecutive years for that to happen. 2 of those 4 rate the highest on the list. Seems that the nets were in tune with not only my tastes, with 1965-69 being my favorite era, but most other people's tastes as well at the time. Obveeus...
Tony Calguire...
Conversely, 4 of the worst seasons fall between 1975 and 1979, again being the only 5-year period of any permutation of 5 consecutive years for that to happen. Interestingly, I also found this to be a pretty rotten time for the tube. The high Tony Calguire...
failure rate in this period can probably be largely attributed to the huge favorable ratings shift to ABC for the first time ever, thanks to Fred Silverman's takeover of its schedule in 1975, which caused more programming panic than necessary at CBS and NBC and the beginning of trigger-finger cancellations. The rest of the seasons not noted here fall in what can be considered as the average range, between a 27% and 42% success rating. Among those, 1985-88 sees a steady successful period that registered over 40% for each of those years [the only other consistent 5-year stretch], while a few others at the lower end of the scale include 1970, 1977, 1989 and 2000 with 24%-27%. When it comes to Average Scores for 5-year periods, 1965-69 comes out the winner with a 48.2% success rating, followed by 1955-59 with 43.5% On the worst side of things, 1975-79 is the loser with only a 23.3% success rating, followed by 1990-94 with 29.0%. Everything else between 30-43% can be considered as the middle ground. The current 5-year stretch, 2000-05, scores a 40.2%, at the high end of the middle ground. What does this prove? Well, certainly when it comes to the highest and lowest ends of things, 1965-69 and 1975-79, the results concur with my own view of those periods in terms of personal tastes in programming. Even the results for the latter half of the '80s show that networks had a better knack for more successful programming choices than in the first half of the '80s, being pretty much how I myself viewed '80s TV at the time. So there seems to be a certain accuracy with most individual seasons and 5-year stretches. To determine the extent of the accuracy would mean having to go deeper into the numbers than I'm willing to go right now. But on the surface of it, I can relate to these figures in a general sense. Tony Calguire...
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