The broadcast networks have been promoting their summer shows and new fall series since mid-May. Since we are deep into the traditional rerun season, I’m repeating something I’ve been calling for since the inception of The Sternberg Report – Cross-promote or die.
Last summer, my wife and I started watching CBS’s summer drama, Instinct. It recently returned for a new season to low ratings. This did not surprise me at all. I follow television for a living and this is one of the shows I was looking forward to, and yet I had no idea that it was back on the air. While we watch a fair amount of CBS during the “regular” season, we don’t watch much on the network during the summer. Had CBS been willing or able to promote the show on other broadcast networks, the chance we’d have known it had returned for a new season would have risen dramatically.
To examine how much promotion the broadcast networks are wasting, I examined a full week of primetime programming on ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX (Monday, July 8th – Sunday, July 14th). Here are some of my findings:
- CBS’s new summer reality series, Love Island, which airs five nights a week, was by far the network’s most promoted show, running 26 promos during this one week. Yet its initial ratings were extremely disappointing. Imagine if Love Island was also promoted on ABC’s The Bachelorette, which might appeal to a similar audience, rather than wasting promotions on the network’s own incompatible series. There is simply no doubt that it would have gotten more viewer sampling.
- CBS also promoted its new fall series – Evil (19 promos), All Rise (15), Bob Abishola (13), The Unicorn (15), and Carol’s Second Act (9) – as well as its summer scripted drama, Blood & Treasure (6) and season 1 of CBS All Access’s The Good Fight (7), which is airing on CBS this summer. The network also heavily promoted its returning reality show, Big Brother (15). All would perform better were they allowed to also be promoted on other broadcast networks’ shows that appealed to similar viewers.
- FOX aired 17 promos for Beverly Hills 90210, which is returning with its original cast members. Most of its potential viewers probably have no idea it is debuting this August. Had it been able to advertise on similar skewing shows on other broadcast networks, a lot more people would know about it and tune in.
- FOX’s new fall drama, Prodigal Son, centers around the son of a serial killer who grows up to help the FBI catch other serial killers. The pilot was excellent, but it might be doomed to failure simply because it’s on FOX, which has no similar programming. But what if it could be promoted on CBS’s Criminal Minds and Instinct, and NBC’s Law & Order: SVU? I think you know the answer – more awareness among potential viewers and a better chance to succeed.
- ABC has been heavily promoting its three new fall scripted series, Mixed-ish (15), Stumptown (12), and Emergence (12). During this one-week period, the network was also heavily promoting two of its summer game shows, Holey Moley (17) and Celebrity Family Feud (13). Their modest ratings undoubtedly would be higher if ABC could promote them on other broadcast networks in addition to its own. The network gave less promotion to its other summer game shows – Family Food Fight (5), Match Game (5), Card Sharks (4), 100,000 Pyramid (3), Press Your Luck (3), and To Tell the Truth (2). ABC also had a surprisingly few promos for The Bachelorette (7). The network also aired a few promos for FX series, Mayans MC and Snowfall, and Nat Geo series, Gordon Ramsey Uncharted (Disney acquired FX and Nat Geo from FOX). These numbers may vary as the summer progresses.
- NBC heavily promoted its summer reality and game shows, most notably Bring the Funny (25), America’s Got Talent (20), and Hollywood Game Night (18), with lesser promotion going to American Ninja Warrior (8), and Songland (4). They are able to perform reasonably well because NBC has numerous similar programs in which to promote them. The network also promoted its new scripted drama, The In-Between (6), as well as returning fall series, This is Us (11), New Amsterdam (7), and Superstore (5), asking viewers to catch up with episodes on demand. NBC provided 6 promos for its sibling cable network USA’s Suits spin-off, Pearson.
- All the networks had ads that mentioned Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, while CBS and FOX each had an ad for the Netflix series, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
I’ve had numerous conversations with broadcast network executives over the years, asking why they refuse to accept advertising from other broadcast networks. Comments have ranged from, “that’s a stupid question” to “it’s an ego thing” to “our affiliates wouldn’t like it” to “why would we promote our biggest competitors?” to “it’s better to hurt the other networks than to help any of them do better than us.” This last response is really the key to this stupidity.
I’ve been making this point for several years, and it’s worth repeating. If you ask any top broadcast network executive whether they would rather lose 10% of their audience but move from second or third into first place, or gain 10% and fall to third place, they would all take lower ratings and first place. Among ad-supported cable networks, they would rather lose viewers and move into the top 10, than gain viewers and fall out of the top 10. Having run the ad sales research operation at a major cable network, I can tell you that the difference between ranking 10th and 11th (with identical ratings) was the difference between joy and misery.
Not promoting your programming on the largest available platforms to the largest groups of your target audience, is dumb. Not caring whether your ratings decline as long as the other broadcast networks decline more is even dumber.
But to be fair, I compiled a list of pros and cons to determine if it is really a good idea for the broadcast networks to cross-promote one another’s programming.
Pros and Cons of Broadcast Networks Cross-Promoting Their Programs
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Pros |
Cons |
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1 |
Promote series on the highest-rated platforms available. |
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2 |
Advertise to largest group of potential viewers, who are watching similar programs and are most receptive to your message. |
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3 |
Dramatically increase awareness of mid-season and summer series. |
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4 |
Substantially improve viewer sampling for new fall series. |
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5 |
End the counter-productive practice of only accepting advertising from broadcast network competitors (such as Netflix and HBO). |
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6 |
Lead to more broadcast successes, which will benefit every broadcast network. |
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7 |
Best chance to stem the tide of broadcast audience erosion. |
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I’ll leave you with this simple question. In what other industry do marketers refuse to advertise to the largest group of available consumers, in the bullseye of their target audience, who they know are interested in and use similar products, who at that moment are most receptive to their message? Only the broadcast networks.
There’s no law that says their ratings have to decline every year. But as long as they provide the highest rated platforms to their competitors but not to one another, and as long as they place more value on rankings than actual viewers, and as long as advertisers see nothing wrong with paying more each season for a shrinking product, I don’t expect much to change anytime soon. Wouldn’t it be nice for once if I wa
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