ajmrowland wrote:because these shows have large fanbases.
As large as the fanbase is, the general audience gets smaller every year. Which is why it makes perfect sense to have delayed the midseason premiere until sweeps. Network executives and advertisers pay more attention to the ratings that come in during those weeks (February, May, July, November) often to determine if the show is worth keeping on the schedule. The older a show gets, the smaller their audience gets each year, it's common on most television shows. Just look at the viewers in millions for each season of "Smallville": (according to wikipedia)
Season 1: 5.90 million
Season 2: 6.30 million
Season 3: 4.96 million
Season 4: 4.40 million
Season 5: 4.70 million
Season 6: 4.10 million
Season 7: 3.77 million
Season 8: 3.74 million
Season 9: 2.38 million
Sure, there were minor spikes in Seasons 2 and 5, but as a whole the show loses general viewers each year, no matter how devoted or large the the fanbase is. As much as they don't want to believe it, but 100,000 ardent fans has less impact on a show's staying power than one million general viewers. Sure, sometimes there are the rare cases where fan involvement saves a show (the most notable example being the 115,000 letters that saved "Star Trek" from cancellation the first time), but generally fanbases make themselves to be more important than they really are, simply because groups of them will confer among themselves that the show is the greatest thing on the air and that their particular level of fandom is the most powerful ever. Having their show delayed by a week suddenly is the crime of the century, simply because they're not getting their product when they want it. The Zap2it article that disneyboy posted is prime proof, as it discusses the actions of fanbases (threatening boycotts, which generally means that 10,000 people won't watch while 3 million others will), and then all the ensuing comments show just how crazy and rabid those fans get, overestimating their importance and not realizing that there is a real business and method to television madness.
Fans in the article's comments, and this is just page one, wrote:SO UNPROFESSIONAL AND VULGAR TOWARDS THE LOYAL FANS OUT THERE WHO WERE EXPECTING SUPERNATURAL AND SMALLVILLE TONIGHT.
Supernatural and Smallville fanbases are just as big as The Vampire Diaries, don't kid yourself. Hell Supernatural fanbase alone would OWN anything the Vampire Diairies fanbase does.
You suck screw your network. When smallvilles run is over I won't be watching anything else on your network.
The CW needs to do something to fix this fast. It has broken trust with some very devoted viewers, and I doubt we will forget it quickly.
Carina shut up! You're so annoying, go away and go kiss Vampire Diaries actors *****, as you usually do.
Fortunately, a sensible fan named Mark wrote:Jeez people, it's just one more week. A little patience? Yes, the CW made a stupid move but no need to blow this out of proportion.
ajmrowland wrote:It's not the nature of the delay. It's the timing of the announcement that I'm irked about.
I doubt they intended to hoodwink the fanbase into watching "Vampire Diaries" by accident. It was a late-in-the-game decision that resulted in a later-in-the-game announcement. And it's only a week, it wasn't nine months.
albert
