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Three Weeks Into the TV Season, a Few Lessons Are Emerging

Oct 14, 2013  •  Post A Comment

The new television season now has three weeks under its belt, and a few lessons have already been learned, reports Bill Carter in The New York Times.

First, patience is crucial in today’s world of delayed viewing, he points out.

Additionally, he writes: "Decisions on the fates of shows must factor in quality as well as quantity. And the oldest scheduling technique in the world — putting a new show behind an established hit — is still the most effective tool at a network’s disposal."

"Finally, if you want a new show to do well, it is probably best to avoid Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays, because nothing is going to pry viewers away from the National Football League," he concludes.

Each network has at least one potential new hit on its hands, and the viewership numbers this fall appear slightly better than last year. Overall prime-time viewing is averaging 8.21 million viewers, compared with 8.16 million in the fall of 2012.

For ABC, its hit is the drama "Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," while NBC has "The Blacklist." Fox is drawing viewers with "Sleepy Hollow," while CBS has two new comedies showing promise, "The Millers" and "The Crazy Ones."

But not everything is rosy. ABC dumped "Lucky 7" after two episodes, while CBS followed with the comedy "We Are Men," the story notes.

Please click here for series-by-series rundown on the outlook for the fall broadcast shows.

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