NBC Entertainment co-chair Ben Silverman said the poor test results for “Parks and Recreation” weren’t unusual, Entertainment Weekly reports. “All of the research we do around initial rough cuts is negative. If you had seen the initial research on all of ours and our competitors’ successful shows, it tends to be like that,” Silverman tells the publication.
—Aimee Picchi
NBC’s Silverman: ‘Parks’ Test Normal
Mar 24, 2009 • Post A Comment
Which begs the question: if great shows test poorly, why bother testing?
Also, do lousy shows test well? (Answer: they often do. Which is how crap shows get on the air.)
If focus group testing is so unreliable, why do some of the networks go to the time and trouble to do it? I’ve never gotten a good answer to that question.
Incidentally, there’s one network that’s said publicly they don’t focus test their shows: HBO. Hmmmmm.