In a message dated 6/3/03 9:35:12 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: >Why does TV have seasons? I know it's customary to propose possible >answers to questions posted here, but I'm really stumped. I can't think >of >any reason why television networks all premier their new shows in the >fall and play re-runs in the summer, instead of spreading out the premiers > >and re-runs more evenly throughout the year, or having seasons that aren't > >synchronized with each other. Why doesn't the fact that the competition >is >a lot weaker in the summer attract more premiers?
The tv seasons seem to coincide with the school year, taking breaks during the season when school breaks for Thanksgiving, the whole winter break, and of course the summer break. I figure that the major networks run their seasons to coincide with the periods during which people are mostly likely to be stuck at home (doing homework, watching kids) because of classes during the week. A few smaller networks do run or at least start new shows during the major breaks; Sci Fi and TNT, for instance, are advertising new seasons of shows to start this month. I also recall that HBO started new seasons of Sex and the City in the summer and winter (during break). Perhaps with only three networks they could afford to collude to restrict new programing to the school year, and as other networks compete through cable they're starting to break out of the old collusive mold.
