Wei Dai asked: >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?
In television's infancy, something like 40 episodes were taped of each program and reruns were shown in the summer, when people typically watched less television (because the weather was better? Not sure) Now, reruns are shown throughout the season, particularly if one of the major networks is airing a major event, such as the Oscar's or the Super Bowl, other networks will run reruns or old movies. The practice of "seasons" betweeen labor day and memorial day is still closely linked with the "belief" that people watch less television in the summer. However, some shows, especially on new networks, are premiered in the summer and advertised as being "that show that premiers in the summer so you don't have to watch reruns." I have a few ideas about this. Revenue comes from advertising. The larger the audience believed to be watching a show, the greater the amount the network can bill for advertising time during the show. So it makes sense that companies will show reruns (avoiding the costs of production but still getting some revenue) when they believe a much smaller audience will be watching the show - production costs for prime-time television series are quite high (above and beyond the salaries of the actors which always becomes a public affair, e.g. Seinfeld, Friends, Sopranos). However, viewers may be frustrated if reruns are shown to frequently, so networks try to find the optimal balance between new shows and low-cost reruns. However, it is more acceptable to show reruns when everyone else is showing reruns. So the groundwork is: if you want to show reruns, you should show them when other networks are showing them, or when you expect your viewership to be very low (due to special events). There are only a few major networks - NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox (the newest). I've seen suggested in many places that network television is an oligopoly, and the practice of seasons is a form of (tacit?) collusion. This analysis makes sense in a number of ways. Consider the following: in the old days of tv, there were less reruns, and competition for viewership was strong even during special event broadcasting; with modern recording technology, special events could be viewed and other shows taped, but reruns are still shown during special events; in spite of (as Dr. Hanson pointed out) primitive technology for measuring television viewership of specific shows and the seemingly odd proposition that people watch much less television during the summer months, reruns are still shown primarily in the summer. Fox, the newest network, often shows new shows or movie premiers when, say, NBC is showing a special event and CBS and NBC are showing reruns. This might suggest that Fox, th! e newco.. It will be interesting to see if a wider variety of competition as there are more substitutes for the 3 old channels of network television, if improvements in technology that reduce information costs about viewership, or improvements in home recording technology will change the way reruns are shown. - Zac Gochenour
