I read a lot of TV network press releases (so you don’t have to!). What continues to strike me are the number of obvious, meaningless filler phrases stuck into them to attempt to increase the perceived level of achievement for their shows.
Like:
“FACING FIRST-RUN SERIES,” This in the third week of the season. Of course you’re going to be facing first-sun series.
“won its intensely competitive hour” Which then are the “poorly competitive, layup hours”?
“against tough competition” “despite the tough competition” Pray tell, which of the competition isn’t so tough? Press releases never mention them.
I thought hey, I can do that too…
“With most viewers able to quickly change channels by remote control, Show X delivers outstanding 18-49 demo performance!”
“With reading a book always an attractive option, Show Y increased its audience by 12 percent!”
And on a seasonal note, “While those damn trick or treaters were ringing the doorbell every 2 minutes, Show Z had it’s best audience of the season!”
Think you’re up for it? Go for it in the comments 
While the stock market was plunging, Show X was booming!
My favorites are when a show looses in all the normal measures, so the net has to bring out the smaller demos to say that the show is a success:
“Show X was the most watched show of the hour among African-Americans 18-23 named George.”
In spite of the blackout, Golden Girls finished in the top 3 among most adult demos.
Despite the increasing lack of brains going into it, show X achieved outstanding numbers against smart competition that deserves higher viewership.
Last week Show X was the highest-rated entertainment program featuring four roommates and a politician on cable.
It’s a sales business, and sometimes PR spin is grease that keeps the sales wheels turning.
I think CW was right to reference new airings as competition. If everybody kicked their seasons off at the same time it would be different, but since the CW had a few weeks of little to no competition (causing people to say, “OF COURSE they did well they had NO competition”) it’s completely appropriate to point out what happened after that. Of course, if they are still doing that in another week or two, I’m right there with you.
Your dream of the NBC press release “OMG! We’re TOTALLY FREAKED OUT About How Far Heroes Has Fallen (even though it still won its hour) will remain, as it should, but a dream.
I don’t know which fall stuck me as the most disastrous: Humpty Dumpty, the value of my 401K or the ratings for the well-written Pushing Daisies as it one again fell to last place in it’s time slot.
Holly, you can’t discount the George demo. It’s very lucrative.
Everyone knows that Kevins have more spending power than Georges, but networks have no respect for Kevins. It’s such a namist demo!
in 2007 a demographic study revealed that Kevins have on average 12% more expandable income than Georges. A victory in the Kevins victory would have been a big victory for show X, but they don’t want to talk about the negative (that they were beaten in Kevins). They want to focus on how they won the less powerful Georges, and rightly so.
Yes, but of the Georges that watch Show X, research has shown that they are the highest income bracket of all Georges across the board.
That’s just spin from the network. They’re just trying to justify exclusively targeting Georges and ignoring the millions of Kevins.
Show X made television history last night as the most watched television programme ever, pulling in 100 percent of the audience. This during a time when a strange power blackout knocked off every other station from the airwaves makes the achievement at the more remarkable.
Even with 27% of key demos reducing their budget for television shoppnig, Show X looks better than ever now in High Definition.