Intuitively I think these results are pretty accurate but I’d like to know more about how they got here.

Word of mouth helps but, it also gives you false hope when all of your friends that like scifi love T:TSCC and you think its doing great then Fox moves it to Friday and 7 weeks later it is gone never to be seen again and you think it was doing great since everyone you know whatches it, but you never asked your Mom, Dad, old lady at the bank, etc…must be the neilsens their data system sucks.

Wait, what? This is an internet blog? Oh. Never mind.

The problem is that they advertise on NBC, I don’t see that many adds anywhere else not even Universal channles like USA and SciFi.

Also alot of times the adds are better than the show, also NBC does overuse that this Apprentice moment is the worst ever, craziest ever, etc.

ABC adds are to quick, and quirky to get my attention, The Scrub adds made me not want to watch the show because they would choose the goofiest moments to run a 15 to 30 second spot about…..then repeat the same ad several times a day, rarely saying time just Tue on ABC, Scrubs is back better than ever, and then play a short song

I think the whole internet adverts not working is a conspiracy by the advertising companies to keep from paying the prices they were paying in the 90s.

This site is an internet blog! No wonder why Chuck is still getting low ratings after the all the “buzz/msgs” that this site is giving about the show.

This also is one of many explanations why the ratings for CHUCK didn’t go up in its last weeks of the season despite all the internet chatter and praise from critics.

And I must agree with PP, I would consider a blog a word of mouth.

I wonder if some people think of blogs when they put word of mouth? I have friends with blogs, I have one, and if I were answering that question I’d think of it as hearing it from a friend, and not think too much about whether I got it from their blog or from actually talking to them.

Also interesting that out of home isn’t on there, as networks do tons of tune-in OOH, and not just in major cities.

Having said that this does just further the importance (as mentioned by Dave) of a plot and concept that can be summed up quickly and easily not only by networks but by fans of the show. I think it also speaks volumes for how important it is to have something that immediately grabs an audience given you’ve got to win them over in a 30 second spot. I’d actually be interested in what it is that grabs peoples attention in the 30 second spots (and I’m sure the US networks have done a lot of research on that over the years). I mean that in the sense of is a spot built on a character and his quirks grab more people than something that focuses on a central plot or something that tries to sell a basic concept.

On an NBC its no coincidence that Heroes was there last major freshman hit and it had the following insanely simple selling points

- Ordinary people get super powers
- Save the cheerleader, save the world

I still think that one catchphrase made the first season of Heroes a hit more than anything else that actually happened on the show.

Competition shows ala American Idol are good bets because the format is so familiar making it extremely easy to communicate.

Crime procedurals receive the same benefit and the ones with easy to communicate and interesting twists will do the best. Mentalist with its fake psychic did a lot better than Life with its…I still don’t know its hook. Ditto, the unusuals on ABC.

Lost, although not actually a simple premise, was promoted as a simple tropical island survival show; a drama version of Gilligan’s island.(time travel and smoke monsters weren’t really hinted at in original promos.)

Shows with tough premises to communicate have struggled. Dollhouse, Life, Jericho, among other fan favorites.