This morning (first post of 2011 huh?) I got to thinking about what was wrong with Caprica.
Why did the Sy-Fy Channel cancel it?
Of course, they’ll site viewer numbers and say that people weren’t watching it. I think that would be partially accurate. People didn’t watch it because they didn’t know when it would be on. One of the common problems of networks in general is that they advertise the hell out of everything on their networks which means you have to be watching their networks to see when certain shows will be on.
At least, that’s how it used to work.
Now, I don’t watch any of your network nonsense. In fact, I didn’t watch a single episode of Caprica on Sy Fy. I downloaded the shows from iTunes. I never had any intention of watching Sy Fy to see the show nor did I ever do so. That makes me wonder if Sy Fy ever included those folks when they factor in the numbers?
What about Hulu or TV.com?
(Update: I just stumbled upon this great article about people leaving their cable and television providers in favor of internet based solutions.) The whole story link is here.
The proliferation of viewing devices — including a new generation of TV sets that connect to the Internet — could boost the chances that viewers will do what cable and satellite companies fear most: cancel their $70-a-month subscriptions in favor of cheaper Web options.
People want to watch your shows just like they always have except now they want it delivered their way and not yours.
They are not going to watch your channel but they do want to watch your shows and that is what you need to monetize.
As I said in a couple of paragraphs above, we never knew when the show was going to be on. That is bad. It’s the same rule for podcasts. People stop listening when you stop delivering your show on some kind of schedule. Caprica was horrible in this regard. Do you remember when TV seasons were about 24 episodes long and were fairly dependable? I miss those days.
I could write a big long post about this. Maybe I will.
