I don't blame FOX for Fringe's decline in ratings. The fact is, Fringe is a challenging show that requires a lot of attention and has been positioned against some successful shows that don't. Fringe runs against two of the most successful procedurals on the TV schedule, Grey's Anatomy and CSI, as well as NBC's block of 30-minute comedy The Office and Outsourced. Not even considering the cable offerings, Thursday at 9:00pm is your DVR's equivalent of cardio-hour. Fringe simply couldn't keep up with the competition there in terms of its must-watch-live status, but on the other hand Fringe is a phenom in DVR performance. Fringe tops the DVR charts consistently, destroying it's live competitors Grey's and CSI in terms of gains in the key demo of adult viewers aged 18-49. (See this piece at TVByTheNumbers.) The sad fact is: DVR numbers only tell the potential for a show if the mitigating DVR-choice factors - time slot, competition, etc. - were removed. On the up side, while Fringe still has some growing to do to crawl outside of the bubble, the fact is Friday could potentially convert a sizable share of those DVR numbers into live views.
Another thing worth considering about this scheduling thing is that while it is true that FOX often puts scripted shows on Fridays that are in danger of cancellation, in this case there may be an entirely different set of reasoning. FOX could be looking to Fringe as its best hope for bringing value back to Friday, after The Good Guys pretty much hosed the value of the time-slot. Networks use selected slices of time to set the value of their advertising space. They call this "The Sweeps." During the sweeps, ratings data is tabulated to be representative of the various demos related to each time-slot. In the last sweeps period The Good Guys was essentially a joke. It pulled cable level live viewers, and even worse adult viewer demos. In the next round of sweeps, which kick off in February, FOX needs to bring some value back to that time slot - but at the same time cannot move a 'successful' show into a night where it will most assuredly lose viewers. Of the shows that would make the most sense - Lie To Me, Fringe, and Human Target - only Fringe will have enough new episodes available to make it through February sweeps. Again: Fringe was the only choice if FOX wanted to undo the devaluation of The Good Guys, there is simply nothing else on their schedule that could fill that spot.
Granted, it could be a lot of smoke blowing, but FOX head Kevin Reilly speaks of the Fringe scheduling in very positive terms on Deadline.com saying "Fringe has a very particular, loyal audience. If Fringe could stay near the current levels, we'll get a big trade-up on Friday and will solve our problem there."
The fact is, Fringe does have a very loyal audience and it is very likely Fringe will retain more core viewers in this Friday move than something like House, or Bones. The key word in Reilly's statement is that he believes FOX has a 'Friday Problem.' The truth is, most networks do - aside from the potential for diminished demos in the adult range there are a lot of organic factors that make Friday a poor choice for major advertising campaigns. Fringe has a hard road ahead of itself to make Friday profitable enough to ensure a renewal, but the chances may be better than you think.
Also check out: FOX's Scheduling Is Killing Fringe; Is There a Bright Side to Fridays?
Personally, the move to Friday bothers me because now it conflicts with my other top show, Supernatural. I hate having to make the choice between these shows again. In fact, I was extremely happy when they moved Supernatural to Fridays this season so that I could watch both shows.
Supernatural is on Thurs. It's not in the same league with Fringe.
Actually, Supernatural moved to Friday nights starting this season in September.
definitely gonna be watching this on friday nights! would have watched it any night … I just feel bad for those people that have not got into this show especially this season! Fringe and the walking dead are the two best tv shows on right now and this season is finally putting fringe in the elusive club of jaw dropping shows with LOST and Battlestar Galactica
I would never, ever miss an episode of Fringe. It's the best show on tv. Period.
For Shizzel!
Glad it is moving to Friday. There is absolutely nothing on tv on Friday night. And Thursday I keep missing it!
My fav show.
I'll follow this show to any day or time. Best show on Television. For me, it may be the last.
Wouldn't miss Good Guys so sorry it is pretty much gone. It is so bad but so funny. After a hard week at work mindless ridiculous silly mayhem is a good escape. Could never get into Fringe but it would be nice if its fans who are so vocal will support it on Fridays. It shouldn't take much to make it a Friday hit.
First of all- EVERYONE- Join the Fan Campaign- SAVE FRINGE!! We NEED to be prepared for the worst- NOW!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Fringe/1749810…
You are the first "Journalist" to report what I have been saying. While Friday is the move for a soon to be canceled show- per Reilly's Deadline interview, he believes moving Fringe to Friday will Benefit Fringe AND Friday.
Also- I do blame FOX for Fringe's ratings. Fringe rated well on it's original Tuesday Time Slot- why FOX Screwed with it is beyond me- they killed another Tuesday show I loved by moving it to Thursday also.
I hope Friday helps Fringe.
Thanks so much for this. I agree with all of your points, and its nice to hear some positives in this sea of doom and gloom. I love this show so much and I would hate to have it cancelled. It looks like the network actually does believe in it, so lets stay positive. Remember that we aren't going to attractive new viewers to a show if we keep saying its inevitable it will be cancelled. No one wants to jump on board a sinking ship.
Fringe's biggest challenge is this overwhelming opinion that shows go to Friday to die (never mind that Ghost Whisperer thrived there for years). So lots of people will just stop watching based on this alone, which is stupid. The hope is that Fox realizes that Fringe's power is in DVR views and DVD/BD sales. If they do, it'll survive. I don't watch Fringe live because I prefer watching the DVDs (and I'm only midway through Season 2). In my opinion, Fringe is a perfect candidate for "made for DVD/BD/download" programming because, as noted, it's too involved, really, for standard mainstream network TV.
Doesn’t make a lick of difference to me. I live in the 21st century — who watches TV live anymore? It’s called a DVR. It records all your shows for you, and you can record more than one at a time, so you don’t have to make 20th-century choices.
But to the blog author:
“destroying it’s live competitors”
In English, “it’s” means “it is.” That doesn’t make any sense in this context. Perhaps you meant “its live competitors.”
Doesn’t make a lick of difference to me. I live in the 21st century — who watches TV live anymore? It’s called a DVR. It records all your shows for you, and you can record more than one at a time, so you don’t have to make 20th-century choices.
But to the blog author:
“destroying it’s live competitors”
In English, “it’s” means “it is.” That doesn’t make any sense in this context. Perhaps you meant “its live competitors.”
Doesn’t make a lick of difference to me. I live in the 21st century — who watches TV live anymore? It’s called a DVR. It records all your shows for you, and you can record more than one at a time, so you don’t have to make 20th-century choices.
But to the blog author:
“destroying it’s live competitors”
In English, “it’s” means “it is.” That doesn’t make any sense in this context. Perhaps you meant “its live competitors.”
Doesn’t make a lick of difference to me. I live in the 21st century — who watches TV live anymore? It’s called a DVR. It records all your shows for you, and you can record more than one at a time, so you don’t have to make 20th-century choices.
But to the blog author:
“destroying it’s live competitors”
In English, “it’s” means “it is.” That doesn’t make any sense in this context. Perhaps you meant “its live competitors.”
Doesn’t make a lick of difference to me. I live in the 21st century — who watches TV live anymore? It’s called a DVR. It records all your shows for you, and you can record more than one at a time, so you don’t have to make 20th-century choices.
But to the blog author:
“destroying it’s live competitors”
In English, “it’s” means “it is.” That doesn’t make any sense in this context. Perhaps you meant “its live competitors.”
Doesn't make a lick of difference to me. I live in the 21st century — who watches TV live anymore? It's called a DVR. It records all your shows for you, and you can record more than one at a time, so you don't have to make 20th-century choices.
But to the blog author:
"destroying it's live competitors"
In English, "it's" means "it is." That doesn't make any sense in this context. Perhaps you meant "its live competitors."
So why fringe's ratings were so bad on monday?? and why better on this same spot last year?
This show was ever "to be canceled or not ", Lie to me was a good show with nice ratings season 1
and 2,but it's very bad now,and HT is mezzo mezzo..
But i understand FOX moves and iy's probably the only chance for Fringe to survive with those ratings,and DVR is not interesting for network at all…
Why Fringe's fans stay at home on friday is a mistery,though….
I agree.Only, to my knowledge, not that I watch the show, Grey's Anatomy isn't a procedural.. :P
cant believe that we have dismissed quality as the major reason to keep or kill a tv show.
god damn you grey viewers and csi i mean come on.
chicago hope , er , so many dr. tv shows – dont really get it -) go hang around hospitals humans
cant believe that we have dismissed quality as the major reason to keep or kill a tv show.
god damn you grey viewers and csi i mean come on.
chicago hope , er , so many dr. tv shows – dont really get it -) go hang around hospitals humans