Guest Post: You’ve Done What To My Favorite Show?

This guest post was brought to you by Michael Senchuk. You can find his bio and links to his blog at the end of this post!

They’re moving “Big Bang Theory” to Thursday? Are they serious? I’m sure that was the first reaction of many of you, just as it was me – at least until I let the analytical side of my brain go to work on figuring out why. See, I grew up in the broadcasting industry, as my father was an executive of two network affiliates - so television ratings, network scheduling, and lead-ins were all concepts I was very familiar with. That, combined with my analytical mind (see my business blog 360 Analysis Avenue for more examples of that), led me to ponder this latest move by CBS.

The explanation is pretty simple in this case – CBS wanted an extra hour of comedies on their schedule (perhaps because that’s where the trends are pointing, perhaps just because the pilots they green-lighted were shaping up that way), so needed an 8PM slot on some other night – and they chose Thursday. Rather than putting two new shows in a slot on Thursday night back-to-back, it mitigated the risk by taking one of their four quality Monday shows, and moving it to be a lead-in for the new comedy on Thursday night. Lead-ins are still extremely important in network scheduling - you’d be surprised how many people start on a channel for the evening, and leave it there for the rest of the night unless there’s a compelling reason to change the channel.

Back to Monday night - “How I Met Your Mother” (another of my favorites) is a high quality lead-in to the entire night of programming. - you really don’t want to move that. Their next show, with The Tick (“Rules of Engagement”), is too new to be valuable as a lead-in on Thursday night. Two And A Half Men would work, but it’s really been part of the Monday night lineup for too long. That leaves “The Big Bang Theory”, a quality show with a dedicated audience, but not so long-running you’d alienate your entire fan base – so off it goes to Thursday, as the new lead-in for that evening’s programs, followed by My Dad Says, CSI, and The Mentalist.

The network also cleared out the Monday 10PM slot for Hawaii Five-O, hoping it can capitalize on the network’s two hours of solid lead-in comedies (although obviously the jury will be out on Mike and Molly), and equally hoping CSI:Miami’s audience will follow it to Sunday (often a troublesome night for networks). Let’s not forget, a lot of new shows don’t make it, so don’t be surprised by quick adjustments, as CSB analyzes ratings early in the season for Mike & Molly, Hawaii Five-O, and My Dad Says.

Regardless, I know I’ll be following Big Bang Theory to Thursdays. Or at least, my Tivo will.

Michael Senchuk hails from way up north in Edmonton, Canada.  Besides working in the finance department of one of Canada's largest poultry producers, he finds the time to blog on business analysis (www.360analysis.com) and new alternative music (www.newmusicmichael.com), as well as perform social media and business consulting.