Game of Shows: How Did the Studios Do in the Upfront?

The studios and their network siblings are tighter than ever. But is it good for business?

For the new series set to appear on broadcast networks this fall, the odds of survival are grim. Thanks to a highly fragmented audience comprised of increasingly fickle and distracted viewers, it’s likely that 70 percent of the shows unveiled at the upfronts two weeks ago will not make it to a second season. Millions invested by the networks will go wasted; careers of executives, writers, and actors will stumble. In television, fall is the scary season.

Of course, unlike in the old days of independent production houses (when FCC regulations prevented networks from owning their programming), studios now hedge against the risk of losing it all by creating shows in-house.

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