7. Longmire had lots of viewers, but they were too old to matter
Pulling in roughly three to five million viewers per week, Longmire was among the most-watched hourlong dramas on cable TV during its run on A&E. And it was innovative, too—a classic TV western about a tough and gruff Wyoming sheriff (portrayed by Robert Taylor) that took place in a modern-day setting that allowed it to address current social issues. While TV in the ’50s and ’60s was lousy with Westerns, Longmire was just about the only 21st-century example, and its high ratings proved there was still an audience for the genre. And yet A&E dropped the show—its most-watched original drama ever—in 2014 after three seasons. Why? Because its steady audience of millions was almost entirely over the age of 50.
TV networks are most interested in attracting viewers aged 18 to 49, because advertisers say that’s the demographic most open to buying new products with the most disposable income. Those over 50, the logic goes, are set in their buying habits and are thus more resistant to advertising, the engine that makes TV run. Longmire was soon picked up by Netflix—which doesn’t care too much about ad demographics, because it isn’t ad-supported.
8. Underground didn’t fit with a new corporate structure
Chicago-based WGN was a cable TV staple for decades, delivering sitcom reruns and Chicago Cubs games to viewers around the country. In 2009, the station rebranded as WGN America, a general-interest station in the mold of USA or TNT that soon started producing high-quality scripted dramas—including Underground, centered around the Underground Railroad, the 19th century network of abolitionists that helped slaves escape the South.
Underground brought critical acclaim and some of the best ratings WGN America had ever seen. Despite its success, it was canceled in 2017 after two seasons. Peter Kern, president and CEO of WGN America corporate parent Tribune Media, said that while Underground was “a terrific and important series, it no longer fits with our new direction.”
That new direction: no more scripted original series at all. WGN America also scrapped the Appalachian drama Outsiders, and when that show got the axe, Kern said the network would be “reallocating our resources to a more diverse programming strategy.” That reallocation was at the behest of executives at Sinclair Broadcast Group, which was in the process of acquiring WGN America and all of Tribune.
“The channel could be run much more profitably on a fraction of what they spend on programming,” Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley told the Wall Street Journal. In other words, Outsiders and Underground—which cost a reported $5 million an episode—were too expensive.
9. CBS’ rural purge
During the 1969-1970 TV season, CBS chief of programming Fred Silverman noticed that the shows getting the most media attention (and top advertising rates) were ABC and NBC shows with multicultural casts, set in urban environments, or ones that appealed to young and hip viewers, such as NBC’s Laugh-In (the No. 1 show on TV) and ABC’s hit thriller The Mod Squad. Silverman also noticed that CBS didn’t have many of those shows on its schedule.
While bringing in large overall audiences, CBS’s programming was primarily based in rural environments or appealed to an aging audience. For example: Mayberry R.F.D. (No. 4 in the ratings), The Red Skelton Hour (No. 7), The Beverly Hillbillies (No. 18), and Hee Haw (No. 21). Silverman made the brash decision to start cancelling this type of series—though they were still pulling in large audiences—and replace them with hip, urbane shows. The first to go: The Red Skelton Hour, which had been on the air for nearly 20 years, and Petticoat Junction. CBS’s first new shows for city folk? The Mary Tyler Moore Show and All in the Family. Both were massive hits, so over the next few years, Silverman systematically replaced all those old, country-laced CBS hits (a list that also included Green Acres, Lassie, and The Jim Nabors Show) with Good Times, Maude, and The Bob Newhart Show. (Fortunately for CBS, Silverman’s risk paid off, mostly because the new shows were really pretty good.) In the TV industry, Silverman’s tactic became known as “the Rural Purge.” Green Acres star Pat Buttram once quipped, “CBS canceled everything with a tree in it.”
Credits: looper.com
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