Variety’s Brian Lowry, in a piece headlined “News’ Need to Pump Web Traffic Presents Speedbump for Network TV Coverage,” analyzes the rocky relationship between TV networks and the media outlets that cover them.
“In a traffic-driven age that has transformed traditional print outlets into digital entities every bit as ratings-motivated as the networks they long derided as pandering to the lowest common denominator,” Lowry said, “priorities have begun diverging in two key areas — one involving criticism, and the other the analysis of ratings.”
According to Lowry, TV networks, new shows and series’ ratings are competing with the reporters and websites that cover their success or failures. Their purposes (and schedules) used to align, but now with 24-hour news sites and a focus on next-day ratings, that relationship has shifted, leaving both parties in a battle over analysis or a “get there first” mentality.
Lowry added that media outlets and networks alike now agree that overnight ratings are not the only way to grade a new series as a success or failure. Networks, clinging to this notion, began sending out ratings reports now with numbers that include delayed viewing. “The message was clear: With so many alternatives for consuming content, it’s short-sighted to draw sweeping conclusions based on that initial burst of fast-national ratings the next morning.”
That said, Lowry admits that reporters remain beholden to pressure to reach quick conclusions, and that’s going to make it hard for networks to convince them to be patient.
Read the full story at Variety.
[Image courtesy of Variety]
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