Steve Sternberg

Articles by Steve All articles by Steve

• 'Evil' Is One Of The Best Shows On TV in Research Intelligencer on 07/26/2021
  

  In this week's edition, I make the case why "Evil," which premiered on CBS in September 2019, is one of the best shows currently on TV. While it was the network's best new show of the year, it unfortunately was not one of its most-watched. In fact, for the full 2019-20 season, it was one of CBS's lowest rated series, and a prime candidate for cancellation. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, delaying production schedules for virtually all networks and platforms, and throwing the 2020-21 season into chaos. While Netflix had more shows in the pipeline than most, it still needed fresh programming. Repeats of "Evil's" first season were licensed to the streaming service (just in the U.S.), where it started airing in October 2020. It quickly rose to be Netflix's fourth most-watched series - and drew a much wider audience than it managed to get on the older-skewing linear network. Because of its successful run on Netflix, CBS decided to renew "Evil" for a second season and shift it to its own (recently rebranded) streaming platform, Paramount+. It was recently renewed for a third season.

• Is Amazon's 'Bosch' The Best Procedural Drama Ever? in Research Intelligencer on 07/19/2021
  

  As a result of so many programs on so many platforms, and the fact that everybody doesn't have access to everything anymore, television viewing has become much more splintered than even just a few years ago. So, it is possible, even likely, that any list of "best" TV shows will have several that many readers have not seen, or perhaps even heard of. If you are among those who have not yet discovered Amazon original series "Bosch," you are missing out on one of the very best series on any platform. The seventh season dropped this June, and there are now 68 episodes that you can binge at your leisure. In this week's edition, I make a strong case why, if you don't subscribe to Amazon Prime, you should, if only to view "Bosch" alone.

• Cop Shows Face A Reckoning, Sort Of in Research Intelligencer on 07/12/2021
  

  Despite irrefutable video evidence, there was real and justifiable concern among many observers that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin would be acquitted of murdering George Floyd and escape justice. Juries have traditionally given police officers the benefit of the doubt. Convictions, even with seemingly obvious wrongdoing, have been few and far between. While I am certainly not claiming that television is the main culprit here, there is no question that more than 70 years of police portrayals on highly viewed scripted dramas have contributed to public perception of police as the good guys who often need to do whatever it takes to bring the bad guys to justice. In this week's issue, I explain how, for the first time, networks and producers seem willing (and financially motivated) to make changes. Whether they are simply cosmetic and temporary remains to be seen.

• Why Disney+ Marvel Series Are So Good (Even When They're Not) in Research Intelligencer on 06/28/2021
  

  One reason television series based on movies seldom work is because the stars from the theatrical movie don't ordinarily reprise their roles for the TV version. So viewers are often disappointed when the new actors don't measure up to the originals. Featuring secondary characters from the movies, portrayed by the same actors, in its first three Disney+ series is a smart move by Marvel. In this week's edition, I explain why Disney+'s Marvel series are so good (even when they're not).

• A Young Media Person's Guide To Evaluating TV Pilots in Research Intelligencer on 06/21/2021
  

  This year, as the world is inching back to normal, COVID production schedules are delaying several pilots until later this summer (although I have seen a few). So, while I had planned to include my predictions of new series hits and misses in this report, that will have to wait until more pilots are available. In lieu of that, this week's report will focus exclusively on how to evaluate the success potential of new series pilots. In the 40 years or so I've been analyzing the television landscape, the benchmark of success for a new broadcast series has continually shifted, with the bar gradually getting lower and lower.

• Why Most New Broadcast Shows Will Flop in Research Intelligencer on 06/07/2021
  

  These are the best of times for TV viewers, but it might be the worst of times for broadcast TV - although it doesn't have to be. I haven't seen most of the new broadcast prime-time pilots yet, but I can confidently predict that most of them, at least those that aren't spin-offs of current hits, will flop. In this week's edition, I explain why and also what can be done to avoid it.

• Do The Upfronts Still Matter? in Research Intelligencer on 05/26/2021
  

  For insiders at media agencies, networks, and advertisers (as well as tv analysts like me), the upfront season has placed thoughts of September squarely into May and June. In this week's edition, I raise -- and hopefully answer -- the fundamental question: Do the upfronts still matter?

• Does Pre-Season Buzz Really Matter? in Research Intelligencer on 05/10/2021
  

  Prior to the 2020-21 TV season, I released an annual report examining the impact of pre-season buzz on new TV shows. Each time my conclusion has been the same: despite some notable exceptions, there is no correlation between the level of pre-season buzz a show receives and whether it becomes successful once it premieres. In this week's edition, I provide a post-pandemic update, but here's a little background: Until the early-2000s, the broadcast networks almost exclusively aired repeats during the summer and there was virtually no television-based news other than previewing new fall series - which would typically begin right after the network upfront presentations in late May, and continue unabated through the start of the new season in late September. There was ample time to create buzz for the fall TV shows. That was before cable networks aired numerous original scripted series during those months, before the broadcast networks started airing summer reality, game shows, and limited-run series, and before the advent of streaming services.

• Pre-Upfront Thoughts On Broadcast TV, Promotions, Nielsen, And AVOD in Research Intelligencer on 04/26/2021
  

  In this week's edition I offer some wide-ranging thoughts to set the stage for this year's marketplace.

• Make Mine Marvel: Reviews Of Every Marvel TV Series Available To Stream in Research Intelligencer on 04/05/2021
  

  Television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) are based on characters appearing in Marvel comics who have a shared reality with the theatrical film franchises. From 2013-2020, a dozen shows were produced by Marvel Television, with ABC Studios and ABC Signature Studios, across broadcast, cable, and streaming (ABC, Netflix, Hulu, and Freeform). A couple of series set in the X-Men universe, which were not officially part of the MCU, were produced by 20th Century Fox (for Fox and FX). In this week's edition, I review -- and rate -- all of them. Nuff said!

Comments by Steve All comments by Steve

• Pre-Upfront Thoughts On Broadcast TV, Promotions, Nielsen, And AVOD by Steve Sternberg (Research Intelligencer on 04/26/2021)
  

  Thanks Jack. High praise coming from you. 

• 'Wonder Woman 1984' Scores $16.7 Million At Box Office, Highest Pandemic Opening by Wayne Friedman (Television News Daily on 12/28/2020)
  

  Saying Wonder Woman had the highest pandemic opeing is like saying Washington is going to win the NFC East - intereting but meaningless.

• Poll Misfires: Maybe TV Show Questions Would Elicit Truer Results by Wayne Friedman (TV Watch on 11/23/2020)
  

  The idea that people lie in polls because they don't want to admit they are voting for a polarizing candidate is gibberish and the type of nonsense pollsters like to use as an excuse for their inaccuracies. The way most polls are designed and structured is fundamentally flawed as are ridiculously small sample sizes that are no longer representative of a much more splintered universe.  

• Disney+ Overdelivers: 10 Million Subscribers At Launch by Wayne Friedman (Television News Daily on 11/13/2019)
  

  Not sure this was a real overdelivery. In last month's Sternberg Report I said I thought Disney could have more than 10 million subs by 2020, and 30 million in U.S. by 2024.

• Disney's 'Mandalorian' Is Clint Eastwood In Outer Space by Adam Buckman (TVBlog on 11/14/2019)
  

  You beat me to it.  I was starting t write the same thing for The Sternberg Report.  Great minds...

• Nielsen To Add Out-of-Home Viewers To National Ratings In 2020 by Karlene Lukovitz (Digital News Daily on 09/12/2019)
  

  While I seldom disagree with Jack or Ed, and I do not question that bar viewers are attentive to the program, it is simply ridiculous to think that commercials are anywhere near as effective as in home. Anyone who watches sports in a bar, particularly in groups, knows that they can’t hear the commercials and seldom watch them. I did a lot of research on tho subject when I was at Magna. Any agency or advertiser who accepts this is not doing their job. 

• ABC Pushes Big On-Air Promos For New Fall Shows by Wayne Friedman (Television News Daily on 09/06/2019)
  

  But since the broadcast networks foolishly refuse to promote one another's series, much of the promotion you mntion is wasted.  Multiple ads on ABC game and reality shows isn't going to dramatically help a show like Stumptown or Emergece.

• This Will Be A Sellers' Upfront by Dave Morgan (Media Insider on 05/30/2019)
  

  Demand never outweighs supply in TV.  The upfront system creates an artificial demand for what is essentially a (nearly) unlimited supply of rating points.  As long as the upfront system rewards rankings over actual audience size, the networks will continue to be able to charge more for a shrinking product.  Also should note that as average ratings decline, it becomes much easier to estimate future program and network performance, so guarantees, the only reason for advertisers to still want an upfront, are not nearly as useful as they once were.

• 4 In 10 Ad Execs Predict Upfront Will Either Diminish Or Disappear In Five Years by Joe Mandese (Research Intelligencer on 05/08/2019)
  

  Real story is that more than 40% of advertisers and agencies think the upfront will expand.

• Older Companies' Message To Netflix: We Want Our Shows Back by Adam Buckman (TVBlog on 04/29/2019)
  

  I think tthat even though Friends and The Office might be Netflix's most viewed shows, most people get Netflix for original series, not off-net stuff.  Once they get it, they start watching a lot of other things.  So I expect that it might be annoying to lose Friends, it probably won't contribute much to churn.  On average, viewers willspend less time with aNetflix, but it won't inhibit subscriber growth much.

About Edit

You haven't told us anything about yourself! Surely you've got something to say. Tell us a little something.