Much like any program, in order for a show to be successful… it needs viewers! Many shows on networks get dropped after one or two seasons because they do not produce enough revenue, or do not receive enough views from consumers. Show’s like ABC Family’s ‘The Lying Game’ didn’t get picked up for a third season due to bad ratings.
The general norm for networks such as ABC Family is to have a new show created and trialled, as demonstrated by ‘The Lying Game’. Of course, this is a gamble for the network as they won’t have a ratings measurement until the show runs for a couple seasons- Like ‘Breaking Bad’ shown on the AMC network, the program began to pick up only towards the end of Season 2. From there, the show proved to be an enormous success even after it’s finale with AMC also picking up a ‘Breaking Bad’ spin off, ‘Better Call Saul’. However, Comedy Central made a smart move by picking up a program which already had a fan-base and a solid following.
‘Broad City’, a program discussed in the Week 3 Lecture, started out as a webisode created by Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson. Their first episode, “Making Change” was a quick two minute sketch premiering in 2010 on YouTube, and currently has a surprisingly small 503,152 votes. However, the episodes that followed were so uncannily relatable that the show’s fanbase began to grow exponentially. ‘Broad City’ ran for two seasons on YouTube, and coincidentally, was noticed by a very influential fan; Amy Poehler! Amy Poehler helped boost the show’s following, and after two seasons, Comedy Channel picked up the web-series to be turned into a television series, which Amy Poehler currently produces.
The move from web-series to television series was a smart move by Comedy Central as they essentially achieve guaranteed or at least more accurate projected ratings due to the already existing fan-following and quantitative measures from ‘Broad City”s YouTube channel. Of course, the show itself must undergo changes in format and production in order to meet the standards and requirements of Comedy Central, but the format has not seemed to affect the show negatively and it currently has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and an 8.6/10 on IMDB.
The way that ‘Broad City’ has found better success is an example of the influence fans have over network content. Despite the extremely influential push from Amy Poehler, the show has found such steady success due to having an already established fan-base. Viewership proves to be an extremely influential part of network contracts; reflected in the current ratings of ‘Broad City’ on television and the fact that it has already been renewed for a 3rd season in 2016.
This Webisode-to-Spin-Off situation ‘Broad City’ has highlighted changes in viewership and distribution channels, as discussed in the lecture. Regardless of what platform it is broadcasted on; whether television or web, ratings are an accurate measurement of viewership and viewer-approval, thus demonstrating how viewership and fan-following proves to be an enormous factor in the success of a production.
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