Fox Fall 2013: Sleepy Hollow

[keg in kc]

Networks are showing they're willing to adjust, albeit slowly. You're already seeing an variety of program formats. A decade ago, who would have imagined 12-13 episode shows on major networks. NBC had Hannibal last year (and next year). Now CBS has, err, what's it called, Hostages, which is I think running 15 weeks? They're basically adapting the kinds of shows that have been and are succeeding on premium channels (something that as I recall people said would never happen a few years back), and audiences are responding to at least some of them. You're even seeing corroborations between NBC and foreign networks (Crossing Lines this summer). And serial dramas now seem almost the norm, where they barely existed a decade ago.

I realize this seems like a tangent but my point is that I think they're getting creative because they know they have to in order to stay competitive. In the same light, some programs in recent years have tried varying their advertising format (with varied degrees of success). I think the major networks realize they have to adjust if they want to keep being the major networks. There's just too much out there to draw viewers away from them.