Does Sweeps no longer exist?

[mrdazzo7]

I don't know if it was the Writer's Strike or what but I feel like ever since then, networks haven't cared about Sweeps. There seem to be more and more scheduling things that make me wonder. Immediate case in point would be Jim and Pam's wedding on the office. I love The Office and personally could care less when or if Jim and Pam get married, but they're regarded as a high profile tv couple so I'm kind of surprised that the episode is airing in the middle of october.

I remember a few shows airing their season or even series finales last March and April--I don't remember that ever happening. Networks used to hold everything so they could air it during November, February, or May.

I wonder if it's just the current climate of "new media". It just seems like a very abrupt drop, like networks used to be all about sweeps but I haven't even heard the word used in the past year.

[mattack]

Sweeps still exists.

[marksman]

Right now Jay Leno is sweeping NBC to disaster of unprecedented proportions.

Sweeps have changed some. I think partly because the way data is tracked and also because advertisers said, while it is interesting that you run your special mini-series and special events in sweeps, why the heck are we going to pay you advertising for other shows based on those ratings.

They are not quite as big a deal and now they actually save their first run series episodes in sweeps. I guess this is a sort of compromise. It is kind of silly that they set ad rates based like this. It is 2009. My ad prices I pay on Google change with every click.

[LostCluster]

Sweeps were born as the only times of the year large samples were taken to get more accurate ratings. Now, Nielsen has automated counting mechanisms that work year round. As a result, the networks are now spreading their new content throughout the year.

[bicker]

Despite improved technology, Nielsen still does a much larger survey during sweeps. It still exists, and matters.

May Sweeps is most important, and therefore most focused on. So where you saw series finales in March or early April last year, you can assume that it indicated a lack of confidence on the part of the network.

Note that May sweeps this year begins on April 29, 2010.

[aadam101]

November sweeps used to be full of guest stars. I don't remember that last year and haven't heard anything about this year.

[realityboy]

Despite improved technology, Nielsen still does a much larger survey during sweeps. It still exists, and matters.

May Sweeps is most important, and therefore most focused on. So where you saw series finales in March or early April last year, you can assume that it indicated a lack of confidence on the part of the network.

Note that May sweeps this year begins on April 29, 2010.

This. Also March was sweeps last year because of the DTV transition. I would actually think this year's sweeps will be really important since the past 2 years have had the writer's strike and the DTV transition.

As for Jim & Pam's wedding, having it now means not having to preempt an episode of the Emmy-winning 30 Rock during sweeps or having the wedding compete against a sweeps episode of CSI & Grey's or some other reason that a TV executive thought of.

[DevdogAZ]

Right now Jay Leno is sweeping NBC to disaster of unprecedented proportions.
While Leno isn't helping much in the ratings department, he's also getting pretty dismal lead-in numbers from the rest of the NBC primetime lineup.
Sweeps were born as the only times of the year large samples were taken to get more accurate ratings. Now, Nielsen has automated counting mechanisms that work year round. As a result, the networks are now spreading their new content throughout the year.
Sweeps are the time of year where all markets are measured, which means the ratings gathered during sweeps allow many of the local affiliates in smaller metropolitan areas to set their ad rates. However, national ad rates are not set based on sweeps, since national numbers are recorded every day of the year.
November sweeps used to be full of guest stars. I don't remember that last year and haven't heard anything about this year.
I think the guest star stunt casting technique is now being frowned upon a little bit. It's kind of demeaning to a show's principal cast.

[sieglinde]

I can usually tell when it is sweeps by the odd and horrible news stories that show up on local news.

[BriGuy20]

Right now Jay Leno is sweeping NBC to disaster of unprecedented proportions.

While I've spit plenty of invective about this, I do believe it makes sense from a money standpoint. If 5 nights of Leno really does cost the same as Crime Procedural: Spinoff City, then the ratings can be significantly lower and they can still make NBC money.

That being said, I wish they hadn't gotten rid of some of my favorite shows (Life, Earl, Medium) to make room for him.

[DevdogAZ]

That being said, I wish they hadn't gotten rid of some of my favorite shows (Life, Earl, Medium) to make room for him.
Earl had run its course and would likely have been canceled anyway. Medium is still around, just on a different network. Life is the only one you can argue about, and its ratings really weren't great. It wouldn't have survived on any of the other networks with those ratings. So there really isn't much room to blame Leno for those cancellations. It's more likely that NBC would have simply developed other new shows to put in their place rather than keep them around.

[gossamer88]

Leno at 10pm is a huge mistake. Can they really make that run for years? People want drama (crime, medical, etc) at that hour. Not some celeb hocking their latest project.

He's also hurting the local news. Here in NYC, the local spanish news has beaten the NBC local news...that's pretty pathetic.

[bicker]

The question is whether what some people want is important enough to govern what the network does. The lingua franca in this situation is the money, and not money overall -- specifically the network's money. Affiliates' money doesn't matter, except with regard to how Affiliates' money directly or indirectly affects network's money. I don't know if Leno is "the" answer, but we know that running expensive dramas spitting the audience with CBS and ABC isn't "the" answer either.

The "next" step, if they choose to end Leno, will almost surely not be five first-run dramas, and probably not even four first-run dramas. Most likely scenarios include lots of Dateline NBC, rebroadcasts of 9PM dramas from earlier, and/or turning the hour over to the affiliates for local news (with Conan running at 11:05).

[jilter]

Shouldn't it be "Do Sweeps no longer exist?"

[mrdazzo7]

Shouldn't it be "Do Sweeps no longer exist?"

Maybe. I look at it as more of an event as opposed to plural. IE: "It's sweeps week!".

[jilter]

Gotcha...wasn't sure.