Get Ready for Network TV November Sweeps
Lindsay Denninger
Issue date: 10/26/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment
In the oncoming weeks, a competition, the likes of which the public has never seen, will occur-it is a contest that will demonstrate agility, skill and strength. By November, losers will fall to the wayside, and a winner will be crowned. Forget baseball's World Series; I'm talking about the fall television sweeps.
Several times each year (November, February, May and July) the Nielsen Station Index (NSI) collects demographic viewing data from sample homes in different viewing markets. (The NSI measures what people watch and when.) Each household member writes down what he or she or their guests watch during the given period of time. The term "sweeps" refers to the order in which the diaries are mailed out to homes; the diaries from the northeast are commonly processed first and then are "swept" around the country to the south, midwest and west, relatively.
During sweeps, networks get a feel for what viewers are watching and what they're not. They may either cancel a series or put them on hiatus, or they can call for more episodes of a show or renew a whole season. Commonly, networks have mid-season debuts that they have "saved" to put in place of any shows that they remove from their programming schedules. Sweeps are usually a good time for cliffhanger or dramatic episodes of popular shows, as they're a great way to attract viewers. A good showing in a sweeps can do wonders for a network, but a bad showing can ruin an entire season of programming.
Although November sweeps are big business in television, they don't hold the impact that May sweeps do. May sweeps are the final chance for many series: It can mean death or a full-length contract. The idea of November sweeps is not exactly to gain more viewers, but more importantly, to keep them. Sweeps are also a primetime for the networks to show new miniseries and specials.
This November viewers have the chance to view three straight weeks of disaster programming. Airing over two Sundays, on Nov. 6 and 13, CBS will show the miniseries Category 7: End of the World. The four-hour program is a sequel to last year's Category 6: Day of Destruction.
Several times each year (November, February, May and July) the Nielsen Station Index (NSI) collects demographic viewing data from sample homes in different viewing markets. (The NSI measures what people watch and when.) Each household member writes down what he or she or their guests watch during the given period of time. The term "sweeps" refers to the order in which the diaries are mailed out to homes; the diaries from the northeast are commonly processed first and then are "swept" around the country to the south, midwest and west, relatively.
During sweeps, networks get a feel for what viewers are watching and what they're not. They may either cancel a series or put them on hiatus, or they can call for more episodes of a show or renew a whole season. Commonly, networks have mid-season debuts that they have "saved" to put in place of any shows that they remove from their programming schedules. Sweeps are usually a good time for cliffhanger or dramatic episodes of popular shows, as they're a great way to attract viewers. A good showing in a sweeps can do wonders for a network, but a bad showing can ruin an entire season of programming.
Although November sweeps are big business in television, they don't hold the impact that May sweeps do. May sweeps are the final chance for many series: It can mean death or a full-length contract. The idea of November sweeps is not exactly to gain more viewers, but more importantly, to keep them. Sweeps are also a primetime for the networks to show new miniseries and specials.
This November viewers have the chance to view three straight weeks of disaster programming. Airing over two Sundays, on Nov. 6 and 13, CBS will show the miniseries Category 7: End of the World. The four-hour program is a sequel to last year's Category 6: Day of Destruction.