Originally Posted by Dancc:
“I disagree. What makes you say Under the Dome been treated badly? It remains a key part of the summer schedule and will be back very soon, more or less the same time it started last year.
Once Upon a Time was incredibly well looked after. Marketing on ITV for the launch, episode specific trails practically every week and the first season had big Disney film lead-ins most weeks. But the viewing figures dipped from the second season onwards and it was too expensive to be worth acquiring further rights. Viewers lost interest despite Five's very best efforts.
Dallas was given every chance but after a very promising start became hugely disappointing, as it did in America. Admittedly it should have been pushed back to 10PM first before being ditched from primetime altogether.
Person of Interest was mismanaged, definitely. I'll give you that one. The Walking Dead also to an extent in that the move to 5* was badly handled but it was no longer pulling in figures strong enough for the main channel.
Sky aren't perfect, just look at how they treat new seasons of The Simpsons, supposedly a flagship show. Also ditched Supernatural despite perfectly satisfactory viewing figures.
Five can bring Gotham to a much wider audience. And I expect it will be aggressively promoted right across the Viacom family. It will be very well looked after.”
The problem is that C5 aren't the best at scheduling these shows which results in lower viewing figures as the weeks go by.
Under The Dome needs to be broadcast much closer to US transmission IMO. That way it will minimise viewers watching the show by other means.
OUAT did start well but did lose momentum fast in the second season. Not sure about cost but it timeshifted OK. If I was watching this show I'd have been angry what them just dropping it like they did.
Dallas started well but faded fast, particularly in the second season which was fast tracked but moving it to 11PM meant it didn't have a chance. It timeshifted fine though. So why have C5 continued with this show after moving it to the graveyard slot?! Very odd decision indeed - when you consider OUAT was axed with better ratings.
Person of Interest. It's hard to know where to start with this. I'm a fan of the show and watched all episodes at C5 pace. The scheduling for PoI has been atrocious. Started on a Tuesday night then took a long hiatus only to return to Sunday nights and then air at either 9PM or 10PM. The second season then moved to Thursday's and they decided towards the end of the run to show the programme as double bills meaning it wasn't finishing until midnight every week. And to top it all off, we're still a whole season behind American. This show has been treated terribly and a prime example of what I'm saying.
As for The Walking Dead. Again poor scheduling, low ratings and then it shifted to 5*. Very badly handled. I'm not sure why they bothered with it when FOX show the first run anyway. Totally pointless buy for them IMO.
So as you have said you disagree, none of the above screams US imports been treated well to me which is why I think Gotham would be best placed on Sky. Yes, they've made mistakes too (Supernatural - I totally agree with you and I'm a fan of this show), but Sky don't seem as ratings driven a C5 and are more likely to keep shows for all seasons in respectable slots that work. The same can't be said for C5. I watch alot of US imports on Sky and much prefer them. I'm not bothered if they get big ratings or not. They just need enough to continue whereas C5 will move things at the drop of a hat if things start to fail fast. See Dallas Season 2 after 2 episodes IIRC.
