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Franchise Players
by Sophia Banay
Jul 2 2008
Jul 2 2008
Reality be damned. Networks are learning big dramas still pay off.
TV writer Robert Carlock reveals whether life imitates art on his show, 30 Rock. Read More
Bedtime TV is a very profitable niche, but the audience is older and aging. The fight for younger viewers is on. Read More
To any casual TV-watcher, the future of television lies somewhere near a snippy Simon Cowell lashing out at American Idol contestants and Padma Lakshmi preening among Top Chef hopefuls.
The fate of the franchise drama, on the other hand—shows such as Law & Order and CSI, tent-pole series at the center of their networks' programming schedules—has seemed considerably dimmer.
Strangely, however, small-screen experts have grown more convinced the dramas are networks' best hope for keeping viewers loyal amid the multiplying distractions competing for their attention.
"A franchise lends familiarity in a crowded TV landscape," says Brad Adgate, senior vice president at media-planning and buying agency Horizon Media. "It's like doing a sequel to a movie."
The success story of Law & Order, the longest-running crime series on TV, is well-documented. The show was launched in 1990, and three related series—Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001), and Law & Order: Trial By Jury (2004, since canceled) soon followed.
Even though total viewers are on a downward trend for all three series and the audience is aging, this year's season of Law & Order, the original, actually had more viewers than last year's.
"The Law & Order franchise gives us a great 10 p.m. time period performance, important lead-ins to our late local news, and does very well in the 18 to 49 and 25 to 54 demographic," says Mitch Metcalf, executive vice president of program planning and scheduling at NBC.
And the franchise's tentacles are long. According to NBC polling, across NBC, cable (episodes air on USA, TNT, and Bravo), and local market syndication, more than 120 million people in the U.S. viewed an episode of the Law & Order franchise in the month of May.
"It's so hard these days to sell new shows," and franchises present the perfect opportunity for networks to cross-sell, says Kevin Keller, a professor of marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, who featured a branding brief on Law & Order in a textbook he authored, Strategic Brand Management.
"It's not like the different Law & Orders and CSIs"—the original CSI, launched in 2000, spawned CSI: Miami (2002) and CSI: New York (2004)—"pull in different audiences. It's people who love the shows." By extending the brand, networks can get those people to consume more and more TV, says Keller.
Because of this, franchising a successful series can be a jackpot for a network. The second series of a franchised show can command ad rates superior to those of any other new show, although usually lower than the original series itself, according to network executives. The second series saves marketing dollars, because the brand is already well known and the audience is built-in. And it cuts back on production costs, because of the overlap in actors, writers, and sets.
Plus, a franchise can help complete a network's prime-time programming schedule, serving as valuable filler during the most important broadcasting hours of the week. "Those shows fill a lot of time slots for NBC and CBS," says Stacey Shepatin, senior vice president and director of national broadcast for Hill Holliday, a communications agency headquartered in Boston.
"I'm surprised it hasn't been done more," says Adgate, adding that many current top-rated network shows are prime choices for replication in another setting as part of a franchise (as opposed to a spinoff, where a character from one show becomes the main focus of another, different show).
Instead of this year's Grey's Anatomy spinoff Private Practice, featuring Grey’s character Addison Montgomery, Adgate wonders why ABC didn't opt for Grey’s Anatomy: The Interns. ABC's Desperate Housewives, Fox's House and 24, and NBC's Heroes could all also be good candidates.
Of course, not just any popular show packages up neatly as a franchise. CSI and Law & Order are particularly effective because they share distinctive visual and auditory traits, which are carried over from series to series, says Homer B. Pettey, an associate professor of film and television studies at the University of Arizona.
"Law & Order incorporates the scene location directly from the script, along with a sound cue that audiences recognize. CSI is impressive for its look. All-glass laboratory complexes allow interesting camera work. Microscopic views and animated pieces of evidence are signatures for CSI."
Aside from these trademark moves, Dick Wolf, the creator of Law & Order, thinks something else is important. "Several years ago, I gave Christmas presents to the network programming heads that said 'It's the writing, stupid.' Quality television will always prevail. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and if producers understand that, then they have a shot."
The fate of the franchise drama, on the other hand—shows such as Law & Order and CSI, tent-pole series at the center of their networks' programming schedules—has seemed considerably dimmer.
Strangely, however, small-screen experts have grown more convinced the dramas are networks' best hope for keeping viewers loyal amid the multiplying distractions competing for their attention.
"A franchise lends familiarity in a crowded TV landscape," says Brad Adgate, senior vice president at media-planning and buying agency Horizon Media. "It's like doing a sequel to a movie."
The success story of Law & Order, the longest-running crime series on TV, is well-documented. The show was launched in 1990, and three related series—Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001), and Law & Order: Trial By Jury (2004, since canceled) soon followed.
Even though total viewers are on a downward trend for all three series and the audience is aging, this year's season of Law & Order, the original, actually had more viewers than last year's.
"The Law & Order franchise gives us a great 10 p.m. time period performance, important lead-ins to our late local news, and does very well in the 18 to 49 and 25 to 54 demographic," says Mitch Metcalf, executive vice president of program planning and scheduling at NBC.
And the franchise's tentacles are long. According to NBC polling, across NBC, cable (episodes air on USA, TNT, and Bravo), and local market syndication, more than 120 million people in the U.S. viewed an episode of the Law & Order franchise in the month of May.
"It's so hard these days to sell new shows," and franchises present the perfect opportunity for networks to cross-sell, says Kevin Keller, a professor of marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, who featured a branding brief on Law & Order in a textbook he authored, Strategic Brand Management.
"It's not like the different Law & Orders and CSIs"—the original CSI, launched in 2000, spawned CSI: Miami (2002) and CSI: New York (2004)—"pull in different audiences. It's people who love the shows." By extending the brand, networks can get those people to consume more and more TV, says Keller.
Because of this, franchising a successful series can be a jackpot for a network. The second series of a franchised show can command ad rates superior to those of any other new show, although usually lower than the original series itself, according to network executives. The second series saves marketing dollars, because the brand is already well known and the audience is built-in. And it cuts back on production costs, because of the overlap in actors, writers, and sets.
Plus, a franchise can help complete a network's prime-time programming schedule, serving as valuable filler during the most important broadcasting hours of the week. "Those shows fill a lot of time slots for NBC and CBS," says Stacey Shepatin, senior vice president and director of national broadcast for Hill Holliday, a communications agency headquartered in Boston.
"I'm surprised it hasn't been done more," says Adgate, adding that many current top-rated network shows are prime choices for replication in another setting as part of a franchise (as opposed to a spinoff, where a character from one show becomes the main focus of another, different show).
Instead of this year's Grey's Anatomy spinoff Private Practice, featuring Grey’s character Addison Montgomery, Adgate wonders why ABC didn't opt for Grey’s Anatomy: The Interns. ABC's Desperate Housewives, Fox's House and 24, and NBC's Heroes could all also be good candidates.
Of course, not just any popular show packages up neatly as a franchise. CSI and Law & Order are particularly effective because they share distinctive visual and auditory traits, which are carried over from series to series, says Homer B. Pettey, an associate professor of film and television studies at the University of Arizona.
"Law & Order incorporates the scene location directly from the script, along with a sound cue that audiences recognize. CSI is impressive for its look. All-glass laboratory complexes allow interesting camera work. Microscopic views and animated pieces of evidence are signatures for CSI."
Aside from these trademark moves, Dick Wolf, the creator of Law & Order, thinks something else is important. "Several years ago, I gave Christmas presents to the network programming heads that said 'It's the writing, stupid.' Quality television will always prevail. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and if producers understand that, then they have a shot."
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