"Netflix kept us on the air." - Breaking Bad and TV Technology

"Netflix kept us on the air."

• "Breaking Bad" creator Vince Gilligan credited Netflix for helping establish an audience for the show when ratings were low.
• Fox premiered a new drama called "Sleepy Hollow," which averaged 10 million viewers. Over the next three days, the show added an additional 3 million viewers from recorded viewing. By the end of the month, Fox projects that the audience could grow to as much as 16 million.

The Breaking Bad finale was Sunday's top cable program.  But of equal interest was the combination of Breaking Bad and The Big Bang Theory totally dominating the top ten shows.

1. Breaking Bad             AMC       10.2 million
2. Talking Bad               AMC        4.4 million
3. Big Bang Theory       TBS          3.6 million   9:30 pm
4. Big Bang Theory       TBS          3.4 million   8:30 pm
5. Big Bang Theory       TBS          3.4 million   8:00 pm
6. Big Bang Theory       TBS          3.4 million   10:00 pm
7. Big Bang Theory       TBS          3.4 million   9:00 pm
8. Big Bang Theory       TBS          3.3 million   7:30 pm
9. Big Bang Theory       TBS          3.0 million   10:30 pm
10. Breaking Bad            AMC         3.0 million   marathon

(TV by the Numbers)

And along Comes the Internet

The Internet has revolutionized the news industry.  I can read unfiltered news directly from Japan or Nigeria without the Elite Media twisting it for me.  But the Net also allows me to publish my own Internet Magazine of news and opinion.

The revolution has been equally powerful in entertainment.  Direct streaming of programs and recording for later viewing has changed the media landscape.


(The Los Angeles Times)  -  An interesting story on how technology and the Internet has rapidly changed the way consumers watch TV.

TV networks see both opportunity and revenue pitfalls as Netflix, Amazon.com, Hulu and other video-on-demand options give viewers more ways to consume programming.

As the landscape has become increasingly crowded with services that compete with the traditional TV networks for viewers. The networks' challenge is to figure out how to exploit these digital platforms without steering viewers away from their own channels and jeopardizing the billions of dollars they collect each year in ad revenue and fees from cable distributors.

After winning best drama for "Breaking Bad," the show's creator, Vince Gilligan, credited Netflix for helping establish an audience for the show after early seasons did not perform strongly in the Nielsen ratings reports the Los Angeles Times.

"Netflix kept us on the air," Gilligan said.

That's in part because Netflix, Amazon.com, Hulu and other video-on-demand options have given viewers the chance to catch up on shows, particularly serialized dramas, that they may have missed the first time around.

The number of homes equipped with digital video recorders also has greatly expanded. Now nearly half of all TV homes in the U.S. have the technology, up from 19% in 2008, according to Nielsen.

Catch-up viewing also can drive people back to the TV network that originally televised the show.

"Breaking Bad" has enjoyed record ratings this season after thousands of viewers streamed episodes through Netflix. 

The most-watched program on Netflix during the Emmys was the 2008 pilot episode of "Breaking Bad."

"That means that new people who have never seen a single episode of 'Breaking Bad' are checking it out," the executive said.

But at the same time, Netflix and Amazon are increasingly becoming competitors to ABC, AMC, CBS, HBO and Showtime, attracting viewers as well as some of Hollywood's A-list producers, directors and writers.

The percentage of homes that have Netflix subscriptions increased to 38% of the country this year, up from 31% of homes in 2012, according to a recent Nielsen report. Amazon's video service Amazon Prime Instant Video increased to 13% of the market, up from 7% a year ago. At the same time, 88% of the Netflix viewers surveyed said they watched three or more episodes of the same show on the same day.

"There is no doubt that Netflix is becoming an important player, and they should be commended for the quality of their shows," Rosenblum said. "But we should not lose sight of the fact that the great majority of television viewing is on broadcast and cable channels."
 

Broadcasters must still be able to translate the new viewership opportunities into revenue. Last week, Fox premiered a new drama called "Sleepy Hollow," which averaged 10 million viewers. Over the next three days, the show added an additional 3 million viewers from recorded viewing. By the end of the month, Fox projects that the audience could grow to as much as 16 million.

"There are more ways to watch television than ever before," said David Nevins, president of entertainment for the Showtime Networks, which collected seven Emmys. He noted that only about 30% of the viewing of his network's popular "Dexter" occurs during the first run of an original episode.