A Manhattan Love Story Without a Happy Ending
There are few things I love more than piling up on the couch
with my roommates to watch our Roku device. Roku has been a game changer for
us. We are able to watch Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, HBO Go whenever our
hearts desire (aka if our internet is working). Roku is just one of the many popular devices available for consumers with this streaming capability. Last week we were in the mood
to try something new and after a lot of debate we settled on a show that looked
that my roommate Libby summarized as “looks quirky and interesting…potentially
cute” after reading the description of Manhattan
Love Story.
The concept behind the show was definitely a new twist on a
classic romantic comedy TV series. In a sentence, the show follows a new couple
as they meet and begin dating by chronicling and narrating their thoughts. This
“he thinks” “she thinks” concept sounds funny, however was not as well done as
I was hoping for.
After the first scene I remember thinking to myself “not
sure if I’m going to like this”. The thoughts of the boy and girl were
extremely stereotypical as the guy checked out every girl walking by and the
girl was analyzing all of the outfits she passed on her walk to work. As the
episode continued some parts were funny, but for the most part we found
ourselves just waiting for the episode and plot to get better. Unfortunately,
it did quite the opposite in my opinion. I should be fair, I have never liked
shows with narration, but I continually give them a chance before ruling out
the show entirely. Something about the way the two main characters, Dana and
Peter interacted seemed so stereotypical and fake. Just a 20 minute episode and
my roommates and I could make it thru about 15 minutes before finally caving
because we just “could NOT do it anymore”.
We found ourselves using the show and characters from the
show as the butt of several jokes and recently heard that ABC has cancelled the
show. Although, I was not surprised, I am still a little disappointed because I’m
always rooting for the underdog.
After reading on Adweek about ABCs cancellation I realized
Manhattan Love Story presented a
unique situation for the network. In the past, networks have been notorious for
quickly pulling and cancelling any shows that underperformed after only 2 or 3
episodes. ABC kept Manhattan Love Story
running through late October with 4 episodes airing; the show ran longer than
any show they have canceled since 2003. I learned that this is because the way
ratings work is completely changing due to DVR and on-line viewer who are not
watching the show live (aka my roommates and I watching our Roku). These delays
views and bumps have dramatically impacted shows ratings among 18-49 age group.
How to Get Away With Murder and Red Band Society both nearly doubled in
live-plus-seven ratings after using a more delayed response measuring
technique.
I am no expert in TV ratings and network cancellations, but this
is an area of the industry I am interested in exploring more about. It is cool to
see how advances in DVR and companies such as Hulu and Netflix are changing the
game. As a marketing student, we are always discussing in class how and if digital
and online will make TV irrelevant. However, it is encouraging to see the TV
networks adapting and adjusting with these companies and their consumers’
preferences to stay relevant. Advertising has been anchored around television
for decades and personally, I don’t see this going extinct for many more years
to com, especially if companies continue to adapt and integrate multiple
platforms to reach their consumer while also adapting to their lifestyles and
preferences.
Article referenced:
http://www.adweek.com/news/television/why-it-took-so-long-abc-cancel-manhattan-love-story-161019
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