tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-81249525998786315 2012-01-23T18:12:36-05:00 Opinions about TV, Video and Pop Culture TypePad TheSternbergReporthttp://feedburner.google.comSubscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with My AOLSubscribe with BloglinesSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with PageflakesSubscribe with PlusmoSubscribe with The Free DictionarySubscribe with Bitty BrowserSubscribe with NewsAlloySubscribe with Live.comSubscribe with Excite MIXSubscribe with Attensa for OutlookSubscribe with WebwagSubscribe with Podcast ReadySubscribe with FlurrySubscribe with WikioSubscribe with Daily RotationBe sure to sign up to receive all my latest opinions. tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341cdd0d53ef0147e1fed131970b 2012-01-23T18:12:36-05:00 2012-01-23T18:12:37-05:00

Despite differing degrees of pre-game buzz, large- and small-market teams, or high and low ratings for the regular-season and Championship games, every Super Bowl in the past 5 years has fallen into a relatively narrow rating range (from a low of 42.0 in 2009 (when the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals), to a high of 46.0 in 2011 (as the Green Bay Packers edged out the Pittsburgh Steelers). The all-time highest rated broadcast, the 49.1 registered by the San Francisco 49ers' 5-point victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in 1982 seems out of reach. But given that the number of...

Steve Sternberg tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341cdd0d53ef0162ffb296e1970d 2012-01-16T21:30:45-05:00 2012-01-16T21:24:39-05:00

NFL Football remains the highest rated regular-season and post-season sport on television. One of the major reasons ratings remain strong (aside from gambling and fantasy leagues) is that each year new teams are in playoff contention. Several post-season berths are not decided until the last week or two of the season. Unlike many other sports, the NFL, with its revenue sharing and salary caps, has long been designed to create at least a semblance of parity. Teams in smaller markets, such as Green Bay, can effectively compete with larger market teams like New York. This is dramatically different from the...

Steve Sternberg tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341cdd0d53ef01543656a2a8970c 2011-10-22T21:04:18-04:00 2011-10-22T21:03:07-04:00

We are now about a month into the season, so it's time to do something most pundits shy away from - namely, looking back on how my predictions are playing out. Here's a list of all the new broadcast shows that have been canceled. and what we said about them in our Fall TV Preview report. Charlie's Angels (ABC) - As much as we wanted to like the pilot, we just couldn't. It's not just that it may seem cheesy to today's audience, but none of the Angels had any charisma. Prediction right on. How to be a Gentleman (CBS)...

Steve Sternberg tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341cdd0d53ef014e8b328a8f970d 2011-09-02T14:52:18-04:00 2011-09-02T14:40:59-04:00

Following is an exerpt from my introduction of Baseline's latest Primetime TV Insight report, the Fall Preview Edition. In the 1960s, media philosopher and visionary, Marshal McLuhan, dubbed the new electronic media world of television a global village. For the first time, people at opposite ends of the country were able to simultaneously see and hear live events as they were happening. Nearly 50 years later, the global village has become a personal village. People still have access to the same information at the same time, but they no longer have to access it at the same time, on the...

Steve Sternberg tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341cdd0d53ef014e8a7d1bd8970d 2011-08-10T10:01:06-04:00 2011-08-10T09:59:50-04:00

In Part 1, I talked about the new series pilots that I thought were bad (and very bad) and those I thought were disappointing. Part 2 takes a look at not the series that I'm predicting will all be hits, but rather those I liked and think have potential (if only their host network promotes them properly and gives them time). As I say at least a few times every season, it's much easier to predict a flop than a success. The big-time hits almost always come out of nowhere and surprise all the pundits. Here are the new shows...

Steve Sternberg tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341cdd0d53ef01539074a5df970b 2011-08-07T22:08:13-04:00 2011-08-07T22:07:46-04:00

My friends and family think its cool that I get to see all the new series pilots before they air on television. It actually is pretty cool, but it's not always fun. That's because I have to watch them all - the good, the bad, and the very bad. This three part series of blogs is not my predictions for hits and misses, but rather which new series pilots I liked, which have potential (but were disappointing), and which were just plain bad. You may be able to figure out by my comments which I think will succeed. It's much...

Steve Sternberg tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341cdd0d53ef0154342e9043970c 2011-08-02T20:27:09-04:00 2011-08-02T16:31:43-04:00

This was written by Jared Sternberg, sitting in for his dad. I've been a basketball fan almost my whole life. I love watching NBA games on television, I love playing basketball in the park and on my school and rec league teams, and I love playing NBA Live and 2K11 on my PS3. I also love wearing my NBA (Boston Celtics) and NCAA (UConn) gear. I was born in 1999, which my dad tells me was a year after the last NBA lockout. My dad also said (and I looked it up on Google) that it took the NBA 5...

Steve Sternberg tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341cdd0d53ef015433bdb7fc970c 2011-07-15T14:56:47-04:00 2011-07-15T14:56:47-04:00

In less than a month I will turn 55. This is a significant number in the world of television programming, marketing, and advertising. Having already moved out of the 18-49 demographic, I am about to move out of the key 25-54 group and become part of the dreaded and nebulous 55+ category. What will happen between now and next month that will change how advertisers and networks see me? I will still have more disposable income than ever. I will still watch lots of TV. go to lots of movies, and buy lots of stuff. I will still use numerous...

Steve Sternberg tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341cdd0d53ef015432fd051c970c 2011-06-13T14:32:51-04:00 2011-06-13T14:32:51-04:00

I don't go to nearly as many industry conferences as I used to. But I always try to make sure that the Advertising Research Foundation's (ARF) annual Audience Measurement Symposium is one of them. This is not because I tend to learn a lot. I actually think they should find a way for more junior researchers to attend - they would benefit tremendously. While I don't necessarily learn something I didn't already know, however, I always come away from each day thinking about something I wasn't thinking about before. I invariably feel revitalized and inspired. It always makes me realize...

Steve Sternberg tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341cdd0d53ef014e89183e8e970d 2011-06-12T17:40:15-04:00 2011-06-12T17:40:15-04:00

I went to the movies recently with my wife, my 12-year-old son, and my mother-in-law, who is in her early 70s. Prior to the movie, they aired several commercials, none of which my wife or I had seen before. My son, however, seemed quite familiar with them, and commented that the last ad was one of his favorites. My mother-in-law also seemed to recognize the commercials. When I said I never saw any of those commercials, my son said “Of course not, dad, you never watch commercials. You fast-forward through everything. I love watching commercials.” It struck me that my...

Steve Sternberg