Written Reality: Rants and Raves: When is Customer Feedback a Bad Thing?

When is Customer Feedback a Bad Thing?

by Andrea M. Newton
June 8, 2007

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You know, I keep reading articles from journalists or bloggers asking if the success of the Jericho campaign is going to set a dangerous precedent by telling fans of other shows that if they send lots of an item related to the show, the network will bring it back. But the fact is, lots of shows were canceled this season -- how many others had fan protests like Jericho's?

Every season, shows get canceled. It's only the ones with strong, passionate fanbases that launch campaigns to save the show. And it's only ones with truly large audiences, like Jericho, that are successful. That alone proves that the show deserves a second chance.

And what business wouldn't love to get feedback from their customers about a product they love? What business would survive long if it didn't listen to that feedback?

If we're setting any kind of precedent, it's a good one -- that networks will re-evaluate how they determine the total viewing audience for a show, and take into consideration more factors than just the Nielsen ratings when deciding whether or not to renew it.

At least, I hope they do.

Overall TV viewership has been declining recently. Not long before the May upfronts, I read an article about how 2.5 million people simply didn't tune into TV at all this spring, and networks were scrambling to figure out why. Now they've got a bit of an idea:

1. We're sick of shows we love being unceremoniously canceled, so we aren't going to take a risk on new ones, and
2. More and more people are watching via New Media methods, which aren't reflected in the Nielsens. In fact, the entire Net Neutrality debate started because so many more people are watching TV using online methods.

So CBS didn't "cave to fan peer pressure", as some journalists and bloggers would have you believe. It realized that the figures it used to make its decision to cancel Jericho weren't an accurate reflection of the show's popularity. It made a sound business decision to renew a show that had a larger viewing audience than they were originally led to believe.

Will other shows' fans stage protests when they get canceled? Some yes, some no. It's been done for years before Jericho, and it will be done for years to come. But only the shows that truly have large, uncounted audiences will be brought back for a second chance. And, sadly, not even all of them.

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