FOX Pulls Reunion
After investing 9 episodes of time into the FOX series Reunion they have pulled it because of mediocre ratings. I liked the show, it was like 24 as a murder mystery soap opera and it had a very good hook (advancing one year every week) which conditions nostalgia.
When are the networks going to figure out that the whole concept of “word of mouth” is becoming altered and stretched? The movie studios are digging up anything with remote brand currency because it is cheaper than building something from scratch (e.g. Bewitched, Starsky and Hutch, etc.) and the networks are going to ride reality sequels until they collapse.
What real hope does a new show have? The chance of an initial hit is miniscule now with the options available to people and the entire ratings foundation which determines these things is flawed and measuring a system that is entirely in flux.
Someday soon networks need to understand that their brand is now undeniably tied to the community that they build around their products and ultimately that is where they must find out how to both add and extract value.
All this is prelude to what I really wanted to say which is: Why in the world would FOX pull the Reunion website before the ink was dry on the freaking press release!? Are these execs just plain ignorant? Is your Web product director obsessively tidy?
Instead of possibly cultivating a relationship with all these people who committed to your product you are pretending like they don’t exist instead of possibly building on them for the future. Pure genius. N’t.
Cancel
2 comments
I agree. Reunion was a great show. I am glad there is someone else besides my wife who agrees with me on that one!
I guess they won’t even get to make the DVD. I hope they do, I would get it. How could they let a murder investigation story stay untold?
Fox has lost its mind. Considering that a show like Reunion was taken off, I am not sure I am in their target market at all.
Either that or they need to wake up to reality and see that most of their sweet spot users use Tivo and other DVR’s which up until recently were not tracked by Nielsen.
Oh well, sigh.
FOX has a record of putting promising shows in tight spots (regarding to time slots, programming, etc.) and then canceling them with the reason of mediocre ratings. Just ask anyone who has seen Joss Whedon’s Firefly.