Continuum Season 2
Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2013 6:14 pm
I thought we had a tread on this the previous episode on Continuum, but I couldn’t find it so I started this one.
While I thought the second season was very well written and flawlessly produced, it wasn’t as interesting to me personally. It is almost like it got too big and lost focus on some of the things that made the first season so compelling. The individual relationships and personalities of the characters seemed to give way to larger philosophical questions. Neither good nor bad, just not as interesting to me personally.
It was also brought up during the episode that SyFy may not be marketing this show hard enough or in the correct why. This is a slippery slope for SyFy and there may not be a good answer for what they should do. SyFy like most large (and even smaller) cable networks are being forced to worry about rating more and more (something that use to be completely irrelevant to cable networks). What this means is cable channels need to air more original content, cable channels can no longer survive by airing reruns from decades past 24/7 anymore. As an example compare what channels like Nickelodeon, FX, USA and TBS broadcasts in primetime now compared to a decade ago. So this is why a channel like Syfy has brought in previously produced and aired shows like Continuum and Lost Girl. SyFy also sends shows they have produced and aired to Canada’s Showcase network and Space channel like Defiance and Being Human. Now the question is where is the real money? The real pot of gold for a show catching on is for the production company; in Continuum’s case that is a small independent company Reunion Pictures. It is only moderately in SyFy (and by extension their parent NBC) interest for Continuum to succeed. Obviously they want it to succeed enough that people watch and has the rating to keep cable providers carrying the channel, thanks to the NBC tie this isn’t that hard. NBC can bully cable providers into carrying SyFy by bundling it with more popular networks like the NBC network, USA, Bravo and CNBC. Now what if Continuum becomes a real hit? NBC will be forced to pay more to Reunion Pictures just to carry the show and all monies from things like VOD and DVD sales go to Reunion pictures. For this reason NBC has very little reason to market a show like Continuum past the point of simply expectable ratings. A show like Haven that NBC/ Universal is involved in producing will have a much larger marketing push by SyFy then a show like Continuum ever will. I know this isn’t a happy answer, but television is still a business and one that is becoming harder and harder as viewing patterns and content delivery change.
While I thought the second season was very well written and flawlessly produced, it wasn’t as interesting to me personally. It is almost like it got too big and lost focus on some of the things that made the first season so compelling. The individual relationships and personalities of the characters seemed to give way to larger philosophical questions. Neither good nor bad, just not as interesting to me personally.
It was also brought up during the episode that SyFy may not be marketing this show hard enough or in the correct why. This is a slippery slope for SyFy and there may not be a good answer for what they should do. SyFy like most large (and even smaller) cable networks are being forced to worry about rating more and more (something that use to be completely irrelevant to cable networks). What this means is cable channels need to air more original content, cable channels can no longer survive by airing reruns from decades past 24/7 anymore. As an example compare what channels like Nickelodeon, FX, USA and TBS broadcasts in primetime now compared to a decade ago. So this is why a channel like Syfy has brought in previously produced and aired shows like Continuum and Lost Girl. SyFy also sends shows they have produced and aired to Canada’s Showcase network and Space channel like Defiance and Being Human. Now the question is where is the real money? The real pot of gold for a show catching on is for the production company; in Continuum’s case that is a small independent company Reunion Pictures. It is only moderately in SyFy (and by extension their parent NBC) interest for Continuum to succeed. Obviously they want it to succeed enough that people watch and has the rating to keep cable providers carrying the channel, thanks to the NBC tie this isn’t that hard. NBC can bully cable providers into carrying SyFy by bundling it with more popular networks like the NBC network, USA, Bravo and CNBC. Now what if Continuum becomes a real hit? NBC will be forced to pay more to Reunion Pictures just to carry the show and all monies from things like VOD and DVD sales go to Reunion pictures. For this reason NBC has very little reason to market a show like Continuum past the point of simply expectable ratings. A show like Haven that NBC/ Universal is involved in producing will have a much larger marketing push by SyFy then a show like Continuum ever will. I know this isn’t a happy answer, but television is still a business and one that is becoming harder and harder as viewing patterns and content delivery change.