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« David's Traveler Blog
Four-quadrant Television
Hey, fellow Travelers! We had a great week both in episode response and in the ratings. All of your hard work promoting the show paid off with a 23-percent ratings increase week-to-week in the 18-to-49 demo. So, a huge thank-you goes out to all the fans who continue to spread the good Traveler word! Please keep it up. The show gets even more fun, action-packed and emotional as we head into the last three episodes of the season.
Wow, "fun, action-packed and emotional?" Where have I heard those criteria for good entertainment before? Well, funny story. As you know from my earlier blog entries, I started out on the film side of this wild little town we call Hollywood. And in Hollywood, there's a special buzz term we use a lot when talking about the movie biz" "four-quadrant movie." But what exactly is a 4Q film? Well, there are about a dozen of them playing in your local cineplex right now. They dominate the summer movie season. They are films that appeal to all four of the major moviegoing demographics: male and female, old and young. Spider-Man, Pirates, and Knocked Up are just a few examples of movies that draw huge numbers by appealing to a wide audience.
But if so much time goes into creating and promoting four-quadrant movies, how come we so rarely hear about four-quadrant television? Sadly, from my experience, television seems to target a more fragmented audience. If you look at the networks, you see that they are constantly referred to by the one demographic to which they appeal. ABC is considered to have a female audience. Everyone talks about how old the CBS audience is, or how young the viewers are at Fox. NBC? Well, I think they used to be the closest thing to a four-quadrant television network. Now, people just tell jokes about them, even though they have some of the highest quality and most original network programming on the air.
So why then don't the networks make more of an effort to reach out beyond their labeled demographic? To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. But it would be a great case study for a business class. My guess would be that because of the volatility and risk involved in making TV shows, and the high rate of failure, networks want to stick to programming that they believe works for their audience. They would rather cater to the eyeballs they know, than spend money trying to attract the eyeballs they don't.... Does that make sense?
The result of this homogeneous programming mentality is that you will see a lot of clones of a network's bread-and-butter shows on the schedule. Think about the multiple CSIs on CBS, the Law & Orders on NBC, Grey's and the myriad of ensemble dramedies on ABC. Another result of this democentric programming, I think, is the rise of what I call the "I Network" — and I'm not referring to any proprietary technology owned by Steve Jobs. The I Network refers to those of us who do not want to see the same show played over and over again in a slightly different variation. The I Network is created by those of us who use our DVRs and computers to create a diverse slate of shows that we want to watch when we want to watch them. In my limited and humble opinion, the I Network is the way of the future.
So, why am I talking about four-quadrant television? And how does it relate to Traveler? Well, I have been inspired by the diversity of the fans who have given us feedback both here at the TVGuide.com blog and on the message boards at IMDB and the Traveler fan forum. We made Traveler as a four-quadrant show, and based on the response I've seen thus far from fans, I think we succeeded. Whether or not that is a good thing in television awaits to be seen.
Now, on to this week's episode, "The Trader." You guys got very excited about Will's re-entry into our story in "The Tells." In "The Trader," Will's story continues. You learn more about his training and his associates. In the meantime, we've reached a turning point in Jay and Tyler's story line. They have stopped running scared and come up with a plan of attack. This plan leads them back into the lion's den… New York City, that is. The emotional payoffs in this next episode are many, including one of my all-time favorite scenes from the story, which involves Carlton Fog, played by the brilliant William Sadler. Our third story line is for all you Marlow fans out there. Viola Davis has brought such a sense of compassion to this character, and in "The Trader," you'll see her strength shine through as well. Lastly, for any fans of Invasion who are reading this, keep an eye on this week's guest star: Another "Dave" joins the team.
Hope this blog has offered some good food for thought and helped whet your appetite for another fun episode of summer TV. I'll see you guys down the road.
ABC's Traveler airs Wednesdays at 10 pm/ET.
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Jun 25, 2007 4:26 PM
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Thanks Dave!
Traveler just gets better each week. With the addition of Will Traveler last week, things kind of went into overdrive. I loved the episode and I am really loving the show!!
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Jun 25, 2007 5:05 PM
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Fantastic program Dave. I know for me, the characters and their relationships, along with the action and well written story lines, is what keeps me coming back. I am so thankful that we got these 8 episodes this summer.
I am clinging to hope that ABC will see what a diamond this is, and with a better time period and some more promotion, could really have a hit on their hands. I see this audience growing all over the Internet!
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Jun 25, 2007 8:51 PM
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Dave, this show gets better every week. I can't believe we're so close to the end!
I'm really excited to see this week's episode and learn more about how Will was trained. Also love the Marlow story line. Viola Davis is terrific!
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Jun 25, 2007 9:55 PM
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This shows is amazing. It's a great relief from summer reality television. But how come all the episodes that have already aired on not on abc.com to watch.
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Jun 26, 2007 4:10 AM
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I'd love for this to return mid-season and air after "Lost". I feel they attract the same type of audience (hey, conspiracy theories seem to be abound in both shows) and I think they could be great companions for one another.
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Jun 26, 2007 9:28 AM
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I watched the first two eppys of Traveler but unfortunately have not senn it since just becasue of getting busy and not having a chance to watch. I wish I had kept up with the show. I wanted to respond if you will to your comments about hoo network tv is targetedto certain demo groups.
For example I am a 40s-something(closer to 50)African American woman. I have enjoyed shows such as a Frasier, the O.C., recently Hidden Palms. and How I met Your Mother. I also enjoy ensemble dramas ala Grey's Anatomy, Without A Trace. I enjoy masterpiece theater and the Saturday britcoms on PBS. Some of those shows I'm sure I am not the targeted demo for which they are aiming.
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Jun 26, 2007 12:00 PM
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I am so glad that the fan base is growing. Being a person who loves shows with mystery and action, I have loved Traveler from the beginning. Hopefully, we won't be lead down the primrose path and then disappointed by the show not being picked up. I am glad that Will is back and we're getting insight into his character. From the "fight" scenes he's been involved in, you can see he has had extensive training, and kudos on the bomb in the trunk of the car -- he's obviously no push over. Every time an episode ends, I want next weeks show to start right then and there. I hate to wait a whole week. Hope things continue to grow for this great show.
DCDimples
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Jun 26, 2007 12:50 PM
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Good TV is good TV no matter what the target audience, IMO. Anywho -- thank goodness for streaming video. Dh and I caught up on Traveler online after the buzz started and now we're fans. Neilson doesn't care what we watch since we're not a Neilson family, but our downloads count just as much as anyone else's. That's our way of getting the word out.
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Jun 26, 2007 5:30 PM
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The surprise show of the year. I gave this show a chance and I found a great show. You always look forward to watching the next episode..
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Jun 26, 2007 7:53 PM
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In answer to David's question, TV is not 4Q like movies are because movies rely on selling tickets for revenue while TV relies on advertizing. Advertizers like to focus their advertizing to a certain demographic (no use trying to sell tampons to male teenagers), so will more likely buy advertizing to a network that focuses on their target market. As they say in marketing, "he who tries to sell to everyone ends up selling to no one."
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Jun 26, 2007 10:45 PM
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Great show and really interesting blog entry. I think the suggestion about running Traveler again next year after Lost finishes its run is an excellent idea. It would make the end of Lost's season 4 a little more palatable to have something exciting to look forward to afterwards. Traveler has not failed to hold our attention- action and mystery, what a good combination. Glad to see that everyone's efforts are beginning to pay off. I'm hoping for a little more from Agent Borjes- maybe he'll bust out a little in the next episodes. Looking forward to tomorrow night's episode . . . and Dave from Invasion!
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Jun 26, 2007 11:29 PM
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Hey David!
I can see what you mean with 4Q-television. Not that I am an expert or anything, but I have actually noticed the same thing with what you are saying. There are not many shows that speaks to all four groups (aside from Travler and less than a handful other shows). I wish there would be more series like that.
Also wonderful to hear about the increasing rating! It is really wonderful to hear that good news! I can't wait to see the last episodes!
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Jun 27, 2007 4:53 AM
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This is a show that I was scared to watch. I thought that I would like it and then it would be taken away. I was right in that I do like the show (more than like, actually!) and now I am stressing that it will be taken away. To put it on after "Lost" midseason is a wonderful idea! It wouldn't matter to me where they put it, though, as long it is on some time.
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Jun 27, 2007 11:56 AM
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I was killing time online before watching Traveler tonight...and ran across this blog area. It is wonderful to get to read the writers insight into this show. Thank-you for taking the time to do this blog! Way back, possibly at a year ago when ABC was saying what their shows for that upcoming season were going to be...Traveler stuck out to me. I'm sorry that it's being shown in the summer, when viewership is always way down. But on the other hand it's so nice to have something good to look forward to watching in the summer. Great show!
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Jun 27, 2007 9:59 PM
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