A couple of questions about US TV

A couple of questions about US television - firstly about US television seasons.

Why are seasons of programmes, which run for 22-24 episodes, usually split into 3 blocks, generally October/November, January/February and April/May?

I understand their are the regular "sweeps" to determine advertising rates, while when new episodes are not airing often earlier episodes air in the slot. So what is the tradition behind this - is it all to do with sports coverage?


Secondly, a question about HBO and similar subscription services. How much does HBO charge, is it packaged with other channels and roughly how much of it's schedule is original programming.

Anyone with answers - please post, and feel free to add further questions in hope of a reply!

I don't know how Sweeps is done, as for HBO, IIRC on most US Cable and Satellite services HBO is charged as a Premium channel, like Sky Movies in effect. Though they get a package of HBO channels, IIRC there's about 8 of them currently broadcasting right now. As HBO is also subscription funded they can get away with more Adult themes that can't be done on Network TV, hence why HBO has given us Sex and The City, The Sopranos and Curb Your Enthusiasm, which would never be made by a network broadcaster such as NBC for instance.

If you want more details about US TV packages, I suggest you make a visit onto DirecTV's site, IIRC they have a long list of them available.

HBO is also available in Europe and other parts of the world, Polish provider Cyfra shows HBO and HBO2 and in English.

On the question of sweeps... The practice stems from the early days of TV, when the only way of determining ratings was by sending out "ratings diaries" to different households, and having them report which stations they watched.

Obviously, to do this every month would've been a logistical nightmare, so they restricted "sweeps" periods to just four months of the year: November, February, May and July. Now, people are usually out later in the evening or on vacation during the summer, so networks generally don't air new shows during that time (as you may well be aware), and no one really cares about the July sweeps. That leaves the other 3 sweeps months, which receive a lot of attention.

Almost as soon as the practice began, the networks and the local stations realized that most of their ad revenue (mainly for the local stations) rested on those 3 sweeps months, so they began to program new shows and specials around the sweeps, and the other months became an afterthought for them.

Now, obviously, the technology for monitoring ratings year-round is available, but the concept of "sweeps" has been so ingrained in the culture that there's a lot of resistance (mainly on the part of the stations) to move on. The stations tend to believe that the new technology (eg. PeopleMeter), which reflects the actual viewing habits of the audience (rather than relying on the viewers themselves to recall which station they watched) will result in lower ratings than they're used to receive, which would mean they wouldn't be able to charge as much for their ads.

Related articles:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2095577
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweeps

Thanks for the info.

So what do most broadcasters show when their regular series take a break for a few weeks - is it just repeated episodes?

Usually repeats, if it's something like NBC on a Thursday Night, then IIRC when Friends was on a break they would show an older episode, but not a really old one, as they're shown on affiliates in the US, mainly The WB ones.

That's essentially the case. During non-sweeps months, the networks tend to air episodes from earlier in the same season. For example, in January, they might air an episode that was first shown back in October.

As nwtv alluded to, older episodes are usually shown in syndication on local stations, outside of primetime.

Another question regarding daytime schedules.

I know the daytime coverage is usually handed over to affiliates - but my main question is about US soaps. Do they run continuously throughout the year or in seasons like their primetime counterparts?

That depends on the programme in question - Dynasty and Dallas ran in seasons, whilst others run continually throughout the year, with only a week or two off from christmas.