Not Being Competent: Why The Peacock Network Is Looking Like A Turkey These Days (UPDATED)

If there were ever a major television broadcaster in need of reputation management (if not outright salvation), it’s the folks who have managed to generate great publicity for two other networks while simultaneously shredding their own status. And all in the space of a few days.

Oh NBC, you’re having quite the week.

The First Domino That Fell…

It was just a few days ago that NBC made the unprecedented move of canceling the well-received, brilliantly-acted drama Southland. Admittedly dark in tone, this Los Angeles police drama was under the aegis of now-former-NBC-golden-child John Wells, the same John Wells who drew viewers and plaudits to a network now hemmorrhaging viewers as executive producer of ER, Third Watch and The West Wing.

While the show’s sophomore season premiere had been pushed back to October 23rd, the show remained in production and six episodes were in fact completed. Furthermore, the premiere was anticipated by both critics and fans. As Gawker noted:

“The good-for-NBC Southland… did well in its original Thursday night at 10pm slot last season, where it debuted to an audience of about 10 million and won its time slot.”

And then, suddenly, the network – which surely was already acquainted with the raw and authentic tone of this remarkable show – suddenly found it “too gritty” for a 9 p.m. timeslot – a space the show was forced into because of NBC’s headscratchingly daft decision to have Jay Leno on at 10 p.m. five nights a week.

Reaction

Clearly, the network was not prepared for the size or venom of the backlash to follow.  As NPR’s Linda Holmes noted in a particularly stinging analysis of the situation

“All ribbing of Jay Leno aside, NBC’s decision yesterday to cancel Southland, a police drama that was to return to the schedule later this month, signals an abandonment of a decades-long commitment to drama that’s regrettable for the network, its viewers, and the creative people who continue to try to make things that are good and interesting and worthwhile.”

Nor did the cast and crew go quietly. Michael Cudlitz, who shone as John Cooper, a tough, mentoring cop who happened to be gay, expressed his profane and distinct displeasure via Twitter and tried to rally fans of the show to support a pick-up of Southland by another network.

Making the Other Guy Look Good, Part I.

The campaign seems to be working. According to The Hollywood Reporter, TNT a basic cable network with a natural pairing for this show in the form of Kyra Sedgwick’s off-beat procedural The Closer seems interested in scooping up Southland:

Four days after the abrupt cancellation of sophomore series “Southland” by NBC, chatter intensifies that the gritty cop drama may find a second home at TNT. TNT was an obvious choice as it shares a corporate parent with Warner Bros. TV, which produces the critically praised series with studio-based John Wells Prods. But sources on Monday indicated that talks between the two sides are advancing. ‘We continually look at all programming opportunities that fit our portfolio of brands,” TNT said in a statement.’

So if TNT does indeed take in Southland, they look smart by taking in a show that already has completed half a season’s worth of episodes, improve their line-up and win the gratitude of those of us who are sick of so-called reality television and can’t quite seem to appreciate the charms of Jay Leno.  While NBC looks cheap for preferring the much less costly talk show option — and foolish if Southland achieves great ratings on another network.

Less than Gleeful – or Making the Other Guy Look Good, Part II.

As if all that wasn’t bad enough, yesterday the news broke that NBC allegedly heavy-handed Macy’s into rescinding an invitation to the cast of the witty, wonderful show Glee. Could it be that the rating-challenged broadcaster of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade does not want the talented kids starring in rival network Fox’s hit appearing? Seems like it according to an article in The Washington Post:

“An NBC insider said the network traditionally works with Macy’s to decide what performers are approached about doing numbers during the parade. In this case, says the network insider (who also did not want to be named because the person also would get in trouble), Macy’s had extended the invitation to “Glee” before informing NBC. A Macy’s rep wasn’t going there — and would only tell the TV Column that the event’s “bookings process is fluid and because of that we don’t confirm [who's performing] until Nov. 1.” Which is hooey, according to people we talked to at other non-Fox, non-NBC networks that have had cast members from their shows perform in the parade in years past and who say those bookings are often locked in as early as mid-October. Which is, of course, now. For the record, NBC and 20th Century Fox TV declined to comment for this column.”

If you’ve seen the kids starring in Glee, you know they are incredibly talented and truly adorable. This was a move akin to clubbing baby seals – and may have resulted in the cast doing a tour instead. More money for Fox and more good publicity for Glee while NBC is once again left looking like a true turkey.  At least it’s just in time for Thanksgiving….

UPDATED:  Whoops!  NBC seems to have inadvertently given the Glee cast even more positive exposure According to the Los Angeles Times, they will be performing the National Anthem at the third game of the World Series.

UPDATED AGAIN: Looks like Southland is indeed going to TNT. (The irony is, of course, I have no idea if it will be picked up by any Canadian channels….)

“Friends Don’t Let Friends Drink Friends!” Viral Marketing for True Blood

Sometimes, if done well, a viral marketing campaign can build real anticipation for the product that it represents. The online websites and ARGs (alternate reality games) for J. J. Abrams-related projects like Lost and Cloverfield are especially complex and intriguing. [Please note that these are only a few links to those ARGs, provided by TV Squad and IGN.com respectively because each campaign involves quite a few sites.]

Combine them with The Dark Knight viral campaign and you have some prime examples of how the technique has been taken to near artform.

But It’s a tricky balance because sometimes the viral campaign turns out to be much better than the actual product that it represents (I’m looking at you The Blair Witch Project.

(And you might want to look at a really good article from Salon.com about the marketing of that film which has a different take on the phenomenon of viral marketing.)

What is Viral Marketing?

For anyone who doesn’t know about viral marketing, it is a word-of-mouth strategy that moves much more rapidly due to the speed of technology- spreads as fast as germs if not faster. Wikipedia, though admittedly not the most reliable source, has a very good explanation of the phenomenon:

“Viral marketing…refer[s] to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses….Viral marketing is a marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message voluntarily…. [It] may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or even text messages.”

Why It Works

It’s a very clever way to reach out to people because usually good viral marketing involves some sort of mystery or riddle that piques a person’s curiosity. Once intrigued, people will eagerly hunt down further information.

Often communities spring up around the more detailed ARG’s – sometimes people band together trying to find hidden clues and solutions.

Other times friends come together to try to crack the puzzle. But it is a technique that gets people invested — and talking about the campaign and the film/tv show/product that it is trying to promote.

True Blood: The Show

As many rabid Six Feet Under fans already undoubtedly know, its mastermind Alan Ball is back with a new HBO series set in the American South just after “Undead Americans” have revealed their existence.

True Blood is based on the smart, funny and sometimes sexy Southern Vampire novels authored by Charlaine Harris. They are fun and offer satisfying twists on the lore of the supernatural and the south.

True Blood: The Viral Marketing Campaign

The viral campaign focuses on “Tru Blood” the synthetic Japanese-created blood-substitute that allowed vampires to reveal their existence among the humans.

There’s a website here for that particular (fictitious) product.

And according to Cynthia Littleton at Variety.com, the folks behind the show even took out a full page ad in Daily Variety about vampires drinking responsibly: “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drink Friends.”

There’s also BloodCopy, a site supposedly covering the vampire revelation and integration into the general populace. It has video, textual and pictorial elements as well as a skype connection I haven’t yet tried….

Does It Work?

Is this intriguing?

For me, the answer is yes but I was already inclined to watch True Blood by virtue of the fact I love Alan Ball, I loved the books on which the show is based and I’m generally willing to give anything HBO develops a chance- they’ve had an excellent track record in terms of producing quality dramas.

But what about you?

Do viral sites such as these get your blood racing? Do they make you more eager to see something like True Blood or are they merely a fun distraction? Are they helping you hone in on a signal or are they just more bothersome noise?

[A special thanks to Ironic for motivating me to write this post with a comment he left on this blog in relation to the difference between splogs and ARGs. He's a wise man. Though he's not posting on this, he's posting some intriguing, thought-provoking and well-written stuff. Go see his blog HERE.]