Saturday, July 14, 2007

The Sky's The Limit

I'm off for a week and don't want to even look at a computer so this is my last post for ...well....a week.

Sky 1's viewing figures have fallen by a third since last year. Can't say I'm surprised, for a number of reasons.

Yes they have shows like Lost and 24 ..........The Simpsons ....and.........Futerama reruns and ....I got nothing, mind's a blank.

Those are the only shows on Sky 1 that register with me in any way. 2 Drama shows nicked from the American networks and 2 cartoons.

They do have that Mile High thingy about cabin crew and that football thing whose name always escapes me. Both produced on half a shoestring by Hewland International. But I don't even know if they are still being commissioned such is my level of interest. When Fox cancelled Family Guy. Twice. I realised that quality was not their watchword. It wasn't even their wa.

To me, Rupert Murdoch is BSkyB. And I'm sure he doesn't give a shit that Sky1 ratings are plummeting so long as the platform he owns continues to grow. And it does. Overall ratings for non terrestial TV are about a third higher than terrestial. We are all watching paramount comedy and movies and Hallmark and yes I'll admit FX and of course, the jewel in the crown, Premier League football.

But without showcasing network shows Sky 1 sucks. Maybe they should rethink their strategy. No wait, didn't they do Hogfather? That was supposed to be good. Does anyone know?

5 comments:

Good Dog said...

Sky did one really good thing. They put up money for the first season of Battlestar Galactica.

Apart from that... ah... well, there's got to be something? Um...

FOX don't cancel new dramas after the first 13 episodes as much as they used to.

Too late for Firefly or The Inside though.

Then again, why do they need to care? Once they have everyone's money they can just shovel shit into the schedule.

Lee said...

C'mon fellas, Sky gave us Hex. Cut them some slack.

Piers said...

And then cancelled it. In favour of a Prisoner remake.

Which is a high-stakes gamble in my book.

Rob Spalding said...

Sky does show Bones.
It's like an entertaining, fast paced, slick version of Silent Witness.
With much better looking leads too.

Anonymous said...

They've just stolen Prison Break from five -- a show which completely lost me in the second series. Sky would be better off poaching The Shield or House.

But Sky One does have a track record of showing some great little American programmes that no one notices, like Weeds, Action, Wonderfalls. And now, A Town Called Eureka.

For some reason people just don't watch non terrestrial channels much. They'd rather put up with the crap home-grown drama of the BBC or ITV. Crazy.

I also love Malcolm in the Middle. Mock me if you like.