Fox’s “Glee,” new for this season, actually made its debut four months ago, and has been on the promo trail ever since. And the strategy has paid off with a quick order for more episodes. Nielsen called it the #16 show in the 18-49 demo for the week ending 9/20/09.
It had to go up against a grand finale of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” last week and lost a little of its 1st week luster, dropping from a 3.5 to a 3.2 18-49, but that was still good enough for #16 on the weekly Nielsen broadcast rankings for the demo. And it was good enough to add nine more episodes to the 13-script original order.
A report in Media Life suggests it will still face tough competition going forward.
The Fox gamble was twofold. First, it ran the initial “teaser” episode months ago behind an installment of “American Idol.” Since then, it has been pumping promotional dollars into the program, running a contest and sending its cast out on a tour of shopping malls.
Speculation is that extra special promo pushes may become the norm for young-skewing scripted material in the cable crowded video entertainment marketplace.
RBR-TVBR observation: First one out of the gate, and first one back in the gate, to hit the back lot for some more production work. Now watch for flatterers. They will no doubt make their flattery known the classic way: by imitating the strategy.
