Channel drift

Channel drift

Channel drift, or network decay[1] is the gradual transition of a television network away from its original programming focus to either target a newer more lucrative audience, or to broaden their viewership by including less niche programming. Networks that focus on a particular theme, such as Golf Channel, tend to air shows outside of this scope that the channel's management feels that the viewers would also like to see, though balancing the needs of expanding a network's audience while continuing to service a channel's most loyal viewers.

However, this is not always successful. MTV began the drifting in the early 1990s by dropping music videos and switching to reality and other programming, with VH1 and CMT following. Viewers have complained and sometimes abandoned a channel that no longer airs the shows that the viewers originally tuned in to see, causing problems for the network in question, such has been the case for Cartoon Network's "CN Real" live-action reality television block of programming, along with the rebranding of Sci-Fi Channel to Syfy for both trademark reasons and to allow a stretching of the network's definition of appropriate programming, including Law and Order SVU reruns and ECW wrestling. (In 2010 ECW was replaced by NXT, and that October WWE SmackDown moved from MyNetworkTV to Syfy.)[2][3] CMT meanwhile has begun to air programming such as Nanny 911, Trading Spouses and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (which also airs on TV Land, which would ironically have no connection to the classic TV shows it originally aired) along with other programming which has little or no connection to southern culture, much less country music, while networks such as HGTV and the Food Network have in intervening years moved away from straight instructional shows for their audience in order to bring in an entertainment-minded audience. The Disney Channel has also experienced drift from swiftly phasing out animated shows with live action since Hannah Montana premiered.

Sometimes, a channel will rebrand itself, and focus on completely different audience than intended at the channel's founding; for example, the conversion of Court TV channel to truTV allowed it to show more reality-based programming (though retaining a law enforcement focus, such as repeats of World's Wildest Police Videos) and slowly phase out their advertising-adverse legal system and courtroom programming, a process which is to end in October 2009 when the remaining courtroom analysis programs transitioned to CNN.com's legal news section and unpromoted and reduced court coverage from CNN Center on the mainline channel. TruTV even airs first-, second- and third-round games of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.[4]

References

  1. ^ TV 101: Channel Drift (or, what the hell happened to A&E?)
  2. ^ : LA Times: Cartoon Network's new reality shows?
  3. ^ Variety: Sci Fi's change to Syfy draws online critics
  4. ^ AP: Court TV becomes Tru TV

Further reading

External links


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