Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Monday, January 10th, 2022

I'm back....barely.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Monday, January 10th, 2022. I'm writing this from the Twin Cities, where AllYourScreens HQ is not fully back up to speed. But at least I can sit at my computer for more than ten minutes without needing a nap. I am getting things done, but as the lateness of this newsletter suggests, I am also moving very slowly. 

I'M NOT SURE, BUT ISN'T THIS LIST A CELEBRATION OF SHOWS THAT WEREN'T PROPERLY PROMOTED PRE-LAUNCH?
It's not often that you read an article with a premise of "these are the shows that did best despite the ineffective marketing/PR efforts pre-launch," but that appears to be what we have in this Insider piece. The analytics company Diesel Labs provided Insider with a list of the new TV shows this year that had limited pre-launch online engagement, but had the biggest increase after they premiered. It's an interesting list, but I have many questions. FWIW, this is the list of the top 8 "breakout TV hits":

8) Only Murders In The Building (Hulu)

7) What If? (Disney+)

6) Shadow & Bone (Netflix)

5) Mare Of Easttown (HBO)

4) Bling Empire (Netflix)

3) Ginny & Georgia (Netflix)

2) Squid Game (Netflix)

1) Young Royals (Netflix)

Diesel Labs pulled audience-engagement data from social and video platforms Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram to gauge the level of interest in a piece of content. The list ranked the shows by their ratio of engagement before and after they debuted.

It's notable that the top four titles (and five of the eight) are on Netflix and I think that's for a combination of reasons. The service just has a lot of new titles to promote and not all of them are going to get the same level of attention from Netflix PR & marketing. In the case of Squid Game, Netflix didn't send out screeners ahead of time and it doesn't appear that there was a U.S.-based publicist assigned to the show. So it really did come out of nowhere on social media. 

But a larger factor is that when the review and feature embargo date coincides closely with the premiere date, shows tend to not get much attention until they begin streaming. So there is an over-sized reaction to the title on social media when it premieres. That's mostly by design, because the various streaming services are concerned (rightfully so) that people will read advance coverage of shows and then will have moved on by the time they are available to watch.

In the cases of Mare Of Easttown and Only Murders In The Building, both shows got some coverage ahead of their premieres - in large part due to the star power of the cast. But in both cases, the show were much better than you might expect at first glance and their weekly release schedule helped drag out the growth in online attention.

THE RISE OF ASIAN CONTENT ON NETFLIX
Using data from FlixPatrol, Kasey Moore from Whats-On-Netflix.com has a fascinating look at the growing popularity of Asian content on Netflix:

European content losing ground to Asian content is perhaps the most interesting trends from the above chart (and full data sheet embedded below). In Q2 2020, 22.1% of all titles in the Netflix top 10s originate from Europe but that figure is now down to 13.6% in Q4 2021. That’s a 38% drop.

Compare that to the massive rise for Asian content from 4.2% in Q1 2020 to 16.8% in Q4 2021. That is a 300% increase.

WHY I DON'T HAVE A PODCAST
I will be the first person to admit that I like to talk. I was a stand-up in my twenties, did a syndicated radio talk in the 1990s and have always been comfortable speaking in public. On paper, I should be someone with at least one podcast.

When I am asked why I haven't launched one, my answer has always been that it is a lot of work for a project that is unlikely to get much traction. I'm all for tilting at windmills ideas, but I remain unconvinced that podcasts are anything other than a time-sucking hobby for most people.

My theories on this seem to have verified by Edison Research, which reports that there is a glut of podcasts. So much so that it is nearly impossible for a new show to cut through the clutter and find a mass audience.

None of the 10 most popular podcasts in the U.S. last year debuted in the last couple years, according to Edison Research. They are an average of more than 7 years old, and three of the top five are more than a decade old. (“The Joe Rogan Experience,” “This American Life” and “Stuff You Should Know.”)  Only a few podcasts in the top 50 (“SmartLess,” “The Michelle Obama Podcast,” “Frenemies”) are less than two years old. And none of them are in the top 25.

This trend vexes executives and producers across the podcasting industry, who worry they are wasting a lot of money on new shows. Spotify, Amazon, SiriusXM, iHeartMedia and outside investors have plowed billions of dollars into production companies. Spotify has spent more than anyone, paying about $500 million for three studios. Where is all this money going if these companies aren’t producing new hits?

ODDS AND SODS
* American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken has announced he is making a second run for Congress in North Carolina.

* Audie Cornish is joining CNN as an anchor and correspondent for CNN+. Cornish will host a weekly CNN+ show and contribute to CNN+'s slate of live programming. She will also host a new podcast for CNN Audio and will appear on CNN covering national, political and breaking news. Cornish recently left NPR, where she was the long-running co-host of the network's news show All Things Considered.

* Due to the global development of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the organizers of the Kidscreen Summit market decided to postpone its 2022 edition until July 18th-21st of this year.

* Fox News names Jesse Watters the permanent host of the 7 PM hour.

* Savannah Guthrie tests positive for Covid-19

TWEET OF THE DAY

WHAT'S NEW FOR MONDAY
Here's a quick rundown of all the new stuff premiering today on TV and streaming:

Black Market With Michael K. Williams Season Two Premiere (Vice)
Darcey & Stacy Season Premiere (TLC)
David & Annie: After The 90 Days (TLC)
Loren & Alexei: After The 90 Days (TLC)
Queens Of Mystery (Acorn TV)
Street Outlaws: Farmtruck and AZN Series Premiere (Discovery)
Street Outlaws: OKC Season Premiere (Discovery)
Undercover Season Three Premiere (Netflix)

Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.

SEE YOU TUESDAY! 

If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.