AMC: Screwing With Its Most Loyal Viewers

Are TV people stupid?

I’m sorry, let me rephrase that question to be more open-ended:

Why are TV people stupid?

I can’t answer the “why,” so I’ll try to address the “how.” Add your own gripes in the comments.

Exhibit A: Loud Commercials are Bad for Everybody

I get why commercials are so much louder than the show I’m watching. Advertisers think a loud commercial will grab my attention–but they’re idiots. For the past six years, if I watched a TV commercial it was because I WASN’T paying enough attention to remember to hit Fast Forward. And maybe some of the messaging in the commercials actually sank in, who knows? DVRs may not have been common six years ago, but they are now. Every viewer in my demographic is equipped with Fast Forward. If a commercial’s best hook for attention-getting is to blare, it’ll not only get skipped, it’ll get skipped by an annoyed viewer. That’s not good for the advertiser or the network (or the viewer).

The irony is that Congress is working on legislation to put a limit on the volume of ads, when advertisers and networks should WANT to do this on their own so I don’t hit Fast Forward quite as quickly. Here’s an idea: If you make commercials pleasant to sit through, the percentage of commercials I’ll watch could increase from “none” to “not-quite none.” But that’s something.

Exhibit B: AMC Found a New Way to Piss Off Its Most Loyal Fans

The listing for tonight’s finale of Breaking Bad had it listed in a two-hour slot. Whoa! Best two hours in TV history?? Corinne and I were geared up for an amazing, sweeping episode. But before the show even reached the one-hour mark, it ended on a bit of a cliff-hanger, and a “sneak preview” of the new show Rubicon filled the second hour.

Ooooooh, that one burns.

First, the Rubicon previews make it look like some dreadful Da Vinci Code knockoff–National Treasure in episodic form. Not exactly going to win the crossover audience from Breaking Bad.

Secondly, AMC only has two good shows (Breaking Bad and Mad Men), and both of them have a small but rabid fan base. In one bone-headed move tonight, the network managed to disappoint ALL of the fans of one of those shows. (Of course, Mad Men’s fans are starting to wonder if the show even still exists, since we’re in the middle of a whopping 9-month break between seasons).

In a five-minute interval tonight, I went from being the strongest of AMC “brand advocates” to a dissatisfied audience member. And I tweet about Breaking Bad fairly regularly, I guess I’m an influencer who’s gone apostate.

I know someone at AMC got a big pat on the back for figuring out a creative way to drum up viewers for its new show. But that person is STUPID, and so was this little stunt. Here’s proof from Twitter–did a search on recent tweets (apologies for the language):