February 2020 #82 __________________________________________________________________________________________ _____ Broadcast Has Some Great TV Series Too By Steve Sternberg In December, I released my analysis of the 27 best TV series of 2019. In alphabetical order – Barry, Big Little Lies, Bosch, The Boys, Dead to Me, Fleabag, GLOW, Goliath, The Good Fight, The Good Place, Harlots, Jessica Jones, Killing Eve, The Kominsky Method, Mindhunter, The Morning Show, Mr Inbetween, Pose, Queen of the South, Rick & Morty, Russian Doll, Sneaky Pete, Star Trek: Discovery, Succession, This is Us, Vida, and Watchmen. As was the case with the Emmys, The Golden Globes, and virtually every TV critic, I demonstrated a clear bias against broadcast network series. Of my 27 best TV series, 15 are on streaming services, 5 are on premium cable, 5 are on ad-supported cable, and only 2 were on broadcast TV. There are, of course, some logical reasons for this. • Broadcast series have to answer to advertisers (and the FCC), so have limitations regarding language and sexual content that do not hinder cable or streaming services. A Sternberg Report Sponsored Message Reach thousands of highly engaged media and advertising decision makers. Contact
[email protected] for details about advertising here. The Sternberg Report ©2020 __________________________________________________________________________________________ _____ • While cable and streaming series generally have between 6 and 13 episodes per season, broadcast series typically have between 17 and 24 episodes (although a few this season have 13). It’s difficult to write that many good episodes in a season, so it requires a lot more “filler.” • More broadcast dramas have self-contained episodes, as opposed to season-long story arcs, which are more prevalent on cable and streaming series.