As the countdown to premiere week begins, the broadcast nets are keeping close tabs on their surveys of viewers' awareness level and intent-to-view interest in the new fall crop of shows.
NBC's "Law and Order: Los Angeles" tops both surveys, according to net insiders.
The high profile for "LOLA" (as the Peacock has nicknamed the skein) comes as no surprise.
Shows with established titles and stars naturally have a leg up in making an impression on viewers, especially at a time when the nets are practically wall-to-wall with on-air promotions for their new wares.
Overall, awareness of new skeins ranges between 15% and 25%, while familiar titles like "LOLA" and "Hawaii Five-0" are trending a little higher.
That's straight in middle-of-the-road territory for new series, compared to awareness surveys from the recent past. But given the sheer number of new series -- nearly two dozen are rolling out as of last week through early October -- the nets had to promote in preparation for next week's official season launch, marketing mavens say they feel OK about the survey results.
On the downside, however, fall's frosh crop isn't making much of a dent yet in the social media realm, judging by the traction that new skeins are generating on Facebook and Twitter.
"You can tell everyone's going into the same week neck-and-neck," one network exec said. "There's not a lot of dramatic movement (in awareness levels). Everyone's competing for the same eyeballs, so (awareness is) creeping up incrementally."
According to the most recent report circulating at the nets, shows joining "LOLA" at the top of the awareness index include CBS' reboot of "Hawaii Five-0," CW's "Nikita" (another remake with a familiar brand name), CBS' "$#*! My Dad Says" (based on a popular Twitter feed) and NBC's conspiracy thriller "The Event."
It's telling that "The Event" is the only show among the top five that isn't based on a known franchise. Remakes, spinoffs and franchise extensions are tough to gauge at the nets, as viewers are frequently swayed by familiarity -- hence past false positives for bombs like NBC's reboot of "Bionic Woman" in the 2007-08 season.
" 'Bionic Woman' had humongous awareness," one exec cautioned.
When it comes to "intent to view" -- the percentage of auds familiar with a show that actually plans to tune in -- "LOLA" is followed by NBC laffer "Outsourced," "The Event," ABC's "No Ordinary Family" and CBS' plus-sized romantic comedy "Mike and Molly."
Taking familiar franchises out of the equation, network-by-network shows with the most audience awareness were "No Ordinary Family," "$#*! My Dad Says," "The Event" and Fox's "Raising Hope." That pretty much jibes with network marketing priorities this summer, a positive indicator for broadcast blurbmeisters that their campaigns still have resonance.
In terms of social media, the masses have so far not caught up with the new crop of series.
Virtually every one of the broadcast nets' new shows boasts an official Twitter account and Facebook page -- but the size of their followings vary widely. And the series with the most heat in this realm aren't necessarily the younger-skewing fare, as you might expect.
Perhaps most surprising, "Blue Bloods," CBS' Friday night cop drama toplined by enduring TV fave Tom Selleck, dominates all new shows on Twitter.
As of midday Monday, "Blue Bloods" (@BlueBloods_CBS) had 7,696 followers -- thanks to aggressive tweeting by series co-star Donnie Wahlberg, who has sent many of his 129,449 Twitter fans to the show's site.
None of TV's other new shows have yet experienced a similar boost -- be it from one of its stars or a link from a Twitter celebrity.
The official feed for CBS' "$#*! My Dad Says" attracts the second-largest following (1,448), helped only a little by the original "Shit My Dad Says" blog that inspired the laffer. (The "Dad Says" mothership currently boasts 1,695,610 followers.)
"The Event," "No Ordinary Family" and "Hawaii Five-0" all have a little more than 1,000 followers but most other shows have attracted well below 500. ABC dramas "My Generation" and "The Whole Truth" and Fox's "Raising Hope" have less than 100 followers.
On Facebook, the CW's "Hellcats" has already benefited from last week's launch, leading all new shows with 73,150 fans. "Nikita," which also bowed last week, is second. Among shows that haven't yet bowed, "My Generation," "No Ordinary Family" and "Law and Order: Los Angeles" all already have a little more than 10,000 fans.
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