How Do TV Execs Decide What Programmes To Axe?

The news that Heroes has been axed, just as Claire and and Gretchen's relationship was blossoming, is just about the last straw for me. I still don't know if Jenny Schecter was murdered or not and by whom, and if John Connor was left trapped in a different time to his mother Sarah (played by the gorgeous Lena Headey of Imagine Me And You) forever. I will never know how Kizza, Saint and Sugar managed to co-habitate or where the ghost of Thelma went to live once the school in Hex burnt down.

I would love know how modern ratings are measured; as with the emergence of PVRs and online players most TV programmes do not get watched in real-time.  Do the TV execs also take note of the number of fans on social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, and the protests when series are ended prematurely with no closure or tying of loose ends for the viewers?  Do they register DVD sales as part of their analysis or do they stick a pin on a list of shows and whichever it lands on gets cancelled?

Who at ITV thought it was a good idea to cancel the quality drama 'Wire In the Blood' created from the novels by the lesbian author Val McDermid, yet leave on anything containing David Dickinson or the word 'Celebrity' in the title?  Hasn't reality TV (apart from the excellent Come Dine With Me of course) had it's day?

I realise that sometimes real-life events, like actors wishing to leave, or in the unfortunate case of Spartacus Blood and Sand, get delayed due to illness (get well soon Andy Whitfield) but I really think that the execs owe their fans a bit of closure and should at least produce a one-off special episode to tie up loose ends before they destroy the sets.

Share |