Are You There, Chelsea?

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1 DIANA JACOBSON 321 SE 3 rd Street, Apt. E4 Phone: Gainesville, FL diana.m.jacobson@ufl.edu Are You There, Chelsea? Source:

2 Table of Contents: Executive Summary 3 Introduction 4 Analysis of Program Performance 5 Recommendations & Conclusion 7 Reference List 9 Appendices 10 2

3 Executive Summary: Are You There, Chelsea? is a show that has not been doing as well as NBC executives had predicted. The ratings have averaged 1.3 rating points per episode, which is a low number, even for NBC. With these low ratings and a time that competes with the hit reality series American Idol, Are You There, Chelsea? never stood a chance. As a research professional for this network, I recommend Are You There, Chelsea? be moved to another evening at a later time. Viewers who would watch Are You There, Chelsea? are likely a large portion of viewers of American Idol. Women between the ages of 25 and 49 are typically watching American Idol on Wednesday nights at 8:30. Also, the type of humor that Are You There, Chelsea? focuses on should be targeted at an audience later in the evening. If NBC moves Are You There, Chelsea? to the back end of the Thursday evening comedy block, the ratings and viewership will undoubtedly grow. After watching Community, viewers tune in to 30 Rock, The Office, and Up All Night. Currently, NBC has the new drama series Awake scheduled for 10 p.m. on Thursdays. This show is likely to be canceled but if the network replaces it with Are You There, Chelsea?, it is likely that viewers of Up All Night will feed in to this revamped version of the show. 3

4 Introduction: Are You There, Chelsea?, based on the best-selling books from late-night host Chelsea Handler (Chelsea Lately) and written by Brian Gallivan and Ed Lee, follows the misadventures of Chelsea (Laura Prepon) as she navigates her mid-twenties and life as a sarcastic cocktail waitress. Her life revolves around her job at Jerry s Ultimate Sports Bar in New Jersey where she surrounds herself with an interesting group of characters including Rick (Jake McDorman), a handsome bartender who she seems to be falling in love with; Olivia (Ali Wong), her best friend; and Todd (Mark Povinelli), the unnaturally small barhand. The show also includes her air-headed roommate, Dee Dee (Lauren Lapkus), Chelsea s father, Melvin (Lenny Clarke) and Sloane (Chelsea Handler). Sloane, Chelsea s born-again Christian sister, is a married, conservative new mom. The target group is women, 25 to 49. The main character s mid-twenties range and the events of the show broadcast to that group. Are You There, Chelsea? targets women with an interest in romance, comedy, and daily drama of a middle-class, single woman of that age group. Are You There, Chelsea? also targets young mothers with the character of Sloane focusing on those aspects of a young woman s life. It also draws in supporters of the U.S. troops with Sloane s husband who is fighting in Iraq. However, it mostly targets young, working women looking for a good laugh. The series, which premiered on January 11, 2012 (Are You There, Chelsea? NBC Official Site, 2012), was produced by Bonanza Productions in association with 4- to-6 Foot Productions, Werner Entertainment, Borderline Amazing Productions and Warner Bros. Television. Julie Larson and Dottie Dartland Zicklin are the creators and executive producers of the show. They are known for their work on The Drew Carey Show and Dharma & Greg, respectively. Chelsea Handler is also an executive producer alongside Tom Werner (That 70s Show), Mike Clements (The Life & Times of Tim), and Tom Brunelle (Chelsea Lately). 4

5 Analysis of Program Performance: Are You There, Chelsea? premiered on January 11, 2012 with 6.4 million viewers, but lost 2 million viewers by the second week (Potts, 2012). The ratings have remained at an average of 1.3 ratings points per episode for Adults The network has sat uncomfortably in these low ratings for quite some time; this is not just one show. Are You There, Chelsea? is scheduled on Wednesday nights at 8:30 p.m. after another new, low-rated sitcom, Whitney. Both of these shows are aimed at the same target market: young, working women between the ages of 25 and 49 who are looking to relax and have a laugh after a long day or before a wild night out. The target market is a strong set of consumers, but the shows are not reaching nearly as many viewers as we would hope. Across networks at the 8:30 p.m. timeslot, Are You There, Chelsea? has done the worst out of the top four networks. (See graph 1.) The only times ABC s The Middle dipped below or evened out with the ratings for Are You There, Chelsea? in the six weeks analyzed were the weeks when that show was playing reruns. Clearly, putting a show up against FOX s American Idol and CBS s Survivor is a difficult choice no matter the program, but if we are going to have a sitcom, we should have the best sitcom available. American Idol captures a big portion of the audience we are gearing towards by taking the large Women 18 to 49 demographic. Survivor, however, skews more male. NBC s ratings throughout the week at the 8:30 p.m. time are about the same as the Wednesday night slot, an average of about 1.9. The highest rating on the network is the hit reality-series, The Voice. (See graph 2.) However, Are You There, Chelsea? has the second lowest rating for the week of March 26 th at that time. Fridays are typically lower across networks so the low rating for Who Do You Think You Are? is expected. Even the low-rated Whitney beats out Are You There, Chelsea? in Wednesday night ratings. (See graph 3.) Viewers may be turned off by Whitney and walk away as soon as the show is over. Perhaps viewers are watching Whitney and then tuning in to the remainder of American Idol. Perhaps they are tuning in to Survivor or the network s 5

6 competition, The Middle. If viewers want comedy, NBC should provide it in the best possible programming. NBC has created a strong, female comedy block on Wednesday nights with Whitney, Are You There, Chelsea?, and the brand new Bent. Despite the attempt to create this comedy block, the ratings for all three of these shows and the network in general are very low. With ratings like these, Are You There, Chelsea? faces four possible fates: remain on the air in the Wednesday 8:30 p.m. slot, hiatus, cancellation, or move to another time and/or day. Remaining in the Wednesday night slot seems to be a poor choice. Bent is already facing cancellation and though Whitney will likely be renewed, it seems the Wednesday night block is not bringing in as many viewers as we would like to see (Seidman, 2012). The show going on hiatus would make sense with the summer on the way. Relaunching in the fall with some changes could make the difference NBC would need to bring in more viewers. Cancellation would end all production and leave the writers, producers, actors and crew unemployed. Despite the negative outcome of cancellation, it would keep NBC from putting any more money into the show. Moving to another time slot on another day is always a potential choice. The Thursday night comedy block on NBC is a much stronger fit for both Are You There, Chelsea? and Whitney. Since the new NBC drama Awake is facing cancellation according to TVbytheNumbers.com, moving these two shows to that comedy block and creating a strong advertising campaign could attract many more viewers. 6

7 Recommendations and Conclusion: Are You There, Chelsea? is still in its first season. It has an exciting cast of actors and is based off of a series of best-selling books by Chelsea Handler. There is no reason this show cannot obtain higher ratings. The best thing to do is to move the show to the Thursday night comedy block that includes Community, 30 Rock, The Office, and Up All Night. The new series, Awake does not really fit this comedy block and the same audience that tunes in to Up All Night would also tune in to Are You There, Chelsea? if it was delivered in the right fashion. The ratings for Thursday night average at about 1.23 rating points per week. (See graph 4.) This is not much better then Wednesday night s weak 1.13, however, with a few tweaks to the story of Are You There, Chelsea? and a bit more advertising, the star casts of these comedies can bring in a much bigger audience. Are You There, Chelsea? needs to back off of the Christian tones, which turns off non-religious viewers and up the sex and romance features. I think Sloane s baby should be a bigger character, even though a child actor may up the cost of production. Her husband should also be a bigger feature to the story, letting those who support the troops feel that those soldiers are real people with real families. Also, laugh tracks should be used sparingly. CBS may be getting away with it on Two Broke Girls but it is a stronger comedy. With these changes, I feel that critics and viewers alike will be more comfortable watching the show. An advertising campaign pushing the Thursday night comedy block could also help increase viewership. Between the popular Community, the classic The Office, the critically acclaimed 30 Rock, the star-studded Up All Night, and the added Are You There, Chelsea?, viewers will be running to the television to spend 2 and a half hours watching NBC for a few good, hard laughs. If we can market the Thursday night comedy block in the right way and draw enough attention, this could bring in a great deal of advertising dollars for the NBC network. The show is also scheduled during American Idol, which is taking away a large chunk of the audience that would tune in to the show. With a later time slot and a time 7

8 that does not conflict with a show like American Idol, Are You There, Chelsea? might hold a chance. Are You There, Chelsea? began at a decent starting point and lost viewers immediately. Once the show is put in a more convenient time slot for consumers, they will be more willing to watch the show. With a strong comedy block every Thursday, the following for Are You There, Chelsea? can and will grow to one that will be making the network a considerable amount of money. 8

9 Reference List: Are You There, Chelsea? NBC Official Site (2012). Retrieved from Bibel, S. (2012, April 06). Thursday final ratings: Big Bang Theory, American Idol, Person of Interest, Missing, Up All Night adjusted up; Scandal adjusted down. Retrieved from Bibel, S. (2012, March 22). Wednesday final ratings: American Idol, Survivor, CSI, One Tree Hill adjusted up; Bent adjusted down. Retrieved from Bibel, S. (2012, March 08). Wednesday final ratings: American Idol adjusted up. Retrieved from Bibel, S. (2012, February 23). Wednesday final ratings: Modern Family, CSI, One Tree Hill adjusted up, The Middle, Happy Endings adjusted down. Retrieved from Kondolojy, A. (2012, March 29). Wednesday final ratings: Idol, Survivor, One Tree Hill, and Whitney all adjusted up. Retrieved from Kondolojy, A. (2012, March 15). Wednesday final ratings: American Idol, Survivor: One World, CSI, One Tree Hill, Are You There, Chelsea? & Modern Family adjust up. Retrieved from Kondolojy, A. (2012, March 01). Wednesday final ratings: American Idol adjusted up; Suburgatory, America s Next Top Model & Happy Endings adjusted down. Retrieved from Potts, K. (2012, March 08). Are you there, Chelsea Handler's big future?. Retrieved from Seidman, R. (2012, April 08). Bubble Watch: Supernatural likely renewed; Fringe still likely canceled + Best Friends Forever & Scandal. Retrieved from Wischofsky, C. (2012, January 14). Pilot review: Are you there, Chelsea?. Retrieved from 9

10 Appendices: Graph 1: 10

11 Graph 2: 11

12 Graph 3: 12

13 Graph 4: 13

NETWORK PRIMETIME & OTT PROGRAMMING Flash #5-15 November 2017

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