The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » This Is What Fox Chose To Follow The Super Bowl?

RadioActive · January 30, 2023 9:17 pm

It is, arguably, the most valuable real estate in all of television - the hour after the Super Bowl ends. The biggest TV audience of the year gathers to watch the Big Game and then the network that's lucky enough to have it always uses it to put on either a special episode of an existing show or as a launching pad for a brand new series.

So I'm baffled by Fox's decision of what they chose to follow the program with the most eyeballs of 2023. It's Season 2 of "Next Level Chef," a reality cooking show starring Gordon Ramsay.

What? They're wasting that timeslot on yet another dumb reality show that appears to be a clone of every other cooking-type program on TV? I'm almost speechless. (And most here know that doesn't happen very often.)

Reality shows are cheap and usually pretty dumb and while I'm sure there are plenty of people who love them, I think they've all but ruined TV and I can't think of a single one I've ever watched. (They only came about years ago because of a Hollywood writers' strike when the Big 3 were desperate for cheap filler that needed no script or production values and they've sadly been with us ever since.)

They could have chosen an episode of a scripted drama, like "911: Lone Star" or their current critical favourite, "Accused," which is a hit with viewers. But instead they picked the equivalent of "Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah."

So what is this post-Super Bowl production about?

“Next Level Chef” features contestants on the three-story stage with different levels of kitchens on each floor. Chefs Nyesha Arrington and Richard Blais join Ramsay in judging line cooks, home chefs, social media stars, food truck owners and others who compete."

Yawn. Seen it, done that. (Well, actually I've never seen it, because it's not my kind of show.) This has to be one of the dumbest programming decisions in the network's history. Even if you love Ramsay and its faux-reality, this seems like too big a platform for a debut - although I have no doubt it will get huge ratings. It's what happens the weeks after that which will tell whether they've wasted the biggest hour on TV for nothing. Or if they should have cooked up something else.

Not sure yet what CTV has scheduled in the post-game slot. I just hope it's not a simulcast of Fox. They should use it to tubthump one of their own shows, like the new "Spencer Sisters." Too bad it can't be "Transplant." Its final episode of the season airs Feb. 3rd.

[url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/super-bowl-lvii-fox-next-level-chef-gordon-ramsay-1235268001/#!]Fox Slots Gordon Ramsay’s ‘Next Level Chef’ Season 2 Premiere After Super Bowl LVII[/url]

RadioAaron · January 30, 2023 9:48 pm

RadioActive wrote:
although I have no doubt it will get huge ratings.

RadioActive · January 30, 2023 10:00 pm

To further complete the thought:

But so would anything they put in that timeslot.

As noted, it's the weeks after that will tell the tale.

paterson1 · January 30, 2023 10:01 pm

The cooking show will do fine in the ratings after the big game. But this sort of underlines the fact that FOX doesn't have a lot going on. Both FOX and ABC have had a lousy fall/winter for ratings and neither have many hit shows. I guess if you can call 3 to 5 million viewers a hit.

RadioAaron · January 30, 2023 10:25 pm

RadioActive wrote:
To further complete the thought:

But so would anything they put in that timeslot.

As noted, it's the weeks after that will tell the tale.

So, is the problem that you personally don't like it? I'm not sure of your point otherwise.

RadioActive · January 30, 2023 10:33 pm

Traditionally, the slot is used to either launch a new show (The Wonder Years was a great example in 1988) or hype up an existing special episode of a series (The X-Files got perhaps its biggest numbers ever after its post-Super Bowl exposure in 1997.) I think you could put colour bars and tone and get a huge rating. But that doesn't make it a good decision.

Then again, if you look at this list, you'll see this isn't the first time the networks have made some bad beyond-Bowl bets.

Super Bowl Lead-Outs From The Beginning

By the way, that list answers one of my previous questions. It says CTV has picked its Super Bowl lead-out and - surprise! - it's the same Ramsay show as Fox, presumably so it can get simsub. In previous years, it was one of their own Canadian productions, like "Children Ruin Everything" or "The Holmes Family Effect," which helped get those shows needed exposure. Guess they couldn't resist following the U.S. lead and keeping the Fox feed off cable here. Another wasted opportunity to show off some home-grown talent.

RadioAaron · January 30, 2023 10:42 pm

I'm not sure examples from 30+ years ago are helpful.

In 2023, giving a boost to an already popular show is going to have a larger impact than trying to use a less captive audience to ignite a new one.

Just my opinion, of course, but it's not like they make these choices on a whim.

RadioAaron · January 30, 2023 10:44 pm

RadioActive wrote:
Then again, if you look at this list, you'll see this isn't the first time the networks have made some bad beyond-Bowl bets.

Yes, they're learning from their mistakes.

RadioActive · January 30, 2023 10:57 pm

We can agree to disagree. But in the days when streaming is eating the networks' lunch and they're desperate for the kind of big numbers they used to get, I think this is a bad show to present to the biggest audience of the year. They must have something better than this in reserve. And if not, then they don't deserve the rating.

turkeytop · January 30, 2023 11:57 pm

Maybe they're taking the audiece for granted. Assuming it'll be there no matter what they're showing. Why make an effort?

Radiowiz · January 31, 2023 12:13 am

From another perspective, are other networks benefiting from Fox's decision?

RadioActive · January 31, 2023 12:27 am

Unlikely. No one competes against the Super Bowl. Everyone else is showing reruns, with the exception of PBS and, for some reason, CBS' 60 Minutes. Although I'm betting that's a "60 Minutes Presents," which is essentially a rerun with a bit of repackaging.

Here's the line-up from the U.S. TV Guide for Super Bowl Sunday. The items marked "N" indicate new programming. The rest are repeats.

RadioActive · February 12, 2023 6:53 pm

Shows That Aired After the Super Bowl: 10 Touchdowns, 5 Fumbles, 1 Field Goal

newsguy1 · February 12, 2023 9:02 pm

I saw an interesting video on Youtube that showed how these cooking shows are made and they are largely staged and pre-arranged nonsense.
For instance the video revealed the cooking shows all have pre-arranged results.
Also there is no "deadline" where the chefs have to finish their dish -- or else.
Also the dishes have already been tasted off camera and the conclusions as well as the judge's "remarks" are all written ahead of time.
Even a seemingly simple show like Cake Boss is phony.
The video showed that the cake teams are not even making real cake orders at all.
It's all faked.
The "events" that they are making cakes for are fictitious.
Nobody ever actually ordered the cakes but people are paid to act out the parts.
As a sidebar there's also a video about how home buyer's shows are faked.
In one instance the house was already bought ahead of time and the buyers' agonized hand wringing about which home they should choose are all scripted.
Now let's not get started on those so-called "survival" shows.

Forward Power · February 12, 2023 9:11 pm

newsguy1 wrote:
As a sidebar there's also a video about how home buyer's shows are faked.
In one instance the house was already bought ahead of time and the buyers' agonized hand wringing about which home they should choose are all scripted.

Ah yes, the "House Hunters" and Canadian-made "Love It Or List It" franchises on Corus channels HGTV and W... so glad my wife no longer watches those shows. In the case of the original HH series, if you've seen one episode, you've seen them all. Couple with totally oddball occupations can somehow pony up for one of three McMansions somewhere in suburban America. They all want the same things (open concept, lots of space for "entertaining", hardwood floors throughout, huge kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, and anything else that checks the resale boxes) and gripe about the dumbest things, such as existing paint colours, the backyard being too big, or "too much traffic" when two cars have gone by on a cul-de-sac.

Some of the demands and beefs seen/heard on "House Hunters" may be absolutely ridiculous, but the show definitely does its job provoking reactions from its viewers.

RadioAaron · February 12, 2023 9:12 pm

A friend of mine was on House Hunters International. It is mostly faked.

RadioActive · February 12, 2023 9:18 pm

I will never understand why these shows are popular. I have a friend who can't stop watching The Food Network. It is unfathomable to me why anyone would want to spend an hour watching someone else cook. (I know there are other shows on there, but they have plenty of cooking shows, as well.)

That said, cooking shows have been a staple on TV since the very beginning. (Anyone remember Meet The Millers on Channel 4?) So maybe it's just yours truly.

But next to the "Watching Paint Dry" channel, which I'm sure exists on some cable outlet somewhere, it sounds the very essence of boring.

RadioAaron · February 12, 2023 9:29 pm

I'm hit and miss with them. I've enjoyed watching House Hunters with my wife. It's fun to bounce our opinions off each other as though we were the buyers in the show...and to guess which one they'll pick.

Amazing Race is typically really well cast a good watch.

I personally enjoy bar rescue, as many of the challenged businesses remind me of managing a radio station.

mic'em · February 13, 2023 11:57 am

It could have been worse. They could have aired " Monarch " arguably one of the worst shows ever produced and thankfully cancelled. I'm a Trace Adkins fan, this is definitely a blight on his resume.

Radiowiz · February 13, 2023 1:17 pm

SO then, instead of Animal Control being the show Fox could have gone with, they chose Next level Chef.
They promo'd the living crap out of their new show Animal control during the Super Bowl...I suppose they know what they are doing.

paterson1 · February 14, 2023 5:31 pm

Looks like CTV might have chosen something else to run after the Super Bowl on Sunday. Next Level Chef with the hot headed Gordon Ramsay came in with 735,000 viewers on overnight ratings. This is a big drop from the 3.7 million lead in from the post game show and a fraction of the 7.4 million the network was averaging during the game.

Next Level Chef only had 13,000 more viewers than CTV's Children Ruin Everything. The CTV original series ran after the Super Bowl broadcast last year, and also inherited a lower audience after the game.

Ramsay's cooking class competition faired a lot better on FOX with 15.7 million viewers tuning in. Still down a lot from the 66+ million who were still watching the post game broadcast in the US.

Last edited by paterson1 (February 15, 2023 5:05 pm)