The Spin-off
Sophomore slumps & niche streaming services
The Spin-off crew sums up the summer. They talk about Olympics ratings, discuss why two hot cable shows are struggling in their second seasons and contemplate whether the myriad niche streaming services can ever offer them the TV line-up of their dreams.
By Michael Schneider • • 43m ListenWe know that summer is over because the kids are back in school, but also because the Television Critics summer press tour has finally wrapped. From a TV business perspective, it's been an interesting summer -- the number of shows continues to grow, which may be part of the reason ratings for the Olympics were down this year. One show not many people were watching was Larry Wilmore's The Nightly Show on Comedy Central. The network canceled the show after 18 months. It's a troublesome time at the Viacom-owned network as they continue to struggle following a massive talent drain. Also, two of last year's buzziest cable shows, Mr. Robot and UnReal had less-impressive second seasons. Sonia Saraiya thinks Mr. Robot can still be saved, but says UnReal messed up big time. And with all that's out there, are enough people interested in niche streaming services like SeeSo or Crackle to make them viable in the long term?
End of Show downloads:
Sonia: Donald Glover is great in the new FX series
Joe: If the election is making you crazy, consider "
consciously uncoupling" from campaign coverage...but just for a few days.
Mike: A show custom-made for Mike!
