| PROPOSED SAMPLE FOR NETWORKS / SPONSORS Name Address City & State Date Mr. / Ms. Smith, V.P. of Programming XYZ Network 1234 Main Street Hollywood CA 91900 Re: “Moonlight” Dear Mr. / Ms. Smith: Since this program was cancelled by CBS, legions of devoted fans have been seeking a new “home” for it. Many of us think that this program has one of the most novel concepts to come down the pike in a long time. Why should any network be concerned about this? 1) During its limited run, this series won The Peoples Choice Award for “Best New Drama”, met its targeted age demographic, garnered 8.5MM viewers on its first airing September 28, ‘07, and had 7.47MM on the last episode, shown on May 16, ’08. These figures were achieved despite minimal network promotion and the writers strike. 2) While the latter viewership figure is a 13% decrease from the first airing, it is to be noted that overall viewership ratings for CBS fell 17.2%, and among young adults age 18 – 49, fell 21.4%. Again, the effects of the writers’ strike are to be considered, which led to continual repeats of existing shows and substandard replacements, leading to viewer apathy. In fact, according to articles in the San Diego Union Tribune, viewership for all the networks declined 7% during the current season, and the loss of viewers does not seem to have bottomed out. 3) Interestingly enough, CBS has chosen to retain two other shows on Friday night – “Numb3rs” and “Ghost Whisperer”, which have respective viewerships of 5.9MM and 5.6MM during the period of May 26 through June 1 [note: these were repeats]. These numbers represent only 78.9% and 76.0% of Moonlight’s viewership at it’s last airing. 4) For purposes of an analysis of viewers, consider CBS’s icon program, 60 Minutes. This program has been on air over thirty years, and has a viewership of 12.1MM as of April 15 ’08, falling to 10.2 MM during the period ending June 1. While this show’s viewing dropped 15.5%, Moonlight’s decrease from start to finish was only 12.5%. If a new program can generate the viewership it did in only a few months, I would think that the potential for sufficiently higher viewership exists. 5) I would also like to mention the possibility that Moonlight may have broader demographic appeal in terms of age, reaching beyond the targeted group of 18 - 49. For example, my wife and I are both 55+, and our daughter is age 12. Several of our friends and acquaintances in this age group are also fans of the show, and as to appeal, the adults are intrigued by the novel concept and plot, while our daughter (and a few of her friends that got to watch toward the finale, were enthralled by the characters of “Mick & Joseph” who they considered “so cute”. My conclusion is that Moonlight has a great deal of potential, for a network that would like to gain 7mm to 8MM viewers immediately by adding it to its lineup, with the opportunity of adding many more. Thank you for your time and consideration, Mr. / Ms. Fan XXX Source Data: a. “Top Season To Date Broadcast Shows By Viewers” – Bill Gorman, 6/5/08 b. “The Year TV Tumbled & Struggled To Get Up” – K. Pedersen, San Diego Union Tribune 6/2/08 c. “Network News Feels Pain Of Fractured Audiences” – K. Pedersen, San Diego Union Trib. 6/1/08 d. “TV By The Numbers – TV Season Ratings Through 6/1/08” – Bill Gorman, 6/5/08 e. “TV By The Numbers – Top CBS Primetime Shows May 26 through June 1” - Bill Gorman, 6/4/08 f. “ TV By The Numbers - Nielsen’s Most Watched TV Shows (Broadcast Networks) – R. Seidman, 4/15/08 g. Moonlight Ratings – Nielsen – For The 2007 – 2008 Season. |