Ryan Worries For Future Of Body Of Proof
2 min read
Although Jeri Ryan is concerned that her current show Body of Proof may be cancelled, she is hoping that it will survive to air another season.
The medical drama series, in which Ryan plays Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kate Murphy, has been on the air for two seasons, but the finale, which airs tonight, may be the last episode of the show.
“We’re very much on the bubble,” said Ryan. “For our last two episodes, we’ve had great overall numbers. Our overall viewers are higher than most of the shows I’ve ever dealt with, and higher than most of the shows that are considered hits.”
Viewership for Body of Proof has benefitted by being aired directly after the popular Dancing With the Stars, but that may not be enough to save the show.
“Our demographic numbers, which are the only things advertisers care about, are low,” said Ryan. “So, something like New Girl gets double or triple our demographic numbers, but we get double their overall viewers. But that’s a hit, yet we’re on the bubble. It’s hard! It’s such an archaic system!
“So much of the viewership now is not watching it live. They’re watching on DVR and skimming through all the ads, so it’s too bad we’re sticking to the old advertising model. “Somewhere down the line, things will have to change, but I guess for now it is what it is. We’re all hoping.”
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Shows like American Idol do well because they’re watched live, by zombies, that absorb the advertising.
Intelligent shows are watched by intelligent people, who use PVRs and skip adverts to make the most of their time. Until TV-based micropayments come along it’s hard to see when a new show will go the distance.
Too bad that an intelligent program goes away, thank you for all the effort you all have put into this program; as to the advertisements they are a “necessary burden” or as in Spanish “un mal necesario”
How disappointing that this is the last show! I really enjoyed this show and Dana Delaney along with the rest of the cast did a great job. Sometimes I can’t believe the idiotic shows that are renewed. They need a new way to determine popularity..DVR’s and watching shows after airing don’t seem to be accounted for.
I hope it does return, my wife & I love the show & it doesn’t hurt that Jeri Ryan is on it. Its a good show with a lot of different things going on with the characters that make it interresting. Maybe that’s the problem, makes people pay attention to it.
I think the problem is in how we define “Micropayment”…
The fact is that television is expensive to produce. Body of Proof has a crew of over 200 people. Assuming these professionals are payed around $50K and that’s $10 million for the season in crew salaries alone. Factor in actor salaries, producers, materials, rents, travel, insurance, marketing, distribution, etc, and, well, you get an impressive total.
Apple, as one example, typically charges $2 for a single episode without ads. Based on the production cost, I’d say Apple’s already cutting the studios pretty close to the margin — and even then folks aren’t really digging the price very much.
Micropayments for the masses will probably need to be a lot cheaper in order for them to be effective.
And as for the “zombies,” as a designer of advertising, I can assure you that everybody, regardless of age, is a zombie that absorbs [well-made] advertising. The reason why some demographics are considered more valuable than others has more to do with spending habits than anything else. A single male in his 20s has a lot more disposable income than a married male in his 40s. Even if they both react to ads the same way, the former is far more more likely to buy than the guy with a wife, kids, mortgage, car payment, $500/month grocery bill, retirement concerns, and on and on.
Cheers
I’m curious. Do you sleep in a coffin, or hanging by your heels from the closet rod?
I love Body of Proof. To bad they take away the “Good Shows”. Don’t let us wonder what happens to Peter on the show last night. (4 10 12)
Lets say $30 million for a season of 20 episodes. Can you draw in 2 million viewers – worldwide – subscribing at say $1 per episode? The first SG1 direct-to-dvd film got 500k people buying it in the U.S. alone, at an average price of $18 per disk. I’d hope it wouldn’t be too hard for the demographic that tends to like things like Trek, Stargate, Farscape, etc. You’re talking the less than half the cost of a weekly lotto ticket. On top of that you can still broadcast OTA, and the DVD sales etc.
Terra Nova was costing $4m/episode, bringing in 7.5m viewers domestic. Get half those viewers to pay $1/month and you’d have funded the season.
And I assure you that as a married father in his 30’s, I have more disposable income than I had in my early 20s. I just spend it on things like first class flights and 5* hotels rather than CDs.
Count my vote for keeping the show on air. I was hooked from the first episode. Megan Hunt is awesome! I almost hoped Ryan’s character would die of the plague.
This is an intelligent show with plenty of twists and turns before arriving at original resolutions. Hopefully, it will stay alive.
ABC gets stupider by the minute. Body of Proof is one of the best shows on TV. The acting, the cast are incredible. Apparently, ABC thinks the zombies that watch their “reality” shows are the best thing since sliced bread. Have they not seen the numbers for their soap replacements…….The Spew and Revulsion? Who cares when the shows are watched…..the point is they are being watched. Instead of tracking viewership of shows when they are broadcast, why can’t some tech genius figure out how to track who’s watching what on recorded devices? Hello, ABC…….people work for a living and can’t be home for “live” broadcasts. Even those who work 3rd shift dvr your night time shows to watch at a later time. MANY people wait til the weekends to watch their recordings, when they are relaxed and not pressured to be doing other things. WAKE UP ABC
I actually don’t really like this show. I find Dana Delaney to be unbearable to watch. Jeri Ryan does fine though.
its not body proof not over yet it will be 3 season you see
its gerat show jeru jest worries for no reson it good
jeri
We watch this show and all others except news and sports via Tivo. I think many others do the same. I know a lot of my friends do. I gather we don’t count in the statistics.
And you know this how? I watch Trek, Fringe, Thrones, CSI, Boardwalk Empire….The list goes on.
I also watch and, believe it or not, take a fair amount of pleasure in watching American Idol, Dancing with the stars and the x-factor.
Point is, loads of people watch loads of different things, it does not make them zombies or geeks. To suggest otherwise is just a tad snobbish
Mm. Yoda. You seek Yoda!
You’re last argument is the reason why the broadcast system is terminally broken. I’m a 50+ guy & i spend a lot of money each week: on a fiance (no kids; but plenty of nieces & nephews; & grandson-in-law on the way), a mortgage, groceries, home improvements (which you didn’t mention), retirement concerns, et-many-ceteras
Oddly enough, the advertisers seem to think all of that money isn’t worth chasing, even though every component of that spending is discretionary in direction (even the mortgage). Body of Proof probably did cost too much an hour for the herd of ninnies which run the advertising business but that’s the broadcast system’s loss, not mine
See you on Kickstarter et al. At least there the shows are made for their own sake, not for pimply fans with pocket money to spend
This is such a wonderful, well-acted show. I’m not sure that all of the writing is what it could be with this great ensamble but it certainly deserves another season.