In the comments below my prior post about AMC’s The Pitch advertising “reality” show, I said it was too bad they weren’t making the episodes available online.
I don’t follow many television shows, but I figured The Pitch was good for a few blog posts.
Turns out I shouldn’t have worried; the show’s doing so badly, they may not even air the episodes they’ve already taped:
According to Nielsen, The Pitch earned a 0.20 in the adult 18-49 category in its debut—fewer than 20% of Mad Men’s audience stayed up to watch AMC’s reality show.
But things got worse.
Once The Pitch moved to its Monday night slot, the ratings tanked. The April 30 episode attracted 45,000 adults according to Nielsen earning a 0.0 and finishing 30th on Nielsen’s cable ratings, besting only a rerun of episode one, which came in 31st. The May 7 episode also earned a 0.0, this time with 59,000 adults tuning in according to Nielsen.
Wow. A 0.0.
Clearly, TV viewers love the advertising industry.
Sadly, those that watched all the episodes really only learned one thing.
Clients typically make the wrong decision about 80% of the time.
Keep watching, Tom Chandler.
Tom,
Missed your original post somehow — spent a few minutes with my morning coffee watching the clip in the previous post. I can see why it tanked! The idea is good, but it’s a little dry and rudderless. Even being (somewhat) in the biz, it didn’t grab my attention like it should have. I can’t imagine what those who don’t give a hoot about advertising would think…
Biggest mistake: no host. Every successful reality show has a host of some sort, setting the table and telling the story. It’s almost like the laugh-track of reality shows — without it, you’re not quite sure what or how you’re supposed to feel (or even what’s going on sometimes). (BTW, always hated being “talked down to” by the host, but now I see how valuable the role they play…)
It also could have bumped up the tension a bit. Not by, as you point out, bullying their own employees, but by making this new account somehow real and needed: verge of bankruptcy, haven’t had a hit in a while, whatever. I felt that this was just another pitch for these guys, that even they felt how artificial the whole thing was.
I’ve seen related shows like “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” and they actually come off not too badly. Perhaps this show would have been better off finding new, up-and-coming agencies who were hungry — and who would actually benefit hugely from getting an international account rather than simply adding another one to their portfolio.
More drama, more “finding their way”, less faux-boardroom.
(Where do I send my notes?)
~Graham
Graham Strong(Quote) (Reply)
Graham Strong,
Adding a host probably means a different show — more along the lines of Top Chef (Top Copy?) than this documentary style show. I think The Pitch goes off the rails for all sorts of reasons, one of which is the creative process is largely internal and usually not very dramatic.
The popular concept of creativity involves dramatic visual moments (sweeping your desk clear, writing the winning idea on the inside of the steamed shower stall, sketching on a napkin, [insert cliche here]). In real life it’s not very dramatic. It’s actually hard work, which hasn’t driven Nielsen numbers since Bonanza.
I don’t think a fix is possible. I think The Pitch was doomed from the start by the format, which relies way, way too much on the visual drama you simply won’t find in the creative process.
TC(Quote) (Reply)
Fret not, old Tom. Their day will come yet.
Already on the storyboards for next season: “Dancing with the Advertisers.”
John White(Quote) (Reply)
Not to put too fine a point on it, but if they want to create a real documentary, then something a bit more pornographic than “dancing” with the advertisers would be appropriate…
TC(Quote) (Reply)
I disagree with Graham about adding “more drama”- I think a documentary style would be fine. The addition of a host though- that may work. We’ve said that the main problem is in the matchmaking. Very few of these agencies would have been a match for the clients so far- a good Agency Search Consultant would help make better matchups.
We have no real reason to like or dislike any of the agencies- other than the “reality” view we get from the editors. The show should be about the work- how it’s made- and why- and how the client decides. Of course, if this was real life- “none of the above” should be an option as well.
We’ve been doing predictions and reviews of each episode and are 0-5 on picking “the winner”- http://thenextwave.biz/tnw/the-pitch-on-amc/
but- as far as we can tell- all the agencies have gotten a PR boost out of this trainwreck- and the clients have been the losers.
This isn’t advertising as done by the best in the business by any means- Frangelico picked Kovel/Fuller because they liked their creative better than The Ad Store’s strategy- and we all know how valuable creative is without solid strategy- about as valuable as the ratings on this show.
David Esrati(Quote) (Reply)
I think I disagree with both of you. I think The Pitch was doomed from the start.
The creative process isn’t all that visual (and it’s rarely dramatic), so they were left to rely on the interpersonal conflicts. Unlike other “reality” shows (Top Chef, Top Model, etc), there isn’t incentive for agency creatives to act like utter tools in order to make great TV (some do anyway, but that’s beside the point).
We don’t subscribe to a TV service, so I haven’t watched any episode aside from the first, but then, I’ve already lived through the trauma of clients making spectacularly bad decisions.
TC(Quote) (Reply)
TC, DAVID ESRATI
An idea similar to “The Pitch” has worked in the past, and I think successfully. The Apprentice (before it went all celeb) used to have at least one or two marketing/advertising challenges that were real challenges, and that added drama. One that sticks out in my mind was the campaign for the new (then) Pontiac Solstice, where one of the contestants came up with a nifty brochure. There are others too that I think were actually used.
The difference in The Pitch is, as you say Tom, the agencies aren’t prepared to look like tools. Which is why going with a smaller, newer, younger ad agency that is prepared to do whatever it takes to win the account might be a way to beef this up a bit.
Purely from a TV-show-as-entertainment standpoint…
~Graham
Graham Strong(Quote) (Reply)
@Graham- but in The Apprentice- the same contestants came back week after week- where the audience could connect with the players in the game.
Not so with The Pitch-
and TC- there are some sites that have the show for viewing online- http://delishows.com/show/the-pitch/
David Esrati(Quote) (Reply)
David Esrati,
That’s a good point David. Hmm, there must be something they can do to tinker. If they really aren’t going to air some of the remaining episodes, I wonder why they don’t invest just a tiny bit more of their Mad Men money into a re-edit. If not a host, maybe a narrator? Something to tie the story together…
~Graham
Graham Strong(Quote) (Reply)
@Graham- I’m pretty sure the whole thing is already in the can now- too late to tinker for this season.
I think someone like Jerry Della Femina or Sally Hogshead would be an excellent host.
David Esrati(Quote) (Reply)