If any show demonstrates the decreasing value of ratings in predicting a show’s fate, it’s Dollhouse. The show had been predicted by many sources as “dead” for weeks before its finale, which scored a dismal 1.0% share (the show had a 1.5% average) of the valuable 18-49 advertising demographic, far below Fox’s average of 2.67%. Regardless, Fox decided to renew Dollhouse, a decision which has made the show the most talked about renewal besides Chuck (Ratings: TVByTheNumbers.com).
Why Dollhouse Was Renewed and Other Shows Weren’t
The show itself is leaning heavily on its creator to generate business opportunities. Dollhouse creator Joss Whedon has a massive fan base, and based on his past work and the delayed (read: post-cancellation) success of Whedon’s Fox-aired show Firefly, it is not unreasonable to assume that the show could eventually be successful. The high interest level of the audience, something common in the Sci-Fi genre and in Whedon shows in particular, means that Dollhouse fans are likely to make use of multiple opportunities for Fox to generate revenue.
The primary way networks earn money is through selling advertising, and the price of advertising is traditionally set based on ratings as well as other factors (to a lesser degree) such as audience engagement. As new media has become available however, avenues for revenue generation have changed. Networks can make money through viewers watching online, which is important because although Dollhouse had low television ratings, it had among the highest online and DVR ratings. Revenue levels in other areas such as DVD sales and merchandising are also likely to be high. The show also has the benefit of airing on Fridays, a low rated night which networks typically expect to underperform.
Cost Efficiency: Dollhouse is aired on Fox, but also produced by Fox
As mentioned above, revenue on DVDs of Dollhouse could be quite high. For many networks however, this would not matter, because it’s the studio producing the show which gets the profits from DVD sales, not the network. For instance, Fox makes no money off of House’s DVD sales because the show is produced by NBC Universal. This is where Dollhouse has an advantage that many other shows do not; Fox not only airs the show, but 20th Century Fox produces it, meaning that any and all revenue ends up going to the same place (parent company News Corporation.) This arrangement also makes the show cheaper to air; licence fees are not an issue, as there is no separate company to licence to, and budget reductions require less negotiation between studio and network. To summarize, Fox ends up receiving nearly 100% of all revenue generated by the show at a drastically reduced price. What this ultimately means is that even if the network loses money on the show, it can still be considered profitable if the studio alone makes enough money to offset the network’s loss.
A Lower Budget for Dollhouse
New scripted series are risky ventures, there are immense start-up costs as inefficiencies are dealt with and infrastructure is built. In the past networks have consistently canceled low-rated shows and replaced them with new shows in the hopes that one of them will be successful. With the economy in recession and the television market becoming fragmented by increased cable viewership this is becoming a less tenable practice. Dollhouse's renewal is a case of a network going with a low-rated show they have already built (and run at low costs) rather than taking an expensive risk on a new show’s success. Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly explained this attitude regarding Dollhouse: "Bet on something that has a core that you believe can work. It's better than taking a wild flier." As noted above, the presence of Buffy-creator Joss Whedon as the show’s creator would also help to drive the network’s belief that their property could be successful.
Cost was likely a major factor in the renewal of the show. Beyond the cost savings already explained above, Dollhouse accepted a major budget cut in order to keep the low-rated show viable for Fox. Ratings troubles were anticipated for the show since before the first episode aired (some fans even launched a pre-emptive “Save Dollhouse” campaign,) and so Whedon purposefully filmed the thirteenth episode on an extremely low budget in order to convince the network that the show could work well with little funding. According to some sources, Dollhouse’s production budget may now be as low as a cable series', a rare feat for a network program.
Dollhouse versus Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Airing alongside Dollhouse on Fridays was Terminator, a show which was canceled this year. Beyond being a science fiction show with a Friday timeslot, Terminator had none of the advantages Dollhouse did. Terminator was produced by C2 Pictures and Warner Bros., not Fox, and lacked the presence of a high profile show creator like Joss Whedon. While the show possibly could have survived on a lower budget, no episodes were shot to show this. Ultimately, Fox believed that after having aired for two seasons and suffered a drastic ratings drop there was little hope for Terminator to gain an audience, but they still had hope that they could increase the audience for the newer, lower cost Dollhouse.
Read "The Upfronts Part 1 -Chuck’s Renewal" here.
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