Lackluster Responses to 'Prime Suspect,' 'Hart of Dixie,' 'Revenge' Promotional Campaigns Suggest Shows in Trouble: Study

12:00 AM PDT 11/3/2011 by Paul Bond

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Adam Taylor/NBC

"Prime Suspect"

According to TiVo, the only new series with lower promo conversion rates -- Charlie's Angels and H8R -- have already been canceled.

NBC's Prime Suspect, the CW's Hart of Dixie and ABC's Revenge should worry about their futures, if TiVo's soon-to-be released report about promotional conversion rates is any indication.

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According to TiVo, the only shows with lower conversion rates than those three, Charlie's Angels and H8R, have already been canceled.

TiVo surveyed the viewing habits of 35,000 of its users to determine how many promotions for new TV shows they saw, how many times they saw them and whether the promos convinced them to tune in. If they tuned into the premiere episode after seeing at least three promos, that qualified as a successful "conversion."

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Television executives might want to take TiVo's data seriously, because none of the five shows with the lowest promo conversion rates last year was renewed.

Scoring the highest conversion rate was CBS' 2 Broke Girls, which already earned a full-season order. No. 2 on TiVo's list was Fox's New Girl.

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The system isn't foolproof, though, since the show with the third-highest conversion rate, CBS' How to be a Gentleman, has been canceled, as was NBC's Free Agents, which scored the eighth-highest promo conversion rate.

Rounding out the top 10 new broadcast shows with the highest promo conversion rates are Terra Nova, Person of Interest, Pan Am, Suburgatory, Up All Night and Unforgettable.

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Rounding out the bottom 10 are Whitney, The X Factor, The Playboy Club (already canceled), Ringer and A Gifted Man.

TiVo also notes in its report that there's no direct correlation between "reach" and conversion rate. For example, Whitney scored the highest reach with 85.3 percent of the panelists exposed to the promos, though its conversion rate was the fifth lowest among the 21 new fall broadcast series that premiered between Sept. 12 and Oct. 2. Revenge also scored high reach but low conversion.