A
few weeks ago, Pro7, a German TV station, added the series “Sleepy Hollow” to
their rooster. From the beginning, though, I was suspicious about the scheduling.
Running a horror series with a high body-count after two episodes of a ‘chick’
series like “Grey’s Anatomy?” Very suspicious … or stupid.
There
was hardly any advertising for the series which, while very popular in the US,
is not widely known in Germany. Sure, we know about the headless horseman (since
Tim Burton, if not before…), but we don’t know all that much about the oodles
of series that run in US television. Yet, hardly any advertising for a new
series. Other stations have done better. So has Pro7, with other series.
Why
the placement right after “Grey’s Anatomy?” Sure, the actor playing Ickabod Crane
is rather cute and can pull off fashion that’s not just a year, but 250 years
ago. Apart from that, though, there’s not much that would suggest coupling the
series with classic ‘chick’ material. “Sleepy Hollow” is bloody, dark, full of
corpses, and full of demons. So, if I had to couple it with a series Pro7
already airs, it would go before or after “Supernatural.”
Why
the break from the ‘15’ schedule? For decades, German TV has adhered to an
unspoken rule. After 8 pm, series and movies start at 15 past. They start at
8.15, 9.15, 10.15 and so on. When did “Sleepy Hollow” start? 10.10.
Given
the placement behind two episodes of a ‘chick’ series like “Grey’s Anatomy,”
the possible audience for the series would have had to switch stations. Now, is
it likely they would switch 5 minutes early? The placement at 10.10 means that
either the viewer has to discard the last 5 minutes of whatever they were
watching before (and not seeing the end of a an episode or movie sucks) or turn
in 5 minutes late to “Sleepy Hollow” (which means missing the first 5 minutes,
deadly for a series as complex as this one).
“Sleepy
Hollow” clearly was misplaced, therefore, but was it intentional? I can’t
really believe that, since buying the licence of a successful TV series can’t
be cheap. They will eventually show the series completely, I guess, but where?
Hopefully not their ‘chick’ station Sixx. They have some mystery and dark
romance there, but no full-fledged horror so far. Could they run it during one
or two nights? Quite likely, perhaps around Halloween. It wouldn’t do the
series justice, though. It’s another TV series broken by stupid placement and
missing advertising, like “Doctor Who.” (And don’t get me started on that, please…)
Shame on you, Pro7! If you
spend money on a TV series, put some thought into the scheduling and do the
series justice. You owe it to the series and the viewers.
