‘Bering Sea Gold’ and boring TV trends
There’s ratings gold in them there gold shows. Two weeks back, “Bering Sea Gold” (10 p.m., Discovery, TV-14) was the highest-rated series debut in that network’s history. And last week, its cable ratings got even higher, reaching more than 3.5 million total viewers. There was a time when that would have been considered a paltry network audience. But those were in the days before every show had to compete with hundreds of other choices.
In fact, the proliferation of channels and the fracturing of the market have resulted in the cookie cutter imitation and sameness of the cable viewing experience. “Gold Rush” begets “Bering Sea Gold”; “Jersey Shore” begets “Jersey Couture.” Cupcake shows breed like rabbits. Or the Duggars. And so it goes.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to turn out.
When cable emerged, folks anticipated that more competition would bring more choices. Even quality. And for a while it did. In the early 1990s, some even argued that because networks like A&E and Bravo broadcast ballet and fine arts programming, PBS had become superfluous and unnecessary. Boy, that was a long time ago.
With broadcasters scrambling to win so small a piece of the audience pie, many have become risk-averse. If you propose something entirely original and it fails, you could lose your job or your chance to pro- duce another show. But if you imitate or blatantly plagiarize an existing format, you stand a chance of getting a respect- able rating and you live to see another day.
Part of this phenomenon stems from broadcasters’ ability to measure audience — and, more to the point, audience loss — on a minute-by-minute basis. Make that second by second.
This depressing trend became most evident with the rise of cable news. Way back in the 1990s, I asked news folks why we were subject to an unending drumbeat of banal and unchanging minutiae about Michael Jackson/o.j. Simpson/monica Lewinsky or the scandal du jour. They replied that they could immediately detect a drop in ratings whenever they deviated from the day’s tabloid drumbeat. If a news station moved from the 500th mention of the Blue Dress or the Runaway Bride or whatever, viewers would immediately migrate to another station to hear more about the story they already knew.
Given the difficulty of breaking out of this rut, you have to really commend the broadcasters that still make a stab at originality. But don’t expect them not to be punished for their efforts. HBO’S “Luck” has not found an audience to match its critical acclaim. According to the Nielsen website Tvbythenumbers, “Luck” not only failed to crack the top 10 cable series last Sunday; it didn’t even make the top 100. OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
A disturbed woman sparks a hostage crisis on “A Gifted Man” (8 p.m., CBS, TVPG).
On the trail of a black widow on “Grimm” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
Peter, Olivia and Walter enter a town with no exits on “Fringe” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
A birthday-themed restaurant brings nightmares to life on “Supernatural” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14).
Balancing the books proves difficult on “Gold Rush” (9 p.m., Discovery, TV-PG).
“On Freddie Roach” takes a diverting trip (9:30 p.m., HBO, TV-MA).
SERIES NOTES
A home-shopping giant appears on “Shark Tank” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
A threat to Nikita’s mentor on “Nikita” (8 p.m., CW, TV-14).
Two seemingly unrelated cases converge on “CSI: NY” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
Ethical dilemmas on “Primetime: What Would You Do?” (9 p.m., ABC).