I really do believe that The Black Donnellys could have done and may do well with a different network. It is difficult to succeed if you are only given the tools to fail.
Here are my top 10 reasons on how NBC failed The Black Donnellys:
10. This ain't no disco ball, it's a snowball dropping effect of Studio 60: They replaced Studio 60 with The Black Donnellys. Studio 60 had already established a fan base, by replacing the drama with another drama that alienated their viewers. Those who are die-hard fans of Studio 60 naturally boycotted and turned off their television. To this day, even after Studio 60's cancellation, many Studio 60 fans despise The Black Donnellys for that reason.
9. To survive, you need to advertise: NBC missed a marketing opportunity by not promoting the show on daytime or night time talk shows after the show had premiered. NBC has a number of outlets to promote their new television series especially with the Today Show, Ellen, Jay Leno and Conan. You didn't see any cast interviews or interviews with Paul Haggis or Bobby Moresco, two well known film directors and writers, after the series began.
8. Peacock blinded by its own feathers: There has been speculation that Kevin Reilly, former NBC programming chief and NBC executives were not on the same page. A quote from Variety states that "Reilly opted against putting "Donnellys" on NBC's fall 2006 sked. Some saw this as a sign that "Donnellys" didn't have enough internal support from Reilly's bosses, or that advertisers were concerned with some of the show's darker themes." While, Kevin denied that this was true, we've seen the outcome of the network. I see more fear and confusion from their actions than the opportunity to capitalize on risk.
7. Censor the audience that you strive to keep: After the series was officially cancelled in May, several Black Donnelly fans became vocal and started to think of ideas that could help NBC change their minds. Instead, the board moderators were told to remove and "clean up" anything that had to do with "saving" The Black Donnellys. Several fans and viewers were suspended from The Black Donnellys message boards silencing the support for the series. Other posts were deleted, because they were thought to create "too much drama" on the boards, alienating all board users and series supporters.
6. Low ratings, don't blame Nielsen but look in the mirror: Blame NBC. Don't forget that The Black Donnellys did do better in the ratings than its predecessor Studio 60 but for a network that is trying to become a pioneer with online media, why are they solely depending on Nielsen ratings? The Black Donnellys were ranked in the top 10 episodes and season passes on iTunes up until the finale amongst the likes of Grey's Anatomy, The Office and 24. Many viewers streamed the online episodes after it was pulled, these are potential indicators NBC refused to acknowledge.
5. NBC: NBC failed the The Black Donnellys by being the ranked #4 amongst the other networks. There is a reason why they continue to remain #4. There is a lot of pressure for NBC to do well due to historical purposes. It's difficult for anything "new" to succeed with the overburdening pressure on a network.
4. What Light? The Black Donnellys left in the Dark: After 5 on-air episodes, The Black Donnellys were pulled. Serial dramas are delicate. How would you expect to gain any viewership to compete with the likes of ABC, CBS or Fox after 5 episodes? NBC did not lit a match or give a light to The Black Donnellys to travel easily down the tunnel.. a tunnel that contains an epidemic of cancelled serial dramas.
3. Technical Difficulties: When NBC removed The Black Donnellys after 5 episodes, they offered the remaining episodes as online content on NBC.com. However, of the remaining episodes only one episode loaded correctly and on time on a Monday night. The rest of the episodes were delayed at least a half hour. There was a couple of Monday nights, where the episode was not available until three hours from the advertised time. This is not an acceptable way to gain new viewers. New viewers may have just closed their internet browser after the first couple of tries.
2. Shuffle like a Deck of Cards: Unfortunately, The Black Donnellys were as lucky as Kevin Donnelly was with his gambling bets. NBC treated The Black Donnellys like a deck of cards and the series was dealt the wrong hand. NBC had originally intended for the series to air during ER's hiatus in November 2006 in the Thursday night timeslot. However, because ER was doing well with its reruns, they decided to push their most hopeful drama series until January. And they even pushed it further until late February, when Heroes would be on hiatus to a Monday night time slot, after Deal or No Deal.. not allowing The Black Donnellys to gain an appropriate viewership or stable audience.
1. No Brains Channel: NBC did not experiment with putting The Black Donnellys in a different time slot. For a high budgeted series, you would think they would have alternate solutions to create better ratings, rather than hinder or create obstacles for a new series. NBC determined The Black Donnellys' fate from the get go.
