It’s January, and the broadcast pilot season is kicking into high gear with pilot orders. As has been the case every year for the past five or six years, scripts are late, delaying pickups — much to the chagrin of network executives who want to get their pilots up and running early to allow more time for casting in a very competitive marketplace.
The number of broadcast pilots slipped in 2019, and the trend might continue this year as the networks get more patient in sticking with modestly rated existing series because launching a new series involves big marketing costs but often results in similar ratings.
There is another factor this year: a concerted effort by the networks, particularly ABC and Fox, to move away from the traditional pilot season and order pilots off-cycle, or as ABC calls it, “second cycle.”
References:
Andreeva, N. (2020, January 23). Pilot Season 2020: Here Is How Many Pilots Each Broadcast Net Looks To Order Amid Rise Of Off-Cycle Development & Straight-To-Series Pickups. Retrieved from https://deadline.com/2020/01/pilot-season-2020-how-many-pilots-each-broadcast-network-ordering-off-cycle-development-straight-to-series-pickups-1202837523/?fbclid=IwAR28NBVqyS0ParjQAx82wZB2HkOiFdgVk_z9J7r-1XBamTby0KjkvgcCR48
