There will be no more results show for So You Think You Can Dance? A new trend in Reality TV, but will it be a success or failure?

Written By Aaron Bala

Game changing news emerged recently as So You Think You Can Dance? producer Nigel Lythgoe told fans of the show via Twitter that FOX had cancelled the SYTYCD results show. The results show has been a staple of many a reality competition show since its inception, but with FOX cancelling the results show for SYTYCD the question must be begged, will this go down in history as a failed experiment, or a precursor of things to come?

In order for a show to be capable of having a results show it requires that the show utilize audience voting with which to decide who moves on or doesn’t in the competition. Therefore a show like The Apprentice wouldn’t be able to sustain a results show (presumably where The Donald would spend an hour mulling over who should get fired) because Trump is the only one deciding who stays or goes. Likewise a show like The Biggest Loser, which used to air twice a week, doesn’t have a typical results show either because there’s no audience interaction. 

An archetypal results show episode is seen on programs like The X Factor or The Sing-Off,  and can often be broken down into 10 minutes of important decisions that move the show forward, 12 minutes of commercials, and 38 minutes of filler. But people still watch because results shows are often a star-studded affair. Celebrities are given an opportunity to strut their stuff for the large national audience, which keeps the viewers engaged as they wait the precious results of the voting. We also get more time with the contestants and judges. As much as it feels like a regular episode of a show, in truth, it’s more of a shell. However, this medium has flourished because shows that have results shows are often the biggest hits on a network (Dancing With The Stars, American Idol, America’s Got Talent, etc.) and the networks know that you will watch because who gets kicked off is almost certainly going to be watercooler talk the next morning and you don’t want to miss out on it.

Because of the high ratings these competition shows bring in, often in the 15 to 20 million viewer range, the networks can afford to put these shows on two nights a week. The results show only loses typically about 20 per cent of its performance show audience making it a cheap moneymaker, but inevitably, as it happens to all shows, the ratings dwindle until these shows are outright cancelled because they can’t support being on TV twice a week. The more frequently a show is on the air, the harder the creators have to work to keep the audience interested. A common example of this are game shows. Shows like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Deal or No Deal were huge hits for the network when they premiered, but they overplaying the shows and too often that led to them being cancelled from primetime when viewers tuned out.

FOX’s attempt to cancel SYTYCD’s result show while keeping the performance show on the air is a measure that’s going to be watched intensively by the other networks. Dancing With The Stars had its worst finale ratings ever. American Idol’s number noticeably dropped after Simon Cowell’s departure and with each passing season the figures are getting worse. The networks know that their current cast of cash crops will eventually lose their lustre and are wondering if axing the results show can be a cheap way to keep these shows on the air for just a little bit longer before they have to find some new way to make money. The creation of a new show requires paying for directors, writers, actors, and worst of all, each new show is completely unproven. Their new replacement show might do well and bring in better ratings and ad revenue, or tank hard and turn into a poor replacement by the network.

Cutting the results show alleviates some of the harm, instead of having to replace two hours’ worth of television, this way the networks need only replace one. In terms of quality, the lack of a results show is probably a good thing. Viewers don’t like to be held hostage for an hour to find out who got kicked off their favourite show this week. It’s incredibly easy for fans to merely find this information out from websites the next morning to keep themselves in the loop without sacrificing an hour of their day. The fact that FOX is keeping SYTYCD, while cutting its results show, actually shows strength in the program, FOX would rather keep the best element of that show and cut the weak link, to keep it on the air.

But now FOX will be in the very precarious position of trying to find another show to fill the newly created gap. And the other networks are watching closely, because they want to know the answer to this question as much as we do - Is keeping 80 per cent of the audience for a hit show better than getting all 100 per cent of a new show?

Written by :

Arban