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Terminator marketing propels Sarah Connor Chronicles

by Alfred Hermida | January 17, 2008 at 03:58 pm

736 views | 4 Recommendations | 3 comments

The big hit of the winter season on US TV the Terminator spin-off, The Sarah Connor Chronicles. At least according to Fox, the network behind the show.

The pilot drew more than 18 million viewers on Sunday night, and Fox hoped to build on it by screening the second episode in its regular Monday slot.

No doubt part of the reason for its initial success is the Terminator brand itself. And the lack of few new television dramas due to the current writers' strike might have also helped.

But Fox have also done just about everything to ensure a hit:

One factor must have been a massive marketing effort that was conceived more than six months ago and described by a Fox executive vice president as “the biggest campaign for a new midseason show in years.”

Among the techniques used by Fox were a sneak peak for fans at Comic-Con and more traditional on-air teases for the show. But the pilot of the show was also leaked online, months ahead of broadcast.

This was a guaranteed way to get fanboys talking online about the new series, way ahead of its debut on the small screen.

Now that it has aired, at least on US and Canadian networks, does The Sarah Connor Chronicles live up to the hype? It was entertaining in a brain candy kind of way, but I didn't find it quite as compelling as I would have liked.

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Rob Peters

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 16:43 on January 17th, 2008

Thanks Alfred. I haven't seen the show yet, but I'm curious. Sometimes brain candy is exactly what I need after work.

infinitstudios

at 22:54 on January 17th, 2008

hi my name is rafael i created this comp for the company i work for. This comp any many more were to be used for the terminate me mini site. where you can upload a photo and terminate your self. it was fun creating the comp specialy because i am into mecha and robots. thank you for your time in checking this out.

infinitstudios has contributed a photo to this story.

John Ulrich

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 06:31 on January 21st, 2008

Alfred Hermida, I like this story. It's good stuff.