If I can "butt in" here... It's really not a "hiatus", per se; they're just running 2 weeks of repeats instead of new episodes after tonight's new ep. Ep 219, the next new ep (which didn't finish filming until this past Friday night) is scheduled to air in the US on March 19th.
I studied Radio-TV-Film in college; a "hiatus" is actually when the show doesn't air any eps, new or old... at all... it's entirely off the network's schedule (or when the filming of the show is on a break/vacation period). Since they're airing eps (albeit eps that have already aired) it's just 2 weeks of repeats & not a "hiatus".
Basically, with H50 we in the US only have to "endure" this during the 2nd half of the season (from when the show resumes airing after the Christmas/Chanukah/New Year's Holidays). This is because H50 only makes 24 new episodes per season (at least it has in both of the 1st 2 seasons; I'm assuming the same will occur in any remaining seasons but you never know).
Of those 24 new eps, CBS/the showrunners schedule the 1st 12 eps to air consecutively, without ANY repeats, from the season premiere until what's called the "midseason finale"--which is the last new ep that airs prior to the Christmas/Chanukah/New Year's Holidays &, in H50's case, is normally the 12th episode of the given season (out of 24). That leaves them ONLY 12 eps to air in the 2nd half of the season, which for H50 normally starts the 1st week of January & runs until the middle of May. And there are still over 12 weeks of the TV season left to go when the show comes back after the "Midseason Finale".
H50 doesn't normally end their season until Mid-May. This is because most of the other US TV shows do the same; also because May is a "ratings" period in US TV (the networks measure the number of viewers they have watching their shows) & with H50 being a very popular show on CBS they want to air as many new eps in May as they possibly can, so they can hopefully have a better ratings measurement than they would without airing H50 in May (this is also why CBS has aired new eps of H50 during all of February--it's another ratings period).
So, the remaining 12 eps (eps 13-24) have to be spread out much farther, & have a couple of weeks of repeats added in between every new episode or 2 during the last half of the US TV season, in order to keep the show on the air until the desired week in May.
If they'd spread the 1st 12 eps of the season out farther, we wouldn't have so many repeats between new eps in the 2nd half of the season because the new eps would go farther, if you will. But the showrunners prefer to tell the storyline for the 1st half of the season in 12 consecutive weeks. I like that they do that, & see the logic in it, but sometimes I wish we had new eps more often in the 2nd half of the season too.
Yeah, but you still have weeks between new episodes in the second half of the Season and I personally find that a bit annoying (yes, I realise that it doesn't affect me at all. But still - I suffer with my U.S. friends. :) ).
It's so much easier to loose track when a new episode airs (or is it a rerun today? and so on) and to follow a storyline and so on. I wouldn't be surprised if people would say: Hey, I had 12 episodes of the Season - I liked it, I watch the second half of the Mid-Season finale so that I see how the cliffhanger is resolved and then I'll wait for the DVDs to see everything else in one go. It would be interesting how many people do that and how it impacts the ratings...
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Date: 2012-02-27 06:12 pm (UTC)I studied Radio-TV-Film in college; a "hiatus" is actually when the show doesn't air any eps, new or old... at all... it's entirely off the network's schedule (or when the filming of the show is on a break/vacation period). Since they're airing eps (albeit eps that have already aired) it's just 2 weeks of repeats & not a "hiatus".
Basically, with H50 we in the US only have to "endure" this during the 2nd half of the season (from when the show resumes airing after the Christmas/Chanukah/New Year's Holidays). This is because H50 only makes 24 new episodes per season (at least it has in both of the 1st 2 seasons; I'm assuming the same will occur in any remaining seasons but you never know).
Of those 24 new eps, CBS/the showrunners schedule the 1st 12 eps to air consecutively, without ANY repeats, from the season premiere until what's called the "midseason finale"--which is the last new ep that airs prior to the Christmas/Chanukah/New Year's Holidays &, in H50's case, is normally the 12th episode of the given season (out of 24). That leaves them ONLY 12 eps to air in the 2nd half of the season, which for H50 normally starts the 1st week of January & runs until the middle of May. And there are still over 12 weeks of the TV season left to go when the show comes back after the "Midseason Finale".
H50 doesn't normally end their season until Mid-May. This is because most of the other US TV shows do the same; also because May is a "ratings" period in US TV (the networks measure the number of viewers they have watching their shows) & with H50 being a very popular show on CBS they want to air as many new eps in May as they possibly can, so they can hopefully have a better ratings measurement than they would without airing H50 in May (this is also why CBS has aired new eps of H50 during all of February--it's another ratings period).
So, the remaining 12 eps (eps 13-24) have to be spread out much farther, & have a couple of weeks of repeats added in between every new episode or 2 during the last half of the US TV season, in order to keep the show on the air until the desired week in May.
If they'd spread the 1st 12 eps of the season out farther, we wouldn't have so many repeats between new eps in the 2nd half of the season because the new eps would go farther, if you will. But the showrunners prefer to tell the storyline for the 1st half of the season in 12 consecutive weeks. I like that they do that, & see the logic in it, but sometimes I wish we had new eps more often in the 2nd half of the season too.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-27 08:39 pm (UTC)It's so much easier to loose track when a new episode airs (or is it a rerun today? and so on) and to follow a storyline and so on. I wouldn't be surprised if people would say: Hey, I had 12 episodes of the Season - I liked it, I watch the second half of the Mid-Season finale so that I see how the cliffhanger is resolved and then I'll wait for the DVDs to see everything else in one go. It would be interesting how many people do that and how it impacts the ratings...