Hart Hanson on Internet fans

I am wondering what you all think of Hart's comment on Internet fans (from GMMR interview).

But some people are pissed off. At what point is getting that angry reaction doing more damage than good?

HH: Here’s the other thing that’s really hard to remember: the internet people are not the voice of the 10 million fans of BONES. They are a very small, vocal, passionate, fanatics. So they have reactions that don’t match the reactions of just the “normal” TV viewer. And unfortunately, I can’t be swayed by the people who love — and hate — the show most. We get a lot of input that isn’t from the internet. We have market research and the marketing people, the promos people. So I have to not listen to the [internet] people, just because they shout the loudest.

Thanks for posting.

He's nearly always been like that. But just becasue the 'normal' TV viewer doesn't come on line to express their views, doesn't mean they aren't passionate.

I hate his comment yet, he's mostly right. My husband is a big bones fan yet he's not so concerned with telling HH he's pissed meanwhile I had to tweet him right after the finale. However I do think we as internet fans fairly represent what others are thinking, we keep watching even when we dislike some arcs where as 'the average viewer' is just going to not watch and they won't know why... except for maybe that research department if it does it's job properly!

You know that scene in the season one Christmas ep where all the squints are theorizing ways to figure out who everyone secret Santa is? THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW. They are missing the obvious. Their own ratings show the highest numbers when they seemed to be moving towards getting together - midseason. In an 8 show arch they lost an average of 1 MILLION viewers compared the the numbers before that arch - the one where BB were pushed apart AGAIN. And both the beginning of the season and the end of the season was competing with Survivor and new shows. I don't think the million viewers who dropped were ALL on the internet. When those numbers dip, there are going to be a million excuses they are going to give themselves - none of them will be "because the audience didn't like the storyline," because according to our market research and promo people (the ones promoting the show as "A NEW LOVE COMES BETWEEN BRENNAN AND BOOTH" - like a frigging soap-opera) the audience LOVES this storyline, THIS is what they want to see. [Only admins are allowed to see this image]

Not to mention, we now can see that he's writing based on market research, not characters. Frankly, I think I'm done.

Just wanted to add, that the bit about internet veiwers didn't piss me off, but the rest of that interview....

ok...FYI...it's a story ARC not arch....picky I know but it's been bugging for many many weeks...LOL!

HH hit it right on the head...internet fans are NOT the "average viewer"...no matter what way anyone wants to spin it, no matter how many stories we tell about our family, friends and co-workers who we consider "average" fans. Those marketing folks get paid alot of money to determine what those average fans want...sure, some of them aren't going to like Hannah and that storyline....but even the internet fans differ in their opinions about the storyline. Not everyone on here hates it, not everyone on the official board hates it. I hate being lumped into the "internet" fan group because it's becoming to where being labeled an "internet fan" is a bad thing...that they are whiney, loudmouth, snotty, rude people who harass showrunners when the storyline isn't written exactly the way they want it.

And hate to burst your bubble, but there isn't a single show on network tv (and probably on cable either) that isn't being written and produced based on market research to some extent....so I guess you have to be like Brennan and not watch TV.

joybrennan wrote:You know that scene in the season one Christmas ep where all the squints are theorizing ways to figure out who everyone secret Santa is? THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW. They are missing the obvious. Their own ratings show the highest numbers when they seemed to be moving towards getting together - midseason. In an 8 show arch they lost an average of 1 MILLION viewers compared the the numbers before that arch - the one where BB were pushed apart AGAIN. And both the beginning of the season and the end of the season was competing with Survivor and new shows. I don't think the million viewers who dropped were ALL on the internet. When those numbers dip, there are going to be a million excuses they are going to give themselves - none of them will be "because the audience didn't like the storyline," because according to our market research and promo people (the ones promoting the show as "A NEW LOVE COMES BETWEEN BRENNAN AND BOOTH" - like a frigging soap-opera) the audience LOVES this storyline, THIS is what they want to see. [Only admins are allowed to see this image]

Not to mention, we now can see that he's writing based on market research, not characters. Frankly, I think I'm done.

We will see who's right next week and the weeks thereafter. Ratings will tell the tale, and I'm betting us vocal internet fans will be proven right.

The excuse of the early airing of episodes in Canada is no longer in play, but I'm sure HH will blame the competition (BBT) for any decline. I can't wait..

crzy4bones wrote:ok...FYI...it's a story ARC not arch....picky I know but it's been bugging for many many weeks...LOL!

HH hit it right on the head...internet fans are NOT the "average viewer"...no matter what way anyone wants to spin it, no matter how many stories we tell about our family, friends and co-workers who we consider "average" fans. Those marketing folks get paid alot of money to determine what those average fans want...sure, some of them aren't going to like Hannah and that storyline....but even the internet fans differ in their opinions about the storyline. Not everyone on here hates it, not everyone on the official board hates it. I hate being lumped into the "internet" fan group because it's becoming to where being labeled an "internet fan" is a bad thing...that they are whiney, loudmouth, snotty, rude people who harass showrunners when the storyline isn't written exactly the way they want it.

And hate to burst your bubble, but there isn't a single show on network tv (and probably on cable either) that isn't being written and produced based on market research to some extent....so I guess you have to be like Brennan and not watch TV.

No bubble's been burst - I did market research for a cable network for a bit. . Granted they were more interested in seeing if a show was worth producing in the first place rather than show direction. My point was sometimes things that are simple are often made complicated. Their basic numbers say when there is logical progression, the numbers trend up, illogical u-turns the numbers trend down. That has nothing to do with internet fans.

Also, market research is just that - researching the taste of the audience you are trying to reach. It's possible they are trying to bring in the Jersey Shore crowd. It can give you what certain demographics like, and specifics on reactions to a clip, actor, etc. It can't really tell you what an audience thinks over time. Truthfully, I think they get a better sense of their current audience that currently watch the the show by analyzing the various forums. I'd ignore the twitter comments, too random.

As for the current board, I wouldn't say everyone HATES this storyline, but only a few are absolutely thrilled about. What are we polling and discussing often; whether to watch or not.

Meanwhile, the networks tend to complain that cable can take more creative risks because it's subscriber based. After ten years of watching cable do creative, quirky, smart, scripted dramas, you would would think they'd let the creatives be creative...only the network creatives have worked this way for so long, they may have forgotten how.

Thanks for the spell-check - I knew it was wrong, just couldn't figure out how to fix it.

I'm not offended because HH is probably right, Internet fans are a very small part of the fan base. Does that mean they don't represent other fans? No.... but that's why they have the other types of research.

Bottom line-showrunners look at ratings. People are pissed, but most are still watching. This board has been buzzing all summer about this storyline. Hart himself said he really doesn't care what people think as long as they are watching/talking about it. Buzz is good regardless of if it's positive or negative.
I don't think anyone here honestly expects the showrunners to change a storyline because we may not like it. It's just nice to have a place to vent frustrations with other people who understand.

MI_Bonesgirl.... I couldn't agree more

A television show ... is a business... it employs hundreds of people who's lives depend on it... Not just actors, but directors, screenwriters, gaffers, extras, secretaries the list goes on and on.....

Hart walks a tightrope... He loves his show..his story..his characters...but he can't just play fast and loose with them...he has all these people depending on him....He tries to follow his vision for the show..but he's got to understand the effects that each decision will have on all the lives he provides income for.

If he were simply writing a book, or a fan fiction, he could go any direction hs wants...but he's got to do not only what's right for the show...what's right for his characters..but what is right for keeping the show on the air.

Talking about ratings...I know that someone did a very good analysis of their take on the ratings of last season...but it was very skewed toward showing the idea they wanted to present.

Ratings going from 8 to 9 to 10 back to 9 million viewers...is a very slight change in the overall sceme of things... If I were doing a statistical analysis of these the results would fall in the range of Statistically Insignificant. Minor fluctuations. The highest numbers of the year came on special episodes only... premiers, first show back from a break, 100th episode, Finale. Anyway... that's been talked to death.

Hart said he uses many more accurate ways of predicting audience appeal, and I think that's wise of him.

We have some very vocal opinions on here..sometimes to the point where it takes over threads...but even on here, we don't agree... Our poll showed that most people are still going to watch it, almost 3/1 ratio ...

Bottom line. Wait and see. And realize that the shows you remember the longest, and enjoy the most are the ones that make you feel passionate... Good or bad, this show makes us passionate about our feelings toward it...and that can't be bad.

it 's true about passion... but in terms of what one remembers the most, what I remember most about the X-files was how badly they messed it up. I don't want that to be my strongest memory of Bones.

crzy4bones, I totally agree with you. And I'm not thriled with being grouped in that Internet group of fans. To me if I was Hart receiving tweets, letters whatever people are doing to contact Hart, it would feel like 3 million impossible to satisfy customers or bosses. Who the heck would wanna hear that? I feel like when I'm on these forums in here and other places people are always saying "well I'm going to tweet Hart about how he messed this up or how if he really wants to learn how to write a show take notes on such & such show... That is extremely insulting or at least it would be to me & and I'm pretty tolerant. Just how I feel.

I know people need to vent but I don't think that's the best way.

I think he is right. Not everyone in the World is Hannah hater or B&B team

Just a question that I hope somebody/anybody might be able to answer for me. If Hart Hanson thinks that the online Bones fans are so insignificant in the the big scheme of things, why then is he on TWITTER going back and forth with the fans? Just curious.