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Starz' Power Is The #2 Show On Premium Cable Behind HBO's "Game Of Thrones"

T

ThePrivateCookie

Member
Why don't critics cover this despite the runaway success? It's really strange. HBO's Girls never did more than a 1.0 in ratings but it was covered and promoted like it was a blockbuster. The show grows in ratings every season, but it's ignored by TV media for the most part.

EXCLUSIVE: In the first big talent power play since Lionsgate's acquisition of Starz last year, Power creator/executive producer Courtney Kemp has signed a new overall deal with the studio and the premium cabler.

Under the exclusive and unique multi-year agreement, Kemp will develop series for Starz and work on projects for Lionsgate that could be sold to a variety of outlets. She also will continue as the showrunner and EP on the hit NYC drama, I've learned. As was announced last week, Power is back for its fourth season on June 25.

”This new deal presents a wonderful opportunity to extend my creative efforts on Power while developing new shows for Lionsgate," Kemp said today. ”I am grateful to Jon, Kevin and Chris for this warm welcome to the Lionsgate family, and I'm looking forward to a continued relationship with Chris, Carmi and the entire team at Starz," she added, referencing Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer, Lionsgate TV Group boss Kevin Beggs and Starz president and CEO Chris Albrecht.

Power, which debuted on June 7, 2014, stars Omari Hardwick, Lela Loren, Joseph Sikora, Naturi Naughton and Curtis Jackson and has broken ratings records for Starz season after season. Moved to the higher-profile Sunday slot after two years on Saturdays, the Season 3 premiere of Power snared 2.26 million viewers on July 17, 2016 — the premium cabler's best original series debut numbers yet and the most-watched episode of any Starz original.

Year-to-year, the Season 3 premiere was up more than 58% from the Season 2 and 389% from Season 1 premieres, respectively, in sets of eyeballs. When multiplatform and delayed viewing is factored in, Power has been averaging an audience of around 8 million. That makes it the second-most-watched series on premium cable after HBO's Emmy winning Game of Thrones.
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http://deadline.com/2017/05/power-courtney-kemp-new-overall-deal-starz-lionsgate-1202080328/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgaxVR_Ou9E
 
N

Nibel

Member
6bKw17r.gif
 
R

Rumblebones

Banned
I've known of this since it started but I had no interest and no idea it was anywhere near this successful, I thought it was one of those shows that scraped by every season and could be cancelled at any time.
 
R

Ramsiege

Member
Nobody talks about it because it's about black folks.

Had it been about White people it would be all over the news.
 
A

ahoyhoy

Unconfirmed Member
Ramsiege said:
Nobody talks about it because it's about black folks.

Had it been about White people it would be all over the news.
Click to expand...

Eh. There was a lot of buzz about Insecure here and elsewhere and the cast there is almost exclusively black.
 
T

ThePrivateCookie

Member
Ramsiege said:
Nobody talks about it because it's about black folks.

Had it been about White people it would be all over the news.
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I hate to say it but it might be true, I can't fathom how Starz can have #2 series on premium cable but it's swept under the rug. Although FX's Atlanta got praised of the rip, but Donald Glover is "safe" white critics & media are familiar with him from Community.

ahoyhoy said:
Eh. There was a lot of buzz about Insecure here and elsewhere and the cast there is almost exclusively black.
Click to expand...

It's also an HBO show, anything on there automatically gets reviewed and covered by critics.
 
R

royalan

Member
Ramsiege said:
Nobody talks about it because it's about black folks.

Had it been about White people it would be all over the news.
Click to expand...

Yep.

I mean, Power did have a rocky start. The first season was kinda all over the place, and James (Ghost) is SUCH a fuckboi
HOW YOU GON DO MY HOMEGIRL TASHA LIKE THAT SHE BEEN YOUR RIDE-OR-DIE SINCE DAY MOTHERFUCKING 1, AND YOU CHEAT ON HER WITH THAT!? BYE

But when it started getting good, it got real good...
 
A

Alienfan

Member
Probably a combination of the show being on Starz and the first season not being that great, critics didn't bother with subsequent seasons
 
T

ThePrivateCookie

Member
El Topo said:
Didn't the first season get pretty bad reviews?
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Critics didn't even bother to cover it. The 1st season started off slow (0.4) in the ratings and grew every episode. As for the quality It's definitely a B show but it's not that bad. Season 2 is the high point. Season 3 was kinda of ehhh to me.

Twitter and word of mouth propelled the show.
 
M

moffattron9000

Member
So it turns out that if you make a good show for a Black audience, they'll watch it. The fact that this is was news in 2015 with Empire is truly depressing. The fact that Outlander fills the same void for women just makes it worse.

Well at least Peak TV clearly has room for everyone. Hell, the best show that I've found this year is a show about a polyamorous couple (no matter how much the word "throuple" makes me want to burn everything down).
 
L

Lkr

Member
Because it's on Starz, not HBO or Showtime. It's like asking why a CW show doesn't get as much buzz as something on CBS.
 
R

royalan

Member
Lkr said:
Because it's on Starz, not HBO or Showtime. It's like asking why a CW show doesn't get as much buzz as something on CBS.
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But that's really not how it works. A breakout show on CW would get more coverage than a flop on CBS.

A premium cable show that's only behind Game of Thrones should be getting more coverage than Power is getting. As it stands now Power isn't getting more coverage than other shows on Starz that it's beating. I'll never understand the obsession with Outlander. It's a C+ show at BEST.
 
L

Lifeline

Member
Never heard of this show or known anyone who watches it. I guess media is the blame, but Starz should probably do some marketing too.


Lkr said:
Because it's on Starz, not HBO or Showtime. It's like asking why a CW show doesn't get as much buzz as something on CBS.
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Pretty sure Flash, Arrow, and Riverdale get lots of buzz. More than Supergirl did when she was on CBS.
 
T

Tobor

Member
T

ThePrivateCookie

Member
El Topo said:
Are you sure? Fifteen reviews at Metacritic, including some pretty harsh ones. Arguably less (in quantity) than other Starz shows though.
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Very few reviews and the ones that did see it wrote it off immediately and stopped covering it. but if you look at the audience reviews it way more positive.

With a show like HBO's Girls it's the inverse, critics loved it, the audience thinks it's mediocre and it showed in it's low ratings.

http://www.metacritic.com/tv/power
http://www.metacritic.com/tv/girls
 
M

moffattron9000

Member
Lkr said:
Because it's on Starz, not HBO or Showtime. It's like asking why a CW show doesn't get as much buzz as something on CBS.
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Well at least that does appear to be changing. American Gods is getting some real heat behind it, and Ash vs. Evil Dead found its audience. I do feel like Starz is getting higher in terms of recognition, and I'm now paying attention to what's down the pipe for them.
 
T

ThePrivateCookie

Member
Slayven said:
The show is so black even the lead white guy is black
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Tobor said:
I've heard of other black shows though. In fact, there was a piece on NPR about how black shows are finding non-black audiences.

http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswi...th-black-characters-find-loyal-non-black-fans

Yet I'd still never heard of this show. So is it really that it's a black show? Or does Starz not market it properly?
Click to expand...

50 Cent said one the biggest mistakes in marketing the show in the 1st season was not putting the white character lead character "Tommy" in the promo poster.
 
A

Aselith

Member
moffattron9000 said:
Well at least that does appear to be changing. American Gods is getting some real heat behind it, and Ash vs. Evil Dead found its audience. I do feel like Starz is getting higher in terms of recognition, and I'm now paying attention to what's down the pipe for them.
Click to expand...

Black Sails has been really well liked too though it's not getting the viewership of Outlander and Power
 
M

Mass_Pincup

Banned
Power seems to be extremely well liked amount black people. That's why it's not getting that much reviews.

Even here in France most black people I know are watching it. It's a hit.

I really need to get back to it, stopped at the start of season 2.
 
M

Mortimer Brewster

Member
ThePrivateCookie said:
Outlander does not do as good as Power in the ratings, Power is the flagship show, but the media cover Outlander more for some reason.
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It's close right now and I suspect Outlander is going to surpass it when Season 3 finally launches. I predict due to the show's buzz and growing interest in the books that it's going to have a GoT/ Walking Dead style explosion in popularity. All the leading indicators are pointing to it,
 
T

ThePrivateCookie

Member
Mortimer Brewster said:
It's close right now and I suspect Outlander is going to surpass it when Season 3 finally launches. I predict due to the show's buzz and growing interest in the books that it's going to have a GoT/ Walking Dead style explosion in popularity. All the leading indicators are pointing to it,
Click to expand...

When does it air? Power is going up against Game Of Thrones during it's run this season, so it might lose some steam. But people only look and the premiere and finale ratings closely anyway so it might not hurt that bad.
 
R

royalan

Member
Mortimer Brewster said:
It's close right now and I suspect Outlander is going to surpass it when Season 3 finally launches. I predict due to the show's buzz and growing interest in the books that it's going to have a GoT/ Walking Dead style explosion in popularity. All the leading indicators are pointing to it,
Click to expand...

If people can make it past that godawful season 2.
 
Grizzlyjin

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
Actually didn't know this. I knew about the show existed because I use Starz regularly now. But I just skipped over it cause it looked like a boilerplate cable drama.
 
M

Mortimer Brewster

Member
ThePrivateCookie said:
When does it air? Power is going up against Game Of Thrones during it's run this season, so it might lose some steam. But people only look and the premiere and finale ratings closely anyway so it might not hurt that bad.
Click to expand...

It's supposed to be coming in September.

royalan said:
If people can make it past that godawful season 2.
Click to expand...

I actually enjoyed Season 2 of Outlander. Besides The Walking Dead survived and then thrived after its divisive 2nd season.
 
E

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
I read last year that the show singlehandedly saved the channel.

Second to GoT is a surprise though. I would've thought some other HBO series would have pulled ahead.

Shout outs to 50.
 
GraveRobberX

GraveRobberX

Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
Starz is putting in work

I thought they were being try yards at first with their shows, but amazingly their line up of shows is good

Black Sails started amazingly (ended)
I enjoyed Davinci Demons (ended)

Power I watched all of Season 1, lost 2 years of my life through health issues and Hospital stay, so I missed all the next seasons
1 thing I do love is the music that they put into the episodes that mesh so well with the show

Trying to catch up on 2 years worth of shows while watching current stuff to gets exhausting!

Missed out on 2-3 seasons of Shameless and Ray Donovan too!

Fuck all the Cable Premium providers are really ripping viewers away from the Basic channels in Saturday/Sunday
 
F

FrenchMovieTheme

Member
Wtf I always thought this was that superhero detective show that was always free on PSN for ps+ subscribers but I now see that was powerS. Unfortunate! I'll check this show out
 
M

moffattron9000

Member
enzo_gt said:
I read last year that the show singlehandedly saved the channel.

Second to GoT is a surprise though. I would've thought some other HBO series would have pulled ahead.

Shout outs to 50.
Click to expand...

Outside of the monolith that is GoT, HBO's lineup is kind of weak in the ratings. Westworld's highest viewership was 2.24 million, and from there, it just gets lower. Hell, Ballers has The Fucking Rock, and it only gets a million people (including Elizabeth Warren).
 
GraveRobberX

GraveRobberX

Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
FrenchMovieTheme said:
Wtf I always thought this was that superhero detective show that was always free on PSN for ps+ subscribers but I now see that was powerS. Unfortunate! I'll check this show out
Click to expand...

That was "POWERS", this is Power, Powerless got cancelled

First season is starts a slow burn, but it picks up!
 
J

jett

D-Member
Mortimer Brewster said:
It's close right now and I suspect Outlander is going to surpass it when Season 3 finally launches. I predict due to the show's buzz and growing interest in the books that it's going to have a GoT/ Walking Dead style explosion in popularity. All the leading indicators are pointing to it,
Click to expand...

It's not close at all, Power is doubling Outlander's ratings. Outlander never became the break-out ratings success I thought it would to be honest. Spartacus had higher ratings than Outlander too.
 
B

Bluth54

Member
I had no idea the ratings were so good for Power. I don't think the quality is at the very top teir but it's pretty good and worth checking out.
 
E

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
moffattron9000 said:
Outside of the monolith that is GoT, HBO's lineup is kind of weak in the ratings. Westworld's highest viewership was 2.24 million, and from there, it just gets lower. Hell, Ballers has The Fucking Rock, and it only gets a million people (including Elizabeth Warren).
Click to expand...
Damn, no wonder HBO is trying for all those GoT spin-offs.

Hard to put things into context I guess because I'm used to looking at non-premium cable numbers, but with the marketing blitz behind Westworld I guess I expected it to pull more.
 
M

moffattron9000

Member
enzo_gt said:
Damn, no wonder HBO is trying for all those GoT spin-offs.

Hard to put things into context I guess because I'm used to looking at non-premium cable numbers, but with the marketing blitz behind Westworld I guess I expected it to pull more.
Click to expand...

Premium numbers usually hover around the 1-2 million viewer mark for prestige drama (lower for comedies). They in fact get the bulk of their viewership in reruns, streaming, and physical releases.
 
S

Slayven

Member
There is lot of shit TV writers skip over. Well the majority of tv writers, THR never had an article about #Teamlawerence did they? Hell the show been gone for months and you can still catch a stray talking about insecure
 
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