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When is a Sneak Peek not a Sneak Peek?

Time to get to the bottom of creative terms used by promotional departments.

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So you’ve been wondering.

What the hell does Nine mean when it says “Sneak Peek?” It’s showing the whole episode.

Flashpoint and Wipeout Australia are both being promoted as “Sneak Peeks” by the network. Does that mean Nine’s going to run them again at a later date?

TV Tonight decided to get to the bottom of the confusion.

The term was put together by creatives at Nine and applies to shows that are airing either ahead of the official ratings season and / or outside of their planned timeslot.

Basically it’s a way of attracting your attention to a new show…

But use of the term is complicated by the fact that Nine has been running a ten minute showcase of its upcoming shows in Nine’s Sneak Peek too. So in effect one Sneak Peek runs for ten minutes while another runs for an hour. Madness.

Creating further confusion is Nine screening Flashpoint episodes out of sequence.

Next Saturday TEN also has a Sneak Peek for The Biggest Loser the day before it launches. That’s only 5 minutes long, which would seem to fit with the traditional use of the term.

So there you have it.

Add it to the list of blatant use of the term “Encore” -an overused substitute for the word “Repeat.” These days our networks slate “Encores” before a show has even had its first-run. Very different from an audience calling for more…

20 Responses

  1. All these Sneak Peeks are really starting to annoy me.
    The other day Ten was already 5 mins late ending a show, so of course they decided to waste another 10 with a sneak peek of Biggest Loser. And then there’s the fact that you are no longer able to read or hear movie/show credits because they insist on either previewing whats on next (which we already know from the 2 dozen promos we’ve already seen, or yet another sneak peek of Life on Mars or Biggest Loser.
    Here’s hoping Paramount or Universal manage to find some way to sue the networks and force them to play shows in their entirety (in order and with fully watchable credits).

  2. And after watching the episode on last night (Sun 25th), I can see that you really would have had to have seen the previous episodes to make more sense of what was really going on – otherwise the story appeared to be a major over-reaction to the events if there was no preceeding story line.

    Therefore, will give the series a go from ep 1 but when it gets to whatever ep was on last night, will not need to watch as I’ll remember it. I imagaine this will happen with most viewers with the sneak peak episodes they have seen as the show is OK but not good enough to what the same episode within a few weeks or months of seeing it before. Therefore sneak peaks killing ratings on some weeks.

    And Mentalist after it I had already seen before, so tuned out. Glad to see the show will be part of 9 in 09 and hope the time slot it starts with sticks.

  3. When are the networks going to realise … it’s theoretically easier to watch FTA tv than it is to download the eps from overseas, so long as the Networks make the bold and audacious move to:

    1. Start a show at episode 1, and run the episodes consecutively from there.
    2. Pick a time slot, and stick to it.
    3. Don’t cut bits out of shows because you’re running late, or want to fit in more ads.

    Can you imagine if novels were the same as tv? The chapters would be all out of order, some would be missing entirely, others would crop up several times in the book. And just when you were getting involved in the plot despite all this, someone would come and rip the novel out of your hands, and you’d never be able to find it again.

    Sheesh!

  4. I’ve been so confused with these pathetic sneak peeks I have actually given up watching Flashpoint. I missed an episode, and don’t even know when the show is on. It really is a stupid and confusing way of introducing a show to an audience and will only lead to viewers switching off or turning to illegal downloads.

    A sneak peek should only be five to 10 minutes long, not a whole episode! Go back to the drawingboard Nine and think of a better way to hype up a show!!!

  6. I’d like the networks to ‘sneak peek’ a whole series of, say, 30 rock. After that they can screw around with the programming (or not) of episodes all they like.

  10. These full episode sneak peaks will do nothing but bring about a shows demise before its time. My guess is, when they show the series of Flashpoint in order, those episodes already shown will dip in the ratings as viewers realise they were the sneak peaks replayed.

    And on the subject of repeat / encore – will the sneak peak episodes be designated as repeats?

  11. Thanks to nine for their sneak peak at “revamped programming’ for this year.
    Just confirmed situation from last year – you can’t be trusted.Eps out of order and sneak peak full eps of flashpoint make it look like ‘turkey’ and no one needs a sneak peak of Wipeout.
    Waits for new ‘terminolgy to hit – brand new timeslot

  13. Great story. Yeh i also agree a sneak peak is an extended promo 5 to 10 minutes long with scenes from different episodes, information, cast and crew opinions, channel 9 (or whatever other network) personalities giving their opinions stating how good it is.

    Lets just leave it that channel 9 promo department doesn’t know what its doing

  15. OK now we know (or do we?) what a sneak peak is. What we don’t know is will Flashpoint be shown from episode 1. I have not watched any of the “sneak peaks” because of the out of sequence presentation. I like the look of this show but will not commit to it if it’s not shown in order.

  17. Yes I do have something to say. Sneak peaks aside, Airing episodes out of sequence is wrong wrong wrong. As stated before. I am always willing to give networks a chance to show programs to me – even if it means waiting a few months – but this borders on the insane – treating the public like idiots again will hasten the exodus to torrenting. I’ve now seen these episodes…. in the Correct story line arc, order.

  18. My parents gave up on the ‘sneak peek’ of Flashpoint so I gave them a DVD with the first 9 eps in correct order, and they watch 3 of them back-to-back last night 😆

    A sneak peek would have been better if it was 5 minutes, maybe with the cast talking about the show to get people interested, and place it in prime time or right after the news to get max exposure for new shows.

    I guess only time will tell if this worked, but I have a horrible feeling Flashpoint will be dead in the water in less than a month.

  19. LOL – fun story David.

    You are right. “Sneak Peek” really can’t refer to a 5-10 minute extended promo and a full episode played out in full.

    I believe “Sneak Peek” should be used for a 5-10 minute extended promo.
    Whereas “Special Preview” should be used when a full ep is being played ahead of it’s regular timeslot premiere.

    But do believe “Encore” is different to “Repeat” – at least from a promotional point of view.

    Repeat is when Ten reruns The Simpsons, Nine slots in a CSI or when Seven slots in a City Homicide rerun – to pad out the season or get additional milegae and cost benefit out of each ep.

    “Encore” is when a second screening is scheduled ahead of a shows premiere or shortly after to allow additional people to sample the show in the hope of building the aud for ep 2. It’s a very deliberate strategy that is completely different to simply repeating a show like “The Simpsons” which is to get a better cost / average per episode.

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