Appointment TV Worked for NBC and it Will Work for Your Online Content

Bill Cosby, Michael J. Fox, and Ted Danson turned NBC into a powerhouse during the ’80s with their Thursday night lineup. The Cosby Show at 8 p.m., Family Ties at 8:30 p.m., and Cheers at 9 p.m. became a regular staple in homes across the country.

Must See TV became synonymous with NBC's primetime schedule.

The ratings were huge, and that got television executives talking about a phenomenon called “Appointment Television.” NBC’s Thursday night lineup was so strong that it developed its own brand — Must See TV, anyone? The most loyal fans made a habit of rearranging their schedules to catch every new episode.

The concept — which developed a loyal following for NBC and turned it into the number one network — can work for you, too, as you develop your content marketing strategy.

Rule #1–Develop Features

Think of your website’s content as shows or features. This will help set the expectations of your audience for your content. Your content should fall into a few different themes, and each theme should resonate with a specific audience. In our case, a feature can take the form of any medium — a short video, an audio podcast, a photo of the week, or a text post — as long as we keep the medium consistent from week to week.

Ideally, you’ll conceive these features to attract the online identities you are pursuing (see a short video about target audiences). This will build a loyal audience, and you will begin to see the same visitors commenting on your posts from week to week.

Rule #2–Create a Format

Now that you have a show in mind, you should create a format for it. What does the content look like? How does it feel? What are the steps in creating it? A tight format makes it much easier to create a piece of content. For example, one series could always answer a reader’s question. Or it could be a question & answer type of interview. Or it could be a stunning photograph with clever caption. The better the formula, the easier it will be to produce the content and replicate the process.

Rule #3–Stick to a Schedule

Now that you have your shows and format, you need to set up a content-release schedule, just like a television network. The schedule will help set your audience’s expectations about when to visit your site for the content that interests them most. It will also help you remain focused as a content producer.

A set schedule will help you treat your content creation process like honest-to-God work. It will force you to work within deadlines, and it will help you think of ideas ahead of time, so you’re not struggling to brainstorm new ideas day after day. The schedule will help you cultivate your audience and keep yourself on track. Stick with it.

Rule #4–Kill Re-Runs (they kill momentum)

I read somewhere that a habit develops after 21 days of consistent behavior. Ultimately, that is what makes appointment television work. The audience develops a habit of watching a particular show or, in this case, consuming your online content. This means that if your audience is coming to your website every week for a particular feature, you must not disappoint them.

Missing a week in your schedule or recycling some bit of old content kills all the momentum you developed, and you have to start again from scratch. Do everything in your power to fulfill your audience’s expectations week to week. It is the only way to develop a loyal following.

About the author

Jim Cosco -

Jim Cosco founded Tippingpoint Labs in 2002 in an effort to pursue the creation and distribution of high-quality content for the purposes of marketing and advertising. Jim’s experience as an executive producer, producer, director, and writer for television programming ranging from local public affairs and national news to reality television, enables him to create compelling stories designed to trigger powerful, emotional responses from his audience. No matter the medium, Jim’s passion for story-telling remains the common thread in all of his projects and is always the founding principle in driving his team to deliver high-quality, relevant content at every turn.

Jim relies heavily on his journalistic routes to create transparent, honest, and open content that helps build trust and nurtures meaningful brand relationships over the long term.

Since the early nineties Jim has devised and executed projects for clients like MTV, Fox News Channel, ABC, Putnam Investments, and Tufts University.  He has directed television shows and independent features, written screenplays and television treatments, and created content for marketing campaigns and product launches.