International Broadcasts

[Knots4ever]

Here´s an older article from a UK TV magazine from September 1987 I found. What irritates me: why is Knots Landing called a "new series"? As far as I know, the series ran in the UK as early as July 1981? Were the episodes repeated in September 1987? But why did you start with the episode "Fatal Blow" and not from the beginning?
View attachment 33140

Series is, confusingly, used as

Series : a TV show
Series : a season of a TV show

in British English.

Much to the annoyance of the “purists”, the second use is being more and more replaced with season, especially by the under 40s.

 

[Julia's Gun]

Here´s an older article from a UK TV magazine from September 1987 I found. What irritates me: why is Knots Landing called a "new series"? As far as I know, the series ran in the UK as early as July 1981? Were the episodes repeated in September 1987? But why did you start with the episode "Fatal Blow" and not from the beginning?
View attachment 33140

It was a new series at the time, because this was the first time we got to see Season 4 in the UK. It was taken off air midway through season 3 in 1983, and then we had to wait 3 years before they started showing it again in a new daytime slot.
So in 1987 we were only up to season 4, and I remember Val didn't get her babies back in the UK until 1989. That was a long wait!

 

[Billy Nolan]

Thank you. That´s interesting! Do you know why Knots Landing was cancelled after Season 3? It would be interesting to know more about the UK broadcast.

 

[Julia's Gun]

Thank you. That´s interesting! Do you know why Knots Landing was cancelled after Season 3? It would be interesting to know more about the UK broadcast.

I can only assume the ratings were lower during the third season. BBC1 were showing all the big 3 at this time and Dallas & Dynasty were getting huge viewing figures at that time. Perhaps they thought they had too many US soaps on one channel.

It's a shame they took it off midway the season, although there was a bit of a dip in the middle of Season 3, the storylines soon picked up again in the final 3rd, with Abby & Gary's affair. I think Reunion was the final episode shown in prime time.

3 years later BBC1 just picked up where they had left off, with the Cricket episode. We eventually saw the whole series but we were always 3-4 years behind the US.

 

[Billy Nolan]

That is interesting. So wasn't Knots Landing in the UK a huge hit?

Overall, I think all seasons of Knots Landing in Europe were only broadcast in full in France, Germany, Ireland (?), Catalonia (?) and the UK ...
Most of the other countries in Northern and Southern Europe (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Spain, ...) only showed the first 9 or 10 seasons.

 

[bmasters9]

ARD never had interest in Knots Landing and was sure it would flop in Germany.

Why did that German broadcaster think KL would flop there?

 

[Monzo]

Why did that German broadcaster think KL would flop there?

Dallas started as the first US soap ever on West German tv. It started in 1981, partly amid protests from some politicians who didn't want American crap on German tv, there was even an attack on a television pole so that in some southern German areas people couldn't watch the first episode.

Dallas wasn't an instant hit, it took some time to win German viewers over. It wasn't until the middle of the 80s that it peaked in West Germany. The style of the early KL episodes already looked old-fashioned back then, so broadcaster ARD hesitated. In the end it was the right decision because they aired short-lived Flamingo Road in the Dallas timeslot in 1987 and it looked very out of time and ultimately only had half as many viewers as Dallas.

What also spoke against KL on ARD was the fact that there weren't many time slots for US shows and that these should be varied, including crime shows. ARD was already broadcasting Falcon Crest and thus had two soaps in its program, that was enough for them. Broadcaster ZDF, where KL ultimately landed, only had one soap: Dynasty, in whose spin-off they were not interested ("too bad"), instead they gave KL a chance.

 

[bmasters9]

Dallas started as the first US soap ever on West German tv. It started in 1981, partly amid protests from some politicians who didn't want American crap on German tv, there was even an attack on a television pole so that in some southern German areas people couldn't watch the first episode.

Dallas wasn't an instant hit, it took some time to win German viewers over. It wasn't until the middle of the 80s that it peaked in West Germany. The style of the early KL episodes already looked old-fashioned back then, so broadcaster ARD hesitated. In the end it was the right decision because they aired short-lived Flamingo Road in the Dallas timeslot in 1987 and it looked very out of time and ultimately only had half as many viewers as Dallas.

What also spoke against KL on ARD was the fact that there weren't many time slots for US shows and that these should be varied, including crime shows. ARD was already broadcasting Falcon Crest and thus had two soaps in its program, that was enough for them. Broadcaster ZDF, where KL ultimately landed, only had one soap: Dynasty, in whose spin-off they were not interested ("too bad"), instead they gave KL a chance.

That explains it immensely! When there are a lot of shows around anywhere in the world, you have to be very strategic and selective so as to get the most number of viewers (the way I'm understanding this).

 

[Billy Nolan]

... I also find the following fact interesting: the private broadcaster SAT.1 showed interest in buying and broadcasting Knots Landing as early as 1986. That year the ZDF outbid the private broadcaster SAT.1 in the negotiations; The series did not show until January 1988.
Shortly after the beginning of the 6th season, Knots Landing paused on ZDF and despite high ratings and numerous viewer protests, it got a worse slot in the afternoon after the previously shown seasons were repeated in the morning in the joint program of ARD / and ZDF.
Shortly before the end of the 7th season, the series was then handed over to SAT.1 and the private broadcaster finally had it.

I have an older press report from 1990 with an interview with a ZDF broadcaster. Even some ZDF employees could not understand the decision of the ZDF broadcasting bosses at the time that the series was given a poorer slot despite the high ratings.

 

[Billy Nolan]

@Monzo
Hey: ARD also did broadcast KL
(joint program in the morning with ZDF)

 

[Monzo]

Yes, I remember the joint morning program on ARD and ZDF, I watched the early Dallas and Dynasty episodes in that timeslot for the first time.

I'm a ratings junkie, but unfortunately at the time when KL was on ZDF, my family didn't have a television with teletext and so I could only note ratings (which are still published in teletext) when there was "teletext for everyone" on tv in the afternoon, maybe you remember those days ? From the numbers I have, I can say that KL wasn't a big hit anymore when reruns of "Diese Drombuschs" took over its timeslot. You can still buy old ratings from Gfk, but even if I am interested in some shows whose numbers I haven't got, the high price is not worth it to me.

I suspect that ZDF wanted to compete with American daytime soaps that aired on RTL and Sat1. It could have worked if ZDF actually aired five episodes a week instead of just two. I remember I never watched KL in the afternoon, it wasn't even on my mind anymore, because on cable tv there was more interesting stuff. I watched those episodes for the first time when Sat1 aired KL from Mondays to Fridays.

 

[Billy Nolan]

@Monzo I have some older press reports about the German "Knots Landing" ratings. I'll scan this for you on occasion. For example, the TV magazine "Bild und Funk" reported on the fall in ratings in the winter of 1990 in a graph with a graphical curve called "Quotenmeter" and reported that it had to do with the poorly placed afternoon airtime.
Accordingly, the 5th season in Germany had the highest ratings with up to 6 million viewers when it was first broadcast. A very good audience rate for Germany with an equally high market share in the target audience of viewers.
The TV magazine "Funkuhr" reported in a report of over 7 million viewers when an episode strand was broadcast (the 4th season). So when it was first broadcast here in Germany KL had high ratings and a strong fan base.
The popularity of the series at that time was also made clear by the audience response and the protests (including many letters to the editor) when ZDF gave it a new time slot in the afternoons on Monday and Thursday. The series was not unpopular in this country. On the contrary:
- It wasn't marketed too well by ZDF
- it was relegated to the afternoon program.

Some time ago I received a lot of KL press material from a former employee of the "Gong" TV magazine.
The magazine always reported very reliably on the individual episodes and provided plenty of pictures, but apart from that there was not a lot of material from the TV station about the series that was made available.
Also the marketing on the part of the TV broadcaster was not as profiling compared with other TV formats of the broadcaster.

 

[Billy Nolan]

From the "Funk Uhr" TV-Magazine 1988 or 1989

 

[Monzo]

I remember the TV press presented KL as dead on arrival, which was completely unfair. 7.11 million viewers for the opening episode were great! Dallas aired at 9:45 p.m. on a work day, so people were bound to be home and the kids were in bed, so you had time for Dallas. KL aired at 5:05 p.m. on Saturday afternoons at a time when families were busy. For that time premiere rating was great!

ZDF liked to criticize the quality of its series. Charlie's Angels and Hotel ended because they were too bad in ZDF's opinion. Season 9 of Dynasty finally aired after the show was canceled in the US and ZDF presented the final season as a gift for viewers. After each of the later Dynasty seasons, ZDF said: "We will watch the new episodes and then decide whether they are good enough to buy and air them." Regarding KL, I've never read anything like it, but I wouldn't be surprised if ZDF thought it became too soapy and therefore let it go.

 

[Billy Nolan]

I remember the TV press presented KL as dead on arrival, which was completely unfair. 7.11 million viewers for the opening episode were great!

Hmm... but this article is from winter 1988 / spring 1989 when Season 4 was aired....

In another article, a ZDF employee reports that other employees of the station do not understand the broadcasting policy because the series should be given a different slot, as the ratings for an early-evening series are extremely good ...
Someone in charge of the program wanted to completely restructure the ZDF program.
This decision is really difficult to understand today.
In retrospect, you can say that ZDF treated the series very neglected. Starting with the suppressed episodes up to the unfavorable broadcasting slot of the time.

 

[Billy Nolan]

Some articles from the 1st broadcast in Germany

 

[Billy Nolan]

Here is a rare TV announcement from the Italian broadcaster RETE 4 for "California" (Knots Landing) from 1985.
The announcer speaks so quickly: I don't understand anything.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1401572137551417348

 

[Seaviewer]

The announcer speaks so quickly: I don't understand anything.

But who cares, right? She looks like she just stepped out of one of the supersoaps herself.

 

[Karin Schill]

That is interesting. So wasn't Knots Landing in the UK a huge hit?

Overall, I think all seasons of Knots Landing in Europe were only broadcast in full in France, Germany, Ireland (?), Catalonia (?) and the UK ...
Most of the other countries in Northern and Southern Europe (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Spain, ...) only showed the first 9 or 10 seasons.

I wish they would have broadcast 10 seasons in Sweden. But they stopped on the cliffhanger when Val found her babies, after only 6 seasons!

 

[Billy Nolan]

I wish they would have broadcast 10 seasons in Sweden. But they stopped on the cliffhanger when Val found her babies, after only 6 seasons!

That´s a pity... As far as I know in Denmark were 9 or 10 Seasons broadcasted... I thought same was for Sweden. I read about it somewhere. I have to search.
BTW: Did you know Ted Shackelford´s wife is from Denmark and he often was during his Hilidays in Denmark and Northern Germany?