- Bones
Number of Episodes at the End of the Season: 188-190
Syndication: Yes
Production Company: FOX
Ratings Average: 1.90 (100%, 110% of all scripted offerings)
After years threatening to do it, FOX
finally went ahead and moved Bones to Fridays. I think it is up for
discussion whether or not it was the right move for FOX (it certainly
wasn't for Bones, but remember that FOX's goal is to maximize its
overall ratings, not those of a particular program). My personal opinion
is that it did make sense, especially assuming that the second week on
Friday is the level at which the show will settle. I think Bones will be
just fine. Its ratings level is perfectly acceptable, it’s probably the
best performer FOX has ever gotten on Fridays and I am fairly certain
it brings them a lot of syndication money. The last mention I could find
was of a TNT syndication deal of 2008 that gives FOX $450,000 per
episode but I am fairly confident that other deals were put in place
afterwards or that this one was revised upwards as Bones aged - the
benefit is certainly higher than this value indicates. The only reason I
am keeping the show in Tier 2 is that the costs for the show sure have
been increasing throughout the years and there is a small chance they
are now too large for a deal too be workable with its stars. However, I
am not confident on that happening at all - there seems to be no
indicator of such thing. Therefore, I am still going by the book here
and saying that great ratings (100%!), especially in a slot where they
have little else to air, plus good syndication money make the show a very likely bet for renewal.
on DVD today at 
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