Television became more sophisticated with the rise of streaming technologies, premium cable, and time-shifting technologies ranging from DVR (Digital Video Recorder) to Blu-rays. The amount of content television saw itself accumulating forced network stations to develop content that was unique and high in quality. An example of such content on a cable network is NBC’s television show Hannibal which subverted the expectations of procedural crime dramas on cable networks. Many assumed that NBC’s Hannibal, an adaptation of the novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, would be censored, low budget, and less violent than its source material as many expect network shows to have strict restrictions due to TV guidelines. But after the show premiered these concerns were found to be unnecessary as the show remained faithful to its source material, was well funded, and included controversial content not generally found on network procedurals. In addition, Hannibal differed from regular network programming as it included abstract visuals, using a deer to represent the protagonist's mental state. Unfortunately, Hannibal often struggled to gain a broad audience as it was given late time slots during the workweek, which decreased viewership. The violent and taboo content of the show contributed to the show being pushed to late time slots as Hannibal often depicted explicit violence and alluded to the antagonist, a Cannibal, cooking and presenting meals presumed as human meat. Although Hannibal struggled in gaining a consistent viewership, it developed a niche fandom in which the fans donned the title of ‘Fannibals’. All in all, Hannibal distinguished itself from other network programming by presenting itself as a premium-styled show, while struggling to gain the attention of the audiences used to the network norms.
Hannibal signified a deviation in broadcast programing in 2011 when NBC purchased a thirteen-season order of Hannibal from series creator Bryan Fuller and Gaumont International Television rather than just purchasing a pilot (Andreeva,2011). Viewers found themselves restricted in what they could watch during the broadcast era as most programming depended on the viewer’s schedule, such as using prime time scheduling to broadcast high-quality content in time slots most viewers were able to watch TV. Currently, shows no longer depend on a pre-determined schedule as they can build audiences through DVD sales, demand channels, and streaming technologies which allow audiences to grow from season to season (Lotz, 2014). Moreover, Hannibal’s visuals helped distinguish the show from other crime-based programming that circulated the market. For instance, Hannibal presented the show with a turquoise tint with camera angles that pushed audiences towards the protagonist, making them feel claustrophobic. When flashbacks presented themselves, the colouring changed to yellow; most of this was to service the protagonist as his mental health worsens. While procedurals depicted crime investigation clinically and briefly, Hannibal often presented the murders in an artistic manner that alluded to the serial killer’s fixation on the human form. In the 2010s, a crime-based drama needed to change as viewers’ consumption grew with the access of newly formed streaming services. Procedural Crime dramas of the early 2000s often operated in a sense of good vs evil, while Hannibal operates more as a Gothic Noir where the line that distinguishes good and evil becomes blurred (Balanzatesui,2019).
Hannibal’s first season primarily served to build up the audience and their trust as it operated like the typical procedural drama that audiences expected. To ease network audiences into Hannibal showrunner Bryan Fuller tested the viewers by experimenting with episode structure and utilizing surrealism. For example, the show incorporated reoccurring visuals of a deer and as the season progressed the deer began to look more like the series’ protagonist, Will Graham, as he continued to lose his grasp on reality. In addition, once Hannibal gained the audience's trust Fuller experimented with the presentation of the show such as by utilizing fragmented storytelling and gradually increasing the violence each season. Fuller did not rely on a structural logic where the plot had a precise pace and rhythm. Instead, the plot and weekly villains highlight aspects of Will Graham's personality that are coming to life on a weekly basis, which helped the show stand out from the popularity of serialized crime shows such as Bates Motel, and The Following (Tallericio, 2015). Furthermore, high-profile actors saw themselves in lead roles, such as Mads Mikkelsen and Lawrence Fishburne, who were in films such as Casino Royale and The Matrix Trilogy. The casting helped the broadcaster navigate what a show is worth in the digital domain, as the dominance the network had in the industry began to fade, NBC relied more on star power to draw the viewers into their show with also fighting against the multiple formats one could watch television (Newman, 2012). Moreover, the expenses were primarily funded by Martha Delaurentis and her newly acquired production company Gaumont International Television to take the substantial duties of producing (Andreeva, 2011). This enabled Bryan Fuller more control over the show with little clashes with NBC since the network was not overly concerned about production expenses. Still, the low ratings and decreased advertisement revenue caused the show to remain in a suspended state for much of its duration with fans unsure if the series would make it from year to year (Nededog, 2015).
Although Hannibal deviated from traditional broadcasting programming, the show still found itself restricted in the amount of violence that could be shown, along with any language or nudity in the programming to avoid impacting advertising. But the struggling series had a higher chance of surviving with low ratings due to the social media. Upon Hannibal’s debut, a fandom quickly formed that donned the moniker ‘Fannibals’ who devoted most of their time and energy to making sure the series got noticed. These fans often used social media platforms, such as Tumblr, Twitter, and Reddit, to grow their following and increase others' interest in the show. Showrunners and writers primarily benefited from this as now they had a much more direct engagement with fandom, with fans fighting for their show to be seen and allowing creators and writers to feel more fulfilled than they ever had before. The post-network shift made created many variables for how one watches television, eliminating the importance of a television schedule. Shows were now able to start narrowcasting by gearing towards more specific, and niche interests as most programs wanted fan bases to help promote the show through social media (Guerrero-Pico, 2015). When NBC delayed the renewal of Hannibal after the first season the fans became frustrated, so they created a movement to gain interest in the show and convince NBC to renew Hannibal for a second season. Many believed that NBC’s indecision for renewal stepped from the dense subject matter and niche audience they cultivated. Fannibal’s were determined to save the show, for example, they began to send letters with business cards stating the slogan “Eat the rude” as a playful way to express their frustration with the executives (Hall, 2013). Fans also used hashtags to circulate their passion for this series and their resistance to its uncertain future. Eventually, fan protests and social activity became so popular that the Nielsen rating system and Twitter announced a partnership to create a new rating system that would analyze social media users and their interests in contrast to the broadcasting of the show (Guerrero-Pico, 2015).
Although Hannibal’s dark subject matter and dreamlike visuals attracted viewers the show suffered because of the infancy of streaming technologies and the outdated Nielsen rating system. Hannibal found itself trapped within the many of the qualities that defined that line of programming, such as relying on advertisement revenue, audience size, and living on a network-determined schedule. Despite Hannibal being on NBC, which belonged to the big three networks of the programming era due to its contents deviating from the norms of network programming. Hannibal, since NBC licensed it from Gaumont, often struggled with gaining a large enough audience to make the show profitable. Time-shifting technologies such as DVD, DVR, and streaming technologies in the post-era network, made it difficult for Hannibal to measure its audience size based on the Nielson rating system, the way audiences became fragmented led to the show’s downfall (Lotz, 2014). As a result, television became more convenient for viewers, such as the use of DVRs, DVDs and piracy, which made a bulk of Hannibal’s audience (Lotz, 2014). Hannibal often suffered due to its use of violent imagery, which caused their home network to put the show on the 10 pm timeslot with the release widows of each season shifting further towards the end of the week. Audiences started gravitating to watching shows on their DVRs as a result and some were persuaded towards piracy practices as episodes often were dropped immediately. NBC usually had the episode on their site the next day, and by then, spoilers would already circulate through the web. The show suffered a .57 rating from the coveted 18–49 demographic and even had the show concurrently running on Amazon as a way to garner internet in the show (Nededog, 2015). Despite the fact the show was based on an iconic franchise, the viewership was poor. One of the central producers for Hannibal, Martha De Laurentis, entirely blames piracy for the loss of the show in audience and revenue. Nearly one-third of the audience for Hannibal consumed each episode through the pirate sites that circled the web. De Laurentis felt this was a signification for the end of television, stating that when we consume content entirely on a laptop is the day the industry loses (DiClaudio, 2016). Hannibal did not come at the right time as the very appeal of the show swayed away certain viewers from its contents and the way NBC programmed the show lead consumers to find other ways to watch the show that fit more within their viewing habits in the Post-Network shift. All in all, inconsistent run times and post network avenues of watching content have split audiences, which is reflected in the show’s poor viewership.
Hannibal was a complex visually abstract show that tried to do what at the time most thought was impossible, implement a cable format within a Network, giving full control to the creatives behind the scenes. The way consumers viewing habits have shifted and the difficulty in tracking different media platforms for audience’s views lead to Hannibal’s demise. Also, the violent content of Hannibal resulted in the show being pushed into timeslots that were not optimal for consumers, such as late-night slots during the work week. What was supposed to reach a broad audience turned into niche programming that was narrowcast towards a specific audience. Piracy eventually took hold of the viewership as the episode access was immediate in a time where waits for episodes were not manageable. For three seasons, Hannibal suffered, while Fannibal’s were keeping the show on life support through their various fan campaigns. Upon cancellation, Hannibal saw its fanbase trying to reignite the series and creatives trying to find new formats for what was once a network show. Hannibal was a cable program that tried to operate within the confines of a broadcast and like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, eventually, the illusion was lost.
References
Guerrero-Pico, M. (2015). #Fringe, Audiences, and Fan Labor: Twitter Activism to Save a TV Show From Cancellation . International Journal of Communication, 11, 2071–2092. doi: 1932–8036/20170005
Andreeva, N. (2011, November 7). NBC Buys ‘Hannibal’ Series From Bryan Fuller & Gaumont International Television. Retrieved from https://deadline.com/2011/11/nbc-buys-hannibal-series-from-bryan-fuller-gaumont-international-television-191966/
Balanzategui, J. (2018). The Quality Crime Drama in the TVIV Era: Hannibal, True Detective, and Surrealism. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 35(6), 657–679. doi: 10.1080/10509208.2018.1499341
DiClaudio, D. (2018, March 18). Hannibal producer says online piracy brutally slaughtered her show. Retrieved from https://news.avclub.com/hannibal-producer-says-online-piracy-brutally-slaughter-1798245312
Hall, E. (2013, May 31). Meet The “Hannibal” Fannibals, TV’s Newest And Most Intense Fandom. Retrieved from https://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/meet-the-fannibals-tvs-newest-and-most-intense-fandom
Lotz, A. D. (2014). The Television Will Be Revolutionized (second). New York: New York University Press. doi: DOI: 10.1080/15405700902776420
Nededog, J. (2015, June 23). Critical favourite ‘Hannibal’ canceled after three seasons by NBC. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com.au/nbc-hannibal-canceled-season-3-2015-6
Newman, M. Z. (2011). Free TV: File-Sharing and the Value of Television. Television & New Media, 13(6), 463–479. doi: 10.1177/1527476411421350
Tallerico, B. (2015, June 1). Emotional Logic: Bryan Fuller Redefines the Crime Drama with “Hannibal”: Interviews: Roger Ebert. Retrieved from https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/emotional-logic-bryan-fuller-redefines-the-crime-drama-with-hannibal
