Ground Floor Cancelled: Worst Executive Decision By TBS Network

Working as an executive can be a tough job. At small firms, executive decision-making can be the difference between growth and bankruptcy. At larger corporations, executives yield immense amounts of power and responsibility. It is up to them to make the right calls to steer their organization in a successful direction. If guided poorly, there are millions of dollars at stake, thousands of jobs and perhaps, millions of unhappy customers.

No doubt, top executives have made mistakes. For example, Steve Jobs once angered a majority of the most passionate Apple fans upon decreasing the price of an iPhone. However, he was able appease them and offer a refund on phones that were recently bought. Either Steve, or someone smart at Apple (and we know there is a lot of smart people there), realized it is not a good idea to make your customers angry.

Unfortunately, TBS Network might be learning this lesson the hard way. As a part of “restructuring” of the network, they have pulled many of their original series. Most recently, they cancelled Ground Floor, a hit series based on Skylar Astin playing the role of a young man in the world of finance, and the rest of life. The show offered an interesting twist an insight to finance, relationships and comedy. With over 1.8 million viewers, the ratings were average. So, why cancel?

Simply, cancelling the show is just poor executive decision making. Clearly, the executives calling the shots do not have an appreciation for all the work and development that went into creating a new original series that people like. Or worse, they do not have an appreciation for the 1.8 million viewers who decided to take the risk and fall in love with a new series. What happens after you just pissed off 1.8 million people? They tend to not trust you anymore. In fact, they probably will never take a chance on a new show of yours again.

Furthermore, the show had a solid season. In my humble opinion, people were just starting to watch Ground Floor with their friends and family members. It is highly likely that TBS actually killed the show right as it was about to take off. But, there’s no way to prove it anymore. Except, when TBS fails to come up with any more successful new original series because they already angered their would be audience.

It is no wonder why executive coaching, decision making and game theory have so much research behind them. For all the owners and executives out there, put the customer first. If you will be making many of them angry, taking that step is probably not the best idea. After all, the biggest breakthroughs and successes come from improving what you have, not quitting.

TBS, you may want to hire me for business consulting because clearly you guys were out of touch with the market on this call.