Television Preview (also known as "New TV Preview") is a

market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers: know about them, starting with who they are. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining competitiveness. Ma ...

company that purports to test

pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they ar ...

of new television shows while actually looking for audience's reactions to

commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

presented in a "home-like" atmosphere between breaks in these shows. Based in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

, Television Preview is a division of RSC the Quality Measurement Company, a member of the ArsGroup. The preview offer is considered a

scam A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers hav ...

because, even though Television Preview takes no money from viewers, the company is not associated with any actual television producers and the "pilots" they preview are years old. Viewers are instead asked to rate the commercials they see. Also, under the guise of selecting prizes they'd like to win in a drawing, viewers choose their "favorites" from pages of pictures of consumer products.

The process

Television Preview randomly sends out invitations and tickets to specific screenings, usually held in hotel conference rooms. The invitation contains text, such as that shown below, insinuating that the viewer will help decide what will be featured on television's next fall lineup: Instead, viewers are shown old

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other dis ...

s that were never picked up. They are asked to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down style rating, and then fill out pages of questionnaires about their purchasing preferences, brands they like, products they are likely to use, and so forth.

The programs

The programs can vary from screening to screening, but most often they seem to be two shows: a 1997 drama called ''Soulmates'' featuring

Kim Raver Kimberly Jayne Raver (born March 15, 1969) is an American actress and producer. She is best known for television roles as Dr. Teddy Altman on ABC's medical drama '' Grey's Anatomy'', Kim Zambrano on '' Third Watch'', and Audrey Raines on '' 2 ...

, and a comedy called ''

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

'' starring

Valerie Harper Valerie Kathryn Harper (August 22, 1939 – August 30, 2019) was an American actress. She began her career as a dancer on Broadway, making her debut as a replacement in the musical ''Li'l Abner''. She is best remembered for her role as Rh ...

. ''City'' was a short-lived show from 1990. Audience members are either told that Valerie Harper is looking to make a comeback, and wants viewers to judge her likability, or that screenwriter

Paul Haggis Paul Edward Haggis (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian screenwriter, film producer, and director of film and television. He is best known as screenwriter and producer for consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners ''Million Dollar Baby'' (2004) an ...

, who wrote the show, wants to retool it for next fall, but needs viewer's opinions on its feasibility first. Other attendees have reported being shown the pilot of ''Dads,'' a comedy show from 1997 starring

C. Thomas Howell Christopher Thomas Howell (born December 7, 1966) is an American actor. He has starred in the films '' Soul Man'', '' The Hitcher'', '' Grandview U.S.A.'', ''Red Dawn'', '' Secret Admirer'' and '' The Outsiders''. He has also appeared in '' Get ...

and

Steven Eckholdt Steven Eckholdt (born September 6, 1961) is an American actor. He has appeared in many television series and film roles. He is best known as Saun in '' The Runnin' Kind'', Patrick Flannigan in '' L.A. Law'', Mark Robinson in ''Friends, ''and Dou ...

Associated companies

Within a few business days after the viewings, most participants receive phone calls come from a California based company called "Datascension", in which participants are asked additional questions about the presentation. The company has been known to make frequent, repeated calls, in the event no one at the participant's number answers, or if they reach an answering machine.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Television Preview's official site

Datascension's website
American television commercials Companies based in Evansville, Indiana Confidence tricks Market research companies of the United States