Update: Bill’s (comedic) vision of an NBC programmed with 12 hours of the Today Show and 12 hours of the Tonight Show is rumored to be inching closer to reality with NBC rumored to be retaining Jay Leno and giving him the 10pm slot Monday through Friday next Fall.
It’s already been brought up in the comments – but at a conference today, Jeff Zucker spoke on the possibility that NBC might program less hours (and possibly days) per week in primetime.
“Can we continue to broadcast 22 hours in primetime? Three of our competitors don’t,” Zucker said during Monday’s keynote at the annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference. “Can we continue to broadcast seven days a week? One of our competitors doesn’t.”
Zucker also said:
“It’s not giving up. It’s not retrenching. It’s not throwing in the towel.”
If you’re comparing yourself to a mini-network like the CW and doing so with a straight face there are only two possibilities:
- You’re high as a kite
- You’re giving up and throwing in the towel
That doesn’t necessarily mean throwing in the towel isn’t the smart thing for it to do. Based on NBC’s Friday and Saturday numbers recently, it’s hard to blame NBC for considering it as an option, but it’s just sad on multiple levels.
I continue to skim some of the Zucker snippets at the UBS conference. There’s something surreal about a mostly failed banking conglomerate hosting a conference on a waning industry. The one that caught my eye the most was the one where he says NBC hasn’t lost confidence in Ben Silverman (and Marc Graboff). Apparently NBC programming execs are already dropping like flies. If it’s anything like the sports world where having ownership/management say the coach or GM “has our confidence” is pretty much slang for “we’re definitely firing him at the end of the season,” mark me down for Dawn Ostroff having a longer career at the CW than Ben Silverman has at NBC.
Wait, so Univision can program 22 hours every week but NBC cant? Gimme a break!
End of an era? Maybe.
I like the idea of questioning the status quo, and I like the idea of running a television business for profits vs. some other objective (awards? critical acclaim? tradition? inertia?). However, since we really don’t have an idea of how well NBCU is doing financially since their results are so buried within GE that objective comparisons are impossible for us, I am very skeptical about what Zucker (and to an extent Silverman) say.
Are they really managing NBC and NBCU better financially than before (which we cannot see) or are they just throwing up a smokescreen to divert attention from the dreadful ratings performance at NBC (which we see every day)?
the problem with NBC is there are no signature shows
Fox- American Idol
ABC- Dancing with the Stars
CBS- Any procedural show
NBC- ? (sports dont count)
I think DWTS is not the signature show for ABC, i think ‘Desperate Housewives’ ‘Lost’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ are, ABC was in fourth place before those shows.
to make things worse for NBC, their problem is not only primetime.. Leno is going to ABC soon (a huge loss if you ask me), Nightline is close to beat ‘Tonight’ and GMA is closing the gap with ‘Today’.
let’s see what happens if SAG strikes…NBC can’t program a full week, the CW wouldn’t know a hit show if it — well, hit them over the head (and Smallville and Supernatural sure give it their all for that nothing network and ditz D.O.) so if SAG strikes, looks like NBC may need a bailout, CW will likely go under….hmm, then who’s next ABC, FOX…anyone?? anyone???
“It’s not giving up. It’s not retrenching. It’s not throwing in the towel,” Zucker said.
When you compare that statement to your headline I think you stumble upon comedy gold.
Anyways, maybe they’ll consider cutting the early hour of Primetime.
Some of NBC’s best at least ratings wise are the later programs. Medium, ER (if it was sticking around) Law and Order SVU, Law and Order.
I don’t know, seems foolish to just give CBS/ABC the 10PM hour.
Bill, I vote smoke screen. Even if it’s being run fairly well from a $/cents perspective, there are far too many misfires to not view it as a squandered opportunity. Zucker basically says they didn’t make any money on the Olympics (”the Olympics were not about profits” or some such) so the biggest value (seemingly) of the Olympics is to promote all your other shows. Which to Matt’s point is a problem. It has The Office as a signature show and that’s really about it with Heroes floundering. All of the other networks have *multiple* signature shows. Fox isn’t just Idol, but House and Family Guy, too. ABC isn’t just DWTS, not with Grey’s and Desperate Housewives performing solidly and Lost returning. CBS skews old perhaps, but the CSI franchise, the Monday night comedies, NCIS and now the Mentalist are all performing well for CBS.
NBC has The Office and an improved (ratings wise) 30 Rock and I think you have to give the most of credit to that largely to the good fortune of Sarah Palin obsession. ABC, Fox, and CBS could all spin a “Fall highlights” press release that wouldn’t be a complete crock. NBC’s release would be:
“30 Rock and ER Surprise! Boy are we glad we didn’t cancel 30 Rock!! Can someone remind us why we are cancelling ER ?”
All I know is that the people being fired NEEDED to be fired. These people were idiots who took decent ideas and screwed them over. I think Producers and Writers are throwing parties all across LA.
I think it’s too bad NBC has such low ratings. They air three of my four favorite shows on TV with The Office/30 Rock/Chuck (my other fav is Dexter on Showtime). So I don’t think it’s a matter of quality, though they do air Knight Rider and Kath & Kim. But every network has shows that are that bad (The Bachelor, anyone?)
Cutting saturdays wouldn’t be a bad idea. They basically do that anyway. Actually, in my opinion, Fox is really the only net that still counts on saturday. With Cops/AMW, at least it’s original programming.
As for cutting Friday? It may be too early to do that. As for programming fewer hours, perhaps 2 hours on weeknights like Fox does, I think it’s too early for that as well.
Hey, NBC. You have potential and a great history. How about getting some people in management that can, y’now… MANAGE.
NBC- ?
For NBC it should be Law & Order and ER.
128boy:
Fox spends no money on Cops and America’s Most Wanted. I’m pretty sure the government subsidizes AMW and Cops is the most cheaply-produced show on Earth. For its minimal investment, Fox gets about a 4.0 rating and a 1.8 in the 18-49 demo, and syndication rights for Cops.
NBC’s problem is that its programming is awful. If anything, their cable networks (USA, SCIFI) have better original programming than they do. Interestingly, NBC has the largest collection of cable channels of any of the big broadcast stations: NBC, USA, CNBC, MSNBC, SCIFI, Telemundo, and a piece of A&E, History, Oxygen, The Weather Channel, and a bunch of lesser channels. The next-closest would be Fox, which has Fox, Fox Sports, Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Reality, and FX. ABC has the Disney Channel, ABC Family, and ESPN. CBS I don’t think has anything. Kinda makes you wonder.
My suggestion is that NBC strip something like The Tonight Show across the board and on Friday and Saturday nights in primetime. It’s cheap and more entertaining than a test pattern. And they might even have an experienced host available in May. And he does get ratings. Sometimes better than NBC’s current primetime ratings.
Wasn’t it last season that NBC announced it was drastically altering the way it programmed its 8-9PM hour? Did that ever amount to anything?
Outlander, CBS has Showtime.
Well it looks like throwing in the towel to me! If NBC had some signatures shows Zucker wouldn’t be talking like this. If they could just find one or two shows to turn it around they would be competitive again. ABC had some programming serendipity a few years back where, Lost and Desperate Housewives became big hits for them and then the midseason replacement Grey’s Anatomy became another unexpected success. What NBC really needs is enough shows where they can control a night or be competitive on one. The problem is twofold however, firstly they don’t seem to be commissioning the right shows and secondly they have nowhere to place them so they stand a chance of building an audience.
This feels to me that it has more to do with programming and is down to the recession affecting parent company General Electric. If NBC doesn’t get more profitable soon maybe GE will sell it?
Didnt NBC want to do year round programming? Yeah, that worked so well.
Robert there’s another thing you forgot to mention. Not only are NBC cancelling ER, but they are pushing their late night moneymaker, namely Jay Leno, out of the door. Getting rid of the few successful assets that you have is a terrible idea.
When buying a property the three most important words are location, location, location. If you’re running a network the three most importan words are programming, programming, programming. This is the real reason why NBC is in the mess that it’s in. Maybe it’s time for Zucker and Silverman to go?
I wouldn’t be surprised to see NBC dump Saturday nights. Really that’s not a big deal, but if they get rid of Fridays, that’s another story. Anyway, I know we all love to bash how bad NBC is doing these days, but we have to remember that this is a cyclical industry and networks can quickly fade into oblivion and right back out. Some past examples where nobody expected much before striking gold:
1994-95
NBC, having recenty lost Cheers and Cosby, quickly returns to the top with the addition of Friends and ER. Added to the enourmous hit that was Seinfeld, NBC dominated TV for the remainder of the 1990’s before starting its slow descent into oblivion.
2000-01
CBS rises from the ashes with demo monsters Survivor and CSI. Nearly a decade later, they are still reeling in the rewards with one of their strongest schedules ever.
2002-03
Fox scores its first top 10 show ever with a little show called American Idol. Combined with a strong staple of shows like House, Bones, 24, and the animated shows, they are unbeatable in the demo.
2004-05
ABC surprises the industry with three enormous hits (Lost, Housewives, Grey’s and Dancing) in less than one year. Although they have no new hits in recent years, these shows are still strong enough to keep them competitive.
The biggest news is the cleaning house they did with all the people whose job it is to nurture the different programming (drama, comedy, etc). I hear they’re going to try and lure Seinfeld back to help with comedy programming. Something Jerry has hinted interest in. He’s made quite a few comments in the last few years about how a Network should use someone who understand comedy to program their comedy shows and not someone who understands demo viewing numbers.
JT, the TV business is cyclical indeed as you wrote. You might enjoy this post:
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/06/14/looking-back-at-the-eras-of-network-television/4110
But to rise from the bottom, you need someone with some vision and some good ideas. It doesn’t seem to me that Zucker or Silverman are those people.
question.. do i have my networks mixed up or did NBC say something about extended seasons back in May?
Apparently, NBC liked my suggestion.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/CA6620935.html
Wow — the NY Times is reporting that NBC will give Jay Leno the 10 pm time slot, 5 nights a week.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/business/media/09leno.html?_r=1&hp
It seems that NBC is just going in the easy way.. so what, Tuesdays are going to be only Biggest Loser or Sundays only with the Apprentice?
I don’t know that I’d read this as Zucker throwing in the towel. I do say that the vision is not particularly clear, though!
NBC does have a couple real “visionary” things going on – the FNL deal, and the cross-platform Nielsen metrics are a couple of things no one else is doing. But just because you’re the first to try it does not make you the successful one!
I really held out hope for NBC with all the Olympics promotions for new shows. Bummer that it didn’t work for them much. NBC can also claim to be the one network that held pace with cable in the 2008 Emmy Awards – thanks to 30 Rock! Then again, awards don’t necessarily mean advertising $$$.
I wish NBC the best of luck. I don’t watch any of their network programming, but I do check out Sci-Fi and USA Network on occasion. I’d watch UHD a lot if I could afford the upgrade
Clutz, I wouldn’t call the DirecTV deal or the cross-platform metrics visionary. Networks have gotten companies to sponsor shows since the beginning of TV. Arranging it so NBC will be showing reruns isn’t exactly a brilliant idea, even if no one watched the first runs. (Which just goes to show you that it was a failure.) And the metrics are merely NBC trying desperately to find some way to make it look like they are successful. And failing at that as well.
So…
Monday: Chuck + Heroes (Something’s getting canceled there and I don’t think it’s the wrong one.)
Tuesdays: Biggest Loser. (Hey America, would you all be ok if this was only an hour and we could put something else on? Thanks.)
Wednesdays: Law and Order SVU + New show.
Thursdays: Comedy. (Hopefully for 2 hours still.)
Friday: Deal or No Deal? Apprentice? What else do you put Friday? A show you know will flop?
Sunday: Football. Not just during the fall. We’re minutes away from the announcement that NBC will air old Football games on Sunday in the Spring.
R.I.P NBC: 1941 – 2009
Clutz, I’m with Julia. I wouldn’t call the DTV deal visionary (I’m not sure I’d call it desperate either, but more desperate than visionary). The TAMi cross-platform measurement is pure PR — I’m glad it does it anyway, but I wouldn’t call it visionary.
They’d probably cut The Biggest Loser and The Apprentice back to an hour (the only reason they’re 2 hours is for filler), take out Dateline and move a couple shows to Sundays and they really don’t lose too much. NBC is playing it safe and cheap, and I don’t blame them for that.
Heh, I guess “visionary” is in the eye of the beholder. This satellite-to-broadcast sharing agreement somewhat falls into that category, IMHO, as it’s not some parent-company working with brother-sister broadcast and cable schedules. It’s not like other corporate sponsorships, as most corporations don’t offer an exclusive television channel to their clients. Maybe not visionary, but different. Neither term equals success. Visionaries fail plenty of times before they get anything right.
Funny thing for me is that I do love FNL. It’s the only scripted NBC programming I watch at all anymore. I DVR its first-runs on DirecTV. If it doesn’t last, though, I won’t be surprised – heck, most of the original team has graduated or is graduating this season anyway
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I just thought of an idea for NBC to put something meaningful on Saturday nights that they can do relatively cheaply, mostly with what they have on hand now:
1) Move Notre Dame football to Saturday night (perhaps start at 7:30 pm ET / 6:30 CT. They may have to have a reasonable source for a potentially good second game for West Coast affiliates, but they can’t do worse than they’re doing now there. (Of course SNL would be affected, but would the affiliates mind if their news starts late, if they have a better leadin than they have now?)
2) They have the NHL contract – expand it to a new “Hockey Night in America”, after football season, and have the NHL do it on a cost share basis – and push it hard.
3) They have the Olympics rights – does that include the rights to previous Olympic performances? They do have Al Michaels and a pretty good sports organization – how about a “Wide World of Sports” format – but airing classic Olympic moments (for instance, USA vs Russia at Lake Placid, or Torvill and Dean in Sarajevo?)
4) Or, they could just air “The Apprentice – NBC” – where real NBC executives are fired live each week by Donald Trump, with a new assistant – Garry Marshall (as he was in Murphy Brown – his “crap slot” tirade was priceless)
I do not have any media training, I don’t work for a network, and I don’t study these numbers more than looking at the USA Today top 20 listings. With that said, I might be dumbing this down, but the problem with all of this is THE SHOWS. NBC does a good show with a handful of their shows, but outside of the usual suspects, every other show is completely designed to reel in a certain demo (i.e. Lipstick Jungle), capitalize on a trend (”retro is in” = Knight Rider), or piecing together popular formulas from other shows (”House” + “CSI = “Life”). This kind of applies to all the networks, too, as nobody seems to be able to create solid new shows. Most of the new inventions are just disasters, and that is completely reflective of the decision makers at these networks and the politics involved. “My Own Worst Enemy” starring Christian Slater (are you kidding me? Being “retro” doesn’t guaranteed success unless you are on a VH1 reality show) was dead before the first show. And did anyone watch the new Knight Rider? I downloaded the first episode on iTunes for free, and stopped watching 20 minutes in knowing the show was already done. It’s not hard to identify a bad show, but for some reason it is impossible for these networks to build a good one. How about you recruit some real good young writers with good ideas and let them work?
I’m still reeling from the cancellation of my VERY FAVORITE SHOW Boston Legal last night. I sure do wish you guys would pick it up! I never watch anything on NBC now, so having my favorite program there would certainly give me a reason to tune in more frequently.
I have to agree I would like NBC to run it more like a business for profit is an intriguing idea but will we end up with more reality shows. They seemed to be the most popular and your niche audience would have mostly Scifi and BBC America to watch.