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.