It seems to me like NBC got a better deal for what they spent on The Jay Leno Show last week than ABC did with its 10pm shows.
Week of October 5-11, 2009
NBC
The Jay Leno Show average: 1.7 rating adults 18-49
Cost: $2 million
(conventional wisdom is that TJLS costs $100 million for a 46 new weeks in 52 week season or ~$400,000/hour)
ABC
Castle, Eastwick, the forgotten, Private Practice, 20/20 average: 2.2 rating adults 18-49
Cost: $6.3 million
(assumes $2 million/hour for dramas for 22 episodes plus 8 repeats (for a cost of $1.46 million/hour) and $400,000/hour for 20/20, but ABC will need to spend to program another 22 weeks of shows at 10pm, see below)
So NBC achieved 77% of ABC's ratings while spending 32% of the money.
That same calculation going to look a lot worse for ABC when they go into repeats. Their Monday-Thursday ratings will drop but the cost stays the same (since repeats are already factored in).
ABC will, of course, receive extra revenue from Private Practice and Castle DVDs, and any foreign licensing from them. They don't get any of that from the forgotten or Eastwick, since they're not the producer of the shows. But how much more will they have to spend to program the other 22 weeks of 10pm shows?
Update: If anyone thinks that ABC isn't running these same sorts of calculations themselves (but with much better data) you're kidding yourself.
Megan, oh really? I’ll admit that $2 million/hour is just the conventionally accepted wisdom on how much a broadcast primetime drama costs. How do you know the particular costs at ABC? Feel free to drop me an email.
I’m so sick of hearing how much NBC saved money for Jay’s show. What kind of a legacy is this. We can put out really crappy television, but hey it was cheap.
Leno stems the bleeding at 10 p.m. and lets NBC focus on fixing the remainder of its schedule. As we’ve seen, there are a lot of problems to solve before sending Jay on his way.
James, TV networks aren’t about “legacy” any more or less than other businesses. They’re about money. We aren’t watching art; we’re watching commerce.
The Time article also covers how NBC is impacted local news with its affiliates. The preliminary numbers in some markets are down as much as 30%. NBC seems to have improved its own balance sheet, but possibly at the expense of its affiliates. This situation cannot last. Will be interesting to see if affiliates abandon Leno or even NBC entirely. Or if NBC pays higher fees to retain its afilliates. This drama is WAY more interesting than Three Rivers….lol
at least abc is trying
What’s sad is that no one is watching the quality shows NBC IS putting out! Trauma is actually quite good and yet everyone is just too busy trashing Jay to follow it. Will people please watch this amazing new drama before it’s canceled and replaced by reality-tv hell?!! Btw, Jay is still funny and entertaining so I’m surprised people are reacting to violently.
they should just have an hour a night of ghost hunting shows save cash and get killer ratings
ABC may be spending more money but they will reap good karma cause with each of the hour shows they produce they are employing how many people? And they are at leat giving Viewers an option and variety in programming. Television use to be about quality programs but at NBC is it now just about the Dollar? If the heat is too hot how about moving out of the kitchen as it seems NBC has chosen to do. Its not Leno’s fault what has happened at 10pm cause he just took the option that he was offered. I use to watch his show at 11:35pm but now I don’t anymore cause at 10pm I prefer the other networks or FX programs like Sons of Anarchy or Nip/Tuck or Damages.
I know I am in the minority here, but I don’t get the beef about Leno. The guy was successful for almost twenty years following in Johnny Carson’s shoes, and those were hard shoes to fill. If people watched Jay Leno all those years on NBC in the later evening programming, why not think that some of his audience would follow him and tune in an hour or so earlier. Obviously they knew they’d have more competition at that hour, but apparently they felt it was worth the gamble. Only time will tell if the gamble pays off.
Television always was and always will be about the dollar. It never ever ever was about quality. Who told you that horrible lie?
MichaelJA, “is it now just about the Dollar?”
It always has been, is it just now that you’ve noticed?
And I await the joy of Disney shareholders when they received their anticipated “good karma” dividend.
Televison has the ability to produce Quality programs and true they also produce a lot of light weight cheep crap so I guess it comes dow to your individual choice. One mans crap may be anothers pot of gold.
What do you mean by repeats are “already factored in”? It would seem to me that any repeats would brin in additional revenue without incurring additional costs (except possibily some royalties depending on how far out the repear airs).
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I kinda get the thing about the local affiliates, but on the other hand is that an NBC problem or a Leno problem? Would some new scripted show that had Trauma as a lead in and was advertised during NBC ratings powerhouses like Heroes and TBL really deliver better 10-11 numbers to them or is that wishful thinking.
Michael, the question isn’t whether TV can> produce quality. No one ever said it couldn’t. But you claimed that “Television use to be about quality programs.” That is a bald-faced lie. TV has never been about anything other than the money that can be made. If quality resulted from that pursuit, good on it.
Television is both a business and art. This isn’t some either/or situation, so people have to quit talking in such absolutes. If we’re going to say that television isn’t art simply because people want to make money off of it, then we can pretty much declare the same thing about all other artistic mediums.
how long until A&E or Hallmark make a movie about this stuff?
I blame premium cable for the idea the television is all about quality.
Seriously, people assume that because the premium channels are all about the quality dramas everyone is/was and forget that the only reason HBO and the like chase the quality shows is because they need the Emmy exposure to boost subscriptions and thus make them money.
To me this is true. Yes each time they produce a show there is a financial cost but I guess my viewer choices were to seek the quality shows. I believe that if you build it they will come or if you produce it(Quality Shows) people will watch. And then you will increase your revenue. So to me every show is a risk til it airs and the viewers decide if its worth following.