Ending Tradition, NBC Dismisses Fall Debuts

[Justin D.]

It soon may be time to retire the phrase 'fall television season.' (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/business/media/20adco.html?ei=5065&en=0cf086e5ac31fd84&ex=1204174800&adxnnl=1&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1203544807-TJ85n4z7ualdB5wQAzUA3Q)

NBC Universal took a big step toward undoing one of the television industry’s oldest traditions by announcing Tuesday that it would move to a year-round schedule of staggered program introductions. The move is intended to appeal to advertisers, who crave fresh content to keep viewers tuned in.

And if it succeeds — and leads other broadcast networks to shift from their focus on a mass introduction of new shows — it could alter an American cultural cycle that extends all the way back to the days of radio, when families gathered around the Philco every September, as the school year began, to sample the new entertainment choices.

. . .

This could be a great push forward in television. NBC is finally catching up to what cable has done for a little while now. However, cable channels can get away with scattering their programming because they have less original content. HBO has how many original shows and movies per year compared to NBC? About half or less?

My only fear is a momentous amount of reality television in place of scripted shows.

I would not be surprised to see other networks following this model in a year or two.

[Shostie]

As the person who brought this story to Justin's attention, I would like to declare this thread cursed.

A pox on all thee who post here!

Just kidding.

Or am I?

[noh-varr]

Well as long as they bring out good shows I don't care when they play. Having new stuff over the course of the year instead of in short bursts is very welcome news. Does this mean though they will continue to take shows from their affiliates to fill in the holes? If it ends up being a bunch of reality garbage then I could care less, though all the networks did this already over the summer so some scripted shows in the bunch would be nice. Plus they could give more cultish shows the summer slot or other "off season" times and keep more people happy over time.

[Scott Evil]

As the person who brought this story to Justin's attention, I would like to declare this thread cursed.

A pox on all thee who post here!

Just kidding.

Or am I?

Or are you?

Thankfully I've had my pox when I was 10 so no fear of catching it now! Also, I'm wearing a condom so none of that 'pox' is getting to me..


I thought NBC was already doing the staggering w/ American Gladiator and now Knight Rider? Do you think the strike forced their hand on this or was this already in the works?

[StoneGold]

Big deal, it's NBC.

[Sean Walsh]

This is a good idea?

It's actually nice to have 1 time of the year when you know all the TV programs are starting. Speaking as someone who's watching a lot less network TV these days, it's gonna become a lot more confusing (and not worth the effort?) to keep up with what starts when and lasts how long.... :-/

[Jared]

Fox has been kind of doing this already, hasn't it? American Idol never begins until January, and their whole season is built around it. Were it not for the strike, 24 would have started around the same time.

[Shellhead]

Fox has been kind of doing this already, hasn't it? American Idol never begins until January, and their whole season is built around it. Were it not for the strike, 24 would have started around the same time.

Yeah, Fox has been doing this for a long time. The conventional wisdom in the industry was that Americans don't watch tv in the summer anyway, because they are outside enjoying the warm weather. However, that summer weather is kind of brutal in the southern parts of our country, and people tend to be less physically active on average these days. Fox had to try something different, by debuting their new shows at a time of years when the big three were just showing re-runs. That worked really well for Fox. The only surprise about NBC is that they waited so long to change.

[LtMarvel]

This would be the year to do it for NBC, they have Olympics coming.

The reason for summer reruns is that people are less likely to be home watching TV on summer nights. So NBC isn't likely to launch its A-list programming in June, July, or August.

Instead, I'll bet we see more 24/Lost scheduling: popular series comes back almost one month before sweeps and runs (nearly) without reruns through two sweeps periods and then goes away for a year.

[J Dog]

Yeah, Fox has been doing this for a long time. The conventional wisdom in the industry was that Americans don't watch tv in the summer anyway, because they are outside enjoying the warm weather. However, that summer weather is kind of brutal in the southern parts of our country, and people tend to be less physically active on average these days. Fox had to try something different, by debuting their new shows at a time of years when the big three were just showing re-runs. That worked really well for Fox. The only surprise about NBC is that they waited so long to change.

Conventional wisdom also says that people don't watch television on Saturdays, but rather than decide to make new programming like in the summer, they gave up on Saturday.

I just want to see one new show on Saturday's lineup in the next 20 years.

However, the main note of the thread is that NBC is now going for the year-round option. In a way, it sure beats the overhype of the "new fall season" and somehow eliminates the annoyance that is "mid-season". You'll still have stinkers coming on, but you won't have to fear about them getting hyped as much as their former mid-season incarnate.