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you tighten up now
Ills go deeper than death-sputtering 'Millionaire'
By Kevin Downey
In the wake of its worst-ever sweeps performance, ABC is speaking candidly about the errors of its ways.
But media buyers have been talking about them just as candidly for months, and now they have some advice for the network:
Get back on track, and do it quickly. You are in deeper doo-doo than you think.
Your fast-fading "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" is just one problem. You have others.
Buyers applaud ABC’s plan to refocus on scripted sitcoms and dramas, instead of on the fading game show and reality fads.
They also agree that it's perhaps the only viable way the network can salvage its ratings this year and be positioned to do well next fall.
But they part company with ABC co-chairman of entertainment Lloyd Braun in blaming the network's ills on an over-reliance on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and reality shows.
It is not the failure of those shows but rather an absence of new shows to replace them as they began to wane that is at the heart of the network's problems.
"It all goes back to development," says Michele Toller, senior national media manager at Empower Mediamarketing.
"When I attended the development meetings back in March, I knew they weren’t developing new programs and obviously had put all of their eggs in the ‘Millionaire’ basket.
"They have no focus on who they are or who they want to appeal to. They need to become focused."
Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, reaffirms what ABC executives conceded this week.
"It’s one thing when you have a big hit show and then suddenly it’s no longer a hit.
"When you have a big hit show and you use up all sorts of time slots, it’s not like one hour is a problem, but three or four hours are a problem. All of the time they were spending with ‘Millionaire’ was time they weren’t building up equity in what would be the new hits of tomorrow."
Media buyers say ABC's schedule weaknesses extend well beyond "Millionaire," to include such aging primetime hits as "Drew Carey" and "Dharma & Greg."
Where, they ask, are their replacements?
"There's an over-reliance on sitcoms that are in clear decline and are unlikely to engage new viewers," says John Rash, senior vice president and director of broadcast negotiations at Campbell Mithun.
"ABC had among the lowest amount of programs in development in the past few years and, proportionally, fewer hits."
Now ABC finds itself panicking to play catch-up, and buyers point out that it has little time.
Think January, they say, when the network loses its only top-10 rated show when "Monday Night Football" finishes its season.
That gives ABC less than two months to replace its highest-rated show and fill up another two hours of its already weak schedule.
"ABC is facing the most significant challenge of any of the broadcast networks," says Rash.
"If they use the second half of the season as a laboratory for new programs and scheduling tactics, they can better position themselves for next season."
The reality show, "The Runner," had been scheduled to take one of those hours but has been sidelined since the tragedies of Sept. 11.
But ABC’s Braun said this week that ABC is putting several new shows into rapid development for midseason.
The network has already announced three of those shows with "The Job" returning in midseason; Sally Field starring in "The Court," which will air on Mondays; and "The Web," a sitcom that takes a behind-the-scenes look at a television network.
ABC has also begun to aggressively trim its schedule of under-performers, such as "What About Joan," "Bob Patterson" and "Thieves."
That is to its credit, say buyers.
"It’s not necessarily a negative to cancel shows. It’s ABC embracing reality," says Rash.
"They should be credited with not hesitating to move to backup plans. While it’s unlikely they will have any significant traction for the remainder of the year, they can put in one or two building blocks that will give them a head start on next year."
November 30, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.
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