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hold on Wednesday
Just weeks into season, its shows own the night
By Elizabeth White
One of the best thing about dramas is that once a program becomes a hit, it can stay that way for six, eight, or in the case of "Law and Order," a full 11 years.
That’s bad news on Wednesday night for every network but NBC, whose three dramas have established a near chokehold on the evening.
"NBC has done a masterful job of pulling a strong schedule together. They put quality shows on and didn’t jerk them around," says Allen Banks, executive media director of Saatchi & Saatchi.
Last week, the first run of NBC’s full lineup won the night for the network by nine household shares. "The West Wing" and "Law and Order" each won their hours by 10 shares, while "Ed," the weakest of the three, placed a competitive second in both households and adults 18-49.
Among adults 18-49, NBC won the night by more than two rating points.
The extra rub for NBC’s competitors is that two of these three dramas are comparatively young and could easily have another five years ahead of them.
"Ed" is only in its second year, and "The West Wing" is in its third. The third drama, "Law and Order," has defied all laws of television age and grows stronger each season, while other older dramas, like the eight-year-old "NYPD Blue" and seven-year-old "ER," are winding down.
"Wednesday is the second Must See TV night," says Roy Rothstein, vice president and director of national broadcast research for Zenith Media.
"Not so much for ‘Ed,’ not yet. But ‘The West Wing’ and ‘Law and Order’ are rolling in their time periods. Those shows can go on forever. NBC is just humming totally."
If there is a weak spot, it’s "Ed" at 8 p.m., a fact both UPN’s "Enterprise" and the ABC sitcoms "My Wife and Kids" and "According to Jim" have taken some advantage of.
"My Wife and Kids" won its half-hour among adults 18-49 last week, and though "According to Jim" built on that lead-in audience, "Ed" won the second half-hour in the demographic.
On UPN, "Enterprise" has emerged as the top new drama among adults 18-34, and the show’s premiere episode pulled in 12.5 million viewers. Last week, "Enterprise" managed a 10 household share against "Ed’s" 14.
"Enterprise" could run into trouble after the World Series, when UPN’s main competitor for young male viewers, Fox, premieres its Wednesday lineup of sitcoms. But analysts think that the "Star Trek" core is strong enough to withstand the challenge.
"There’s such a large core of Trekkie fans that have been out there forever. UPN can rebuild that franchise, and so far ‘Enterprise’ has done a good job of reinventing itself," says Banks.
But after the 8 p.m. hour, everyone is rethinking what they’ve put against "The West Wing" and "Law and Order."
Fox has swapped the returning series "Titus" with the freshman sitcom "The Bernie Mac Show." "Bernie Mac" will now air at 9 p.m., against ABC’s "Drew Carey," while "Titus" will go up against "Bob Patterson" at 9:30 p.m.
"Patterson’s" time slot is also new, as ABC shifted it from Tuesday last week and pulled "NYPD Blue" off head-to-head competition against "Law and Order."
Meanwhile, CBS’s much-hyped "The Amazing Race" has tanked against "The West Wing," and "Wolf Lake" has done even worse against "Law and Order."
The question for most media folks is not whether these two will have a second season but how long CBS will wait before it pulls the plug.
"NBC crushed CBS with ‘The Amazing Race.’ We thought ‘The Amazing Race’ would be a show that would get some viewers and young people. CBS was hoping to get younger on Wednesdays. It thought it would get some traction on the night against ‘The West Wing,’ but ‘The West Wing’ has blown it out of the water. The CBS lineup is not working," says Rothstein.
October 16, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Elizabeth White is a staff writer for Media Life.
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