During sweeps, a rest is often eternal

NBC's 'Emeril'

CBS's 'Wolf Lake'

During sweeps, a
rest is often eternal

November chills for 'Wolf,' 'Emeril' and 'Schwartz'

By Elizabeth White

   Being put on hiatus is better than being canceled for a TV show, but the distinction is a bit like saying a terminal illness is better than death.
    One tends to follow the other all too soon.
     In the case of television a hiatus almost certainly means the program’s days are numbered.
    This is especially so if that hiatus takes place during the November sweeps. It’s the ultimate vote of no-confidence by the network, one that says backup programming will outperform a regularly scheduled series.
    Three rookie shows have met such a fate this November: CBS’s supernatural drama "Wolf Lake" and the NBC sitcoms "Emeril" and "Inside Schwartz."
    Media buyers say that even if the shows do return in December, it’s unlikely they’ll make it past January.
    "It’s definitely a sign that the show will be canceled," says Roy Rothstein, vice president and director of national broadcast research at Zenith Media Services.
    "I can’t think of one example where they took a show off and it came back and became a hit. NBC tried it with ‘Cursed’ last year. Shows that go on hiatus mean that the network gives the production company some time to halt the production. It’s an easy way of saying it’s gone."
    Rothstein holds out hope only for "Inside Schwartz," which has been a top-10 show, thanks to its "Friends'" lead-in.
    "No one thought ‘Friends’ would do this well this year. If ‘Friends,’ was doing what it was doing last spring against ‘Survivor 2,’ then ‘Inside Schwartz’ wouldn’t look so bad," says Rothstein.
    "Maybe they can rework ‘Inside Schwartz,’ or bring it back on Tuesday. The ratings are pretty much the same as ‘Will and Grace’ and ‘Just Shoot Me.’ It’s still a top-10 show, but they’re taking it off because they think they have something better."
    Particularly damning for these three rookie shows is that they are being replaced largely by repeats of more successful shows, rather than original programs or sweeps specials.
    On NBC, "Emeril’s" Tuesday at 8 p.m. time slot will be filled by a new episode of "Three Sisters," a repeat of "Frasier," a J. Lo concert and another repeat of "Frasier."
     "Inside Schwartz’s" time slot on Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. will be filled by a repeat of "Friends," a repeat of "Will and Grace," a new episode of "Scrubs" and a repeat of "Friends."
    On CBS, "Wolf Lake" will be replaced by the "Country Music Awards" on Nov. 7; then episodes of "48 Hours" will run on subsequent Wednesdays at 10 p.m.
    "Emeril" and "Inside Schwartz" are currently slated to return from hiatus in December, while "Wolf Lake’s" return is less certain.
    Running repeats may not seem like a very effective sweeps strategy, but the networks get three major advantages from slotting other regular programs in the vacated spaces.
    One, the repeats may marginally help win the sweeps period because it’s unlikely they’ll do worse than the shows they have relieved.
    Two, the special scheduling disqualifies the repeats as regular programming, thereby eliminating the episodes from the networks’ season-to-date averages.
    And three, repeats are far less expensive to put on than anything else.
    For NBC, "Inside Schwartz’s" time off may also be a chance to find a new companion show to "Friends."
    "What’s happening is that ‘Inside Schwartz’ drops 10 share points coming out of ‘Friends.’ They can’t afford to have that kind of drop. NBC could be seeing how ‘Will and Grace’ does at 8:30 p.m.," says Shari Anne Brill, vice president and director of programming services at Carat.
    "Hiatus is a prelude to the end. Some may have come back, but they weren’t renewed. Very few shows that are placed on hiatus go forward."

-Elizabeth White is a staff writer for Media Life.

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