|
|
is some ways off
Scratch this midseason, with so much work to do
By Kevin Downey
All it takes is one hit show to turn a broadcast network around from last place to No. 1.
It happened in the mid-1980s, when "The Cosby Show" pulled NBC from the brink of collapse and turned it into the No. 1 network that dominates the adult 18-49 demographic to this day.
It could well happen to ABC, which sorely needs it. But it won't happen midseason, and some media buyers think it may take a year or so before the network is able to rebuild its primetime schedule.
The network has spent much of the season in last place among the Big Four networks, and it has spent all season reeling from its heavy reliance on the fading "Who Wants to be a Millionaire."
ABC has begun rebuilding with a renewed focus on the family-friendly programs that once made it a top-rated network, and an encouraging sign is the naming last week of Susan Lyne, a former magazine editor, as ABC's new entertainment president.
"Susan Lyne has made it very clear that we are going back to what has worked for us in the past," says Jeff Bader, executive vice president of entertainment at ABC.
"She is very specific in saying that that doesn’t mean we’ll be programming for six-year-olds.
"We tend to have the problem when we say family programming that people think ‘Full House.’
"‘Full House’ is one type of family program, but so are ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ and ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ and ‘My Wife & Kids.’ There is a broad range of what can be classified as family programming, and yes, we are going back to that."
But judging from the barely formed midseason schedule that ABC rolled out at last week’s Television Association Critics press tour in Pasadena, ABC’s climb back will be a slow one.
"The Chair," a game show with John McEnroe as its host, debuted this week and tied at No. 1 among adults 18-49 in a special time slot on Tuesday.
But "The Job," one of last year’s four midseason entries, returned on Wednesday and lost about 15 percent of "Drew Carey’s" 18-49 rating.
ABC has announced a new slate of shows in various states of development, many of which will be promoted heavily during the Academy Awards telecast in late March.
One is "The Court" with Sally Field, which was scheduled to premiere in early January but is being overhauled and will probably debut in March.
Another is "The Web," which takes place behind the scenes of a television station. "The George Lopez Show" is a sitcom featuring the comedian. Neither program is scheduled yet.
"For midseason, we have two comedies and one drama and we need them all to work," says Bader. "Next fall is really when we’re going to have to decide what the actual structure of the schedule will be."
A big challenge for ABC is the aging of its returning shows, which it must contend with as it works on developing new shows.
"A couple of years from now, they might not be tied for second place with CBS and Fox but might be back down to fourth place," says Brad Adgate, senior vice president and corporate research director at Horizon Media.
"I would venture to guess that somewhere down the road they might not do as well because a lot of their returning shows have had double-digit losses from a year ago. And they haven’t had a breakout hit."
ABC is tied with CBS and Fox for No. 2 at a 4, adult 18-49 rating, through the first 16 weeks of the season.
Its rating is down 17 percent compared to the same time period last year.
And while much of that slump is pinned on the decline of "Millionaire," ABC’s rating is down about 15 percent from the season before the game show debuted.
"When I evaluate a network, I consider what position it is in for next year," says Shari Anne Brill, vice president and director of programming services at Carat.
"ABC has always been something of an also-ran. But ‘Millionaire,’ which did well for them, is down substantially. And my feeling is that the shows it has on the air are continuing to age."
ABC’s problem is simple to explain–it doesn’t have many strong shows.
The network has 11 programs in this season’s top-50 and only four of them–"The Practice," "NYPD Blue," "My Wife & Kids," and "Philly"–fall into the sitcom and drama formats that traditionally bring viewers back week after week.
Its highest-rated show is "Monday Night Football," which concluded its season.
And its second-highest-rated show, "The Practice," has had a 20 percent audience decline.
To make matters worse, the closest ABC comes to having solidly programmed nights are Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, which are dominated by "The Practice," "NYPD Blue," and "My Wife & Kids," respectively.
January 18, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.
Printer-Friendly
Version | Send
to a Friend
Cover Page | Contact
Us
