It's no news flash that this hasn't been a great season thus far for the broadcast networks. But with the first sweeps period of the year nearly over, and viewership way down, they're now moving on to the rebuilding stage.

   All four are making changes between now and the next sweeps period in February, some of which were announced during yesterday’s sweeps press conferences.

    “I think a lot of these things need to be taken case by case,” said ABC Entertainment president Susan Lyne when asked about audience decay yesterday. “It’s one thing we’re all aware of. It takes time for viewers to sample the new shows now. There are obviously so many different things competing opposite each other for people that they are sampling a lot more slowly.”

   Those things include cable and the internet, which have been blamed for the decline in male 18-34 viewership this year. But there have been scheduling problems as well.

   With that in mind, yesterday the networks began explaining their midseason strategies. ABC and Fox, which placed third and fourth in 18-49s during sweeps, will be making the most extensive schedule changes. NBC and CBS are also tinkering, though less than the others.

ABC

   ABC will introduce a new comedy, “The Big House,” this spring. The show stars Kevin Hart as a kind of anti-Fresh Prince who goes from a wealthy Malibu family to a struggling Philly one.

   The network also reiterated its promise to return “Karen Sisco” to the schedule. Though Lyne wouldn’t say what the new time slot would be, speculation has it airing on Sundays at 8 p.m. or 10 p.m., alongside similar strong-chick show “Alias.” Lyne did say that it will air in place of another drama's reruns.

CBS

   CBS’s Les Moonves said that the network will permanently replace the canceled “Brotherhood of Poland, N.H.” at 10 p.m. Wednesday with “48 Hours” starting next week. “Hours’” Saturday 8 p.m. slot will be filled by “Star Search” starting Jan. 17.

   He said that the new “CSI” spinoff, expected next fall, will be set in one of four cities, possibly including New York.

   Moonves confirmed that sitcom “The Stones,” a bumped candidate for the fall schedule, will air at midseason, along with futuristic legal drama “Century City.”

NBC

   NBC and Fox both once again accused Nielsen Media Research of faulty number keeping, citing dips of more than 30 percent among men 18-34 for shows such as “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Frasier” (pointed out by Fox) and “The Simpsons” (pointed out by NBC and denied by Fox).

   NBC brought out Donald Trump to say that his new reality show “The Apprentice” will debut Thursday Jan. 8 at 8:30 p.m. after “Friends.” The next week it will move to Wednesdays at 8 p.m.

   That boots “Ed” back to Fridays, where it will finish the season at 9 p.m., taking new show “Miss Match’s” place. NBC Entertainment president Zucker said new episodes of “Match” will return after “Ed’s” season ends in March or April.

   NBC also said that a second edition of "Average Joe" will begin airing right after the current one, keeping the show on the air until March.

Fox  
   Fox zinged Nielsen again, saying there had to be some sort of problem with the numbers, and said it was retaining an independent auditor to take a look.

   The network has four new series premiering at midseason: “Cracking Up,” “The Ortegas,” “Still Life” and “Wonder Falls,” though Fox Entertainment president Gail Berman declined to say which time slots they will fill.

   The network did say that several more reality series will join the schedule, though declining to elaborate. Berman said that despite its struggles, “Boston Public” likely will remain on Fridays.

WB

   Though it did not hold a conference, the WB announced the return of "The Surreal Life" Jan. 11 at 9 p.m., taking the place of "Tarzan." The "Life" finale will air Feb. 22.