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June 14, 2004 - Strategy Media Archive
Fall TV Preview

Report from New York
Humility at the New York upfront
NBC gloats, ABC retools, CBS coasts, Fox goes year-round

by Janice Fish
page M 18

Anyone who attended the New York upfront presentations a few weeks ago witnessed a rare bout of network humility - almost no-one was touting their number-one position in the market. The truth is, some networks (i.e. WB and ABC) had such lousy years that they didn't bother talking about numbers at all.

But modesty stopped at the doors of NBC. That net reminded everyone, ad nauseum, that according to their numbers, they are number one everywhere with everyone. They are even the number-one network for NBC programs. (That insight coming courtesy of Conan O'Brien, who was the high point of their presentation.)

A strong emphasis was placed on freshening up programming year-round as a way to combat audience erosion. Fox pioneered the move years ago with its August debuts, and CBS's Survivor proved without a doubt that people would watch television in the summer if they had a compelling reason to do so. This year, Fox will go one step farther, transforming its schedule three times throughout the year, leaning heavily on unscripted short-order series and drama.

Another recurring theme was comparing broadcast (conventional) to cable (specialty). This is now a hot topic in the U.S., and in various ways, the networks used the upfronts to sell the benefits of broadcast as a group over cable.

The stars were out in full support, and no one was more visible than Mark Burnett. Is there a network without a Mark Burnett show? The Apprentice will be back (twice on NBC), and then there's Survivor (CBS), The Contender (NBC), The Casino (Fox) and Commando Nanny (WB).

Other unscripted creations include Sir Richard Branson's The Billionaire and copycats like The Contender on NBC versus The Next Great Champ on Fox. CBS is the lightest of the networks in unscripted, with more of a focus on dramas. Sitcoms are way down at just 36 versus 50 last fall.

NBC

Will new dramas find Friends?

NBC presented a long, less-impressive-than-usual upfront at Radio City Music Hall. Curiously, the stars were shown on the big screen from their seats rather than appearing on stage, reducing their impact and presence.

On Mondays at 10 p.m., Heather Locklear and Blair Underwood star in airport drama LAX, a good fit with Las Vegas as its lead-in. Father of the Pride (Tuesdays at 9 p.m.) is an animated comedy à la Shrek about the animals performing in the Siegfried and Roy show, although it didn't make as much sense as it would have if S&R were still performing in Las Vegas.

At 8 p.m. on Wednesday, NBC airs Hawaii, an intense police drama better suited for a 10 p.m. time-slot. However, with loads of crime and medical dramas, NBC has a crowded 10 o'clock slot to work with. For Fridays at that time, NBC presented Medical Investigation, the first of many medical dramas we were to see throughout the week.

Then in an unusual move, NBC screened the full pilot of Joey, possibly as a way to emphasize its importance or to address advertiser skepticism. The consensus was that it "wasn't as bad as expected," so NBC may have achieved its objective.

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