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NBC seems to have halted its ratings decline thanks to the addition this season of Sunday Night Football.
The ailing network is up this season in adults 18-49 by three-tenths of a rating point, to a 3.6, but even without Sunday Night Football factored in, NBC is flat rather than down, writes Mediaweek.
In addition to the NFL, the turn-around has been helped along by a large helping of game shows, including Deal or No Deal (initially three nights a week, now two) and the addition of 1 vs. 100. Now, the network’s challenge is to add some scripted shows, which media buyers believe will give the network long-term stability.
However, in October, NBC Universal announced an initiative to cut $750 million from operating expenses in 2007, and some of those cuts are expected to come at the expense of developing new scripted shows.
So far, only one of its shows, Heroes, is a big enough hit to guarantee its return next season.
Some of the network’s shows, such as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, are struggling to find higher ratings but nonetheless are pulling in a fair share of high-income viewers. Those viewers, who watch less TV and are harder to reach, are valuable to advertisers.
And the network has two strong veterans returning after football - The Apprentice and Crossing Jordan - and is also introducing two new dramas, The Black Donnellys and Raines, along with a few new sitcoms.
The media buying community, which in recent seasons has spent about $2 billion less during NBC’s upfront, seems to be rooting for a comeback from the network, by buying up blocks of its scatter inventory.
Overall, NBC is averaging a 3.0 in adults 18-49 on Fridays this season, 42 percent higher than last season’s 2.1. On Mondays, the network is averaging a 4.5 in the same demo, 15 percent higher than last season.
Tuesday night is pulling average ratings, and Wednesday nights will have to be rebuilt, according to the article. Tuesday’s Friday Night Lights is struggling, averaging only a 2.3, but the network hopes to save it and may move it to Sunday nights at 8 p.m. once football is finished in January. The Tuesday slot could be filled with The Apprentice, followed by Crossing Jordan.
NBC also recently moved Scrubs to Thursdays, along with 30 Rock, though the move so far has not been successful in improving ratings. The network came in third for the night, proving that the comeback trail is still a rocky one, writes MediaPost. The show earned a 2.4 rating among 18-49s, which is its season average. Analysts are giving the show two weeks, when it moves into its 9 p.m. time period on Thursday, to prove itself.
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