Its 10PM, Do You Know What’s On NBC?

Media Its 10PM, Do You Know What’s On NBC? Brad Adgate Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Brad Adgate is an Independent Media Consultant Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Sep 2, 2022, 06:38am EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin In what is looked at as a cost saving move, there is speculation NBC will cut seven hours of its .

. . [+] primetime programming lineup.

(Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) Getty Images The Wall Street Journal recently reported that NBC was considering not airing any network programming in the 10 p. m. to 11 p.

m. time period. They would relinquish the one-hour over to local TV stations.

(NBC owns 11 English language stations and has over 220 affiliates nationwide. ) Industry analysts say the potential move would be a cost-cutting strategy. Moreover, Bloomberg reports Comcast CMCSA is looking to cut up to $1 billion from their TV networks budgets.

This would not be the first time NBC has looked into changing the programming at 10 p. m. Back in 2009 the network raised eyebrows when they announced Jay Leno would have a 10 p.

m. talk/variety show weeknights. The announcement was made after Leno had been replaced by Conan O’Brien as host of The Tonight Show .

(Leno was said to be unhappy with his removal from The Tonight Show and there was speculation he may leave to a rival network. Hence, NBC offered him his primetime show. ) While the programming change resulted in lower production costs, it was nothing short of a debacle.

The ratings for Leno’s new show plummeted which aggravated network affiliates concerned about a poor lead-in for its local late-night newscasts. Scripted dramas soon returned to the time period as Jay Leno returned to host The Tonight Show for four more years. Conan O’Brien left for TBS.

Network television has had a long rich programming history at 10 p. m. During the 1980’s such breakout and critically acclaimed “adult themed” dramas as Cagney & Lacey, Hill Street Blues and L.

A. Law had populated the time period. In fact, every year from 1979 to 1999, the Emmy Award for outstanding drama went to a 10 p.

m. show on broadcast television. While ad supported cable networks had been siphoning off broadcast TV viewers for years, entering the 2000’s they soon began producing their own critically acclaimed and cutting-edge 10 p.

m. dramas. These included Emmy Award winners The Shield, Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

Another factor impacting 10 p. m. ratings was the emergence of DVRs and time shifting.

As DVR penetration grew, viewers increasingly were watching programs they had recorded earlier in the day rather than live television. These two events were also instrumental in NBC’s decision in bringing Jay Leno to prime time. MORE FOR YOU How To Become A Translator CNN’s John Berman: Arizona ‘Sham Audit’ Proves Donald Trump ‘Even Bigger Loser Than The First Time’ ‘Cut Him Off, Cut Him Off Now!’ Newsmax Anchor Ends Interview When Guest Criticizes Donald Trump Nowadays, with the prevalence of cord-cutting and DVR penetration stalled, streaming video has taken hold impacting broadcast viewing.

In recent years media companies have been prioritizing content on streaming over their broadcast and cable properties. For example, for the 2022-23 season there was a record low number of pilots ordered and new scripted programs picked up by the networks. In addition, effective September 19, a number of NBC (and Bravo) programs will become available to Peacock Premium subscribers the following day.

(Comcast also announced they were dropping the cost of its Premium tier. ) Comcast will be following Disney’s strategy of streaming programming from a broadcast (ABC) and cable (FX) network and making them available on Hulu the following day. “Historically, the 10 p.

m. hour in primetime is pivotal because it leads into late local news, which for an affiliated station is a source of revenue. Without the lead-in support, the stations are likely to experience audience losses,” notes Marc Berman, Creator and Editor-in-Chief for The Programming Insider .

“With so many other digital programming outlets to consider now, the common observation is audience erosion on the broadcasters. But the solution is not to give the 10 p. m.

hour back to the stations, which looks more like an act of desperation than an aggressive maneuver. If anything, it signals that NBC is simply giving up. ” While NBC has not commented on the topic, any imminent change would not take place until the 2023-24 broadcast season at the earliest.

For the upcoming season NBC has scheduled dramas from Monday to Thursdays at 10 p. m. ( Quantum Leap, New Amsterdam and Dick Wolf’s Chicago P.

D. and Law & Order: Organized Crime ). Friday will have the second half of Dateline .

As in recent years during the weekends NBC will air Saturday Night Live reruns on Saturday and top-rated Sunday Night Football (NBC will air dramas after the football season ends in first quarter). In all likelihood, NBC will reschedule the 10 p. m.

dramas to an earlier time period. According to Indiewire , over the past year, NBC entertainment shows (excluding sports) averaged a 0. 38 live rating for adults 18-to-49 which increased to 0.

56 when seven-day (DVR) playback was added. The NBC ratings were better than either ABC or CBS. Despite higher ratings than their network competitors, with fewer viewers at 10 p.

m. , NBC’s overall average primetime rating would increase. It is presumed many NBC affiliates would air a one-hour local newscast at 10 p.

m. increasing their ratings (and ad rates). Another programming strategy could be moving the time period of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers to half-hour earlier.

Both shows are already available on Peacock Premium the following day at 8 p. m. Rick Ducey, BIA Advisory Services Managing Director says, “Of course the affiliates pay NBCU for the programming they’d provided for the 10 p.

m. -11 p. m.

time slot and might well expect something in return. In any case, the optics on economics look promising. I’d think that TV groups could fare quite well by this move on the revenue side as well as NBCU seeking its own cost savings goals.

Getting back seven weekly primetime hours where local TV stations could run additional news content, they’re already producing for their streaming platforms means more revenue producing ad inventory, more branding and community bonding, and likely higher viewing in this time period. That higher viewing created by popular local news content then means the affiliates would create more value for NBCU by delivering more households using television to the slate of NBCU’s late night programming. ” NBC has made no comment on the report and a final decision could be a long way off.

The network also has several other programming options available to them. If NBC does decide to turn over the 10 p. m.

time period to local stations, they will be joining Fox and The CW (which was recently acquired by station group owner Nexstar). Both networks have never programmed in the time period. Marc Berman notes, “Of course, if NBC does do this, chances are that ABC and CBS will follow,” he added, “No one wins in that scenario.

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