NBC Seeks Footing Without 'Friends' - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Janice · 10-19-2004, 05:00 PM

http://apnews.excite.com/article/200...D85QNO3G0.html

NBC Seeks Footing Without 'Friends'

NEW YORK (AP) - Minus "Friends" or any big breakout hits, NBC has stumbled out of the starting gate this TV season. The once proud peacock lost again last week in the only ratings battle it cares about, among the 18-to-49-year-old demographic that advertisers seek, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday.

That makes four losses in four weeks of the new TV season. It's an unaccustomed spot for NBC, which dominated this demo for the last four seasons, and eight out of the last nine, and has taken in the most advertising revenue as a result.

It's still early, but NBC ranks third this fall behind CBS and a resurgent ABC among all viewers and among the youthful demographic.

"They've lost some of their core properties and now they have to struggle the way everyone has to struggle when they lose their core properties," said Stacey Lynn Koerner, a television analyst for Initiative Media. The last episodes of "Friends" and "Frasier" aired in May.

Matt LeBlanc's new "Joey" is the classic good news-bad news case for NBC.

With its 13.4 million viewers last week, it was television's third most popular sitcom behind "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Two and a Half Men." It's the top-rated new sitcom.

Yet the "Joey" ratings are 34 percent off what "Friends" was doing at the same point last year. Combine that with a 14 percent drop for "The Apprentice" and longtime hit "ER" now losing its time slot to CBS's "Without a Trace," and you've got some problems on Thursday, traditionally television's most profitable night.

Other networks' hits have also taken their toll on NBC. The network shelved its new drama "Hawaii" after it tanked in the same time slot as ABC's hit "Lost." NBC is moving another new show, "LAX," into that slot.

Meanwhile, "Law & Order" is down 21 percent in the ratings now that it is competing against CBS's "CSI: NY." ABC's "Desperate Housewives," the season's biggest freshman hit with 20.9 million viewers Sunday, has caused the ratings to fade for NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."

NBC is down 8 percent from last year among all viewers, and 10 percent among viewers aged 18 to 49, while ABC and CBS is up in both categories, Nielsen Media Research said.

NBC is "not doing any worse than we expected them to be," said Steve Sternberg, television analyst for ad buyers Magna Global. "We expected them to be down. The surprise is how well ABC is doing."

It's ABC that has the water-cooler shows, even though NBC had three weeks of Olympics to promote its new programming. With the exception of "The Apprentice" earlier this year, the buzz hasn't been following NBC often enough.

"It's been a slowly building situation," Koerner said, "and there's a lot of pressure on them to come up with something that will work."

On the bright side, the pilot episode for "The Office" - expected in midseason - is hilarious, she said. NBC also has high hopes for some of its reality programming, like "The $25 Million Hoax," which has a woman lying to her family about winning a lottery.

In a week where baseball's postseason boosted Fox, CBS averaged 12.9 million viewers (8.5 rating, 14 share), Fox had 11.8 million (7.7, 12), NBC 10.2 million (6.7, 11), ABC 10 million (6.5, 11), the WB 4 million (2.6, 4), UPN 3.7 million (2.5, 4) and Pax TV 490,000 (0.3, 1).

NBC's "Nightly News" won the evening news ratings race, averaging 10 million viewers (7.6, 14). ABC's "World News Tonight" had 8.9 million viewers (6.9, 13) and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.9 million (4.9, 10).

A ratings point represents 1,096,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 109.6 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

For the week of Oct. 11-17. the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 28.9 million; "CSI: Miami," CBS, 21.9 million; "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 20.9 million; "Without a Trace," CBS, 19.4 million; "Survivor: Vanuatu," CBS, 19.2 million; "Lost," ABC, 18.2 million; "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 18 million; "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 17.2 million; "ER," NBC, 16.8 million; "60 Minutes," CBS, 16.5 million.

slackermonkey · 10-19-2004, 05:28 PM

So NBC expects to regain viewership with Americanized British sitcoms and reality shows?

No wonder they're losing viewers.

barwars · 10-19-2004, 06:17 PM

Keep Saturday Night Live, Joey and Scrubs.... and I'll be happy.

TJL · 10-19-2004, 07:16 PM

NBC should have been preparing for the departure of "Friends" and "Frasier" a few seasons ago, rather than relying on reality shows and "supersized" episodes to plug the holes in thier lineup.

Oh yeah, and I still am laughing my ass off over the faliure of "Coupling" last season.

Dean Winchester · 10-19-2004, 08:03 PM

why does NBC wanna keep doing reality?

we're finally gettng rid of Reality TV, NBC needs to get over it. Reality is a cancer on the face of television

snl75 · 10-19-2004, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by barwars
Keep Saturday Night Live, Joey and Scrubs.... and I'll be happy.

me too

snl75 · 10-19-2004, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TJL
NBC should have been preparing for the departure of "Friends" and "Frasier" a few seasons ago, rather than relying on reality shows and "supersized" episodes to plug the holes in thier lineup.

Oh yeah, and I still am laughing my ass off over the faliure of "Coupling" last season.

i agree with you 100 percent and about the coupling mess im laughing right along with you thats what jeff zucker gets for thinking we who watched his network were stupid morons you know what they say about payback.

barwars · 10-19-2004, 08:37 PM

I still can't get over the fact that they have only 4 sitcoms.... one of which will most likely be finishing off this May.

I think all of the Big 3 networks should have at least 8 sitcoms....

4 on CBS Mondays
4 on NBC Tuesdays
4 on ABC Tuesdays
4 on CBS Wednesdays
4 on NBC Thursdays
4 on ABC Fridays

barwars · 10-19-2004, 08:47 PM

Another thing I don't understand is why NBC wouldn't go for the proposed Frasier spinoff.

And if they kept Watching Ellie in its original format, I think it would have been a hit.

AtlantaBravesFan29 · 10-19-2004, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
why does NBC wanna keep doing reality?

we're finally gettng rid of Reality TV, NBC needs to get over it. Reality is a cancer on the face of television

I agree with you 100%.

In fact,why does any other network wants to keep showing reality shows?? There are too many of them.

spunkygirl · 10-19-2004, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BravesFan2004
I agree with you 100%.

In fact,why does any other network wants to keep showing reality shows?? There are too many of them.

I have to say that too many reality shows might make people sick of them faster. It's like being force fed something poisonous.

spunkygirl · 10-19-2004, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by slackermonkey
So NBC expects to regain viewership with Americanized British sitcoms and reality shows?

No wonder they're losing viewers.

Yep, they don't seem to understand that they're pushing viewers away, instead of drawing them in. Honestly how many new reality shows have lasted? Hardly any.

slackermonkey · 10-19-2004, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by barwars
I still can't get over the fact that they have only 4 sitcoms.... one of which will most likely be finishing off this May.

Which one? "Will & Grace" or "Father of the Pride?" I know it's not "Scrubs" or "Joey."

barwars · 10-19-2004, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by slackermonkey
Which one? "Will & Grace" or "Father of the Pride?" I know it's not "Scrubs" or "Joey."

I've heard that this may be the final season for W&G.
I hope not, I've just begun to like the show.

slackermonkey · 10-19-2004, 09:49 PM

So have I, thanks to the DVDs.

I thought it was "W&G" you were talking about, but some people have been saying that "Father of the Pride" will be gone by the end of the year. It's an awful show, but not doing badly enough to get canceled.

10-19-2004, 05:00 PM	#1
Janice Retired Admin - Hollywood Swingin' Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 03, 2001 Location: Beantown Posts: 36,388	NBC Seeks Footing Without 'Friends' http://apnews.excite.com/article/200...D85QNO3G0.html NBC Seeks Footing Without 'Friends' NEW YORK (AP) - Minus "Friends" or any big breakout hits, NBC has stumbled out of the starting gate this TV season. The once proud peacock lost again last week in the only ratings battle it cares about, among the 18-to-49-year-old demographic that advertisers seek, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday. That makes four losses in four weeks of the new TV season. It's an unaccustomed spot for NBC, which dominated this demo for the last four seasons, and eight out of the last nine, and has taken in the most advertising revenue as a result. It's still early, but NBC ranks third this fall behind CBS and a resurgent ABC among all viewers and among the youthful demographic. "They've lost some of their core properties and now they have to struggle the way everyone has to struggle when they lose their core properties," said Stacey Lynn Koerner, a television analyst for Initiative Media. The last episodes of "Friends" and "Frasier" aired in May. Matt LeBlanc's new "Joey" is the classic good news-bad news case for NBC. With its 13.4 million viewers last week, it was television's third most popular sitcom behind "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Two and a Half Men." It's the top-rated new sitcom. Yet the "Joey" ratings are 34 percent off what "Friends" was doing at the same point last year. Combine that with a 14 percent drop for "The Apprentice" and longtime hit "ER" now losing its time slot to CBS's "Without a Trace," and you've got some problems on Thursday, traditionally television's most profitable night. Other networks' hits have also taken their toll on NBC. The network shelved its new drama "Hawaii" after it tanked in the same time slot as ABC's hit "Lost." NBC is moving another new show, "LAX," into that slot. Meanwhile, "Law & Order" is down 21 percent in the ratings now that it is competing against CBS's "CSI: NY." ABC's "Desperate Housewives," the season's biggest freshman hit with 20.9 million viewers Sunday, has caused the ratings to fade for NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." NBC is down 8 percent from last year among all viewers, and 10 percent among viewers aged 18 to 49, while ABC and CBS is up in both categories, Nielsen Media Research said. NBC is "not doing any worse than we expected them to be," said Steve Sternberg, television analyst for ad buyers Magna Global. "We expected them to be down. The surprise is how well ABC is doing." It's ABC that has the water-cooler shows, even though NBC had three weeks of Olympics to promote its new programming. With the exception of "The Apprentice" earlier this year, the buzz hasn't been following NBC often enough. "It's been a slowly building situation," Koerner said, "and there's a lot of pressure on them to come up with something that will work." On the bright side, the pilot episode for "The Office" - expected in midseason - is hilarious, she said. NBC also has high hopes for some of its reality programming, like "The $25 Million Hoax," which has a woman lying to her family about winning a lottery. In a week where baseball's postseason boosted Fox, CBS averaged 12.9 million viewers (8.5 rating, 14 share), Fox had 11.8 million (7.7, 12), NBC 10.2 million (6.7, 11), ABC 10 million (6.5, 11), the WB 4 million (2.6, 4), UPN 3.7 million (2.5, 4) and Pax TV 490,000 (0.3, 1). NBC's "Nightly News" won the evening news ratings race, averaging 10 million viewers (7.6, 14). ABC's "World News Tonight" had 8.9 million viewers (6.9, 13) and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.9 million (4.9, 10). A ratings point represents 1,096,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 109.6 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show. For the week of Oct. 11-17. the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 28.9 million; "CSI: Miami," CBS, 21.9 million; "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 20.9 million; "Without a Trace," CBS, 19.4 million; "Survivor: Vanuatu," CBS, 19.2 million; "Lost," ABC, 18.2 million; "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 18 million; "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 17.2 million; "ER," NBC, 16.8 million; "60 Minutes," CBS, 16.5 million.

10-19-2004, 05:28 PM	#2
slackermonkey the big yellow joint Senior Member Join Date: Oct 05, 2004 Location: Earth Posts: 1,779	So NBC expects to regain viewership with Americanized British sitcoms and reality shows? No wonder they're losing viewers.
	__________________ ...Derek TV on DVD Checklist: 05/09 - Scrubs: The Complete Third Season 05/30 - Joey: The Complete First Season 06/13 - Cheers: The Complete Eighth Season 06/13 - Frasier: The Complete Eighth Season 06/20 - Justice League: Season 2 07/25 - Animaniacs: Volume 1 10/?? - Scrubs: The Complete Fourth Season 12/06 - Animaniacs: Volume 2

10-19-2004, 07:16 PM	#4
TJL Suburbanite Extrordinaire Forum Star Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: New Jersey - the cradle of civilization Posts: 16,591	NBC should have been preparing for the departure of "Friends" and "Frasier" a few seasons ago, rather than relying on reality shows and "supersized" episodes to plug the holes in thier lineup. Oh yeah, and I still am laughing my ass off over the faliure of "Coupling" last season.
	__________________ "I think I'll stroll up to the front to see how the shooting's going..." - Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce Read my blogs! http://centralparkamisguide.com/ http://dvdcriticscorner.com Visit me on Facebook!http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=641138880 Hey, I do the tweet thing too! http://twitter.com/TomLevier My shop of handmade items! http://www.etsy.com/shop/ColdGarageCreations

10-19-2004, 06:17 PM	#3
barwars .. Forum Star Join Date: May 04, 2002 Posts: 13,273	Keep Saturday Night Live, Joey and Scrubs.... and I'll be happy.

10-19-2004, 08:03 PM	#5
Dean Winchester Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Sep 28, 2003 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 14,803	why does NBC wanna keep doing reality? we're finally gettng rid of Reality TV, NBC needs to get over it. Reality is a cancer on the face of television

10-19-2004, 08:37 PM	#8
barwars .. Forum Star Join Date: May 04, 2002 Posts: 13,273	I still can't get over the fact that they have only 4 sitcoms.... one of which will most likely be finishing off this May. I think all of the Big 3 networks should have at least 8 sitcoms.... 4 on CBS Mondays 4 on NBC Tuesdays 4 on ABC Tuesdays 4 on CBS Wednesdays 4 on NBC Thursdays 4 on ABC Fridays

10-19-2004, 08:47 PM	#9
barwars .. Forum Star Join Date: May 04, 2002 Posts: 13,273	Another thing I don't understand is why NBC wouldn't go for the proposed Frasier spinoff. And if they kept Watching Ellie in its original format, I think it would have been a hit.

10-19-2004, 09:49 PM	#15
slackermonkey the big yellow joint Senior Member Join Date: Oct 05, 2004 Location: Earth Posts: 1,779	So have I, thanks to the DVDs. I thought it was "W&G" you were talking about, but some people have been saying that "Father of the Pride" will be gone by the end of the year. It's an awful show, but not doing badly enough to get canceled.