This is a recording: NBC is in trouble again - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Sal · 04-24-2007, 08:36 PM

The following article is from the jam.canoe.ca website and paints a fairly bleak picture for former ratings powerhouse NBC, which last week reached a new low in viewership. Here are the sad details:

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News keeps getting worse for NBC, setting another low-water mark in prime time

By DAVID BAUDER

NEW YORK (AP) - The news keeps getting worse for NBC, which set a low-water mark for prime-time viewership for the second straight week.

One week after NBC averaged 6.8 million viewers - its smallest in-season audience since at least 1987, and probably well before - the network sank to 6.2 million last week, according to Nielsen Media Research. "They are just in a complete mess," said Marc Berman, a television analyst for Media Week Online.

NBC notes that TV viewership in general is lower, with all of the broadcast networks down 10 per cent from last year over the past three weeks, and that the network has been airing several reruns to hoard original series episodes for the May ratings sweeps.

But the network had only three shows among Nielsen's 30 most popular last week - two of them editions of the game show "Deal or No Deal." None of the week's top 16 shows were on NBC.

Aging franchises "Law & Order" and "The Apprentice" aren't helping, Berman said. NBC's Thursday comedy lineup, while critically acclaimed, hasn't broken through to a mass audience with shows such as "The Office" and "30 Rock."

An original episode of "Scrubs" last week drew only 5.6 million viewers, Nielsen said.

"They coasted on Thursdays for over a full decade and they can't do it anymore," Berman said. "What are they going to do now? They're in a lot of trouble."

One bright spot on Monday was the return of "Heroes" from a hiatus with 12 million viewers and first place in its time slot among youthful viewers. Still, the series had been averaging 14.8 million viewers before going on a break.

Fox won the prime-time ratings race, averaging 10.3 million viewers (6.3 rating, 11 share). CBS had 9.6 million (6.3, 11), ABC 9.5 million (6.2, 10), NBC 6.2 million (4.2, 7), the CW 3 million (2.0, 3), My Network TV 810,000 (0.6, 1) and the ion network had 590,000 (0.4, 1).

Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision averaged 3.8 million viewers (2.1 rating, 3 share), Telemundo had 920,000 viewers (0.5, 1), TeleFutura 530,000 (0.3, 1) and Azteca 150,000 (0.1, 0).

A ratings point represents 1,114,000 households, or one per cent of the estimated 111.4 million TV homes in the U.S. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

For the week of April 16-22, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 28.93 million; "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 26.55 million; "House," Fox, 22.41 million; "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 21.13 million; "Dancing With the Stars" (Monday), ABC, 18.87 million; "Dancing With the Stars Results" (Tuesday), 16.54 million; "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 15.91 million; "CSI: Miami," CBS, 15.36 million; "Survivor: Fiji," CBS, 13.33 million; "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 13.03 million.

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ABC is owned The Walt Disney Co. CBS is a division of CBS Corp. Fox is a unit of News Corp. NBC is owned General Electric Co. Telemundo is owned General Electric. TeleFutura is a division of Univision. The i network is owned ION Media Networks.

catlover79 · 04-25-2007, 12:15 AM

How the mighty have fallen. I'm surprised ER wasn't mentioned in the "aging franchises" remark.

Ant-Lox · 04-25-2007, 04:26 AM

As long as NBC Doesn't Can L&O SVU I'm alright.

catlover79 · 04-25-2007, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ant-Lox

As long as NBC Doesn't Can L&O SVU I'm alright.

I wouldn't worry about SVU. I think that's one of NBC's few hits right now.

NotMyNewsChannel3 · 04-25-2007, 09:16 AM

It's almost like the late '70s again for NBC.

JulieSomoski · 04-25-2007, 03:28 PM

In my opinion, NBC is not picking any of the right shows to air on their lineup. Of all their new shows this season, the only breakthrough was "Heroes", which at least can get into the top 20. Others are just falling through week after week, and no one wants to watch them. Now they are relying on corny game shows to fill their airwaves, while FOX, which almost always came in low each week in ratings, is number 1.

TVFactFan · 04-25-2007, 03:30 PM

Well they bettre get rod of the Apprentice, it's affecting the overall numbers

catlover79 · 04-25-2007, 03:39 PM

Maybe they should drag out Pink Lady & Jeff, Manimal, Supertrain and Hello Larry again! I think those would be more fun to watch than the current NBC primetime lineup!!

TVFactFan · 04-25-2007, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catlover79

Maybe they should drag out Pink Lady & Jeff, Manimal, Supertrain and Hello Larry again! I think those would be more fun to watch than the current NBC primetime lineup!!

Hello Larry was a one year wonder

TJL · 04-25-2007, 06:51 PM

It's too bad.

NBC has the funniest comedies on TV right now.

I guess I'm the only one watching them.

noveel · 04-25-2007, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catlover79

Maybe they should drag out Pink Lady & Jeff, Manimal, Supertrain and Hello Larry again! I think those would be more fun to watch than the current NBC primetime lineup!!

WWBD-What Would Brandon (Tartikoff) Do?

catlover79 · 04-25-2007, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noveel

WWBD-What Would Brandon (Tartikoff) Do?

I don't know, but I think we can rule out Fred Silverman becoming NBC President again.

04-24-2007, 08:36 PM	#1
Sal Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Jul 20, 2001 Location: Oakville, Ont. Canada Posts: 6,150	This is a recording: NBC is in trouble again The following article is from the jam.canoe.ca website and paints a fairly bleak picture for former ratings powerhouse NBC, which last week reached a new low in viewership. Here are the sad details: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- News keeps getting worse for NBC, setting another low-water mark in prime time By DAVID BAUDER NEW YORK (AP) - The news keeps getting worse for NBC, which set a low-water mark for prime-time viewership for the second straight week. One week after NBC averaged 6.8 million viewers - its smallest in-season audience since at least 1987, and probably well before - the network sank to 6.2 million last week, according to Nielsen Media Research. "They are just in a complete mess," said Marc Berman, a television analyst for Media Week Online. NBC notes that TV viewership in general is lower, with all of the broadcast networks down 10 per cent from last year over the past three weeks, and that the network has been airing several reruns to hoard original series episodes for the May ratings sweeps. But the network had only three shows among Nielsen's 30 most popular last week - two of them editions of the game show "Deal or No Deal." None of the week's top 16 shows were on NBC. Aging franchises "Law & Order" and "The Apprentice" aren't helping, Berman said. NBC's Thursday comedy lineup, while critically acclaimed, hasn't broken through to a mass audience with shows such as "The Office" and "30 Rock." An original episode of "Scrubs" last week drew only 5.6 million viewers, Nielsen said. "They coasted on Thursdays for over a full decade and they can't do it anymore," Berman said. "What are they going to do now? They're in a lot of trouble." One bright spot on Monday was the return of "Heroes" from a hiatus with 12 million viewers and first place in its time slot among youthful viewers. Still, the series had been averaging 14.8 million viewers before going on a break. Fox won the prime-time ratings race, averaging 10.3 million viewers (6.3 rating, 11 share). CBS had 9.6 million (6.3, 11), ABC 9.5 million (6.2, 10), NBC 6.2 million (4.2, 7), the CW 3 million (2.0, 3), My Network TV 810,000 (0.6, 1) and the ion network had 590,000 (0.4, 1). Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision averaged 3.8 million viewers (2.1 rating, 3 share), Telemundo had 920,000 viewers (0.5, 1), TeleFutura 530,000 (0.3, 1) and Azteca 150,000 (0.1, 0). A ratings point represents 1,114,000 households, or one per cent of the estimated 111.4 million TV homes in the U.S. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show. For the week of April 16-22, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 28.93 million; "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 26.55 million; "House," Fox, 22.41 million; "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 21.13 million; "Dancing With the Stars" (Monday), ABC, 18.87 million; "Dancing With the Stars Results" (Tuesday), 16.54 million; "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 15.91 million; "CSI: Miami," CBS, 15.36 million; "Survivor: Fiji," CBS, 13.33 million; "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 13.03 million. - ABC is owned The Walt Disney Co. CBS is a division of CBS Corp. Fox is a unit of News Corp. NBC is owned General Electric Co. Telemundo is owned General Electric. TeleFutura is a division of Univision. The i network is owned ION Media Networks.
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04-25-2007, 12:15 AM	#2
catlover79 God Bless Val Forum Addict Join Date: May 29, 2006 Location: Bewitched in Ohio Posts: 70,376	How the mighty have fallen. I'm surprised ER wasn't mentioned in the "aging franchises" remark.
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04-25-2007, 04:26 AM	#3
Ant-Lox Cloud Watcher Senior Member Join Date: Feb 18, 2004 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 1,824	As long as NBC Doesn't Can L&O SVU I'm alright.
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04-25-2007, 06:51 PM	#10
TJL Suburbanite Extrordinaire Forum Star Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: New Jersey - the cradle of civilization Posts: 16,591	It's too bad. NBC has the funniest comedies on TV right now. I guess I'm the only one watching them.
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04-25-2007, 09:16 AM	#5
NotMyNewsChannel3 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Apr 05, 2007 Location: Hertford, NC Posts: 84	It's almost like the late '70s again for NBC.

04-25-2007, 03:28 PM	#6
JulieSomoski Roseanne Reboot - March 27! Forum Veteran Join Date: Nov 06, 2004 Location: Michigan Posts: 7,558	In my opinion, NBC is not picking any of the right shows to air on their lineup. Of all their new shows this season, the only breakthrough was "Heroes", which at least can get into the top 20. Others are just falling through week after week, and no one wants to watch them. Now they are relying on corny game shows to fill their airwaves, while FOX, which almost always came in low each week in ratings, is number 1.

04-25-2007, 03:30 PM	#7
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 98,951	Well they bettre get rod of the Apprentice, it's affecting the overall numbers

04-25-2007, 03:39 PM	#8
catlover79 God Bless Val Forum Addict Join Date: May 29, 2006 Location: Bewitched in Ohio Posts: 70,376	Maybe they should drag out Pink Lady & Jeff, Manimal, Supertrain and Hello Larry again! I think those would be more fun to watch than the current NBC primetime lineup!!