9 Scheduling Strategies for Television

In this chapter you wili learn about the ence are ali factors to be assessed before foliowing: the show is committed to the schedule. The importance of scheduling decisions TELEVISION SCHEDULING • The scheduling strategies of commer• cia1 and cable networks Many of the strategies used in schedul• ing commercial television can be found • How the urge to compete molds in cable. There are differences, but more schedules similarities exist. Clearly, both share a • How sweeps affect schedules desire to program to the available audi• • How changing a show's time slot on ence and a desire to employ scheduling the schedule can improve a show's techniques that wili work the best for performance them. Commercia1 stations, cable sys• • How patience or the lack of it can tems, and satellite providers all want to affect a program's success protect their programming with the best To construct a successful programming possible schedules. lineup, programmers must do more than It is different with syndication. Syn• just fili the time periods. Many TV dicators seli to stations and rarely, at least shows that, at first blush, seemed to initialiy, are able to dictate time periods. contain all the right ingredients for a After a syndicated show has been on the long and profitable life have had short air awhile and has developed a large fol• and painful demises for reasons apart lowing, the distributor may be strong from their inherent merit. Programs not enough to demand a specific position only have to be developed but also have on the schedule. One suspects, for to be nurtured. Too many productions example, that when Oprah Winfrey's have simply been tossed on the air with company, Harpo, launched "Dr. Phil," no plan, no promotion, no lead-in, and she was able to require that "Dr. Phil" therefore, no chance. not compete directly with her and that Once programmers have produced a it be given a good time slot. (In Los promising show, they must be equally Angeles, Oprah airs at 3:00 P.M. on adept at placing and treating it on the ABC and "Dr. Phil" airs at 4:00 P.M. on schedule. The time period, the compe• NBC.) Certain shows are designed for a tition, and the receptivity of the audi- particular daypart and cannot be sched-

21! 216 PROGRAMMING FOR TV, RADIO, AND THE INTERNET

uled effectively anywhere e1se. But the a show with a predominant teen appea! syndicators mostly sell the shows, and on a Saturday night. That audience is the stations place them whenever they not home. They are at movie theaters, wish. basketball games, or anywhere other Ideally, programmers seek a large than in front of the set with mom and audience with the leadoff show and dad. structure the programs that follow so ABC re1earned this lesson in the that the audience will watch continu• 1990-1991 season. The network bucked ously throughout the schedule. This is the conventional wisdom and scheduled not always possible. Sometimes a com• a nightlong lineup for the 18 to 34 year petitor's opening program will be an olds: "The Young Riders," "Twin Peaks," established blockbuster that makes it and "China Beach" (replaced midseason impossible for others to start effectively. by"Under Cover"). ABC hoped that if Other times the competitor's strength it built the franchise, the young viewers may be in the middle of the schedule. would come. They did not. In the last Then, the only strategy is to ride out the week of their Saturday telecasts, "Twin "bad" period and attempt to rebuild Peaks" and "Under Cover" were tied for when the power block is over and the 85th place among 89 programs rated by audience is released. Nielsen. But late Saturday night? That When putting together a schedule, is something different. Many young programmers should consider the ele• viewers have returned home by then ments described in the sections that and are eager for entertainment, as "Sat• follow. urday Night Live" has impressively proved for more than 4 decades. Fitting the Show to the When buying syndicated shows, Available Audience station programmers look for series appropriate to the time period. When• As we explained earlier, most programs ever possible, a network affiliate will try have a primary appeal to a particular to buy a syndicated show that coordi• audience. For example, action-adventure nates with a network lead-in (assuming appeals principally to men, sitcoms to the lead-in is strong) to continue the women, contemporary music to teens, audience flow. serials to younger women, and talk Before locking in a program, pro• shows and game shows to older women. grammers must study the time period's Occasionally, a particular show will demographic history. If the target audi• attract an almost universal audience, as ence is underrepresented, a more favor• when more than 90% of all the homes able position should be sought. No in the country watched at least one matter how strong the show, if the key episode of"Roots" when it was initially viewers are not available, the project aired in 1977. Often something of a will fail. current nature, such as the coverage of a war or disaster, will also have wide Dayparting appeal. But generally the primary appeal of a show is to a specific demographic Closely related to the principle of fitting group. the show to the available audience is the Therefore, a program must be placed concept of dayparting. People's needs, at a time in which its core viewers are activities, and moods change throughout available. It makes no sense to schedule the day, and dayparting takes this into 9 Seheduling Strategies for Television

account by changing what is presented overstimulated, and viewers turn in for and how it is presented. the night at varying times. Segmented ln the morning, when people first shows permit people to switch off the wake up, they often want information to set after an interview has been com• help them plan the day-weather, traffic pleted. In this way,a programmer is able reports, and important news. Because to attract a large number of viewers for most people must go to work, they do at least part of a show.If a 2-hour movie not have a great deal of time to spend was scheduled, the viewer might be with media. That is why many of the tempted to say,"I can't watch all of it; morning shows are divided into short therefore, I won't watch any of it." segments. Early morning is also a time Stations that stay on through the early when young children watch television, morning hours, as a service to insom• often as their parents are getting ready niacs or night workers who do not want for work. The children's cable channel' to retire as soon as they come home, Noggin, for example, offers a pre-school usually fill the time with inexpensive block in the mornings. movies or, on cable, paid programming As the morning wears on, people in the form of infomercials.This is more who spend time with television are able for economic reasons than daypart strat• to do so in a more leisurely fashion.As egy.Lately,networks have been supply• a result, game shows, soap operas, and ing news to their affiliates during the talk shows dominate daytime TY. wee hours, and a small but devoted ln the midafternoon, students return audience of news junkies have tuned in. home from school. Many television sta• On the weekend, programming tions change programming fare to appeal changes dramatically to accommodate to these children. In the afternoon, the lifestyle of the audience. The Noggin offers "Bob the Builder,""Dora daytime lineups are studded with sport• the Explorer," and "Oswald." Mter 6:00 ing events to reach the male viewers P.M., Noggin appeals to older children, available in abundance. Saturday ftlling out its dayparting schedule for morning is often devoted to children's children from the youngest in the morn• programming to accommodate early• ings to the oldest in the early evening. rising children and their late-rising As people begin arriving home from parents. Saturday evening schedules are work, many TV stations switch rr-om canted toward the older audience in programming oriented toward children recognition of the absence of teens and and homemakers to news. This allows young adults. Sunday morning on the adults to catch up on the day's events. networks is wall-to-wall news and The evening is the time for the most public affairsprogramming.This is partly leisurely TV viewing of all-the time to take advantage of the availability of when all categories of viewers are, in adults who have the time to digest the theory at least, able to spend several news in deeper more thoughtful quan• hours with one or more programs. tities, but it is also a way to pay off Comedy, drama, and reality are the public service obligations in a commer• primary fare during these hours. cially insensitive time period. Networks From 11:30 P.M. until 12:30 or 1:00 and stations can point with pride to A.M., the talk/variety form presented in these estimable service shows whenever segments has been most popular for two their community consciousness is called basic reasons:people who are preparing into question without sacrificing large for sleep generally do not want to be profits in the process. 218 PROGRAMMING FOR TV, RADIO, AND THE INTERNET

"Teletubbies""Sesame"Charlie"Arthur""Between"The NewsHourRose"Street"the Lions"with Jim Lehrer" Eastern Standard Time "Hot"OnQ""Mister"Dragon"Dr."Barney"Clifford"Hot"Cyberchase""Liberty's"OnQ""America's"NightlyProgramWayneandRogers'&Tales"BusinessSpicy"theKids"Friends"HomeDyer:BigNeighborhood"RedTheCooking:Report"Dog"PowerCasserolesof Intention"Intention"and is not the ease with PBS, although in Covered Dishes" 7:30P.M.Midnight3:00P.M.4:12P.M.4:487:00P.M.5:30A.M.9:34A.M.8:577:06A.M.7:435:24P.M.6:00P.M.8:00P.M.2:00P.M.3:36P.M.1:308:20A.M.6:00A.M.11:531:00P.M.12:30A.M.10:4712:3010:11A.M.P.M.A.M.P.M. reeent years informal pressure has been pIaeed on the major PBS aftiliatesto run most of the programs at set times. The reason behind this ehange is that PBS wants to develop national promotional eampaigns that tell all viewers exaetly when they ean expeet to see a partie• ular program on their Ioeal PBS sta• tion. But stations often have minds of their own regarding what time of day eertain programs should alr lil their eommunities. Although proeedures differ from station to station, most publie TV sta• tions daypart, often with shows for ehil• dren in the mornings and afternoons; programs for women during midday when ehildren are likely to be napping; and news, interviews, and self-help shows throughout the evening into Iate night (Figure 9.1).

Launching the Show: The First Strategy For a program to be a sueeess,it must fi.rstbe sampIed. If viewers are unaware of a show,the early ratings will be weak and the series likeIy will Ianguish quiekly. In a soft eeonomie environ• ment, buyers are disinclined to stay with programs that do not instantly indieate promise. Programmers have devised two strategiesto hasten the sampling proeess: introduce the show in a quiet time, and pIaee the premiere when a large audi• ence is virtually guaranteed.

Introducing the Show in a Quiet Time. Figure 9.1 Publie teIevision stations determine For many years, the television season This schedule Jor their own dayparting to a much greater was clearly set: it started in the fali and March 8, 2004, degree than the commercial stations ended in the spring. One reason for this JorWQED in affiliated with NBC, CBS, ABC, and was that business affairs executives Pittsburgh is a Fox.The contract signed between com• insisted that the networks eould not typical PBS mereial networks and affiliatespenalizes schedule. mord to air original programs in the a station if it does not run a program summer, ad rates being .Iower in the when the network wants it to run. Such summer when viewership is down. To 9 Scheduling Strategies for Television 219 make the shows financia11yfeasible,they series "The o.c.," about the lives and argued, it was essentia! to schedule loves of teenagers in Orange County, reruns in the summer. California. Competition, the proliferation of USA network, for example, launches viewer options, the marketplace,and the its origina! programming outside of proliferation of reality shows that do not sweepsto get sampling and awarenessin repeat well have he1ped create a season a quiet time. that runs virtually a11year. This has enabled programmers to avoid putting Placing the Show in a Hit Time Period. their shows up against heavy compe• A favorite launching strategy is to tition in the fa11or even at the start schedule a newcomer after a monster of the so-ca11edsecond season in the event, the Super Bowl being the idea! spring. It is thus a little easier to find a choice. Hardly a year goes by that the quiet time to introduce a show, avoid• network carrying the game does not ing the c1uttered"premiere week" of old introduce a new show behind it in the when only a few shows could survive. hope that the largest audience of the There is stili a lot of ta!k and specula• year will like what it sees and an instant tion about the shows that wili launch a hit wili be born. Sometimes it works fa11season, but this hype belies that a and sometimes it does not. Although the "season" is now essentiallyyear round. resultsvary,the strategy is fundamentally Fox is generally credited with having sound. There is no better way to get a led the trend toward the expansion to program sampled than to place it imme• the year-round "season."ln the summer diate1yfollowing a blockbuster event. of 1991, Peter Chernin, president of A variation of this strategy is to time Fox Entertainment, dec1ared that his slot a newcomer in a time period that company had fa11eninto the same "self• follows a powerhouse series, such as destructive" practice of launching a11 "Frasier,"as NBC did with "Scrubs," or new shows in the fall.He noted that the "Everybody Loves Raymond," as CBS previous season the four networks had did with "Two and a Half Men." "introduced 34 new series as if it was a Many industry observers would agree massacre.Seventy-fivepercent fai1ed.No with Alan Wurtze1, NBC's president of other business debuts its product like research and media deve1opment, that that. No longer at Fox.We will roll out 50% of a11households that wili ever new series in every month of the year."l watch a program wili get hooked by one His new plan went into effect in ]u1y of the first two episodes. Obviously,the 1991 with the premiere of "Beverly sooner they sample these shows, the Hilis, 90210." "In the first week," better. This is why broadcasters strive so Chernin c1aimed,"it showed an 84% tire1esslyto deve10pnew techniques to improvement over its '90-'91 average."z bring viewers into the tent from the By mid-fa11it was second in its time beginning. period, topped only by the formidable HBO has found an effective way to veteran, "Cheers." capita!ize on its own version of a hit Not every show that premieres in an time period. Because of the success of off time becomes a hit, but Fox again "Sex and the City" and "The Sopranos," showed prodigious off-season results in HBO found that by a!ternating these the summer of 2002 with the reality two shows in the same time period, it show "American Idol" and in the could command the Sunday 9:00 P.M. summer of 2003 when it introduced its period. HBO may launch most of its 220 PROGRAMMING FOR T~ RADia, AND THE INTERNET

Figure 9.2 "The Sopranos" (a and b) and "Sex and the City" (c) established a stronghold for HBO on Sunday nights at 9:00. (Photo of Edie Falco and ]ames Gandolfini from "The Sopranos" courtesy the Academy of Te1evisionArts & Sciences;photo of "Sex and the City" from (b) Globe Photos, Even though a new show may achieve Inc.) (a) a higher share of audience in July than in September, the pie is so much smaller that the total audience may still fall short of a conventional launch. Second, January premieres run into station clearance difficulties. Station man• agers who commit to programs in the fall are frequently locked into pay-or• play contracts for at least 26 weeks. For purely economic reasons, they may wish to stay with a failing show until the fun commitment is satisfied, particularly during a recessionary period. Programs launched in January may have to strug• gle for months with subpar lineups unti! (c) additional time periods break open. To repeat, the first objective of a original movies Saturday nights, but it launch is to get the program sampled. has also managed to carve out this Any technique of timing that enables Sunday night stronghold (Figure 9.2). the program to be introduced when it will confront the least competition is Launching Syndicated Series. There are desirable. However, this advantage must two major factors militating against any be weighed against the less attractive sort of wholesale departure from fall factors of starting in a period of low set premieres for syndicated shows. First, usage, being forced to schedule reruns summer households using television in high HUT months when opponents (HUT) and persons using television will be running original episodes, and (PUT) levels are considerably lower offering a show for sale when many than those in the fall-spring period. buyers cannot accommodate it. 9 Scheduling Strategies for Television 221

Tentpoling were fewer and the remote control unit had not yet been invented. The long You have just seen that one of the best walk from the couch to the set was ways to gain sampling for a show is to more exercise than most viewers cared introduce it behind a big hit. The same for, and given a reasonable excuse to stay principle can be applied to programs put, they would. Today they can whiz struggling elsewhere on the schedule. By through 30 channels before the next moving these next to hits, they can often show's opening credits have rolled, and be revived and enjoy healthy,lengthy runs. the pass-along strategy is less assured. Sometimes a powerhouse show is N evertheless, it continues its useful• strong enough to hold up programs ness. "A Different World," a comedy both before and after it. If a new show spin-off of the "The Cosby Show" was is scheduled right before a popular introduced in September 1987 immedi• program, people tuning in early in ately following the parent program, anticipation of the hit wi11 sample the which, at that time, was the No. 1 show end of the new entry. Hopefully, they on television. The derivative production wi11be intrigued and tune in the next was an instant success and remained in week for the entire show. Placing an the Top 10 for 4 years, although the established show before a hit is not as show was often dismissed as simply strong a programming strategy as placing riding on the "Cosby" coattails. This dis• it after, but the method can work. missal was unfair, as revealed by the This concept of scheduling weak or number of seemingly compatible shows new programs around a strong show is that have failed following "Friends;' one referred to as tentpoling-the pole in of the most successful shows in televi• the middle holds up the two weaker sion history. Four years as a Top 10 show shows, especially the one that follows. does not just happen as a result of for• The Fox network made excellent use tuitous placement on a schedule. of tentpoles when it expanded the Station managers use this same tent• number of evenings it broadcast. It had poling strategy with blockbuster syn• developed a strong Sunday lineup that dication series. When "Jeopardy" was included "The Simpsons," "America's launched in its third incarnation in Most Wanted," and "Married ... With 1984, it was placed behind the tri• Children." When it expanded to more umphant "Wheel of Fortune" in many nights of programming in 1990, it used markets. It quickly became an enormous these popu1ar programs as anchors for success and helped form an invulnerable the other nights-"The Simpsons" on hour of dominance. Although PBS does Thursday, "America's Most Wanted" on not carry out scheduling strategies with Friday, and "Married ... With Chil• the same fanaticism as the commercial dren" on Sunday. Fox has used this strat• and cable networks, it also has its tent• egy several times over the years. For pole shows, programs such as "American example, after "Malcolm in the Middle" Masters," "Great Performances," established itself by following "The "Mystery," and "The NewsHour with Simpsons;' Fox moved it to Sundays at Jim Lehrer." 9:00 P.M. in the 2002-2003 season, where it became another tentpole for Hammocking the network. Tentpoling was far more effective in Probably the surest way to generate an the precable era, when program choices audience for a new program is to slot it 222 PROGRAMMING FOR TV, RADIO, AND THE INTERNET

between two established shows, called 8:00 to 9:00 P.M., ABC scheduled two the hammock principle.With power in situation comedies, the second of which, front and power behind, the new "Home Improvement" was a promising program benefits from both the pass• newcomer comfortably placed between along viewing from the preceding show the we11-established"Fu11 House" and and the anticipated entertainment from the No. 1-rated series,"Roseanne." CBS the fo11owing program. Hammocking countered with "Rescue 911," a fast• is a frequently employed strategy. For paced "actuality" adventure, and NBC example, it is often seen in children's introduced ''1'11FiyAway,"a soft,family• cartoon blocks in which a newcomer is value-focused, dramatic series. In the sandwiched betWeen two established 9:00 to 10:00 P.M. hour, ABC contin• senes. ued its comedy skein with the afore• Expectations are higher with ham• mentioned "Roseanne" and "Coach," a mocked shows,such as NBC's "Jesse"or show that had blossomed into a hit in "Cursed." Placed between "Friends" and its enviable time period. Again, the two "Will & Grace," these shows were competitors had to seek an alternative simply unable to take advantage of being audience. CBS elected to present feature in prime television real estate in 1999 films, and NBC offered "In the Heat of and 2000, respectively,and were quickly the Night," a law enforcement adventure canceled. series. To close out the night, ABC A story (possibly apocryphal) is decided to try a new family drama, told about ABC President Leonard "Homefront;' in the belief that the Goldenson in the early days of the lineup's tremendous momentum would network, when a running joke was pass along a large audience to the new• "They ought to put the Vietnam War on comer and give it a good chance of ABC-it would be canceled in 13 success. CBS played the second half of weeks." Goldenson observed that his its movie, and NBC fo11owed"In the competitors were separating two hits Heat of the Night" with another crime• and sliding a new show in between. and-punishment series, "Law & Order." Impressedby this strategy,he supposedly This nightlong effort on the part of each asked his programming chief, "Why broadcaster to carve away an audience don't we do that?" "Because, Leonard," on which the others are not concen• came the response,"we don't have two trating is classic counterprogramming hits." strategy. Going to Tuesday nights for the 2002 Counterprogramming season, six networks were competing against each other instead of three.ABC No program, no matter how popu1ar, submitted a comedy block from 8:00 to can satisfyall viewers.The neglected or 10:00 P.M., leading into thesteady dissatisfied audience becomes a good "NYPD Blue," even though it had no target for competing shows. The tactic hit show to use as a tentpole and did of filling a time period with a program not have two hits shows to use for a whose appeal is dissimilar to an oppo• hammock. NBC also went with comedy nents is ca11edcounterprogramming. from 8:00 to 10:00 P.M.Although it had The 1991 three-network prime-time a strong show in "Frasier" to use as a lineup Tuesday nights (Fox did not tentpole, "Hidden Hills" proved a provide programming Tuesday nights in failure.NBC went with a news show at 1991) provides a good example of this 10:00 P.M. to compete with the dramas device from television history. From on CBS and ABC. CBS went with 9 Seheduling Strategie s for Television 223 older-skewing dramas for the entire This "ER"-"Chicago Hope" scenario night. Fox countered with a hipper raises the question, "What do you do drama,"24," at 9:00 P.M.and used its hit against a monster hit?" Network execu• show,"That '70s Show,"to jumpstart its tives have wrestled with this problem night against the competing comedies. from "I Love Lucy" in the 1950s "Gilmore Girls" on the WB and "Buffy through the "The Cosby Show" in the the Vampire Slayer"on UPN went head 1980s and "ER" in the 1990s to "CSI" to head, targeting the younger demo• starting in 2000. The temptation is to graphics at 8:00 P.M., followed at 9:00 throw up a test pattern, abandon the P.M. by "Smallville" on the WB and time period, and hope no one will "Haunted" on UPN; "Smallville" won notice. A pleasant fantasy,but unrealistic. that battle. Six competitors from 8:00 to At tirnes programmers have decided to 10:00 P.M. (and back to three at 10:00 cut their losses and fill the period with P.M.) makes counterprogramming more the most inexpensive programming complex because the shares of the pie available.A strong case can be made for are bound to be a lot smaller,particu• fiscalprudence, but there is a big risk to larly with the influx of cable. simply not showing up. When an opponent has tried to stake For one thing, stations have to sell a claim on a particular audience but has commercials around the period, and the done so with a relativelyweak entry, the spots will be wortWess if the program best strategy may be to go after that does not register. Also, such a lack of audience with a stronger version of the effort says all the wrong things to the same genre. If the move is successful,the company's many constituents (adver• challenger will capture the viewers and tisers,investors,etc.).Most executivesfeel seriously erode the opponents audience it is best to try something experimental. base not only for that time period but There is not much to lose, and, who possibly for the ensuing ones. knows, they might just get lucky. Even It seems strange that two medical if it does not work, critics and com• dramaswould be scheduled against each mentators will applaud the innovative other, particularlywhen schedules are so effort and this will help ease the pain of carefullyput together with counterpro• a stricken time period. gramming in mind. This, however, was SylvesterL. "Pat"Weaver, president of the case in September 1994 when CBS NBC- TV in the early 1950s, recalled, scheduled"Chicago Hope" at 10:00P.M. "Whenever the other guys came up on Thursdays and NBC scheduled"ER" with a big winner, I knew it was time at the same time. It was immediately to call in my zanies, the guys with the clear that "ER" had megahit written all off-the-wall ideas. I knew no conven• over it and that if "Chicago Hope" had tional show could make it, but maybe any chance of survival, it needed to something really unusual might click." be moved, quickly. In October 1994, ABC scored strongly with this strat• "Chicago Hope" was moved an hour egy in 1990. CBS's "Murder, She earlier on Thursdays, and in December Wrote," preceded by the powerhouse 1994, it was moved to Monday nights "60 Minutes," had been delivering at 10:00 when, under David E. Kelley's hammer blows to the opposition since masterful hand, it established itself as a 1984.ABC decided to take a flyer on a solid hit for CBS. Had the network not program that featured home videotapes acted to protect the show, "Chicago shot by ordinary citizens. The novel Hope" might not have been able to concept caught on and "America's Fun• survivethe "ER" juggernaut. niest Home Videos" became a perennial 224 PROGRAMMING FOR TV; RADIO, AND THE INTERNET

Figure 9.3 "The Baehelor" (a) was succesifully seheduled against "The VVest Wing." It made the rose eeremony into a nationwide watercooler phenomenon. Its sueeess led tothe spin-ojf "The Baehelorette" (b). (Photos © ABe Photography Archives.) (a)

deliver solid, if unspectacular, ratings at an affordable cost to the network. There are times when it is an excel• lent strategy to take on a blockbuster hit. The timing must be right, but if it is, the colossus can be toppled. Two con• ditions are required: the incumbent hit must be in a waning state and the chal• lenger must be a promising show in the early stages of its ascent. These are two critical and delicate judgments for the programmer, and if either is wrong the venture will fail. When ABC's head scheduler, Jeff Bader, sensed that NBC's prestige drama, "The West Wing," was vulnerable in the fall of 2002, he felt the timing was right to pit an unscripted series, "The Bachelor," against it (Figure 9.3). (b) He was dead on, and the strong, younger demographics that "The Bachelor" and its companion piece, "The Bache• "safety valve" used by ABC as a quick lorette;' garnered made the victory even fix when other scheduhng was not sweeter. working. Its ratings never achieved the Similarly, CBS's Les Moonves was heights that they did at the start, but the able to take on NBC's· seemingly show could always be counted on to impenetrable Thursday night "Must See 9 Seheduling Strategies for Television 225

TV" by moving "Survivor" (Figure 9.4) and "CSI" to Thursday nights in 2001, adding "Without a Trace" to the mix to create a powerful assault on NBC's former stronghold. For independent stations, counter• programrning remains simply a way of life. They must always exarnine the schedules of their network-affiliated opponents and go after the audience left unattended.

Bridging and Supersizing

The less opportunity the audience has to sample your adversary's program, the ruptions became popular at the start of better chance you have for success. If the new century as a means of bridging you have something compelIing unfold• two shows. This continuous action seeks ing when the competition is about to to hook viewers before they have a start, you distract the viewer from the chance to go elsewhere. And some temptation to stray. shows start a few seconds before the The most effective use of this strategy hour or half hour, refusing to alIow is to have a program under way welI in viewers to jump ship. advance of the competitor's start time. Supersizing, adding 10 minutes to a N etworks and stations have often sched• half-hour show such as "Friends" or an uled shows to begin before the start of extra half hour to an hour-long reality a powerful opposing show. Viewers who phenomenon such as "Fear Factor," also have invested a fulI hour in a program became popular as a bridging strategy are unlikely to break away for something in the early 21st century, pioneered else. Bridging takes place at different by NBC Entertainment President Jeff times during the day. For example, the Zucker. The theory behind supersizing highly rated, long-lasting (it began in is that viewers enjoying extra time with 1971) CBS soap, "The Young and the one of their favorite shows will not turn Restless" starts a half hour earlier than the dial to another show already in the other soaps. progress. Supersizing is clearly fun and it A variation on the bridging strategy has been working, although program• is to edit a longform program so that mers should be wary of overusing it; the the competitor's start time is spanned by novelty can wear off. entertainment. Take, for example, a 9:00 As with many other programrning to 10:00 P.M. program opposed by 2 strategies, bridging has been affected by half hours. If the producer of the hour• the invention of the remote tuner. long program schedules a 2-minute During commercial breaks, hyperactive commercial from 9:25 to 9:27 P.M., a TV viewers may zip to five or six chan• strong piece of action can be unfolding nels to find other fare or just to satisty at 9:30 P.M. when the second of the 2 their curiosity as to what else is playing. half hours is about to begin. If the program they have been watching Going seamlessly from one show to has been intriguing enough, they will the next without any commercial inter- return. But if something else catches 226 PROGRAMMING FOR TV, RADIO, AND THE INTERNET

the special or movie should bridge the newcomer's start time. If there is suffi• cient lead time and program inventory permits, a series of extraordinary events and programming can be placed in the time period for weeks leading up to the competition's premiere. The idea is to build a viewing habit so binding that a Figure 9.5 viewer will not be tempted to seek pro• Legendary gramming elsewhere. programmer Pred Blunting requires vigilance and im• Silverman ís agination. No programmer should recognízed as the supinely "cave" against the premiere of Jounder oj bluntíng. an opponents show, especially one that (Courtesy the occupies a key position in the schedule. Academy of Obviously, no company has the TelevisionArts & resources to attempt to blunt every Sciences.) competitive move. But if there is a lot riding on the outcome of the new their fancy, even though it may be almost show's launch, every effort should be over, they may become a lost viewer. made to capture the viewer with greater attractions. The recognized founder of the blunt• Blunting ing technique in network television is A cousin to bridging is blunting. The Fred Silverman (Figure 9.5). When he goal is the same: minimize the com• became program chief of CBS in 1970, petitor's opportunity to be sampled. he instituted a policy of yearlong vigi• Except under the direst emergencies, the lance. Large sheets of paper were premieres of all programs are announced designed in which space was provided many weeks in advance. The need for for the programs of the three networks, notification to advertisers and affiliated half hour by half hour, for all seven stations, plus the time to rev up a pro• nights of the week. A sheet was main• motion campaign, makes last-minute tained for every week. Each week, key introductions impractical. In a world CBS network strategists met to where competition is king and domi• exchange information and update the nating your opponent often takes prece• charts. As soon as one of the other net• dence over thoughtful programming works made a program announcement, decisions, the long lead period enables the plotting began. Rarely was an ABC rivals to fashion competitive strategies. or NBC program launched that was So how do you keep your competi• not harassed by CBS diversions and tive edge by blunting the opposition? enticements. Strong, explosive episodes with marquee The system contributed significantly guest stars can be used. So can a special to CBS's No. 1 status for all 5 years of program that combines celebrities with Silverman's program leadership. He then other high-appeal elements. A major moved to ABC, where he used the tech• motion picture featuring a recently nique to score more winning years. announced Academy Award nominee However, by the time he arrived at can receive a "world TV premiere" on NBC, both his competitors were the competitor's premiere night. Either schooled in the process and the origi- 9 Scheduling Strategies for Television 227 nator's advantage had vanished.Aft:erhis Gone are the days when the com• stint at NBC ended, Silverman surveyed mercial networks could ignore any the programming landscape and was blunting attempts by cable when making able to carve out an area all to himself scheduling decisions.In 2004, with cable with older-skewing shows such as in more than 60% of homes and HBO, "Matlock," "Diagnosis Murder," and the in particular,in 30% of homes, cable can Perry Mason te1evisionmovie franchise. significantly affect commercial te1evi• Late-night te1evisionis an extreme1y sion. For example, when HBO power• valuable resource for the networks. As house series "The Sopranos" and "Sex author Ken Auletta observed, in the late and the City" aired at 9:00 Sunday 1980s NBC was getting 25% of its nights, the commercial networks were profits from late-night programming, clearly affected by the HBO-cable making "Here's Johnny" (Carson) a factor. When the final episode of "Sex welcome announcement.3 Over the and the City" aired February 22, 2004, years,late-night shows have remained a it drew some 10.6 million viewers, primary source of a network's income. making it the second-most-watched ln 1996, HBO produced a te1evision show in its time slot, beaten ouly by movie, "The Late Shift," based on the ABC, which had 17.5 millions viewers book by New York Times media analyst for the premier of the new and Bili Carter, which dramatized how con• improved "Super Millionaire" with tentious the wars for late-night domi• Regis Philbin again hosting. Indeed, nance can be. The failed attempt of ABC won the households race, but ABC's Robert Iger to steal David HBO narrowly beat ABC in the key 18• Letterman from CBS in 2002 further to 49-year-old demographic. AU this illustrateshow tough (and embarrassing) with HBO in ouly 30% of U.S. homes.5 the public late-night blunting wars can Cable and commercial networks fre• be. In 2004, NBC sought to maintain quently clash over blunting. For the late-night dominance by securing example, in 2002, NBC scheduled its the services of Jay Leno for five addi• movie about Matthew Shepard, the gay tional years and by naming his succes• college student who was beaten and left sor, Conan O'Brien, thus avoiding to die by two young men high on another possible contentious battle over crystal methamphetamine in Laramie, the late shift. Wyoming, in 1998. The same night, Blunting strategiescan sometimes end HBO was premiering its movie about up hurting both parties, as happened Shepard, "The Laramie Project;' based during the 2001-2002 season when on the play by Moises Kaufinan. In CBS and NBC tried to blunt each response, HBO moved up the airing of other's reality programming. CBS its movie by a week, with both sides brought out a special edition of "Big accusing each other of foul play and Brother 2" against the launch of NBC's each proclaiming innocence about the "Lost." NBC countered by using a scheduling plans of the other. special edition of "Fear Factor" to hurt Interestingly, when MTV aired its the premier of CBS's "The Amazing version of the Matthew Shepard story a Race." This showdown ended in a year before the HBO-NBC showdown, ratings draw, all performing adequate1y. an NBC executive reportedly told his But, as media analyst Stacey Lynn staff that the ratings effect of an MTV Komer notes, competitive egos got in cable movie were inconsequential to the way, hurting the networks and NBC and could not be considered viewers alike.4 serious competition. But with commer- 228 PROGRAMMING FOR TV; RADIa, AND THE INTERNET

Stacking

Programmers attempt to develop an audience flow by assembling programs of similar appeal to sweep the viewer from one time period to the next, as PBS does by stacking three contiguous cooking shows on Saturday afternoons. A c1assic example of the stacking strategy was CBS's 1991 Monday night schedule of four sitcoms capped by a humorous, easy-to-take hOULThe line up dominated through the year and on several occa• sions was victorious in every half hour. In 2003, CBS similarly attempted to stack its programs with four sitcoms and an edgier 10:00 P.M. show, a spin off of its No. 1 hit, "CSI" (Figure 9.7). Before embarking on such a stacking Figure 9.6 cial television on the decline and cable strategy, a programmer should carefully Steven Spíelberg's programming on the rise, it is no longer evaluate two considerations: Is there a Emmy-wínníng, possible for the commercial networks to híghly rated Umíted pow~rful show to begin the schedule, ignore the blunting possibilities of the and is there a weak link in the chain? seríes, "Taken," cable channels, particularly when cable Without a strong leadoff program, the starríng Dakota alfS viewer-friendly limited series Fanníng, lineup will be unable to develop the (Figure 9.6). demonstrated eable's momentum necessary to start the audi• growíng stronghold ence flow. This flow is essential for CBS 1991 Monday Night Sehedule on longform stacking to work as a scheduling strat• programmíng. Time "Northern"Major"EveningProgram"Designing"MurphyDad"Brown"Shade"Exposure"W omen" egy. If a competitor takes a command• (Courtesy the ing lead at the beginning of the race, it Academy9:30-10:009:00-9:308:30-9:008:00-8:3010:00-11:00ofP.M.P.M.P.M. TelevisionArts & will be difficult for the "stacked" lineup to gain pass-along benefits. Similarly, if Sciences.) there is an especially weak program in the string, viewers wi11 drift to other offerings and the flow wi11 be inter• rupted. If there is some doubt about the appeal of one of the shows, program• mers would be well advised to place it CBS 2003 Monday Night Sehedule at the end of the lineup. Time "CSI:"Stili"Yes,Program"Everybody"Two Standing"Miami"Dear"and a HalfLovesMen"Raymond" Stacking to maintain audience flow is

9:30-10:009:00-9:308:30-9:008:00-8:3010:00-11:00P.M.P.M.P.M. a standard procedure in virtually every daypart. In weekly daytime program• Figure 9.7 The CBS 1991 ming, the traditional strategy is to sched• and 2003 Monday ule games or other nonserial forms in the níght sehedule morning and serials in the afternoon. For shows how decades, the networks have presented an programs ean be uninterrupted string of anima:ted shows staeked. on Saturday mornings to reach the 1- to 9 Seheduling Strategiesfor Television 229

12-year-old audience.Research indicates there could be a ratings disaster paving that the youngest children watch the ear• the way to the conclusion, as was the liest shows, and, as the morning moves case in 2004 at ABC with Stephen along,the audience tends to get older. In K.ing'smultiparter, "K.ingdom Hospital," theory, programmers select the order which began with respectable numbers of the cartoons to reflect this develop• but dropped 45% in its second airing. ment, although how they deterrnine an ln soaps and in prime time, weddings advancing intelIectual content in these are often the stunt of choice. Conven• programs remains a mystery. tional programrning wisdom maintains a wedding episode can significantlyboost Stunting the ratings of a show-thus the heavily promoted wedding of Phoebe in the Sometimes programs must take extra• final season of "Friends." ordinary measures to maintain their ln the closing rninutes of the last audience levels.The competition rnight original episode of "Da11as"during the be picking up momentum, a series of 1979-1980 season, J.R. Ewing, the preemptions rnight have caused a loss power-mad, unscrupulous oil magnate, of viewing habit, or a big sweeps week was shot by an unknown assailant and performance rnight be required to rushed to the hospital.This shooting was obtain a contract renewal.Whatever the one of the biggest television stunts ever. reason,there are occasionswhen a show Throughout the summer and into the needs a major injection of audience first 2 months of the folIowing season, appeal. As a short-term solution, pro• viewers around the world speculated grammers frequently resort to stunting, about "Who shot J.R.?" On November the insertion of entertainment elements 21, 1980, the identity of the mysterious not norma11yassociated with the series attacker was revealed to an estimated to obtain a ratings spike. worldwide audience of more than 300 One of the most popu1ar ploys is to rnillion. In the United States, more construct an episode around a movie people viewed "Da11as" that evening personality,athlete, or a celebrity whose than voted in the presidential election a recent activities commanded national few weeks earlier. It is stilITV's second• attention, such ashaving ElizabethTaylor most-watched episode, topped ouly by visit "General Hospital" in 1981. The the 1983 finale of "M*A*S*H." appearance of these "names" provides Reality shows prornise twists and powerful promotional opportunities and surprises (Fox's "Joe Millionaire," for a110wsthe program to exploit the public's example, was not rea11ya millionaire), curiosity about prominent figures. but it should be remembered that stunts Another traditional device is the cannot be overused (the next edition of development of a multiparter filIed "Joe Millionaire," the international with clifThangers.Story lines usua11y version, essentia11yduplicated the origi• completed in one showing are extended nal and failed). Stunts cannot make up to two or more episodes because for weak programrning. No audience "they're just too big, too important to can be hyped indefinitely,and stunts can be told in their usual length." Presum• be costly.Although programmers often ably viewers wilI be so gripped by the clamor for stlint casting and stunt plot start of the story that they wouldn't dare twists to boost ratings during sweeps,it missthe remaining episodes.Needless to must be remembered that stunting say, the beginning must be strong or cannot do it a11.To be most effective, 230 PROGRAMMING FOR TV; RADIO, AND THE INTERNET

Figure 9.8 Crossing "Buffy the l/ampire Slayer" (a) into "Angel" (h) was designed to boost the ratings for "Angel." (Globe Photos, Inc.) (a) stunting should be seen as a short-term trying to raise money from Vlewers device. during pledge weeks. One downside of stunting should be cited. To accommodate the stunt, pro• Crossprogramming ducers frequently have to modify the basic idea of the show. A story line that Crossprogramming is the intercon• plays up the special appeals of a celebrity nection of two shows for mutual guest must necessarily shift the focus benefit. ln its most sophisticated form, a from the core ensemble, which is why story is started on one program and is some producers, such as Dick Wolf, completed on another. It can be higWy creator of the "Law & Order" franchise, productive, but it requires an unusual do not engage in stunt casting. combination of circumstances. When Pat Mitchell became PBS pres• Upon her return to "ER" afi:er her ident and CEO in 2000, she saw the 5-year hiatus from the show, Sherry need for PBS to compete more aggres• Stringfield crossed from "ER" to "Third sively.This was necessitated partly by the Watch," another John Wells production. constant pressure PBS faces that its Simi1arly,David E. Kelley introduced a financial base will be severed. Although story line in "Ally McBeal" that concluded many individuals, such as Brian Lowry on "The Practice;' with cast members of Daily Váríety and Chellie Pingree, crossing from one Kelley show to the next. president of Common Cause, a citizens' Other examples of crossprogramming organization of more than 250,000 occurred when a heart transplant started people who support responsible broad• out on "Homicide" and ended up on casting, favor keeping PBS healthy and "Chicago Hope" and when "Buffy the solvent, the financial pressures are real. Vampire Slayer" crossed over to boost To stay vibrant, PBS stations create their the ratings of debuting companion show own stunts, particularly when they are "Angel" (Figure 9.8). 9 Scheduling Strategiesfor Television 231

Elaborate crossovers require substan• quently occurs in commercial television tia1 advance planning, compatible and cable. formats, the good will of a11,and, most For example, in 2004, ABC made a often, a common production company. concerted effort to have Oscar-related Such combinations are rare, which programming before the Oscar telecast accounts for the infrequent use of elab• on February 29. As Judith Tukich, ABC orate crossprogramming. But when it director of synergy and special projects, can be used, it is a powerful program• observed, "Oscar plotlines are featured ming tooI. in ABC's comedy lineup.,,6 Less ambitious versions, which pro• "I'm With Her" had a five-episode duce more modest results, can also be story line with Teri Polo, the star of developed. Appearances by stars on the show, an actress whose boyfriend each other's programs and references on is a schoolteacher, nominated for an one program to events on another are Academy Award. Polo worried about two of the more familiar usages. This what to wear to the Oscars, how to harkens back to the early days of radio avoid the wrath of Joan Rivers on the when Gracie Allen, the comedienne of red carpet, and how to deal with her "Burns and Allen," visited numerous pushy mother, played by Cybil Shepard, other radio shows looking for her who arrived unpredictably, expecting to brother. be given a ticket to the awards cere• Crossprogramming works because the mony. ABC soaps featured Oscar story avid viewers of the first show can be lines; "Good Morning America" and added to the core audience of the "The View" focused on the Oscars. second, thereby producing incremental Cable has clearly embraced the ratings, primarily for the latter. Obvi• advantages of theming. ESPN, part of ously, the opening episode should be the Disney family like ABC, discussed scheduled on the more popular of the the Oscar nominations on its morning two shows. It is easy to see how this show, "Cold Pizza."The Disney Channel maneuvering can cause resentment also sponsored Oscar-related events, as among the staff and cast of the higher• did A&E and Lifetime.7 rated program. "The production The Outdoor Channel, which in company is just using us to beef up the 2004 programmed to a niche audience numbers of the other program," is an of some 26 million outdoor enthusiasts opinion a programmer should be braced ("real outdoors for real people with to hear. It ca11sfor some nimble diplo• nothing too extreme, too expensive or macy, but the results can make it unsafe"), had three theme nights on its worthwhile. schedule: On Monday nights, a 4-hour block of half-hour shows on fishing; on Theming Tuesday nights, a 4-hour block of half• hour shows on hunting; and on Wednes• Grouping programs with similar themes day nights, a 4-hour block of half-hour is big in syndication, where movies are shows relating to horsepower. According often combined into theme weeks to Wade Sherman, the senior vice pres• ("Elvis Week," "Monster Week," ar ident of programming at the Outdoor "Romance in the Afternoon Week"), Channel, this scheduling strategy greatly but this scheduling strategy also fre- increased audience flow, enabling the 232 PROGRAMMING FOR TV, RADIO, AND THE INTERNET

within which the agreed-upon number of showings must be run. Usually, the only way to meet this requirement is to schedule the series every day, Monday through Friday. Placing a show in a predictable time and place enables viewers who are fans of the program to know exactly where and when they can find it. Nothing irri• tates and frustrates a viewer more that a lengthy search to locate the air time of a favorite series. Even if it were possible for a station to meet its pay-or-play obligations on several series by alternat• ing them night after night, it would not Figure 9.9 Outdoor Channel to increase its sub• be sensible scheduling. Fans of one show The Outdoor scription base (Figure 9.9). might not like the other, and they could Channel uses quickly get out of the habit of watch• theming to build ing at that time. upon its audience Stripping base. (Courtesy the Outdoor Another strategy used by local stations Changing a Show's Time Slot involves stripping-placing the same Channel.) show in the same time period every Some shows, such as "Chicago Hope" Figure 9.10 weekday and sometimes even on Satur• described previously, need a time change, PBS's perennial day and Sunday. It is done partly for and some shows, such as "Everybody "Sesame Street" economic prudence and partly because Loves Raymond," can survive being makes up a portion it is a sound audience strategy. For bumped around the dial until they land oj its children's in the perfect spot. Not all shows, television example, PES uses stripping effectively however, benefit from a schedule programming stack. with children's programs that almost change. (Courtesy always appear at the same time every day Children's (Figure 9.10). As you saw earlier, stations With so many choices available, the audience does not need to be confused Television that buy a syndicated package of off• Workshop.) network shows have a fixed period about when a show is airing. There are specials, preemptions, and sweeps altercations, and few time slots, apart from "1 Love Lucy" or "ER," remain unchanged. Eut a time slot change can damage a show, taking the wind out of its sails and halting momentum. When Fox's "King of the Hill" was moved in its second season (1998) to Tuesday nights from its previous Sunday night berth, it struggled mightily until it was brought back to Sunday nights, where it was given a chance to grow and develop a following. Similarly, Fox's frequent schedule changes and periods of hiatus for the 9 Seheduling Strategies for Television 233 cult favorite "Family Guy" did not help the show get the big ratings, much to the chagrin of loya! fans who subse• quently enjoyed the show on record• selling DVDs and on the Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim." The loyalty of these passionate fans paid off as seven Figure 9.11 new episodes of the show were created Tavis Smiley, in 2004. The cult following kept the pictured here with show a!ive, despite the initiai on-and-off Neal Kendall, the scheduling. executive producer When ABC decided to switch "The oj his show, made a succesiful Practice" from its usual Sunday night transition Jrom time slot at 10:00 to Monday nights at NPR to PBS. 9:00 during the 2002-2003 season, the (Courtesy The move failed in several ways. Placed Smiley Group.) between "Veritas: The Quest" and "Mirades:' ostensibly to function as a tent• commentator Bill Moyers with "Now pole, the Emmy Award-winning "The with Bill Moyers" in 2002. NPR's fi.rst Practice" fell to fourth in its time slot. African-American talk show host, Tavis In addition, creator David E. Kelley was Smiley, a!so became PBS's African• angered by the time slot switch, accus• American vanguard in 2004, with his ing ABC of trying to sabotage the show eponymous show (Figure 9.11). in its seventh season. Kelley was extremely vocal about his displeasure, Overexposure hurting the a11-important ABC/Kelley creative relationship. Ultimately, the When networks have a hit, the tendency show returned to its Sunday time slot, is to capitalize on that show's success by where in the 2003-2004 season it scheduling it too often or by trying to underwent a major change, which we schedule dose duplicates too quickly. will cover in a subsequent chapter. For example, when ABC had its Commercia! networks are in the habit monster hit, "Who Wants to Be a Mil• of making constant scheduling changes. lionaire," there was a strong temptation PBS, on the other hand, for many years to exploit the show, particularly because kept the same schedule for its audience it was a relative bargain to produce. ABC of approximately 100 million people. scheduled the show a staggering four PBS President Pat Mitchell initiated a times a week in 2001, eventually killing pilot program with seven major PBS the show through overexposure. When stations to experiment with different ABC brought back a bigger "Super Mil• schedules to revitalize the PBS lineup. lionaire" with a top prize of $10 million Aware that PBS cannot afford to be in February 2004, the network sched• viewed as stodgy, Mitchell sought to uled it five nights in a row but only for make changes. She moved "Masterpiece one week during the February sweeps Theatre" from Sunday nights, although and a second week during the May it was subsequently moved back. Keen sweeps, seemingly avoiding the over• on crosspromoting, she sought to estab• exposure mistakes of the past. lish a doser connection between PBS When Fox had its monster hit, and NPR by bringing in noted NPR "American Idol," it tried to duplicate 234 PROGRAMMING FOR TV, RADIO, AND THE INTERNET

too expensive for this fledgling medium. Figure 9.12 Most programs were aired live-mis• "[ Love Lucy," takes and a11'A process calIed kinescope starring Lucille Ball, pioneered the recording was developed so that some use cf .film for programs could be saved or run on the weekly television West Coast at the same "clock hours" as series. The their East Coast origination. But these technique enabled "kines," which were films made off a TV the episodes to be monitor, were of poor quality. rerun with high From their beginnings in the early quality. The 1950s, Lucille BalI and Desi Arnez programs are still filmed "I Love Lucy," and everyone syndicated today, thought they were a little crazy-until some 50 years after the foreign market opened up (Figure they were .first 9.12). Then Lucy and Desi began raking produced. (Courtesy the in the money from selIing their shows Academy of to other countries, and a few felIow pro• TelevisionArts & ducers decided to folIow suit. It was not Sciences.) long before American broadcasting real• ized it could play these films, too. Thus was born the rerun. the success with "American Juniors" in A basic annual pattem of program the summer of 2003. Too similar? Too scheduling set in. Programs were intro• soon? Whatever the reasons, this "Idol" duced in the falI, ended their season in imitation did not achieve the success of mid-spring, went into reruns for the its predecessor, losing 1arge chunks of its summer, and emerged with new product audience week by week.8 the folIowing fa11. This came about Imitations can succeed, for example, through a combination of reality, sur• NBC's "For Love or Money II" or mise, social habits, and economics. ABC's "The Bachelorette," modeled The key reality, as explained pre• after "The Bachelor," but overexposure viously, was the drop-off in viewing can take away a show's unique or special over the summer months. From June quality.Too many repeat showings, calIed through August, daylight remains well encores, can lessen viewer interest. WB into the evening. People stay outside ca11sits repeats of shows during the same longer, and (according to conventional week an easy view option, and in wisdom) the TV set often stands dark 2004, NBC presented its hit show"The and unattended. Also, during the Apprentice" twice in the same week, but summer a substantial percentage of overexposure is a risky business. The viewers are on vacation and are unavail• public quickly tires when offered too able for, or uninterested in, watching much of a good thing. TV Through the decades a vociferous executive minority has claimed that this Rerunning and Repurposing assessment is largely an incorrect surmise, grown into a mythic delusion. In the early days of television, few Defenders of the traditional cycle are programs were rerun-for technical quick to point out two important reasons. Videotape had not been reasons for the summer hiatus-cast and invented, and film was considered much staff demand a rest, and networks need 9 Scheduling Strategies for Television 235 the revenue from reruns, as described in the section on introducing a show in a quiet time. When a repeat of an episode is sched• u1ed, the cost of payments to per• Figure 9.13 formers and other gui1d members For many years, ($50,000-$75,000) is the only produc• Donna Mills tion expense. Although the value of the starred in the commercials is somewhat reduced nighttime soap because of the audience falloff in the "Knots Landing," summer and the diminished attraction where she delivered of seeing an episode twice in the same the famous line, "Let the second season, the revenue on a reasonab1y Mrs. Ewing give popular program is more than enough the third Mrs. to offset costs. Despite comp1aints of Ewing some advice. viewers and the frustration of some The .first Mrs. program and production executives, an Ewing ... doesn't annual cycle that incorporates a rerun of go away." virtually every original episode remains (Courtesy Donna a strong possibility. In the summer of Mills.) 2004 CBS, for examp1e, did very well with reruns of its successfu1 shows. It is true that a weekly series is phys• posed on a Thursday night on Bravo ically exhausting for cast and staff. The or vice versa. PBS even engages in hours are long, the pressure relentless, repurposing with the Latino drama and the opportunity to unwind almost "American Fami1y" by 1icensing a nonexistent. A break is necessary so that secondary run to Te1emundo. they do not kill themselves, or each Repurposing enab1es companies to other. Scoffers downplay the fatigue get much more bang for their buck factor and point to the round-the• from individual episodes. It a1so enab1es calendar schedu1es of daytime serials that different audiences to experience the have been produced without 10ss of 1ife same show. A niche audience here, a or audience over 4 decades. Even NBC's mainstream audience there: It all adds up deceased programming genius, Brandon to the benefit of a show's exposure. Tartikoff, stated: "If you can make 265 episodes each year of 'Days of Our Boosting the Audience in Lives,' I've got to believe you can make Sweep Periods 40 to 45 episodes of "Knots Landing,,9 (Figure 9.13). Although every day in television is As explained in Chapter 2, repurpos• important, some are more important ing, the airing of a show on a different than others. Four times a year for 30• outlet shortly after its initia1 airing, day periods (February, May, Ju1y, and became a significant scheduling too1, November), Nielsen conducts specia1 particu1arly with the proliferation of sweeps of audience viewing habits in mergers that created a host of sister every market in the country. Although companies ready, willing, and ab1e to many programmers decry sweeps repurpose. Thus, a show that airs on a periods as outdated mechanisms, they Tuesday night on NBC can be repur- are unlikely to go away. Sweeps moni- 6 PROGRAMMING FOR TV; RADIO, AND THE INTERNET

toring is vital to the economic health of Patience each station. This statistical data forms the basis of the advertising rates until the Although many of the shows that results of the next sweep are available. became part of television history were Programmers are under great pressure to slow starters that needed time to build the highest possible ratings for develop and to nurture a word-of• each time period. mouth campaign, patience has been in For many years, event miniseries short supply in recent years. If a show delivered heavenly ratings during does not connect quickly, programmers sweeps. An actor such as Richard find it increasingly difficult to wait it Chamberlin was the king of sweeps. out, hoping to prove that a program• More recently, pop star Michael ]ackson mer's instinct was on the money despite was the crowned king of sweeps pro• a slow start. The competition is too gramming. Anything dealing with strong and the stakes are too high for Michael ]ackson was viewed as surefire top management, concerned with the ratings gold. Finding a sweeps-worthy bottom line, to wait "too long" for a event such as the 200th episode of"ER" turnaround. With mergers, companies ar the 300th episode of "Law & Order" are often run by individuals that are not weighs heavily on the minds of all pro• primarily broadcasters who understand gramming executives. No one wants the that some shows take time to build; their affiliates to complain about sweeps pro• obligation is to the stockholders, and gramming that did not allow them to they do not have the patience or confi• command viable advertising rates. Local dence to stay with a show until it finds news shows turn to exposing restaurants its audience. where cockroaches abound. Slow starters such as the original During the February 2004 sweeps, "Dick Van Dyke Show;" "Cheers," ABC's "Super Millionaire" hit ratings "Barney Milier," "Hill Street Blues," and pay dirt on the first night, although it "Everybody Loves Raymond" need dropped afterward, not giving ABC the time. Everyone agrees in theory that much-needed boost for which it had patience is needed when it comes to undoubtedly hoped. scheduling programming, everyone It is getting harder to know what wili agrees pressure for the early dismissal of deliver the numbers during sweeps, but a show should be resisted, and everyone the search continues unabashedly. Some agrees that programmers will obtain a turn to specials (awards shows tend to first look at a creator's next project if the be fairly reliable bullets); others rely current project is given a chance to on highly rated regular programming, develop. Stili, it is hard for programmers with just a few added weddings, preg• and their bosses to avoid moving nancies, same-sex kisses, and celebrity quickly if a show performs poorly at the sightings. start. It is proper during sweep periods for ln the 2002-2003 season, Fox can• stations and networks to employ as celed its David E. Kelley series, "Girls many of the audience-building tech• Club," about women lawyers in San niques described in this chapter as pos• Francisco, after only two airings. In sible. The battle for viewers (and 2003-2004, CBS canceled Kelley's "The therefore dollars) is crucial, and spiking Brotherhood of Poland, New Hamp• devices are a legitimate part of the com• shire," about three brothers, after four petitive system. outings. Also in the 2003-2004 season, 9 Scheduling Strategies for Television 237

NBC canceled "Coupling," the highly No.3465871012 Aired EpisodesUPNFoxNBCCBSWBABCNetwork Aired NR" Series publicized British import seen as a pos• "Jake"Karen"Tarzan""The"A"The"Luis""Coupling""Skin"MinuteMullets"Brotherhood2.0"Cisco"with Stanof Rooper"Poland, "The Lyon's Den" sible replacement for "Friends," after only four airings. That same season, Fox canceled "Skin," Jerry Bruckheimer's look at the world of pornography, after three airings. These were only a few of the many series decapitated that season (Figure 9.14). If you do not succeed right away in commercial television, chances are that the virtue of patience will not come to your show's rescue. Cable, on the other hand, tends to be more patient. Having two primary sources of revenue-advertisers and sub• scribers-enables basic cable to hold otI pressing the cancel button. A premium channel such as HBO can allow a show such as "Carnivale," which was not embraced by either critics or viewers, to run its course, which probably would ln this chapter, we examined the various Figure 9.14 not have been the case on commercial scheduling strategies for televisi on During the TV. Had "Lucky" been on commercial programming. In Chapter 10, you will 2003-2004 TV instead of FX, it probably would learn about specific ditIerences between season, several shows on have been pulled without finishing a full scheduling for radio and scheduling for season. the Internet. commercial television were pulled bifore jinishing a Jull EXERCISES season. Progratntning for T~ Radio, and the Internet

Strategy, Development, and Evaluation

Philippe Perebinossoff California State University, Fullerton

Brian Gross EF Education,lakarta, Indonesia

Lynne S. Gross California State University, Fullerton

AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON NEW YORK • OXFORD • PARIS • SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO ELSEVIER FocaI Press is an imprint of Elsevier I