Hey, it looks like all that time the strike has allowed network executives to rethink the industry may actually lead to some positive changes after all. NBC's president/CEO Jeff Zucker explained how the struggling net is changing its whole strategy on television. The days of the $10 million dollar mini-movie pilot, which bears no resemblance to later episodes done for less than $100,000 each, appear to be over at NBC. Instead, more series will be committed to based on script treatments alone, and rather than make sixty-two pilots and throw them all at the wall, they'll focus on maybe five or six. And you can forget about the lavish "upfronts" where they unveil a circus cavalcade of wasted money ... and their new pilots. Cable's been doing it this way for years. Now let's analyze where the most talked about shows on television are being broadcast.
Let's face it, network television lost whatever edge it had, and has only grown more frightened and bland post-Janet. But when they collectively launch thirty to forty new shows each year only to watch 80-90% of them fail, it's just bad business for them and bad for fans, too. First, we have to decide from among thirty to forty new shows all premiering in a few weeks span to see which ones we might want to try. Then, when we do make that decision, we go into it wondering how many episodes will come out before it's yanked.
But when FX, AMC or USA announces a new series, they tell us how man episodes we're going to get and we're essentially guaranteed that many. And they premiere them all year round, rather than all at once. So more people are willing to invest their time and energy into caring about those characters and situations. If Damages had launched on NBC this past fall, how many people would have avoided it for fear that it would get canceled before the storyline finished. How many shows has that happened with (The Nine and Reunion are just a couple of the most recent offenders).
Show creators are guaranteed a set number of episodes to tell their story and they can write for that. Imagine the quality and heart that goes into basic cable channel shows being put into shows on a network budget. Sure, the downside for the industry is there would be less work. After all, if NBC is ordering six pilots instead of eighty, that's a ton of people fighting for a very few jobs. Which means only the best would get it? So then the product is even better. It's a win all around! Well, except for those people who don't get those jobs. But they can always try out for American Idol next season. Or get "real" jobs.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-30-2008 @ 2:30PM
Dave said...
Wow, the free market at work. Imagine that.
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1-30-2008 @ 2:36PM
Vince said...
They should also consider the summer time as a time to showcase new shows and develop a following. Repeat new shows at different times and days during this slow period so people get a chance to sample the new work. And if the network has a cable outlet, "graduate" successful shows to the network. I am very happy to hear that Dexter is coming to the network after its run on a pay channel. More of this.
Putting the show online after its run is smart too so folks still have a means to see missed shows.
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1-30-2008 @ 2:54PM
eugene said...
Wait... is this right, they're going to pick shows based on the strength of the script and give them time to grow an audience? Did I fall through the looking glass or something?
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1-30-2008 @ 3:08PM
Oreo said...
NBC will only do 6 pilots a year because they know none of them will be any good anyways. The network is a joke.
The less we see if this asshole the better, so please next time find a different picture. :)
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1-30-2008 @ 3:34PM
Joey Geraci said...
I think we know by now that Nielsen ratings only have a faint relationship to viewership, and they have a even more tenuous relationship to quality. NBC consistently has the most highly engaged viewers, and generally has the most critically acclaimed shows (the abysmal Bionic Woman notwithstanding). The fact that the Nielsen ratings don't reflect this has absolutely nothing to do with the reality of the matter.
1-30-2008 @ 5:31PM
Oreo said...
What does NBC have? Heroes which should be dead, Law and order slowly dieing? Same with ER. So what do they have going for them? Bad reality shows and bad game shows?
1-31-2008 @ 8:44AM
tcc3 said...
Life is pretty good and has bee fairly popular as I understand. I hear Chuck is pretty good too, thought I havent seen it yet.
NBC is far from the powerhouse they were in the 90's but they're coming back. They just need to avoid becoming Fox with LCD fare like American Gladiators and Bionic Woman.
1-30-2008 @ 3:13PM
Lenny said...
This is obviously some kind of a trap and a bad one at that. Nobody will ever believe NBC, or any network, would make a sensible decision. Run away!
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1-30-2008 @ 3:37PM
Scott said...
You have a very optimistic take on this. I still have trouble believing, even if they have a limited slate of shows and a "commitment" to a set number episodes, that the network people won't panic and pull shows long before they finish their run. This past half-season was a fluke due to uncertainty about the strike and wanting to protect their mid-season shows.
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1-30-2008 @ 3:41PM
Steve said...
This simply means they'll pick a bunch of safe, mainstream shows that they are confident will get high ratings from the start.
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1-30-2008 @ 8:37PM
Oreo said...
It's on NBC, it won't get high ratings.
1-30-2008 @ 3:54PM
LRS62 said...
Yes. Less shows in no way correlates to better quality.
They are just spending less money to try and increase profits. That's the network bottom line.
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1-30-2008 @ 4:19PM
MosquitoControl72 said...
There's good and there's bad.
On one hand seeing what sticks means that while some great shows are overlooked, at least they had a chance to be. And some shows grow in the process while they might have made for a less compelling treatment.
On the other hand comparisons to cable aren't exactly accurate. Cable has less to fear. Could ABC air It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia? If exposed buttocks are a $1.4 million dollar fine how would Dexter survive, or Deadwood (which had bare breasts in the opening credits?)
Perhaps the reason cable shows are talked about isn't that they're better quality, or because of how the pilots are treated, but rather because they have less limits. They can push more boundaries, they can be dirtier, they can focus on a niche, and relatedly they do not have to be as broadly-appealling, which converse-intuitively often makes them appeal to a wider audience.
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1-30-2008 @ 4:34PM
GigG said...
Zucker and his whole team need to go.
Wait a minute. This is the same thing I said when this story was posted the other day.
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1-30-2008 @ 4:40PM
Yo Scott said...
One thing's for sure, those 6 new pilots will be cram-packed full of special guest stars and cross-promotional Deal or No Deal advertising. Seriously folks, NBC is the dark and smarmy marketing executive's network. It isn't quality programming, and hasn't been since Cheers went off the air.
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1-30-2008 @ 4:42PM
jordancda said...
About. Frigging. Time.
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1-30-2008 @ 4:44PM
jordancda said...
Also, can Zucker just go ahead and give Mitchell Hurwitz another show? Please?
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1-30-2008 @ 6:30PM
Dragulf said...
4-6 pilots that suck vs 60 pilots that suck won't make your profits any larger when you throw them against the wall Zucker.
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1-31-2008 @ 12:16AM
Argus said...
What's with the hatred for NBC? The Office, My Name is Earl, Scrubs, and 30 Rock are all fantastic. They have a good Thursday at least then! And Journeyman was really good too! I mean they canceled it.... But it was still really good! NBC dooes have the ability to come up with quality shows. And I hope that this helps that happen more.
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