NBC is trying to get a head start on all of the other networks by unveiling their new fall schedule not in the traditional month of May but six weeks earlier.
The network has announced that instead of unveiling their 2008-09 schedule in May, when all of the networks give their upfront presentations, they're going to do it a press conference next week. The press conference will be held at Rockefeller Plaza and will be headed by NBC chairman Ben Silverman and Universal Media Studios chairman Marc Graboff.
This is yet more odd scheduling news from NBC, who in the past several months has said they are going to dump the upfronts, have an upfront after all, and change to a 52 week, year-round schedule.
I'm curious to see what their strategy is with this. What is the upside of announcing your schedule a month and a half before all of the other networks? Sure, it lets everyone know exactly where NBC stands in regards to their schedule, but it also gives competitors more time to tinker with their schedules.
It also lets viewers get ticked off at the network a full six weeks earlier when they announce that Journeyman isn't coming back but they've added a seventh night of Deal Or No Deal.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-25-2008 @ 5:40PM
John Heltsley said...
"It also lets viewers get ticked off at the network a full six weeks earlier when they announce that Journeyman isn't coming back but they've added a seventh night of Deal Or No Deal."
Grrr... :(
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3-25-2008 @ 5:49PM
Eileen said...
If Journeyman is truly gone, I am too. There's nothing much on NBC that's good and there's plenty on cable TV I can Tivo. No wonder they're such losers. They produce garbage, keep it on the air forever, while letting the good shows die!
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3-25-2008 @ 7:37PM
Franklin said...
I concur with the sentiments of the previous two commenters.
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3-25-2008 @ 8:31PM
Kathy said...
Me, too
3-25-2008 @ 6:05PM
David said...
PO'd: Journeyman is gone.
Happy: Life is coming back.
Wish: Deal would die.
Pipe Dream: Silverman was Tartikoff reincarnate.
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3-25-2008 @ 7:20PM
Oreo said...
All right! I now can plan all the shows I will watch on NBC early!
Opps I don't watch any NBC shows.
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3-25-2008 @ 10:20PM
Paul said...
With "Journeyman" likely done, and "Scrubs" moving to ABC, I'm losing a lot of NBC shows from my schedule. And considering for most of the last several years, they've had the most shows that I watch regularly, it's crazy to think that it'll be down to "The Office", "30 Rock", "Life", "Heroes", and late night TV.
I used to stick up for NBC when Reilly was running the show, because even though the ratings weren't strong, the programming was. Under Silverman, they still don't have good ratings and they've basically become the network version of the Reality TV Network. So sad.
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3-25-2008 @ 11:03PM
Tommyafrica said...
This show was the only one I looked forward to ,now if it truly dumped that really SUCKS .Now what am I gonna watch Lost ?They make up anything they want on that show (really I don't think they even have real script)
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3-26-2008 @ 3:22AM
Will said...
Besides Journeyman, Life is the only NBC show I watch. And I watch A LOT of tv. Their loss, I guess.
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3-26-2008 @ 5:20AM
jordancda said...
I don't know what's up with all of the NBC haters. Do none of you watch Heroes? The Office? 30 Rock? My Name is Earl? Conan? Leno? Chuck? ER? The Law and Orders? Scrubs? They've got as much decent television as CBS has. Just not the ratings.
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3-26-2008 @ 11:29AM
Franklin said...
I wouldn't say I hate NBC as much as I'm just disappointed. I do watch Earl, Life and Heroes, but nothing else on that network, and I'm on the bubble about Heroes. I used to watch Scrubs, but I think it's a few seasons past its expiration date. Journeyman was my favorite new show this season, but I think it suffered from a slow start and a delayed build-up of the show's mythology, so those initial stand-alone episodes didn't do much to set it apart from its predecessor "Quantum Leap" or make it really stand out.
5-08-2008 @ 9:36AM
rosa reyes said...
I'm boycotting any new NBC shows. They hooked me and screwed me on my favorite show and I won't give the clueless morons another chance to do it again. It's just amazing these incompetent idiots keep their jobs.
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4-02-2008 @ 11:12AM
Charlie said...
Broadcast network TV should forget about taking on sci-fi shows. Sci-fi viewers are dedicated and discriminating. A huge number of the world's great scientists are sci-fi fans. Many of them credit sci-fi, for triggering their desire to delve into the sciences.
Leave all sci-fi shows to the non-broadcast cable channels. NBC should know better than to outright dump one of the best shows on TV, in "Journeyman", when they can just move to Bravo, or the Sci-Fi Channel itself. Why do they have the Sci-Fi channel, after all? It's to capitalize on sci-fi programs that mainstream audiences, which are too indoctrinated by the media to other TV entertainment genres, will not usually attempt to watch, without heavy promoting (like Heroes). The Sci-Fi channel has a built in audience, just waiting to latch on to quality shows like Journeyman. What part of that don't they understand?
In addition, why didn't the broadcast networks run ads for these shows, on the Sci-Fi Channel? I discovered some of these shows by accident, through channel surfing. Others like Jericho and Lost, I never knew existed, or what kind of show they were. I like other shows types, like sitcoms, adventure, some game shows, news and information, and drama. I guess the broadcast networks won't be able to convince me to watch those types, as I hardly watch NBC, CBS, ABC, or Fox anymore. I'm sure there are many others like myself, out there.
Hey, it's their loss.
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