9 scheduling strategies for television
TRANSCRIPT
SchedulingStrategies forTelevision
9
In this chapter you wili learn about thefoliowing:
The importance of schedulingdecisions
• The scheduling strategies of commercia1 and cable networks
• How the urge to compete moldsschedules
• How sweeps affect schedules• How changing a show's time slot on
the schedule can improve a show'sperformance
• How patience or the lack of it canaffect a program's success
To construct a successful programminglineup, programmers must do more thanjust fili the time periods. Many TVshows that, at first blush, seemed tocontain all the right ingredients for along and profitable life have had shortand painful demises for reasons apartfrom their inherent merit. Programs notonly have to be developed but also haveto be nurtured. Too many productionshave simply been tossed on the air withno plan, no promotion, no lead-in, andtherefore, no chance.
Once programmers have produced apromising show, they must be equallyadept at placing and treating it on theschedule. The time period, the competition, and the receptivity of the audi-
ence are ali factors to be assessed beforethe show is committed to the schedule.
TELEVISION SCHEDULING
Many of the strategies used in scheduling commercial television can be foundin cable. There are differences, but moresimilarities exist. Clearly, both share adesire to program to the available audience and a desire to employ schedulingtechniques that wili work the best forthem. Commercia1 stations, cable systems, and satellite providers all want toprotect their programming with the bestpossible schedules.
It is different with syndication. Syndicators seli to stations and rarely, at leastinitialiy, are able to dictate time periods.After a syndicated show has been on theair awhile and has developed a large following, the distributor may be strongenough to demand a specific positionon the schedule. One suspects, forexample, that when Oprah Winfrey'scompany, Harpo, launched "Dr. Phil,"she was able to require that "Dr. Phil"not compete directly with her and thatit be given a good time slot. (In LosAngeles, Oprah airs at 3:00 P.M. onABC and "Dr. Phil" airs at 4:00 P.M. on
NBC.) Certain shows are designed for aparticular daypart and cannot be sched-
21!
216 PROGRAMMING FOR TV, RADIO, AND THE INTERNET
uled effectively anywhere e1se. But thesyndicators mostly sell the shows, andthe stations place them whenever theywish.
Ideally, programmers seek a largeaudience with the leadoff show and
structure the programs that follow sothat the audience will watch continu
ously throughout the schedule. This isnot always possible. Sometimes a competitor's opening program will be anestablished blockbuster that makes it
impossible for others to start effectively.Other times the competitor's strengthmay be in the middle of the schedule.Then, the only strategy is to ride out the"bad" period and attempt to rebuildwhen the power block is over and theaudience is released.
When putting together a schedule,programmers should consider the elements described in the sections thatfollow.
Fitting the Show to theAvailable Audience
As we explained earlier, most programshave a primary appeal to a particularaudience. For example, action-adventureappeals principally to men, sitcoms towomen, contemporary music to teens,serials to younger women, and talkshows and game shows to older women.Occasionally, a particular show willattract an almost universal audience, aswhen more than 90% of all the homes
in the country watched at least oneepisode of"Roots" when it was initiallyaired in 1977. Often something of acurrent nature, such as the coverage ofa war or disaster, will also have wide
appeal. But generally the primary appealof a show is to a specific demographicgroup.
Therefore, a program must be placedat a time in which its core viewers areavailable. It makes no sense to schedule
a show with a predominant teen appea!on a Saturday night. That audience isnot home. They are at movie theaters,basketball games, or anywhere otherthan in front of the set with mom anddad.
ABC re1earned this lesson in the1990-1991 season. The network buckedthe conventional wisdom and scheduled
a nightlong lineup for the 18 to 34 yearolds: "The Young Riders," "Twin Peaks,"and "China Beach" (replaced midseasonby"Under Cover"). ABC hoped that ifit built the franchise, the young viewerswould come. They did not. In the lastweek of their Saturday telecasts, "TwinPeaks" and "Under Cover" were tied for
85th place among 89 programs rated byNielsen. But late Saturday night? Thatis something different. Many youngviewers have returned home by thenand are eager for entertainment, as "Saturday Night Live" has impressivelyproved for more than 4 decades.
When buying syndicated shows,station programmers look for seriesappropriate to the time period. Whenever possible, a network affiliate will tryto buy a syndicated show that coordinates with a network lead-in (assumingthe lead-in is strong) to continue theaudience flow.
Before locking in a program, programmers must study the time period'sdemographic history. If the target audience is underrepresented, a more favorable position should be sought. Nomatter how strong the show, if the keyviewers are not available, the projectwill fail.
Dayparting
Closely related to the principle of fittingthe show to the available audience is the
concept of dayparting. People's needs,activities, and moods change throughoutthe day, and dayparting takes this into
account by changing what is presentedand how it is presented.
ln the morning, when people firstwake up, they often want information tohelp them plan the day-weather, trafficreports, and important news. Becausemost people must go to work, they donot have a great deal of time to spendwith media. That is why many of themorning shows are divided into shortsegments. Early morning is also a timewhen young children watch television,often as their parents are getting readyfor work. The children's cable channel'Noggin, for example, offers a pre-schoolblock in the mornings.
As the morning wears on, peoplewho spend time with television are ableto do so in a more leisurely fashion.Asa result, game shows, soap operas, andtalk shows dominate daytime TY.
ln the midafternoon, students returnhome from school. Many television stations change programming fare to appealto these children. In the afternoon,Noggin offers "Bob the Builder,""Dorathe Explorer," and "Oswald." Mter 6:00P.M., Noggin appeals to older children,ftlling out its dayparting schedule forchildren from the youngest in the mornings to the oldest in the early evening.
As people begin arriving home fromwork, many TV stations switch rr-omprogramming oriented toward childrenand homemakers to news. This allows
adults to catch up on the day's events.The evening is the time for the most
leisurely TV viewing of all-the timewhen all categories of viewers are, intheory at least, able to spend severalhours with one or more programs.Comedy, drama, and reality are theprimary fare during these hours.
From 11:30 P.M. until 12:30 or 1:00
A.M., the talk/variety form presented insegments has been most popular for twobasic reasons:people who are preparingfor sleep generally do not want to be
9 Seheduling Strategies for Television
overstimulated, and viewers turn in forthe night at varying times. Segmentedshows permit people to switch off theset after an interview has been com
pleted. In this way,a programmer is ableto attract a large number of viewers forat least part of a show.If a 2-hour moviewas scheduled, the viewer might betempted to say,"I can't watch all of it;therefore, I won't watch any of it."
Stations that stay on through the earlymorning hours, as a service to insomniacs or night workers who do not wantto retire as soon as they come home,usually fill the time with inexpensivemovies or, on cable, paid programmingin the form of infomercials.This is more
for economic reasons than daypart strategy.Lately,networks have been supplying news to their affiliates during thewee hours, and a small but devotedaudience of news junkies have tuned in.
On the weekend, programmingchanges dramatically to accommodatethe lifestyle of the audience. Thedaytime lineups are studded with sporting events to reach the male viewersavailable in abundance. Saturdaymorning is often devoted to children'sprogramming to accommodate earlyrising children and their late-risingparents. Saturday evening schedules arecanted toward the older audience in
recognition of the absence of teens andyoung adults. Sunday morning on thenetworks is wall-to-wall news and
public affairsprogramming.This is partlyto take advantage of the availability ofadults who have the time to digest thenews in deeper more thoughtful quantities, but it is also a way to pay offpublic service obligations in a commercially insensitive time period. Networksand stations can point with pride tothese estimable service shows whenever
their community consciousness is calledinto question without sacrificing largeprofits in the process.
218 PROGRAMMING FOR TV, RADIO, AND THE INTERNET
Eastern Standard Time Program
6:00A.M.
"Sesame Street"
7:06A.M.
"Arthur"
7:43 A.M.
"Clifford the Big Red Dog"
8:20A.M.
"Dragon Tales"
8:57 A.M.
"Mister Rogers' Neighborhood"
9:34A.M.
"Barney & Friends"
10:11 A.M.
"Teletubbies"
10:47 A.M.
"Sesame Street"
11:53 A.M.
"Mister Rogers' Neighborhood"
12:30 P.M.
"OnQ"
1:00P.M.
"Hot and Spicy"
2:00P.M.
"Hot and Spicy"
3:00P.M.
"Between the Lions"
3:36P.M.
"Arthur"
4:12P.M.
"Liberty's Kids"
4:48 P.M.
"Clifford the Big Red Dog"
5:24P.M.
"Cyberchase"
6:00P.M.
"The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer"
7:00P.M.
"Nightly Business Report"
7:30P.M.
"OnQ"
8:00P.M.
"Dr. Wayne Dyer: The Power of Intention"
Midnight
"OnQ"
12:30A.M.
"Charlie Rose"
1:30 A.M.
"Dr. Wayne Dyer: The Power of Intention"
5:30A.M.
"America's Home Cooking: Casseroles andCovered Dishes"
Figure 9.1This schedule Jor
March 8, 2004,
JorWQED in
Pittsburgh is a
typical PBSschedule.
Publie teIevision stations determine
their own dayparting to a much greaterdegree than the commercial stationsaffiliated with NBC, CBS, ABC, andFox.The contract signed between commereial networks and affiliatespenalizesa station if it does not run a programwhen the network wants it to run. Such
is not the ease with PBS, although inreeent years informal pressure has beenpIaeed on the major PBS aftiliatesto runmost of the programs at set times. Thereason behind this ehange is that PBSwants to develop national promotionaleampaigns that tell all viewers exaetlywhen they ean expeet to see a partieular program on their Ioeal PBS station. But stations often have minds of
their own regarding what time of dayeertain programs should alr lil theireommunities.
Although proeedures differ fromstation to station, most publie TV stations daypart, often with shows for ehildren in the mornings and afternoons;programs for women during middaywhen ehildren are likely to be napping;and news, interviews, and self-helpshows throughout the evening into Iatenight (Figure 9.1).
Launching the Show:The First Strategy
For a program to be a sueeess, it mustfi.rstbe sampIed. If viewers are unawareof a show,the early ratings will be weakand the series likeIy will Ianguishquiekly. In a soft eeonomie environment, buyers are disinclined to stay withprograms that do not instantly indieatepromise. Programmers have devised twostrategies to hasten the sampling proeess:introduce the show in a quiet time, andpIaee the premiere when a large audience is virtually guaranteed.
Introducing the Show in a Quiet Time.For many years, the television seasonwas clearly set: it started in the fali andended in the spring. One reason for thiswas that business affairs executivesinsisted that the networks eould not
mord to air original programs in thesummer, ad rates being .Iower in thesummer when viewership is down. To
make the shows financia11yfeasible,theyargued, it was essentia! to schedulereruns in the summer.
Competition, the proliferation ofviewer options, the marketplace,and theproliferation of reality shows that do notrepeat well have he1ped create a seasonthat runs virtually a11year. This hasenabled programmers to avoid puttingtheir shows up against heavy competition in the fa11or even at the startof the so-ca11edsecond season in the
spring. It is thus a little easier to find aquiet time to introduce a show, avoiding the c1uttered"premiere week" of oldwhen only a few shows could survive.There is stili a lot of ta!k and speculation about the shows that wili launch a
fa11season, but this hype belies that a"season" is now essentiallyyear round.
Fox is generally credited with havingled the trend toward the expansion tothe year-round "season." ln the summerof 1991, Peter Chernin, president ofFox Entertainment, dec1ared that hiscompany had fa11eninto the same "selfdestructive" practice of launching a11new shows in the fall.He noted that the
previous season the four networks had"introduced 34 new series as if it was a
massacre.Seventy-fivepercent fai1ed.Noother business debuts its product likethat. No longer at Fox.We will roll outnew series in every month of the year."l
His new plan went into effect in ]u1y1991 with the premiere of "BeverlyHilis, 90210." "In the first week,"Chernin c1aimed,"it showed an 84%improvement over its '90-'91 average."zBy mid-fa11it was second in its timeperiod, topped only by the formidableveteran, "Cheers."
Not every show that premieres in anoff time becomes a hit, but Fox againshowed prodigious off-season results inthe summer of 2002 with the realityshow "American Idol" and in thesummer of 2003 when it introduced its
9 Scheduling Strategies for Television 219
series "The o.c.," about the lives andloves of teenagers in Orange County,California.
USA network, for example, launchesits origina! programming outside ofsweeps to get sampling and awarenessina quiet time.
Placing the Show in a Hit Time Period.A favorite launching strategy is toschedule a newcomer after a monster
event, the Super Bowl being the idea!choice. Hardly a year goes by that thenetwork carrying the game does notintroduce a new show behind it in the
hope that the largest audience of theyear will like what it sees and an instanthit wili be born. Sometimes it works
and sometimes it does not. Although theresultsvary,the strategy is fundamentallysound. There is no better way to get aprogram sampled than to place it immediate1yfollowing a blockbuster event.
A variation of this strategy is to timeslot a newcomer in a time period thatfollows a powerhouse series, such as"Frasier,"as NBC did with "Scrubs," or"Everybody Loves Raymond," as CBSdid with "Two and a Half Men."
Many industry observers would agreewith Alan Wurtze1, NBC's president ofresearch and media deve1opment, that50% of a11households that wili ever
watch a program wili get hooked by oneof the first two episodes. Obviously, thesooner they sample these shows, thebetter. This is why broadcasters strive sotire1esslyto deve10pnew techniques tobring viewers into the tent from thebeginning.
HBO has found an effective way tocapita!ize on its own version of a hittime period. Because of the success of"Sex and the City" and "The Sopranos,"HBO found that by a!ternating thesetwo shows in the same time period, itcould command the Sunday 9:00 P.M.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 EdieFalco and ]amesGandolfini from
"The Sopranos"courtesy theAcademy ofTe1evisionArts &Sciences;photoof "Sex and the
City" fromGlobe Photos,Inc.)
(c)
(a)
original movies Saturday nights, but ithas also managed to carve out thisSunday night stronghold (Figure 9.2).
Launching Syndicated Series. There aretwo major factors militating against anysort of wholesale departure from fallpremieres for syndicated shows. First,summer households using television(HUT) and persons using television(PUT) levels are considerably lowerthan those in the fall-spring period.
(b)
Even though a new show may achievea higher share of audience in July thanin September, the pie is so much smallerthat the total audience may still fall shortof a conventional launch.
Second, January premieres run intostation clearance difficulties. Station man
agers who commit to programs in thefall are frequently locked into pay-orplay contracts for at least 26 weeks.For purely economic reasons, they maywish to stay with a failing show until thefun commitment is satisfied, particularlyduring a recessionary period. Programslaunched in January may have to struggle for months with subpar lineups unti!additional time periods break open.
To repeat, the first objective of alaunch is to get the program sampled.Any technique of timing that enablesthe program to be introduced when itwill confront the least competition isdesirable. However, this advantage mustbe weighed against the less attractivefactors of starting in a period of low setusage, being forced to schedule rerunsin high HUT months when opponentswill be running original episodes, andoffering a show for sale when manybuyers cannot accommodate it.
Tentpoling
You have just seen that one of the bestways to gain sampling for a show is tointroduce it behind a big hit. The sameprinciple can be applied to programsstruggling elsewhere on the schedule. Bymoving these next to hits, they can oftenbe revived and enjoy healthy, lengthy runs.
Sometimes a powerhouse show isstrong enough to hold up programsboth before and after it. If a new show
is scheduled right before a popularprogram, people tuning in early inanticipation of the hit wi11 sample theend of the new entry. Hopefully, theywi11be intrigued and tune in the nextweek for the entire show. Placing anestablished show before a hit is not as
strong a programming strategy as placingit after, but the method can work.
This concept of scheduling weak ornew programs around a strong show isreferred to as tentpoling-the pole inthe middle holds up the two weakershows, especially the one that follows.
The Fox network made excellent use
of tentpoles when it expanded thenumber of evenings it broadcast. It haddeveloped a strong Sunday lineup thatincluded "The Simpsons," "America'sMost Wanted," and "Married ... With
Children." When it expanded to morenights of programming in 1990, it usedthese popu1ar programs as anchors forthe other nights-"The Simpsons" onThursday, "America's Most Wanted" onFriday, and "Married ... With Children" on Sunday. Fox has used this strategy several times over the years. Forexample, after "Malcolm in the Middle"established itself by following "TheSimpsons;' Fox moved it to Sundays at9:00 P.M. in the 2002-2003 season,where it became another tentpole forthe network.
Tentpoling was far more effective inthe precable era, when program choices
9 Scheduling Strategies for Television 221
were fewer and the remote control unit
had not yet been invented. The longwalk from the couch to the set wasmore exercise than most viewers cared
for, and given a reasonable excuse to stayput, they would. Today they can whizthrough 30 channels before the nextshow's opening credits have rolled, andthe pass-along strategy is less assured.
N evertheless, it continues its useful
ness. "A Different World," a comedyspin-off of the "The Cosby Show" wasintroduced in September 1987 immediately following the parent program,which, at that time, was the No. 1 showon television. The derivative productionwas an instant success and remained in
the Top 10 for 4 years, although theshow was often dismissed as simplyriding on the "Cosby" coattails. This dismissal was unfair, as revealed by thenumber of seemingly compatible showsthat have failed following "Friends;' oneof the most successful shows in televi
sion history. Four years as a Top 10 showdoes not just happen as a result of fortuitous placement on a schedule.
Station managers use this same tentpoling strategy with blockbuster syndication series. When "Jeopardy" waslaunched in its third incarnation in
1984, it was placed behind the triumphant "Wheel of Fortune" in manymarkets. It quickly became an enormoussuccess and helped form an invulnerablehour of dominance. Although PBS doesnot carry out scheduling strategies withthe same fanaticism as the commercial
and cable networks, it also has its tent
pole shows, programs such as "AmericanMasters," "Great Performances,"
"Mystery," and "The NewsHour withJim Lehrer."
Hammocking
Probably the surest way to generate anaudience for a new program is to slot it
222 PROGRAMMING FOR TV, RADIO, AND THE INTERNET
between two established shows, calledthe hammock principle.With power infront and power behind, the newprogram benefits from both the passalong viewing from the preceding showand the anticipated entertainment fromthe fo11owing program. Hammockingis a frequently employed strategy. Forexample, it is often seen in children'scartoon blocks in which a newcomer issandwiched betWeen two establishedsenes.
Expectations are higher with hammocked shows,such as NBC's "Jesse"or"Cursed." Placed between "Friends" and"Will & Grace," these shows weresimply unable to take advantage of beingin prime television real estate in 1999and 2000, respectively,and were quicklycanceled.
A story (possibly apocryphal) istold about ABC President Leonard
Goldenson in the early days of thenetwork, when a running joke was"They ought to put the Vietnam War onABC-it would be canceled in 13weeks." Goldenson observed that his
competitors were separating two hitsand sliding a new show in between.Impressedby this strategy,he supposedlyasked his programming chief, "Whydon't we do that?" "Because, Leonard,"came the response,"we don't have twohits."
Counterprogramming
No program, no matter how popu1ar,can satisfyall viewers.The neglected ordissatisfied audience becomes a goodtarget for competing shows. The tacticof filling a time period with a programwhose appeal is dissimilar to an opponents is ca11edcounterprogramming.
The 1991 three-network prime-timelineup Tuesday nights (Fox did notprovide programming Tuesday nights in1991) provides a good example of thisdevice from television history. From
8:00 to 9:00 P.M., ABC scheduled twosituation comedies, the second of which,"Home Improvement" was a promisingnewcomer comfortably placed betweenthe we11-established"Fu11 House" andthe No. 1-rated series,"Roseanne." CBScountered with "Rescue 911," a fastpaced "actuality" adventure, and NBCintroduced ''1'11Fiy Away,"a soft, familyvalue-focused, dramatic series. In the9:00 to 10:00 P.M. hour, ABC continued its comedy skein with the aforementioned "Roseanne" and "Coach," ashow that had blossomed into a hit inits enviable time period. Again, the twocompetitors had to seek an alternativeaudience. CBS elected to present featurefilms, and NBC offered "In the Heat ofthe Night," a law enforcement adventureseries. To close out the night, ABCdecided to try a new family drama,"Homefront;' in the belief that thelineup's tremendous momentum wouldpass along a large audience to the newcomer and give it a good chance ofsuccess. CBS played the second half ofits movie, and NBC fo11owed"In theHeat of the Night" with another crimeand-punishment series, "Law & Order."This nightlong effort on the part of eachbroadcaster to carve away an audienceon which the others are not concentrating is classic counterprogrammingstrategy.
Going to Tuesday nights for the 2002season, six networks were competingagainst each other instead of three. ABCsubmitted a comedy block from 8:00 to10:00 P.M., leading into thesteady"NYPD Blue," even though it had nohit show to use as a tentpole and didnot have two hits shows to use for a
hammock. NBC also went with comedyfrom 8:00 to 10:00 P.M.Although it hada strong show in "Frasier" to use as atentpole, "Hidden Hills" proved afailure. NBC went with a news show at
10:00 P.M. to compete with the dramason CBS and ABC. CBS went with
older-skewing dramas for the entirenight. Fox countered with a hipperdrama,"24," at 9:00 P.M.and used its hitshow,"That '70s Show,"to jumpstart itsnight against the competing comedies."Gilmore Girls" on the WB and "Buffythe Vampire Slayer"on UPN went headto head, targeting the younger demographics at 8:00 P.M., followed at 9:00P.M. by "Smallville" on the WB and"Haunted" on UPN; "Smallville" wonthat battle. Six competitors from 8:00 to10:00 P.M. (and back to three at 10:00P.M.) makes counterprogramming morecomplex because the shares of the pieare bound to be a lot smaller, particularly with the influx of cable.
When an opponent has tried to stakea claim on a particular audience but hasdone so with a relativelyweak entry, thebest strategy may be to go after thataudience with a stronger version of thesame genre. If the move is successful,thechallenger will capture the viewers andseriously erode the opponents audiencebase not only for that time period butpossibly for the ensuing ones.
It seems strange that two medicaldramaswould be scheduled against eachother, particularlywhen schedules are socarefullyput together with counterprogramming in mind. This, however, wasthe case in September 1994 when CBSscheduled"Chicago Hope" at 10:00P.M.on Thursdays and NBC scheduled"ER"at the same time. It was immediatelyclear that "ER" had megahit written allover it and that if "Chicago Hope" hadany chance of survival, it needed tobe moved, quickly. In October 1994,"Chicago Hope" was moved an hourearlier on Thursdays, and in December1994, it was moved to Monday nightsat 10:00 when, under David E. Kelley'smasterful hand, it established itself as asolid hit for CBS. Had the network not
acted to protect the show, "ChicagoHope" might not have been able tosurvivethe "ER" juggernaut.
9 Seheduling Strategie s for Television 223
This "ER"-"Chicago Hope" scenarioraises the question, "What do you doagainst a monster hit?" Network executives have wrestled with this problemfrom "I Love Lucy" in the 1950sthrough the "The Cosby Show" in the1980s and "ER" in the 1990s to "CSI"
starting in 2000. The temptation is tothrow up a test pattern, abandon thetime period, and hope no one willnotice. A pleasant fantasy,but unrealistic.At tirnes programmers have decided tocut their losses and fill the period withthe most inexpensive programmingavailable.A strong case can be made forfiscalprudence, but there is a big risk tosimply not showing up.
For one thing, stations have to sellcommercials around the period, and thespots will be wortWess if the programdoes not register. Also, such a lack ofeffort says all the wrong things to thecompany's many constituents (advertisers,investors,etc.).Most executivesfeelit is best to try something experimental.There is not much to lose, and, whoknows, they might just get lucky. Evenif it does not work, critics and commentators will applaud the innovativeeffort and this will help ease the pain ofa stricken time period.
SylvesterL. "Pat"Weaver, president ofNBC- TV in the early 1950s, recalled,"Whenever the other guys came upwith a big winner, I knew it was timeto call in my zanies, the guys with theoff-the-wall ideas. I knew no conven
tional show could make it, but maybesomething really unusual might click."
ABC scored strongly with this strategy in 1990. CBS's "Murder, SheWrote," preceded by the powerhouse"60 Minutes," had been deliveringhammer blows to the opposition since1984.ABC decided to take a flyer on aprogram that featured home videotapesshot by ordinary citizens. The novelconcept caught on and "America's Funniest 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 anationwide
watercooler
phenomenon. Itssueeess led tothe
spin-ojf "TheBaehelorette"
(b). (Photos ©ABePhotographyArchives.)
(a)
(b)
"safety valve" used by ABC as a quickfix when other scheduhng was notworking. Its ratings never achieved theheights that they did at the start, but theshow could always be counted on to
deliver solid, if unspectacular, ratings atan affordable cost to the network.
There are times when it is an excel
lent strategy to take on a blockbusterhit. The timing must be right, but if itis, the colossus can be toppled. Two conditions are required: the incumbent hitmust be in a waning state and the challenger must be a promising show in theearly stages of its ascent. These are twocritical and delicate judgments for theprogrammer, and if either is wrong theventure will fail.
When ABC's head scheduler, JeffBader, sensed that NBC's prestigedrama, "The West Wing," was vulnerablein the fall of 2002, he felt the timingwas right to pit an unscripted series,"The Bachelor," against it (Figure 9.3).
He was dead on, and the strong, youngerdemographics that "The Bachelor" andits companion piece, "The Bachelorette;' garnered made the victory evensweeter.
Similarly, CBS's Les Moonves wasable to take on NBC's· seeminglyimpenetrable Thursday night "Must See
TV" by moving "Survivor" (Figure 9.4)and "CSI" to Thursday nights in 2001,adding "Without a Trace" to the mix tocreate a powerful assault on NBC'sformer stronghold.
For independent stations, counterprogramrning remains simply a way oflife. They must always exarnine theschedules of their network-affiliated
opponents and go after the audience leftunattended.
Bridging and Supersizing
The less opportunity the audience hasto sample your adversary's program, thebetter chance you have for success. Ifyou have something compelIing unfolding when the competition is about tostart, you distract the viewer from thetemptation to stray.
The most effective use of this strategyis to have a program under way welI inadvance of the competitor's start time.N etworks and stations have often sched
uled shows to begin before the start ofa powerful opposing show. Viewers whohave invested a fulI hour in a programare unlikely to break away for somethingelse. Bridging takes place at differenttimes during the day. For example, thehighly rated, long-lasting (it began in1971) CBS soap, "The Young and theRestless" starts a half hour earlier than
the other soaps.A variation on the bridging strategy
is to edit a longform program so thatthe competitor's start time is spanned byentertainment. Take, for example, a 9:00to 10:00 P.M. program opposed by 2half hours. If the producer of the hourlong program schedules a 2-minutecommercial from 9:25 to 9:27 P.M., a
strong piece of action can be unfoldingat 9:30 P.M. when the second of the 2
half hours is about to begin.Going seamlessly from one show to
the next without any commercial inter-
9 Seheduling Strategies for Television 225
ruptions became popular at the start ofthe new century as a means of bridgingtwo shows. This continuous action seeks
to hook viewers before they have achance to go elsewhere. And someshows start a few seconds before the
hour or half hour, refusing to alIowviewers to jump ship.
Supersizing, adding 10 minutes to ahalf-hour show such as "Friends" or an
extra half hour to an hour-long realityphenomenon such as "Fear Factor," alsobecame popular as a bridging strategyin the early 21st century, pioneeredby NBC Entertainment President JeffZucker. The theory behind supersizingis that viewers enjoying extra time withone of their favorite shows will not turn
the dial to another show already inprogress. Supersizing is clearly fun and ithas been working, although programmers should be wary of overusing it; thenovelty can wear off.
As with many other programrningstrategies, bridging has been affected bythe invention of the remote tuner.
During commercial breaks, hyperactiveTV viewers may zip to five or six channels to find other fare or just to satistytheir curiosity as to what else is playing.If the program they have been watchinghas been intriguing enough, they willreturn. But if something else catches
226 PROGRAMMING FOR TV, RADIO, AND THE INTERNET
Figure 9.5Legendary
programmer PredSilverman ís
recognízed as the
Jounder oj bluntíng.
(Courtesy theAcademy ofTelevisionArts &Sciences.)
their fancy, even though it may be almostover, they may become a lost viewer.
Blunting
A cousin to bridging is blunting. Thegoal is the same: minimize the competitor's opportunity to be sampled.Except under the direst emergencies, thepremieres of all programs are announcedmany weeks in advance. The need fornotification to advertisers and affiliated
stations, plus the time to rev up a promotion campaign, makes last-minuteintroductions impractical. In a worldwhere competition is king and do minating your opponent often takes precedence over thoughtful programmingdecisions, the long lead period enablesrivals to fashion competitive strategies.
So how do you keep your competitive edge by blunting the opposition?Strong, explosive episodes with marqueeguest stars can be used. So can a specialprogram that combines celebrities withother high-appeal elements. A majormotion picture featuring a recentlyannounced Academy Award nomineecan receive a "world TV premiere" onthe competitor's premiere night. Either
the special or movie should bridge thenewcomer's start time. If there is suffi
cient lead time and program inventorypermits, a series of extraordinary eventsand programming can be placed in thetime period for weeks leading up to thecompetition's premiere. The idea is tobuild a viewing habit so binding that aviewer will not be tempted to seek programming elsewhere.
Blunting requires vigilance and imagination. No programmer shouldsupinely "cave" against the premiere ofan opponents show, especially one thatoccupies a key position in the schedule.Obviously, no company has theresources to attempt to blunt everycompetitive move. But if there is a lotriding on the outcome of the newshow's launch, every effort should bemade to capture the viewer with greaterattractions.
The recognized founder of the blunting technique in network television isFred Silverman (Figure 9.5). When hebecame program chief of CBS in 1970,he instituted a policy of yearlong vigilance. Large sheets of paper weredesigned in which space was providedfor the programs of the three networks,half hour by half hour, for all sevennights of the week. A sheet was maintained for every week. Each week, keyCBS network strategists met toexchange information and update thecharts. As soon as one of the other net
works made a program announcement,the plotting began. Rarely was an ABCor NBC program launched that wasnot harassed by CBS diversions andenticements.
The system contributed significantlyto CBS's No. 1 status for all 5 years ofSilverman's program leadership. He thenmoved to ABC, where he used the technique to score more winning years.However, by the time he arrived atNBC, both his competitors wereschooled in the process and the origi-
nator's advantage had vanished.Aft:erhisstint at NBC ended, Silverman surveyedthe programming landscape and wasable to carve out an area all to himself
with older-skewing shows such as"Matlock," "Diagnosis Murder," and thePerry Mason te1evisionmovie franchise.
Late-night te1evisionis an extreme1yvaluable resource for the networks. Asauthor Ken Auletta observed, in the late1980s NBC was getting 25% of itsprofits from late-night programming,making "Here's Johnny" (Carson) awelcome announcement.3 Over theyears,late-night shows have remained aprimary source of a network's income.ln 1996, HBO produced a te1evisionmovie, "The Late Shift," based on thebook by New York Times media analystBili Carter, which dramatized how contentious the wars for late-night dominance can be. The failed attempt ofABC's Robert Iger to steal DavidLetterman from CBS in 2002 further
illustrateshow tough (and embarrassing)the public late-night blunting wars canbe. In 2004, NBC sought to maintainthe late-night dominance by securingthe services of Jay Leno for five additional years and by naming his successor, Conan O'Brien, thus avoidinganother possible contentious battle overthe late shift.
Blunting strategiescan sometimes endup hurting both parties, as happenedduring the 2001-2002 season whenCBS and NBC tried to blunt each
other's reality programming. CBSbrought out a special edition of "BigBrother 2" against the launch of NBC's"Lost." NBC countered by using aspecial edition of "Fear Factor" to hurtthe premier of CBS's "The AmazingRace." This showdown ended in a
ratings draw, all performing adequate1y.But, as media analyst Stacey LynnKomer notes, competitive egos got inthe way, hurting the networks andviewers alike.4
9 Scheduling Strategies for Television 227
Gone are the days when the commercial networks could ignore anyblunting attempts by cable when makingscheduling decisions.In 2004, with cablein more than 60% of homes and HBO,in particular, in 30% of homes, cable cansignificantly affect commercial te1evision. For example, when HBO powerhouse series "The Sopranos" and "Sexand the City" aired at 9:00 Sundaynights, the commercial networks wereclearly affected by the HBO-cablefactor. When the final episode of "Sexand the City" aired February 22, 2004,it drew some 10.6 million viewers,making it the second-most-watchedshow in its time slot, beaten ouly byABC, which had 17.5 millions viewersfor the premier of the new andimproved "Super Millionaire" withRegis Philbin again hosting. Indeed,ABC won the households race, butHBO narrowly beat ABC in the key 18to 49-year-old demographic. AU thiswith HBO in ouly 30% of U.S. homes.5
Cable and commercial networks frequently clash over blunting. Forexample, in 2002, NBC scheduled itsmovie about Matthew Shepard, the gaycollege student who was beaten and leftto die by two young men high oncrystal methamphetamine in Laramie,Wyoming, in 1998. The same night,HBO was premiering its movie aboutShepard, "The Laramie Project;' basedon the play by Moises Kaufinan. Inresponse, HBO moved up the airing ofits movie by a week, with both sidesaccusing each other of foul play andeach proclaiming innocence about thescheduling plans of the other.
Interestingly, when MTV aired itsversion of the Matthew Shepard story ayear before the HBO-NBC showdown,an NBC executive reportedly told hisstaff that the ratings effect of an MTVcable movie were inconsequential toNBC and could not be considered
serious competition. But with commer-
228 PROGRAMMING FOR TV; RADIa, AND THE INTERNET
Figure 9.6Steven Spíelberg's
Emmy-wínníng,
híghly rated Umíted
seríes, "Taken,"
starríng Dakota
Fanníng,demonstrated eable's
growíng stronghold
on longform
programmíng.
(Courtesy theAcademy ofTelevisionArts &Sciences.)
Figure 9.7The CBS 1991
and 2003 Monday
níght seheduleshows how
programs ean bestaeked.
cial television on the decline and cable
programming on the rise, it is no longerpossible for the commercial networks toignore the blunting possibilities of thecable channels, particularly when cablealfS viewer-friendly limited series(Figure 9.6).
CBS 1991 Monday Night Sehedule
Time Program
8:00-8:30 P.M.
"Evening Shade"
8:30-9:00 P.M.
"Major Dad"
9:00-9:30 P.M.
"Murphy Brown"
9:30-10:00 P.M.
"Designing W omen"
10:00-11:00 P.M.
"Northern Exposure"
CBS 2003 Monday Night Sehedule
Time Program
8:00-8:30 P.M.
"Yes, Dear"
8:30-9:00 P.M.
"Stili Standing"
9:00-9:30 P.M.
"Everybody Loves Raymond"
9:30-10:00 P.M.
"Two and a Half Men"
10:00-11:00 P.M.
"CSI: Miami"
Stacking
Programmers attempt to develop anaudience flow by assembling programs ofsimilar appeal to sweep the viewer fromone time period to the next, as PBS doesby stacking three contiguous cookingshows on Saturday afternoons. A c1assicexample of the stacking strategy wasCBS's 1991 Monday night schedule offour sitcoms capped by a humorous,easy-to-take hOULThe line up dominatedthrough the year and on several occasions was victorious in every half hour.In 2003, CBS similarly attempted tostack its programs with four sitcoms andan edgier 10:00 P.M. show, a spin off ofits No. 1 hit, "CSI" (Figure 9.7).
Before embarking on such a stackingstrategy, a programmer should carefullyevaluate two considerations: Is there a
pow~rful show to begin the schedule,and is there a weak link in the chain?
Without a strong leadoff program, thelineup will be unable to develop themomentum necessary to start the audience flow. This flow is essential for
stacking to work as a scheduling strategy. If a competitor takes a commanding lead at the beginning of the race, itwill be difficult for the "stacked" lineupto gain pass-along benefits. Similarly, ifthere is an especially weak program inthe string, viewers wi11 drift to otherofferings and the flow wi11 be interrupted. If there is some doubt about theappeal of one of the shows, programmers would be well advised to place itat the end of the lineup.
Stacking to maintain audience flow isa standard procedure in virtually everydaypart. In weekly daytime programming, the traditional strategy is to schedule games or other nonserial forms in themorning and serials in the afternoon. Fordecades, the networks have presented anuninterrupted string of anima:ted showson Saturday mornings to reach the 1- to
12-year-old audience.Research indicatesthat the youngest children watch the earliest shows, and, as the morning movesalong, the audience tends to get older. Intheory, programmers select the orderof the cartoons to reflect this development, although how they deterrnine anadvancing intelIectual content in theseprograms remains a mystery.
Stunting
Sometimes programs must take extraordinary measures to maintain theiraudience levels.The competition rnightbe picking up momentum, a series ofpreemptions rnight have caused a lossof viewing habit, or a big sweeps weekperformance rnight be required toobtain a contract renewal.Whatever thereason, there are occasionswhen a showneeds a major injection of audienceappeal. As a short-term solution, programmers frequently resort to stunting,the insertion of entertainment elements
not norma11yassociated with the seriesto obtain a ratings spike.
One of the most popu1ar ploys is toconstruct an episode around a moviepersonality,athlete, or a celebrity whoserecent activities commanded national
attention, such ashaving ElizabethTaylorvisit "General Hospital" in 1981. Theappearance of these "names" providespowerful promotional opportunities anda110wsthe program to exploit the public'scuriosity about prominent figures.
Another traditional device is the
development of a multiparter filIedwith clifThangers.Story lines usua11ycompleted in one showing are extendedto two or more episodes because"they're just too big, too important tobe told in their usual length." Presumably viewers wilI be so gripped by thestart of the story that they wouldn't daremiss the remaining episodes.Needless tosay, the beginning must be strong or
9 Seheduling Strategies for Television 229
there could be a ratings disaster pavingthe way to the conclusion, as was thecase in 2004 at ABC with StephenK.ing'smultiparter, "K.ingdom Hospital,"which began with respectable numbersbut dropped 45% in its second airing.
ln soaps and in prime time, weddingsare often the stunt of choice. Conventional programrning wisdom maintains awedding episode can significantly boostthe ratings of a show-thus the heavilypromoted wedding of Phoebe in thefinal season of "Friends."
ln the closing rninutes of the lastoriginal episode of "Da11as"during the1979-1980 season, J.R. Ewing, thepower-mad, unscrupulous oil magnate,was shot by an unknown assailant andrushed to the hospital.This shooting wasone of the biggest television stunts ever.Throughout the summer and into thefirst 2 months of the folIowing season,viewers around the world speculatedabout "Who shot J.R.?" On November21, 1980, the identity of the mysteriousattacker was revealed to an estimatedworldwide audience of more than 300rnillion. In the United States, morepeople viewed "Da11as" that eveningthan voted in the presidential election afew weeks earlier. It is stilITV's second
most-watched episode, topped ouly bythe 1983 finale of "M*A*S*H."
Reality shows prornise twists andsurprises (Fox's "Joe Millionaire," forexample, was not rea11ya millionaire),but it should be remembered that stunts
cannot be overused (the next edition of"Joe Millionaire," the internationalversion, essentia11yduplicated the original and failed). Stunts cannot make upfor weak programrning. No audiencecan be hyped indefinitely,and stunts canbe costly.Although programmers oftenclamor for stlint casting and stunt plottwists to boost ratings during sweeps,itmust be remembered that stuntingcannot do it a11.To be most effective,
230 PROGRAMMING FOR TV; RADIO, AND THE INTERNET
Figure 9.8Crossing "Buffy
the l/ampire
Slayer" (a) into
"Angel" (h) was
designed to boost
the ratings for
"Angel." (GlobePhotos, Inc.)
(a)
stunting should be seen as a short-termdevice.
One downside of stunting should becited. To accommodate the stunt, producers frequently have to modify thebasic idea of the show. A story line thatplays up the special appeals of a celebrityguest must necessarily shift the focusfrom the core ensemble, which is whysome producers, such as Dick Wolf,creator of the "Law & Order" franchise,
do not engage in stunt casting.When Pat Mitchell became PBS pres
ident and CEO in 2000, she saw the
need for PBS to compete more aggressively.This was necessitated partly by theconstant pressure PBS faces that itsfinancial base will be severed. Althoughmany individuals, such as Brian Lowryof Daily Váríety and Chellie Pingree,president of Common Cause, a citizens'organization of more than 250,000people who support responsible broadcasting, favor keeping PBS healthy andsolvent, the financial pressures are real.To stay vibrant, PBS stations create theirown stunts, particularly when they are
trying to raise money from Vlewersduring pledge weeks.
Crossprogramming
Crossprogramming is the interconnection of two shows for mutual
benefit. ln its most sophisticated form, astory is started on one program and iscompleted on another. It can be higWyproductive, but it requires an unusualcombination of circumstances.
Upon her return to "ER" afi:er her5-year hiatus from the show, SherryStringfield crossed from "ER" to "ThirdWatch," another John Wells production.Simi1arly, David E. Kelley introduced astory line in "Ally McBeal" that concludedon "The Practice;' with cast members
crossing from one Kelley show to the next.Other examples of crossprogramming
occurred when a heart transplant startedout on "Homicide" and ended up on"Chicago Hope" and when "Buffy theVampire Slayer" crossed over to boostthe ratings of debuting companion show"Angel" (Figure 9.8).
Elaborate crossovers require substantia1 advance planning, compatibleformats, the good will of a11,and, mostoften, a common production company.Such combinations are rare, which
accounts for the infrequent use of elaborate crossprogramming. But when itcan be used, it is a powerful programming tooI.
Less ambitious versions, which produce more modest results, can also be
developed. Appearances by stars oneach other's programs and references onone program to events on another aretwo of the more familiar usages. Thisharkens back to the early days of radiowhen Gracie Allen, the comedienne of"Burns and Allen," visited numerous
other radio shows looking for herbrother.
Crossprogramming works because theavid viewers of the first show can beadded to the core audience of the
second, thereby producing incrementalratings, primarily for the latter. Obviously, the opening episode should bescheduled on the more popular of thetwo shows. It is easy to see how thismaneuvering can cause resentmentamong the staff and cast of the higherrated program. "The productioncompany is just using us to beef up thenumbers of the other program," is anopinion a programmer should be bracedto hear. It ca11sfor some nimble diplomacy, but the results can make itworthwhile.
Theming
Grouping programs with similar themesis big in syndication, where movies areoften combined into theme weeks
("Elvis Week," "Monster Week," ar"Romance in the Afternoon Week"),but this scheduling strategy also fre-
9 Scheduling Strategiesfor Television 231
quently occurs in commercial televisionand cable.
For example, in 2004, ABC made aconcerted effort to have Oscar-related
programming before the Oscar telecaston February 29. As Judith Tukich, ABCdirector of synergy and special projects,observed, "Oscar plotlines are featuredin ABC's comedy lineup.,,6
"I'm With Her" had a five-episodestory line with Teri Polo, the star ofthe show, an actress whose boyfriendis a schoolteacher, nominated for anAcademy Award. Polo worried aboutwhat to wear to the Oscars, how toavoid the wrath of Joan Rivers on thered carpet, and how to deal with herpushy mother, played by Cybil Shepard,who arrived unpredictably, expecting tobe given a ticket to the awards ceremony. ABC soaps featured Oscar storylines; "Good Morning America" and"The View" focused on the Oscars.
Cable has clearly embraced theadvantages of theming. ESPN, part ofthe Disney family like ABC, discussedthe Oscar nominations on its morningshow, "Cold Pizza."The Disney Channelalso sponsored Oscar-related events, asdid A&E and Lifetime.7
The Outdoor Channel, which in
2004 programmed to a niche audienceof some 26 million outdoor enthusiasts
("real outdoors for real people withnothing too extreme, too expensive orunsafe"), had three theme nights on itsschedule: On Monday nights, a 4-hourblock of half-hour shows on fishing; onTuesday nights, a 4-hour block of halfhour shows on hunting; and on Wednesday nights, a 4-hour block of half-hourshows relating to horsepower. Accordingto Wade Sherman, the senior vice president of programming at the OutdoorChannel, this scheduling strategy greatlyincreased audience flow, enabling the
232 PROGRAMMING FOR TV, RADIO, AND THE INTERNET
Figure 9.9The Outdoor
Channel uses
theming to build
upon its audience
base. (Courtesythe Outdoor
Channel.)
Figure 9.10PBS's perennial"Sesame Street"
makes up a portion
oj its children'stelevision
programming stack.
(CourtesyChildren'sTelevision
Workshop.)
Outdoor Channel to increase its sub
scription base (Figure 9.9).
Stripping
Another strategy used by local stationsinvolves stripping-placing the sameshow in the same time period everyweekday and sometimes even on Saturday and Sunday. It is done partly foreconomic prudence and partly becauseit is a sound audience strategy. Forexample, PES uses stripping effectivelywith children's programs that almostalways appear at the same time every day(Figure 9.10). As you saw earlier, stationsthat buy a syndicated package of offnetwork shows have a fixed period
within which the agreed-upon numberof showings must be run. Usually, theonly way to meet this requirement is toschedule the series every day, Mondaythrough Friday.
Placing a show in a predictable timeand place enables viewers who are fansof the program to know exactly whereand when they can find it. Nothing irritates and frustrates a viewer more that a
lengthy search to locate the air time ofa favorite series. Even if it were possiblefor a station to meet its pay-or-playobligations on several series by alternating them night after night, it would notbe sensible scheduling. Fans of one showmight not like the other, and they couldquickly get out of the habit of watching at that time.
Changing a Show's Time Slot
Some shows, such as "Chicago Hope"described previously, need a time change,and some shows, such as "EverybodyLoves Raymond," can survive beingbumped around the dial until they landin the perfect spot. Not all shows,however, benefit from a schedulechange.
With so many choices available, theaudience does not need to be confused
about when a show is airing. There arespecials, preemptions, and sweepsaltercations, and few time slots, apartfrom "1 Love Lucy" or "ER," remainunchanged. Eut a time slot change candamage a show, taking the wind out ofits sails and halting momentum.
When Fox's "King of the Hill" wasmoved in its second season (1998) toTuesday nights from its previous Sundaynight berth, it struggled mightily until itwas brought back to Sunday nights,where it was given a chance to growand develop a following.
Similarly, Fox's frequent schedulechanges and periods of hiatus for the
cult favorite "Family Guy" did not helpthe show get the big ratings, much tothe chagrin of loya! fans who subsequently enjoyed the show on recordselling DVDs and on the CartoonNetwork's "Adult Swim." The loyalty ofthese passionate fans paid off as sevennew episodes of the show were createdin 2004. The cult following kept theshow a!ive, despite the initiai on-and-offscheduling.
When ABC decided to switch "The
Practice" from its usual Sunday nighttime slot at 10:00 to Monday nights at9:00 during the 2002-2003 season, themove failed in several ways. Placedbetween "Veritas: The Quest" and"Mirades:' ostensibly to function as a tentpole, the Emmy Award-winning "ThePractice" fell to fourth in its time slot.
In addition, creator David E. Kelley wasangered by the time slot switch, accusing ABC of trying to sabotage the showin its seventh season. Kelley wasextremely vocal about his displeasure,hurting the a11-important ABC/Kelleycreative relationship. Ultimately, theshow returned to its Sunday time slot,where in the 2003-2004 season it
underwent a major change, which wewill cover in a subsequent chapter.
Commercia! networks are in the habit
of making constant scheduling changes.PBS, on the other hand, for many yearskept the same schedule for its audienceof approximately 100 million people.PBS President Pat Mitchell initiated a
pilot program with seven major PBSstations to experiment with differentschedules to revitalize the PBS lineup.
Aware that PBS cannot afford to be
viewed as stodgy, Mitchell sought tomake changes. She moved "MasterpieceTheatre" from Sunday nights, althoughit was subsequently moved back. Keenon crosspromoting, she sought to establish a doser connection between PBS
and NPR by bringing in noted NPR
9 Seheduling Strategies for Television 233
Figure 9.11Tavis Smiley,
pictured here with
Neal Kendall, the
executive producer
oj his show, made
a succesiful
transition JromNPR to PBS.
(Courtesy TheSmiley Group.)
commentator Bill Moyers with "Nowwith Bill Moyers" in 2002. NPR's fi.rstAfrican-American talk show host, Tavis
Smiley, a!so became PBS's AfricanAmerican vanguard in 2004, with hiseponymous show (Figure 9.11).
Overexposure
When networks have a hit, the tendencyis to capitalize on that show's success byscheduling it too often or by trying toschedule dose duplicates too quickly.For example, when ABC had itsmonster hit, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," there was a strong temptationto exploit the show, particularly becauseit was a relative bargain to produce. ABCscheduled the show a staggering fourtimes a week in 2001, eventually killingthe show through overexposure. WhenABC brought back a bigger "Super Millionaire" with a top prize of $10 millionin February 2004, the network scheduled it five nights in a row but only forone week during the February sweepsand a second week during the Maysweeps, seemingly avoiding the overexposure mistakes of the past.
When Fox had its monster hit,"American Idol," it tried to duplicate
234 PROGRAMMING FOR TV, RADIO, AND THE INTERNET
Figure 9.12"[ Love Lucy,"
starring Lucille
Ball, pioneered the
use cf .film for
weekly televisionseries. The
technique enabled
the episodes to be
rerun with high
quality. The
programs are still
syndicated today,
some 50 years after
they were .first
produced.
(Courtesy theAcademy ofTelevisionArts &Sciences.)
the success with "American Juniors" inthe summer of 2003. Too similar? Too
soon? Whatever the reasons, this "Idol"imitation did not achieve the success of
its predecessor, losing 1arge chunks of itsaudience week by week.8
Imitations can succeed, for example,NBC's "For Love or Money II" orABC's "The Bachelorette," modeled
after "The Bachelor," but overexposurecan take away a show's unique or specialquality.Too many repeat showings, calIedencores, can lessen viewer interest. WB
ca11sits repeats of shows during the sameweek an easy view option, and in2004, NBC presented its hit show"TheApprentice" twice in the same week, butoverexposure is a risky business. Thepublic quickly tires when offered toomuch of a good thing.
Rerunning and Repurposing
In the early days of television, fewprograms were rerun-for technicalreasons. Videotape had not beeninvented, and film was considered much
too expensive for this fledgling medium.Most programs were aired live-mistakes and a11'A process calIed kinescoperecording was developed so that someprograms could be saved or run on theWest Coast at the same "clock hours" as
their East Coast origination. But these"kines," which were films made off a TV
monitor, were of poor quality.From their beginnings in the early
1950s, Lucille BalI and Desi Arnez
filmed "I Love Lucy," and everyonethought they were a little crazy-untilthe foreign market opened up (Figure9.12). Then Lucy and Desi began rakingin the money from selIing their showsto other countries, and a few felIow producers decided to folIow suit. It was not
long before American broadcasting realized it could play these films, too. Thuswas born the rerun.
A basic annual pattem of programscheduling set in. Programs were introduced in the falI, ended their season in
mid-spring, went into reruns for thesummer, and emerged with new productthe folIowing fa11. This came aboutthrough a combination of reality, surmise, social habits, and economics.
The key reality, as explained previously, was the drop-off in viewingover the summer months. From Junethrough August, daylight remains wellinto the evening. People stay outsidelonger, and (according to conventionalwisdom) the TV set often stands darkand unattended. Also, during thesummer a substantial percentage ofviewers are on vacation and are unavail
able for, or uninterested in, watchingTV Through the decades a vociferousexecutive minority has claimed that thisassessment is largely an incorrectsurmise, grown into a mythic delusion.Defenders of the traditional cycle arequick to point out two importantreasons for the summer hiatus-cast and
staff demand a rest, and networks need
the revenue from reruns, as described in
the section on introducing a show in aquiet time.
When a repeat of an episode is schedu1ed, the cost of payments to performers and other gui1d members($50,000-$75,000) is the only production expense. Although the value of thecommercials is somewhat reducedbecause of the audience falloff in thesummer and the diminished attraction
of seeing an episode twice in the sameseason, the revenue on a reasonab1ypopular program is more than enoughto offset costs. Despite comp1aints ofviewers and the frustration of some
program and production executives, anannual cycle that incorporates a rerun ofvirtually every original episode remainsa strong possibility. In the summer of2004 CBS, for examp1e, did very wellwith reruns of its successfu1 shows.
It is true that a weekly series is physically exhausting for cast and staff. Thehours are long, the pressure relentless,and the opportunity to unwind almostnonexistent. A break is necessary so thatthey do not kill themselves, or eachother. Scoffers downplay the fatiguefactor and point to the round-thecalendar schedu1es of daytime serials thathave been produced without 10ss of 1ifeor audience over 4 decades. Even NBC's
deceased programming genius, BrandonTartikoff, stated: "If you can make 265episodes each year of 'Days of OurLives,' I've got to believe you can make40 to 45 episodes of "Knots Landing,,9(Figure 9.13).
As explained in Chapter 2, repurposing, the airing of a show on a differentoutlet shortly after its initia1 airing,became a significant scheduling too1,particu1arly with the proliferation ofmergers that created a host of sistercompanies ready, willing, and ab1e torepurpose. Thus, a show that airs on aTuesday night on NBC can be repur-
9 Scheduling Strategies for Television 235
Figure 9.13For many years,Donna Mills
starred in the
nighttime soap
"Knots Landing,"where she delivered
the famous line,"Let the second
Mrs. Ewing givethe third Mrs.
Ewing some advice.
The .first Mrs.
Ewing ... doesn't
go away."
(Courtesy DonnaMills.)
posed on a Thursday night on Bravoor vice versa. PBS even engages inrepurposing with the Latino drama"American Fami1y" by 1icensing asecondary run to Te1emundo.
Repurposing enab1es companies toget much more bang for their buckfrom individual episodes. It a1so enab1esdifferent audiences to experience thesame show. A niche audience here, amainstream audience there: It all adds upto the benefit of a show's exposure.
Boosting the Audience inSweep Periods
Although every day in television isimportant, some are more importantthan others. Four times a year for 30day periods (February, May, Ju1y, andNovember), Nielsen conducts specia1sweeps of audience viewing habits inevery market in the country. Althoughmany programmers decry sweepsperiods as outdated mechanisms, theyare unlikely to go away. Sweeps moni-
6 PROGRAMMING FOR TV; RADIO, AND THE INTERNET
toring is vital to the economic health ofeach station. This statistical data forms
the basis of the advertising rates until theresults of the next sweep are available.Programmers are under great pressure tobuild the highest possible ratings foreach time period.
For many years, event miniseriesdelivered heavenly ratings duringsweeps. An actor such as RichardChamberlin was the king of sweeps.More recently, pop star Michael ]acksonwas the crowned king of sweeps programming. Anything dealing withMichael ]ackson was viewed as surefireratings gold. Finding a sweeps-worthyevent such as the 200th episode of"ER"ar the 300th episode of "Law & Order"weighs heavily on the minds of all programming executives. No one wants theaffiliates to complain about sweeps programming that did not allow them tocommand viable advertising rates. Localnews shows turn to exposing restaurantswhere cockroaches abound.
During the February 2004 sweeps,ABC's "Super Millionaire" hit ratingspay dirt on the first night, although itdropped afterward, not giving ABC themuch-needed boost for which it had
undoubtedly hoped.It is getting harder to know what wili
deliver the numbers during sweeps, butthe search continues unabashedly. Someturn to specials (awards shows tend tobe fairly reliable bullets); others relyon highly rated regular programming,with just a few added weddings, pregnancies, same-sex kisses, and celebritysightings.
It is proper during sweep periods forstations and networks to employ asmany of the audience-building techniques described in this chapter as possible. The battle for viewers (andtherefore dollars) is crucial, and spikingdevices are a legitimate part of the competitive system.
Patience
Although many of the shows thatbecame part of television history wereslow starters that needed time to
develop and to nurture a word-ofmouth campaign, patience has been inshort supply in recent years. If a showdoes not connect quickly, programmersfind it increasingly difficult to wait itout, hoping to prove that a programmer's instinct was on the money despitea slow start. The competition is toostrong and the stakes are too high fortop management, concerned with thebottom line, to wait "too long" for aturnaround. With mergers, companiesare often run by individuals that are notprimarily broadcasters who understandthat some shows take time to build; their
obligation is to the stockholders, andthey do not have the patience or confidence to stay with a show until it findsits audience.
Slow starters such as the original"Dick Van Dyke Show;" "Cheers,""Barney Milier," "Hill Street Blues," and"Everybody Loves Raymond" needtime. Everyone agrees in theory thatpatience is needed when it comes toscheduling programming, everyoneagrees pressure for the early dismissal ofa show should be resisted, and everyoneagrees that programmers will obtain afirst look at a creator's next project if thecurrent project is given a chance todevelop. Stili, it is hard for programmersand their bosses to avoid movingquickly if a show performs poorly at thestart.
ln the 2002-2003 season, Fox can
celed its David E. Kelley series, "GirlsClub," about women lawyers in SanFrancisco, after only two airings. In
2003-2004, CBS canceled Kelley's "TheBrotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire," about three brothers, after four
outings. Also in the 2003-2004 season,
9 Scheduling Strategies for Television 237
SeriesNetwork AiredNo. Aired Episodes
"Skin"
Fox3
"Coupling"
NBC4
"Luis"
Fox4
"The Brotherhood of Poland,
CBS5NR"
"The Lyon's Den"
NBC6
"A Minute with Stan Rooper"
Fox6
"Karen Cisco"
ABC7
"Tarzan"
WB8
"The Mullets"
UPN10
"Jake 2.0"
UPN12NBC canceled "Coupling," the highlypublicized British import seen as a possible replacement for "Friends," afteronly four airings. That same season, Foxcanceled "Skin," Jerry Bruckheimer'slook at the world of pornography, afterthree airings. These were only a few ofthe many series decapitated that season(Figure 9.14).
If you do not succeed right away incommercial television, chances are that
the virtue of patience will not come toyour show's rescue.
Cable, on the other hand, tends to bemore patient. Having two primarysources of revenue-advertisers and subscribers-enables basic cable to hold otI
pressing the cancel button. A premiumchannel such as HBO can allow a show
such as "Carnivale," which was notembraced by either critics or viewers, torun its course, which probably wouldnot have been the case on commercial
TV. Had "Lucky" been on commercialTV instead of FX, it probably wouldhave been pulled without finishing a fullseason.
EXERCISES
ln this chapter, we examined the variousscheduling strategies for televisi onprogramming. In Chapter 10, you willlearn about specific ditIerences betweenscheduling for radio and scheduling forthe Internet.
Figure 9.14During the2003-2004
season, severalshows on
commercial
television were
pulled bifore
jinishing a Jullseason.
Progratntning for T~Radio, and the InternetStrategy, Development, and Evaluation
Philippe PerebinossoffCalifornia State University, Fullerton
Brian GrossEF Education,lakarta, Indonesia
Lynne S. GrossCalifornia State University, Fullerton
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