Is NBC dead?

[FreddyE1977]

ahhh.....how soon they forget Manimal!

 

[benwolf]

Growing up about 90% of my viewing was on NBC...I loved it. The Today Show circa 1970 with Frank Blair doing the news (yes, real news on the Today Show!) made me want to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. Look at the Today Show now and that paints a clear picture of this network's decline...self-promoting at every turn, vapid eye candy (Tiki Barbour, Kathie Lee, Jenna Bush etc) replacing qualified journalists, and just plain bad, hammy, embarassing at times TV. The network has no idea how to do a funny sitcom anymore. Leno is boring, and sorry, Conan and Fallon and SNL are not funny. Its not just me, look at the ratings.
And MSNBC and the hucksters at CNBC are costing the NBC namebrand credibility.
True, it's been called dead before and came back, but I just don't see it happening this time. Programming is being slashed and they're going backward...none of the high budget prime time shows that brought CBS out of 3rd place are in the pipeline.

It's about to be dead, now a non-contender.

 

[Robnoxious]

ahhh.....how soon they forget Manimal!

And Supertrain and Quark and Pink Lady & Jeff and on and on...

 

[Yeziknoradio]

But seriosly, if NBC wants to continue to succeed, game shows may be the best bet.
Wether they be new ideas or old ones with new twists (or whatever) I think the smartest thing they could do is restore some gameshows.

Match game and Hollywood Squares...or anything that allows them to round up actors from their exsisting programs to talk a bit about what they are starring in...perhaps even toss in a quick blooper filler if need be.

People could watch an infomercial for "Please watch NBC" and not even know it!
(add to that, actors from Universal movies that can be easily promoted durring those gameshows as well.)

 

[willcail]

Gameshows in primetime doesn't work. Never have never will. Name one primetime gameshow in the past ten years that lasted more than one season. MSNBC slightly have creditbility than the other opinion noise networks. Since they do research unlike that other knee jerk reactionary noise network. Then I don't waste my time or money on worthless cable. Anyway NBC isn't dead they will come back.

 

[JayR]

Is NBC dead?

It is...if you live in the Miami market.

It's in sixth place, behind Univision and corporate sibling Telemundo.

 

[DToTheJ]

I only DVR one daytime show that is Bonnie Hunt...

Her talk show is still on the air? ???

 

[bpatrick]

Is NBC dead?

It is...if you live in the Miami market.

It's in sixth place, behind Univision and corporate sibling Telemundo.

Although not doing as badly as WTVJ, WXIA Atlanta and WVTM
Birmingham have fallen to fourth place in their markets, and who's
the new market leader in Birmingham? Perennial doormat, and CBS
affiliate, WIAT, a station that is gradually emerging into the upper
ranks of CBS affiliates. And Atlanta's doormat of a CBS affiliate,
WGCL, is running no worse than third behind WSB (ABC) and WAGA
(Fox) now. If this is going on all over the country, NBC has work to
do bigtime. One thing you won't be seeing will be the affiliation switching
of the Silverman era; then, affiliation contracts were for two years; now,
they're for ten. NBC is stuck with WXIA until 2015. But by then, who knows?
NBC may be repeating its '80s and '90s glory by then.

Somebody mentioned that NBC isn't pursuing the kind of high-ticket dramas
that put CBS on top. I'm not sure that this hunger for cheap programming
(and every network is, to some extent) isn't one of the things that is driving
people away from the networks and toward cable (when has a broadcast
network tried anything like "Mad Men"?).

 

[LKellerIII]

Is NBC dead?

It is...if you live in the Miami market.

It's in sixth place, behind Univision and corporate sibling Telemundo.

Although not doing as badly as WTVJ, WXIA Atlanta and WVTM
Birmingham have fallen to fourth place in their markets, and who's
the new market leader in Birmingham? Perennial doormat, and CBS
affiliate, WIAT, a station that is gradually emerging into the upper
ranks of CBS affiliates. And Atlanta's doormat of a CBS affiliate,
WGCL, is running no worse than third behind WSB (ABC) and WAGA
(Fox) now. If this is going on all over the country, NBC has work to
do bigtime. One thing you won't be seeing will be the affiliation switching
of the Silverman era; then, affiliation contracts were for two years; now,
they're for ten. NBC is stuck with WXIA until 2015. But by then, who knows?
NBC may be repeating its '80s and '90s glory by then.

Somebody mentioned that NBC isn't pursuing the kind of high-ticket dramas
that put CBS on top. I'm not sure that this hunger for cheap programming
(and every network is, to some extent) isn't one of the things that is driving
people away from the networks and toward cable (when has a broadcast
network tried anything like "Mad Men"?).

Good point. It's also worth pointing out that what distinguishes shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad from regular network fare is the writing and direction. I'm sure they are less expensive to produce than action dramas that require complex chase scenes, and crime procedurals that require lots of special effects.

I've read that Mad Men is filmed on a sound stage in downtown Los Angles - the show is almost entirely interior scenes, with the occasional outdoor shot. The scenes with Don and Peggy driving (primarily at night) look very cheaply done - fake car on a sound stage with lights flashing by...the kind of thing you used to see in soap operas.

Though the primary actors (Jon Hamm especially) have become stars to some extent, and can probably command a lot more money in the future - I'm sure they have not gotten high salaries for their work on Mad Men.

Along these same lines, I remember reading a few years ago about how cheaply they were able to shoot and produce The Shield - which did have a lot of action scenes.

Good drama can be done without spending a lot of money, but the networks would have to commit to it.

 

[trusty]

Gameshows in primetime doesn't work. Never have never will. Name one primetime gameshow in the past ten years that lasted more than one season.

Maybe you need to ask Regis about that...

 

[imhomerjay]

If the question is more than one season in primetime--and no other qualifications were put around that challenge--more folks than just Regis would have something to say.

 

[TexasTom]

NBC needs to emphasize that they are the "Widescreen HD Network" just like they did during the infancy of color TV.

The NBC emphasis on their color programming was an attempt to help push the sales of RCA color TVs -- NBC was a subsidiary of RCA, and thus had a stake in helping boost those color TV sales.

NBC doesn't have the same sort of stake in HDTV sales today, since their current parent (GE) doesn't have a consumer electronics presence. In addition, carrying widescreen HD programming is no longer particularly distinctive, since all of the English language broadcast networks have extensive schedules of HD shows.

 

[taylorjsdad]

Is NBC dead?

It is...if you live in the Miami market.

It's in sixth place, behind Univision and corporate sibling Telemundo.

Although not doing as badly as WTVJ, WXIA Atlanta and WVTM
Birmingham have fallen to fourth place in their markets, and who's
the new market leader in Birmingham? Perennial doormat, and CBS
affiliate, WIAT, a station that is gradually emerging into the upper
ranks of CBS affiliates. And Atlanta's doormat of a CBS affiliate,
WGCL, is running no worse than third behind WSB (ABC) and WAGA
(Fox) now. If this is going on all over the country, NBC has work to
do bigtime. One thing you won't be seeing will be the affiliation switching
of the Silverman era; then, affiliation contracts were for two years; now,
they're for ten. NBC is stuck with WXIA until 2015. But by then, who knows?
NBC may be repeating its '80s and '90s glory by then.

Somebody mentioned that NBC isn't pursuing the kind of high-ticket dramas
that put CBS on top. I'm not sure that this hunger for cheap programming
(and every network is, to some extent) isn't one of the things that is driving
people away from the networks and toward cable (when has a broadcast
network tried anything like "Mad Men"?).

The interesting thing about the situation in Birmingham is that both WVTM and WIAT have at one time or another been owned by Media General. In fact Media General sold WIAT so they could purchase WVTM from NBC. Could WVTM's downfall and WIAT's rise be related to ownership? I have only seen one Media General station WFLA-TV, Tampa and that station to me is the best in the DMA. I just find it interesting that when Media General owned WIAT is was a perennial cellar dweller and now that they own WVTM they are heading there.

Has WTVJ always been at the bottom in Miami. Did the move from channel 4 to 6 hurt them? I know at least in the analog days the transmitter for Miami's channel 6 was well south of Miami due to short spacing with Orlando's channel 6.

WXIA surprised me. Gannett at least to me seems to be one of the better owners. I have seen some of their stations (WCSH,WTSP,KARE,WUSA) and they seem to be very well run operations. With Gannett owning a bunch of NBC affiliates I don't see a change there.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Gameshows in primetime doesn't work. Never have never will. Name one primetime gameshow in the past ten years that lasted more than one season.

Quite a few. Add in shows like Greed, and one can easily agree it was prematurely canceled.

 

[KTN Corp]

The NBC emphasis on their color programming was an attempt to help push the sales of RCA color TVs -- NBC was a subsidiary of RCA, and thus had a stake in helping boost those color TV sales.

That fact was in the back of my mind.

NBC doesn't have the same sort of stake in HDTV sales today, since their current parent (GE) doesn't have a consumer electronics presence. In addition, carrying widescreen HD programming is no longer particularly distinctive, since all of the English language broadcast networks have extensive schedules of HD shows.

But they can own that distinction. Make the viewer think that this is the place to not have a cropped low-res picture (especially when OTA vs Cable viewing quality can be mentioned in the the HD step-by-step :30 promo). The current Peacock Logo has an element that nods (albeit subtle) to the color era. I was watching ATWT on KHOU a few months ago and noticed that it is in 4:3. High-Def maybe but still 4:3! NBC's Days was 16:9 (if i remember correctly).

 

[bpatrick]

Is NBC dead?

It is...if you live in the Miami market.

It's in sixth place, behind Univision and corporate sibling Telemundo.

Although not doing as badly as WTVJ, WXIA Atlanta and WVTM
Birmingham have fallen to fourth place in their markets, and who's
the new market leader in Birmingham? Perennial doormat, and CBS
affiliate, WIAT, a station that is gradually emerging into the upper
ranks of CBS affiliates. And Atlanta's doormat of a CBS affiliate,
WGCL, is running no worse than third behind WSB (ABC) and WAGA
(Fox) now. If this is going on all over the country, NBC has work to
do bigtime. One thing you won't be seeing will be the affiliation switching
of the Silverman era; then, affiliation contracts were for two years; now,
they're for ten. NBC is stuck with WXIA until 2015. But by then, who knows?
NBC may be repeating its '80s and '90s glory by then.

Somebody mentioned that NBC isn't pursuing the kind of high-ticket dramas
that put CBS on top. I'm not sure that this hunger for cheap programming
(and every network is, to some extent) isn't one of the things that is driving
people away from the networks and toward cable (when has a broadcast
network tried anything like "Mad Men"?).

The interesting thing about the situation in Birmingham is that both WVTM and WIAT have at one time or another been owned by Media General. In fact Media General sold WIAT so they could purchase WVTM from NBC. Could WVTM's downfall and WIAT's rise be related to ownership? I have only seen one Media General station WFLA-TV, Tampa and that station to me is the best in the DMA. I just find it interesting that when Media General owned WIAT is was a perennial cellar dweller and now that they own WVTM they are heading there.

Has WTVJ always been at the bottom in Miami. Did the move from channel 4 to 6 hurt them? I know at least in the analog days the transmitter for Miami's channel 6 was well south of Miami due to short spacing with Orlando's channel 6.

WXIA surprised me. Gannett at least to me seems to be one of the better owners. I have seen some of their stations (WCSH,WTSP,KARE,WUSA) and they seem to be very well run operations. With Gannett owning a bunch of NBC affiliates I don't see a change there.

WTVJ, when it was a CBS affiliate on Channel 4, dominated the Miami market. I remember that at the height of ABC's national dominance in the late '70s Florida Trend magazine ran a story about how CBS had been able to hang on as number one in most of Florida, singling out WTVJ, WTVT Tampa/St. Petersburg, and WJXT Jacksonville. None is a CBS affiliate today (WTVT is a Fox o&o, WJXT is independent), and while WTVT is on the comeback trail, the changes in Tampa and Jacksonville opened the door to NBC's assuming first place in those markets (although WTSP is doing better with CBS than it did with ABC).

WIAT has benefited from some good management and a willingness to spend money for programming, such as "Jeopardy!", "Entertainment Tonight," and Dr. Phil. Media General also owns my local NBC affiliate, WNCN Raleigh/Durham, and it has made little to no gains against the market's giants, WRAL (CBS) and WTVD (ABC).

I, too, am surprised about WXIA; they had been running second or third (at worst). Perhaps the weak NBC primetime lineup is a problem; some people in Atlanta think the quality of 11 Alive's newscast has slipped. I don't know, since I don't get WXIA. But I agree that NBC will hang on to all of its Gannett-owned affiliates. And whatever happened to Gannett's plan to buy NBC, a rumor that was going around a few years ago?

 

[only1moore]

Speaking of fourth place finishes, you might want to add KHNL/Honolulu to that list. And now that Raycom is about to make that SSA deal that will bring KHNL, KFVE, and MCG-owned CBS outlet KGMB under one operation chances are KHNL's newscast will be toast and not even NBC's lineup will save them.

 

[JeeperOne]

Programming style has got to change. Blood and cadavers on everystation. IN this economy, bring back King for a day or something like big bucks Jeopardy! A good Colombo/murder she wrote/Monk typer who dunnit would be cool too.... Maybe a family series like eight is enough....instead of the non reality reality stuff that ends up in the dumper...

Even the REAL Reality stuff is becoming repetitive & redundant on TV these days to be quite honest when you throw in such shows Dog The Bounty Hunter on A&E, DEA on Spike & COPS on several channels plus EVERYTHING on TruTV.

And didn't NBC try an Eight Is Enough-ish show back in the late 80s/early '90s? Me vaguely remembers so. Look where that went.

That said, a show akin to Columbo or even a modernized version of Kolchak: The Night Stalker would look GREAT on TV these days (I can just see Kolchak Jr. with a PDA instead of that old typewriter his dad used in the original 1970s ABC version ).

Just my opinion though.....

Cheers

 

[JeeperOne]

Back to the thread topic: Is NBC dead?

In my opinion, the whole network business model is in jeopardy and is being rewritten. The Big 4 are having troubles, obviously. It's just that NBC happens to be the most vulnerable right now.

Yeah. One needn't look any further than its daytime lineup. It's on life support.

Heck, KUSA 9 here in Denver doesn't even bother airing the daytime version of DOND. They go so far as to delay the 4th hour of Today from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in favor of Colorado & Company, a local show which they produce themselves from 10:00 AM till 11:00 AM. They broadcast EXTRA at 12:30 PM till 1:00 PM when The Doctors (No, not the old NBC soap opera) is shown & would rather broadcast The Ellen DeGeneres Show at 3:00 PM instead of broadcast DOND here either.

And in case you're wondering, DOND isn't even banished over/dumped onto sister station MyNetwork affiliate KTVD 20 either (They'd rather subject viewers to courtroom shows & mindless talk shows that aren't even entertaining there).

Just stating the facts as they exist here.....

Cheers

 

[JeeperOne]

Somebody mentioned that NBC isn't pursuing the kind of high-ticket dramas
that put CBS on top.

Nor is it taking chances like FOX does with shows like 24. When was the last time NBC did that?

Also when was the last time NBC aired A MOVIE?? Hey NBC - Remember THOSE??

I'm not sure that this hunger for cheap programming
(and every network is, to some extent) isn't one of the things that is driving
people away from the networks and toward cable (when has a broadcast
network tried anything like "Mad Men"?).

Let's not forget that cable networks aren't immune to the so-called "Reality" TV genre either. Look at TVLand as an example of this.

Just my opinion.....

Cheers