REALITY, GAME SHOWS AT 8 P.M. SIGNS THAT NETWORK'S GIVEN UP?Byline: DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. KRONKE Television Critic Just 10 months after promising to stick with an ``A-level product,'' NBC Universal NBC Universal is a media and entertainment company formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electric's NBC with Vivendi Universal Entertainment (part of the French Media Group, Vivendi SA). GE owns 80% of NBC Universal with the remaining 20% owned by Vivendi SA. made a U-turn Thursday by announcing plans to replace its first hour of prime-time programming with game shows and reality TV. Jeff Zucker Jeffrey Zucker (born April 9, 1965) is an American television executive, and President & CEO of NBC Universal. He is a 5-time Emmy Award winner known for his aggressive promotion of his network's programs. , head of NBC-Universal Television, announced deep staff cuts and a strategy that directly affects the development of comedy and drama series. ``It's an alarming message to send out: `We're throwing our hands up in the air; we don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what to do any more,''' lamented Marc Berman, Mediaweek ratings analyst. ``There's nothing wrong with a game show here or there -- `Deal or No Deal' works on Monday and Friday nights. But to say this is what we're doing from now on sends an extremely alarming message: `Our priority isn't finding quality shows, it's about programming that's costing us less.' You never, ever send that message out. When the viewer gets a taste of that, it sends out a very bad message.'' ``You can practically see the carnage,'' said Robert Thompson Robert Thompson may refer to:
In January, however, NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. Entertainment President Kevin Reilly Kevin Reilly is the entertainment president of the Fox network. He is a former NBC president fired in May 2007 after the network had one of its least-watched seasons ever.[1] Early in his career at NBC, Reilly was involved with Law & Order insisted that neither the network's financial slump nor its acquisition of ``Sunday Night Sunday Night, later named Michelob Presents Night Music, was an NBC late-night television show which aired for two seasons between 1988 and 1990 as a showcase for jazz and eclectic musical artists. Football'' would affect its development of scripted programming. ``We can't afford to get that cute right now,'' Reilly declared. ``We need A-level product on the air.'' Thompson does believe that NBC is making a grave error in ceding cede tr.v. ced·ed, ced·ing, cedes 1. To surrender possession of, especially by treaty. See Synonyms at relinquish. 2. its 8 p.m. hour of prime time to unscripted un·script·ed adj. Not adhering to or in accordance with a script written beforehand: "his unscripted encounters with the press" Eleanor Clift. programming. ``Putting all your eggs in game shows and reality at 8 o'clock is a very dangerous thing to do,'' he said. ``It's fine if you can get `Who Wants to be a Millionaire' or `Deal or No Deal.' But they wear out quickly, and for every `Millionaire,' there are three `Winning Lines,' `21s' and `Greeds' that don't work. It's an easy decision to make but much harder to execute.'' Still, Thompson didn't find the layoffs particularly alarming, noting, ``This is a network that has been around since 1927, when broadcasting was in its infancy, when it was a radio network. Lots of layers of inefficient bureaucracy have no doubt built up since then. It probably needs a little paring down.'' Earle Marsh, co-author of ``The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows,'' believes the strategy is pragmatic. ``Reality shows tend to be cheaper to produce, and they do attract the younger audience that networks are chasing,'' he said. ``But they don't have legs -- one problem you run into is, you can't rerun re·run n. The act or an instance of rebroadcasting a recorded movie or a recorded television performance. tr.v. re·ran , re·run, re·run·ning, re·runs To present a rerun of. them effectively. They're once (aired) and out. From a production company's point of view, that's a real problem.'' Zucker told The Wall Street Journal that advertisers weren't interested in the 8 p.m. hour. But the fall season's biggest new hit series, ABC's ``Ugly Betty,'' is an 8 o'clock show Thursdays. Likewise, NBC's decision to slash its news division's budget through bureau closures and layoffs of on-air reporters was met with negative reviews, particularly given that ``The NBC Nightly News'' and ``Today'' are among the network's few success stories, No. 1 in their time slots. ``Making cuts in the news creates risks to the one place they still have dominance,'' Thompson says. ``A great percentage of their revenue comes from `Today' and `Nightly News,''' echoes Berman. ``You don't want to mess with success. ``Don't take something that's working and dilute it.'' david.kronke(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3638 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Howie Mandel and Megan Mullally appear with ``Deal or No Deal'' models at the Primetime Emmy Awards in August. Vince Bucci/Getty Images |
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