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

ELSEVIER

AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON

NEW YORK • OXFORD • PARIS • SAN DIEGO

SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO

FocaI Press is an imprint of Elsevier I