Alright, alright, it’s probably way too early for this post, and it’s most likely an overstatement, but I can’t help thinking that network TV as we know it is in critical condition. With the latest news that NBC is giving up on the ten o’clock hour giving Jay Leno a nightly show at 10 PM, I fear that this could be a major blow to network television.
Leno is going to be on every night from 10 to 11. This means that five hours a week that could have gone to quality scripted television will be out of play. Add in more pointless reality swill that NBC will be sure to include in the schedule (see Biggest Loser, Mamma’s Boys, Howie Do That, etc.) and you have a channel that may be showing more unscripted shows than scripted in 2009.
My biggest fear with this gamble from NBC is that it will be successful. If NBC starts winning more viewers with an unscripted program every night at 10, what will the other networks do? I’m afraid that you would see CBS and ABC canceling more and more of their scripted dramas and replacing them with talkers or more reality drivel. With talk shows on in the morning and late night, do we really need them filling up the prime time schedule? There’s already enough crappy reality TV on network television these days, we don’t need an excuse to add anymore.
This is all about money, and it stinks. Lower production costs mean lower expectations and higher profits. Flashy dramas and well-produced comedies are expensive and risky from the eyes of the networks. Thank goodness we have cable. More and more these days we are seeing an increase in scripted shows on cable, many of them high quality shows at that. FX, AMC, TNT, USA, and TBS have joined ranks with HBO and Showtime delivering television that is leaps and bounds ahead of network television. Certainly there are good shows on network TV right now, but how long will they be there?
Best case scenario: Jay Leno falls flat on his face in prime time and NBC is forced to go back to the drawing board. I hate to wish ill will toward people, but I hate to think about what might happen if he is a huge success. Luckily it appears as if I’m just jumping on the bandwagon here, as the Leno news appears to have been pretty poorly received universally.
What do you think? Are you concerned about this decision by NBC? Are you looking forward to Leno at 10?
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Dec 10, 2008 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
I thought about this in the same way you did as well, but then I remembered that Jay Leno isn’t that funny anyway (he’s only remotely funny when you’re nearly passed out from exhaustion) so I don’t expect this to last long.
I think its a bad idea; and I am amazed that they are aiming an hour of primetime toward the older crowd. Death of Network? I wrote down my DVR timers last night, and I have 42 series programmed. Of them exactly half are must see cable programs, and one network show just ended (boston legal), two are daytime (bonnie hunt & all my children) and two are fillers I only watch when extremely bored (without a trace and eleventh hour), leaving 16 network shows, and they come and go throughout the year. I think they’ve shot themselves in the foot, and a comeback may or may not happen.
I’m not sure if this is the death of network TV, but it certainly sounds like the death of NBC. This coming on the back of executive firings, no less. On the other hand, it’s not like you can fall any further behind when you’re already in last place..
With declining television audiences and competition from cable and premium networks, I believe there will be fewer and fewer quality shows on network television. Reality and talk shows are cheap to produce. Good dramas are expensive and the amount the actors get is, frankly, rediculous.
Also, with more and more families getting DVR technology, broadcast television will be hard pressed to sell advertisements that most people will fast forward through. In the long run, I see most series as pay per view, which would be really sad for people who don’t have a whopping entertainment budget.
This is the worst idea since “Misfits of Science”. Maybe even worse. At least “Misfits” was scripted television.
On the nights when the ratings get really bad – they’ll eventually replace Leno with something scripted. He’ll be down to 4, then 3 nights a week. It won’t last.
Either that or (just as likely) they’ll ditch Conan, and move Jay back to the Tonight Show.