Posts Tagged ‘nbc’

NBC Plots Comedy-Driven Revival

May 14, 2012  |  Media Week  |  No Comments

NBC on Monday returned to its Radio City upfront stomping grounds, laying out a 2012-13 prime-time schedule designed to tickle viewers’ funny bones. But before the network could get the ball rolling on its comedy-heavy slate, NBC entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt had some sobering news for 30 Rock fans. Speaking to a crowd of media buyers and clients, Greenblatt said that the fall run of 13 episodes would be 30 Rock ’s last, adding that the series will end after seven seasons with a one-hour finale. Greenblatt said he thinks 30 Rock creator Tiny Fey is a comedic genius. “We hope she has a home at NBC for years to come," he said. Greenblatt’s announcement was a bit of a reversal of comments he made on Sunday afternoon, when he told reporters that a decision on the fate of 30 Rock was still up in the air. During that same call, the NBC exec said that the exiled Community could earn a longer order if it draws a crowd in its new Friday 8:30 p.m. time slot. With 10 comedies on the roster, including four new entries, NBC is practically doubling down on sitcoms. In the fall of 2011, the network had six comedies on its prime-time schedule, although that number would fall to five with the Oct. 5 cancelation of Free Agents . The crowd reacted generously to clips from the new batch of comedies, with the biggest laughs being doled out for the Matthew Perry series Go On and the antic Justin Kirk effort, Animal Practice

Read More

Information Diet: David Gregory

May 11, 2012  |  Media Week  |  No Comments

Specs Age

Read More

The Long Goodbye: Renewal Hopes Kept Alive in a Night of Season Finales

May 9, 2012  |  Media Week  |  No Comments

A handful of series broadcast their season finales Tuesday night, and while three—NBC’s The Voice ; Fox’s New Girl and Glee —are already booked for a return trip in the fall, two others may have performed well enough to secure last-second renewals. Per Nielsen overnight ratings data, The Voice closed out its second season with an average draw of 11.9 million total viewers and a 4.4 in the 18-to-49 demo, an improvement of 19 percent versus its freshman finale (3.7 on June 28, 2011). The Voice closes out its second run a step ahead of Fox’s American Idol , averaging a 5.3 rating in the coveted demo to its precursor’s 5.1. That said, with five episodes to go before its May 23 finale, Idol is almost certain to finish ahead of The Voice . One of the very few bright spots on NBC’s prime-time lineup, The Voice packs a wallop with advertisers, commanding a princely rate of approximately $210,000 per 30-second spot. Auditions for Season 3 began in March, with an eye toward bringing The Voice back in the fall. Season 2 bowed immediately after NBC’s coverage of Super Bowl XLVI and delivered 37.6 million viewers and a 16.3 in the dollar demo. Also going on hiatus for the summer is Fox’s ensemble comedy, New Girl . Zooey Deschanel and the boys delivered 5.61 million viewers and a 2.8 rating, marking a 27 percent improvement from last week’s installment. Though the show has developed into one of the most reliably funny comedies on the dial—thanks in large part to inspired performances by Max Greenfield (Schmidt), Jake Johnson (Nick) and Lamorne Morris (Winston)— New Girl experienced gradual ratings declines throughout its inaugural season. The series debuted on Sept. 20 to 10.3 million viewers and a 4.8 rating, and while early episodes retained much of those premiere numbers, a two-week baseball hiatus took a bite out of New Girl ’s deliveries. Fox next week is expected to announce that New Girl will be paired with the as-yet untitled Mindy Kaling project. The network will unveil its fall lineup on Monday afternoon. Earlier in the night, Fox’s Glee signed off for its third season, drawing 6.67 million viewers and a 2.7 rating. While those numbers were good enough for a second place finish in the 8 p.m. time slot, they’re a far cry from the Season 2 finale (11.8 million/4.6). Then again, last year’s closer led out of the American Idol show stopper, which drew 20.6 million viewers and a 6.4 in the demo on May 25, 2011. New Girl and Glee were renewed on April 9. Over at ABC, Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing wrapped its first season with 6.62 million viewers and a 1.7 in the demo.

Read More

Nets home in on pilot picks

May 4, 2012  |  Variety  |  No Comments

TV News: NBC expected to make more early moves as countdown to upfront week begins

Read More

Beefcake Repairmen, Mock Olympics and Yet More Dragons

April 20, 2012  |  Media Week  |  No Comments

Quick, read every television programming story written in the last week. Actually, now that you're done, it's the week after and you're really behind. Or, as an alternative, just start coming here on Fridays. I'm Sam Thielman, Adweek 's cable reporter, and every column after this one will pop up at the end of the week with a breakdown of what's happening in development, series orders, renewals, and cancelations. Occasionally casting, too. We're calling it The Slate - it's not meant to be exhaustive, but it is meant to be interesting and occasionally funny and hopefully predictive of what will be worth checking out in the next few months and years. I'll provide a little color rather than just rehashing press releases, and I'll also salt these items with as much related news and gossip as I can dig up, so hopefully you'll see some things you didn't know even if you already knew that, say, Game of Thrones was getting renewed, and you'll be able to check me out every Friday and feel like you're caught up on the week's programming news.

Read More

Baldwin: ‘30 Rock’ Will End After Next Season

April 18, 2012  |  Media Week  |  No Comments

Alec Baldwin said he’s game to sign on for an eighth season of NBC’s self-referential comedy 30 Rock , but he fears the network will cancel the show after the 2012-13 campaign. Speaking at a National Press Club luncheon in Washington, Baldwin said that he and his 30 Rock co-stars are willing to extend their contracts for yet another season, but are unlikely to be given the opportunity. “We all signed for six years, and I did sign a contract extension for a seventh season,” Baldwin said. “I would’ve done it next year and the year after that, but the truth of the matter is that NBC is in its predicament.…They’re in this tough place, and we’d like to see them to get out of it. But unfortunately to do so they’re probably going to have to cancel most of the shows they have on their air now.” While NBC has not officially renewed 30 Rock for next fall, as an integral part of the network’s Thursday comedy lineup the series is a shoe-in for at least one more go-around. Beloved by people within the TV industry, the show remains a niche enchantment. Season to date, 30 Rock is averaging 3.6 million viewers and a 1.5 in the adults 18-to-49 demo, finishing fourth in its Thursday 8:30 p.m. time slot behind Fox’s American Idol , CBS’ Rules of Engagement and ABC’s flailing D.C. drama Missing . That said, 30 Rock does get a boost from the DVR. Per Nielsen live-plus-seven-day ratings data, time-shifting improves 30 Rock ’s 18-to-49 deliveries by some 40 percent (2.1). Baldwin regularly makes noise about leaving 30 Rock , which bowed on NBC in October 2006. Early in the series’ fourth season, he said he would quit acting altogether when his contract expired in 2012. He admitted he grew “really sick” of the show during its fifth season (2010-11). “For all of us who did the show, we all had the feeling that we were on to something in season one, and seasons two, three and four were great,” Baldwin said. “Season five really didn’t feel great; everybody felt pretty crappy after season five, like we ran out of gas.

Read More
NBC’s London Olympics strategy: If it moves, stream it

NBC’s London Olympics strategy: If it moves, stream it

April 18, 2012  |  Blog  |  No Comments

Yes, you will be able to see men’s doubles table tennis live this summer on nbcolympics.com, right after you finish watching those premiere swimming and track & field events. Speaking to the New York Times Tuesday, Rick Cordella, VP and GM of NBC Sports Digital Media, revealed that his company will for the first time stream live each and every event during the London Olympic Games in July and August. This is a ramp-up in commitment from the conglomerate’s strategy for 2008′s Beijing Olympics, during which NBCUniversal streamed 25 sports live but held back popular events like swimming, track & field and diving that

Read More

Letterman, Ferguson Renew CBS Deals

April 3, 2012  |  Media Week  |  No Comments

Although he was passed over to replace his friend and mentor Johnny Carson in the Tonight Show chair, David Letterman will have the last laugh. The Late Show host has agreed to extend his contract with CBS through 2014, making him the longest-tenured talk show host in history. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, Letterman currently earns an estimated salary of $28 million. The linchpin of CBS’ late-night lineup choreographed a similar two-year extension in 2009. Letterman will celebrate his 65th birthday on April 12. Also renewing with CBS is Craig Ferguson, the madcap Scottish host of The Late Late Show . Ferguson’s show leads out of The Late Show

Read More

Chevy Chase and Dan Harmon Have Embarrassed Themselves: ‘Community’ Will Probably Still Get Renewed

April 2, 2012  |  Media Week  |  No Comments

First, it looked like a goner. And then, it was a safe bet for renewal. And now, fans of NBC's

Read More

Chevy Chase, Dan Harmon Have Embarrassed Themselves: ‘Community’ Will Probably Still Get Renewed

April 2, 2012  |  Media Week  |  No Comments

First, it looked like a goner. And then, it was a safe bet for renewal. And now, fans of NBC's

Read More