NBC Finally Comes Around to a Year-Round Programming Plan

NBC Universal announced yesterday that its struggling NBC broadcast network from now on will take an innovative year-round approach to the television season.

As opposed to the other broadcast networks, which take a year-round approach to the television season.

Fox, for example, which, you know, like launched the biggest show in ages, "American Idol" in the summer and protected it for the past seven years. Fox, which launched "The O.C." in the summer, and has been the No. 1 network for the past two years in the summer with a consistent lineup that includes original episodes of "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Hell's Kitchen," and last summer launched "Don't Forget the Lyrics." Fox, which took a big risk by saving episodes of "24" to run nonstop starting in January.

And let's not forget CBS, which for years has had "Big Brother" as the centerpiece of its summer schedule.

Over the past several years shows such as "Survivor," "Idol" and "Dancing With the Stars" all have been part of various networks' strategies of creating hits in the summer that have later moved to the fourth or first quarters. The notion that summer is a "vast wasteland" of programming was abandoned eight or nine years ago. Networks have been launching shows in September, in November, in January and March and April and even June.

But NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff Zucker is a master at making big announcements that the Reporters Who Cover Television gobble up by the shovelful. Remember the NBC 2.0 initiative to eliminate scripted programming in the 8 p.m. hour because at 8 viewers aren't ready to watch scripted shows?

Yesterday Zucker said, "A business-as-usual approach no longer applies in today's multi-platform media environment."

In the announcement NBC Universal said NBC Entertainment would unveil a 52-week prime-time programming schedule to advertisers in April.

Most news media reported that NBC would unveil its schedule in April. But Zucker, in his canned statement, said the "new approach" gives advertisers "an early look at NBC's scheduling strategy." This suggests the April announcement would map out to advertisers NBC's prime-time programming strategy.

Which is totally unlike what other broadcast networks have done in April for the past three or four decades -- which is to map out for advertisers their prime-time programming strategy for the coming year. That includes walking advertisers through which shows are coming back, where the holes are on their lineup, what new shows are the most likely candidates for filling those holes, etc.

Yesterday's announcement comes on the heels of comments Zucker made before and during the writers' strike, questioning the value of the network "upfront" presentations to advertisers.

Interestingly, in yesterday's announcement, the company said all the NBC Universal Cable Entertainment networks will continue to hold their upfront presentations in May, and NBCU-owned Telemundo will continue to have an upfront presentation. Only NBC will no longer have an upfront presentation. Which appears to mean that the only network at the company that is not having an upfront presentation is the one that, in theory, supplies the largest number of eyeballs to advertisers. This seems odd.