Just when NBC thought things couldn't get worse in March after a miserable February, when the network was bounced to FIFTH place in the sweeps ratings for the 18-49 demo by none other than Univision, this month the drama gets even worse. With Matt Lauer on the rumor mill of leaving, the NBC's beloved $25 million per year (you read that right) man is looking like he'll be leaving at least 18 months earlier than the contract. Not only that, the huge drama surrounding Jay Leno (who still watches him anyways) and the succession plan (really doing this again?) has been...silly to say the least. I'm not a huge fan of Fallon and to this day am still really bitter about Conan, but it is about time for Leno to leave. He hasn't been funny in a loooong time.
The thing is, it's not even like NBC is producing shoddy products. "Community" is a huge hit among the college / young professional crowd, so is "Parks and Recs" as well as "30 Rock" before it came off the air recently. "The Office" dragged for a while, and was not the same after MICHAEL SCOTT left (sorry got excited). My girlfriend watches "Parenthood" and tells me it's decent. It even has Sunday Night Football with the beloved Al Michaels. So what gives?
I think a lot of it, as most of the issues in the company, is the management. They seem like a beheaded peacock with no sense of direction. At least with CBS, ABC and Fox know who their audience is. I don't watch a single show on CBS, I know they have many diehard fans for all the shows they're spewing out. Can you please tell those people who the freaking mom is already? But hey they squeezed a ton of $ out of it. Fox takes a lot more risk than the other networks, and it shows in their ratings in certain demos.
A lot of what is wrong with NBC could also be from the ownership above. A few weeks back Comcast finally bought the remaining share of NBC that GE owned, replacing silly ape Jeff Zucker. He did no good for the company while he was CEO and this change was much needed. Now with a new management in place, I think NBC is in a great shape for a turnaround. But it really needs to start on reshaping its identity.
What do you think about NBC's image and portfolio overall?
Their shows are decent but they just don't create stuff nearly as good as some of the other networks. 30 rock and Parks and rec as well as the office are all pretty niche shows. I love all of them but I certainly fit the niche that likes weird comedies but they just don't meet the same standards as some of the other networks and are not as good at reaching a larger audience because of the types of shows they make. I think they have a writing problem honestly. If they want a bigger audience they will need to adjust writing and advertising. AMC is getting it right on so many levels.
You literally have it backwards. NBC's problem is not that their shows lack quality, it's that they're too intelligent. Yes, on a scale that includes premium cable television programming like AMC or even basic cable programming like the USA Network then NBC's stuff seems like total shit, but none of these three networks are comps. The business model of network television programming relies on advertising and corporate sponsorship, both of which are driven by getting eyeballs on screens... and the way to get eyeballs on screens is NOT to necessarily make better television, but to make television that best caters to the lowest common denominator. As anecdotal evidence, just look across the street at what shows are doing well: ABC has a fucking show where C-List celebrities get over their fear of the high dive... and it's a fucking hit. CBS has a slapstick show about a fat couple, it doesn't have witty dialogue, but it's got mildly humorous situations... and fat people, so the aforementioned lowest common denominator can relate. CBS also has The Big Bang Theory, which though I watch on occasion, is basically just nerd black-face. Meanwhile, NBC has Community, which wins awards and gets all these accolades from the internet-based fandom, but when it airs a genius episode about alternate timelines, breaks the fourth wall, etc. it just goes over too many viewers' heads and that means it's not gonna make money.
I agree. The premise for NBCs new show, Revolution, seemed to be very interesting, but the writers of the show ran out of interesting and plausible ideas after about the third show. It only takes one show to swing an audience back to a network. In the 90's people loved Friends. NBC needs to find a quality show that resonates with an audience and pay big money for writers that can keep the show going. Maybe write a pilot for a show about nothing??
LOL @ "nerd black-face". So true.
So eloquent I really wish I would have come up with it myself. Silver banana just for that.
Big Bang Theory is awesome. I'm a nerd and love that show! Yah they do have all the stereotypes, but they also have a lot of intelligent humor that requires subject specialized knowledge to fully understand.
And NBC is just fine. It owns USA Network, which is killing. And in general Cable TV shows are becoming as important as its parent networks nowadays.
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