bartleby
02-19-2008, 08:40 PM
Getting Ready for ‘The Endless Season’
By Brian Stelter and Stuart Elliott
February 19, 2008, 5:29 pm
After months of speculation, NBC confirmed on Tuesday that it would sidestep the annual star-studded “upfront” presentation for advertisers and hold a series of client meetings with media buyers instead.
Perhaps more important for television viewers, the network said it would embrace a year-round prime-time programming schedule, jettisoning the frequently criticized practice of saving most shows for the traditional September- to-May television season.
For several years, the broadcast networks have gradually replaced repeats during the summer and winter months with some new shows, mostly of the unscripted form. NBC’s announcement appears to be a more dramatic step in that direction. The network is already preparing several shows for the summer months, including a second season of “American Gladiators” and a broadcast version of the singing competition “Nashville Star.”
Get ready for “the endless season, ” said Gene DeWitt, chairman and chief executive at DeWitt Media in New York, when the broadcasters “launch programs when they’re ready and promote them when they’re ready. ”
“There are many more opportunities to introduce programs to viewers over the course of a year than over the course of a few weeks in September,” Mr. DeWitt said approvingly of the NBC plans.
The fourth quarter is often the most important of the year for many marketers like retailers and auto makers, Mr. DeWitt noted, but under the current system many of the broadcast shows they are offered from October through December are new and untried.
If more shows are brought out earlier in the calendar year, he said, “you’d have a track record of their performance.”
“We’d have more reliable rating information,” he added, “so we won’t be going into the fourth quarter blind.”
A 52-week broadcast schedule may make it more difficult to track the hits and flops, Mr. DeWitt said, but “it’s the way of the world today; things move faster and we all have to keep up.”
On Tuesday afternoon, NBC said it would present a 52-week programming schedule to advertisers in New York in early April. The private meetings will be followed by a “spotlight event” on May 12 to showcase, as the network put it in a press release, “the broad spectrum of advertising opportunities available within NBC Universal.” In other words, the company wants to emphasize its promotional platforms beyond prime time.
The event will partly supplant the lavish upfront presentations sponsored by broadcast networks to promote their fall television lineups. Jeff Zucker, the chief executive of NBC Universal, had previously said he believed the glitzy presentations were extravagant and inefficient ways of selling advertising time. NBC’s event was held each year at Radio City Music Hall. Still, NBC will hold the “spotlight event” as well as a party during the upfront week.
Senior executives at media agencies greeted the NBC decision with mild to enthusiastic praise.
“I applaud it,” said Charlie Rutman, chief executive for North American operations at MPG in New York, a media agency owned by Havas, because “the idea of a constant stream of new programming is good.”
“Programming should be like a good wine,” Mr. Rutman said. “Put it on the air when it’s ready.” A year-round schedule will provide “more opportunity for trial” of new shows by viewers, he said, adding: “Some will stick. Some won’t.”
Either way, “it improves the chances they will be sampled,” Mr. Rutman said, compared with the traditional method of “introducing everything in the fall.”
Shari Anne Brill, senior vice president and director for programming at another New York media agency, Carat, described the NBC plan as “a smart idea,” likening it to steps that Fox Broadcasting has tried in the past of announcing several schedules for a season, with new shows coming on the air in September, November, January and spring.
http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/getting-ready-for-the-endless-season/?hp
By Brian Stelter and Stuart Elliott
February 19, 2008, 5:29 pm
After months of speculation, NBC confirmed on Tuesday that it would sidestep the annual star-studded “upfront” presentation for advertisers and hold a series of client meetings with media buyers instead.
Perhaps more important for television viewers, the network said it would embrace a year-round prime-time programming schedule, jettisoning the frequently criticized practice of saving most shows for the traditional September- to-May television season.
For several years, the broadcast networks have gradually replaced repeats during the summer and winter months with some new shows, mostly of the unscripted form. NBC’s announcement appears to be a more dramatic step in that direction. The network is already preparing several shows for the summer months, including a second season of “American Gladiators” and a broadcast version of the singing competition “Nashville Star.”
Get ready for “the endless season, ” said Gene DeWitt, chairman and chief executive at DeWitt Media in New York, when the broadcasters “launch programs when they’re ready and promote them when they’re ready. ”
“There are many more opportunities to introduce programs to viewers over the course of a year than over the course of a few weeks in September,” Mr. DeWitt said approvingly of the NBC plans.
The fourth quarter is often the most important of the year for many marketers like retailers and auto makers, Mr. DeWitt noted, but under the current system many of the broadcast shows they are offered from October through December are new and untried.
If more shows are brought out earlier in the calendar year, he said, “you’d have a track record of their performance.”
“We’d have more reliable rating information,” he added, “so we won’t be going into the fourth quarter blind.”
A 52-week broadcast schedule may make it more difficult to track the hits and flops, Mr. DeWitt said, but “it’s the way of the world today; things move faster and we all have to keep up.”
On Tuesday afternoon, NBC said it would present a 52-week programming schedule to advertisers in New York in early April. The private meetings will be followed by a “spotlight event” on May 12 to showcase, as the network put it in a press release, “the broad spectrum of advertising opportunities available within NBC Universal.” In other words, the company wants to emphasize its promotional platforms beyond prime time.
The event will partly supplant the lavish upfront presentations sponsored by broadcast networks to promote their fall television lineups. Jeff Zucker, the chief executive of NBC Universal, had previously said he believed the glitzy presentations were extravagant and inefficient ways of selling advertising time. NBC’s event was held each year at Radio City Music Hall. Still, NBC will hold the “spotlight event” as well as a party during the upfront week.
Senior executives at media agencies greeted the NBC decision with mild to enthusiastic praise.
“I applaud it,” said Charlie Rutman, chief executive for North American operations at MPG in New York, a media agency owned by Havas, because “the idea of a constant stream of new programming is good.”
“Programming should be like a good wine,” Mr. Rutman said. “Put it on the air when it’s ready.” A year-round schedule will provide “more opportunity for trial” of new shows by viewers, he said, adding: “Some will stick. Some won’t.”
Either way, “it improves the chances they will be sampled,” Mr. Rutman said, compared with the traditional method of “introducing everything in the fall.”
Shari Anne Brill, senior vice president and director for programming at another New York media agency, Carat, described the NBC plan as “a smart idea,” likening it to steps that Fox Broadcasting has tried in the past of announcing several schedules for a season, with new shows coming on the air in September, November, January and spring.
http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/getting-ready-for-the-endless-season/?hp