CBS puts ‘CSI: NY’ against NBC’s ‘Law & Order’
Never mind the dueling boxing shows on TV this fall. This season’s battle royal promises to take place at 9 p.m. Wednesdays, when TV’s two reigning crime brands will square off.
In one corner is “CSI: NY,” the newest incarnation of the seemingly invincible forensic crime drama franchise from CBS. In the other is NBC’s venerable “Law & Order,” which, going into its 15th season, draws nearly 15 million viewers per week.
CBS boss Leslie Moonves believes that in “CSI: NY”–which premieres Sept. 20–he’s finally found a weapon to neutralize “Law & Order.” But he carefully avoids predicting a total triumph for his show.
“Law & Order” has “dominated that time period for many years,” says Moonves, co-president and co-chief operating officer of Viacom, parent company of CBS. “We’re not going to beat them. But we’ll do our most significant number in that time period in more than two decades.”
Moonves’ claims drew derision from “Law & Order” creator and executive producer Dick Wolf.
“Les, in his usual masterful way, couldn’t possibly, in my wildest imaginings, have set the bar lower for himself,” Wolf says. “If it has eight more viewers [than the time period did last year], he’ll claim victory.”
Wolf believes that Moonves is a lot more bullish about “CSI” than he lets on: “They fully expect to win the hour” in total viewers, he says.
Beneath all the posturing, the risks are high for both networks. The strength of “Law & Order” and two spinoffs–“Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”–have given the NBC schedule a powerful boost, and that’s particularly important now that the network finds itself without comedy hits “Friends” and “Frasier.” For midseason, NBC has ordered yet another spinoff, “Law & Order: Trial by Jury.”
Meanwhile, improving the 9 p.m. slot is crucial for CBS because, as Moonves notes, it helps drive viewers to local news as well as “Late Show With David Letterman,” which continues to struggle against NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.”
Programming analyst Steve Sternberg foresees a big battle for Wednesdays.
“CBS will certainly dramatically improve the time period and cut into NBC’s audience,” says Sternberg, executive vice president and director of audience analysis at ad agency Magna Global USA. “So this contest will probably help CBS’ weekly average ratings and hurt NBC’s.”
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Kris Karnopp (kkarnopp@tribune.com)
