After months of speculation, NBC confirmed 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 TV 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 season.
For several years, the broadcast networks have gradually replaced repeats during the summer and winter with some new shows, mostly of the unscripted form. NBC’s announcement appears to be a more dramatic step in that direction. The network already is 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, in which 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,” DeWitt said approvingly of the NBC plans.
The fourth quarter is often the most important of the year for many marketers, such as retailers and automakers, 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, DeWitt said, but “it’s the way of the world today. Things move faster, and we all have to keep up.”
On Tuesday, NBC said it would present a 52-week programming schedule to advertisers in New York in early April.
