Post by Valerie on Jan 17, 2007 18:37:51 GMT -5
It's official. NBC has cancelled Passions to make room on their schedule for a fourth hour of the NBC morning show, "Today."
From MediaWeek.com
TCA: NBC Announces Full Season Orders for Heroes, Office, Earl
A.J. Frutkin
JANUARY 17, 2007 -
NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly kicked off the network’s portion of the TV critics convention today by announcing that Heroes, My Name is Earl, The Office and Law & Order: SVU were given full season orders for 2007-08. Reilly also confirmed that the network’s high-profile development project from filmmaker Spike Lee--a drama set in post-Katrina New Orleans--was not moving forward.
And, in the wake of most new serialized dramas tanking this season, although Reilly said there would be more close-ended dramas in development for next season, he added there would be some new serials as well. “Nothing as highly serialized and demanding as Heroes,” Reilly noted. “And that hasn’t been an adjustment necessarily. It’s just that serialization is still one of the biggest hooks that we have with an audience. I think it’s potential rocket fuel when you hit it. So we’re not running away from that.”
Reilly also addressed NBC’s cancellation of its daytime soap Passions, noting the serial will run contractually through June, with the possibility of it extending through August. With NBC’s long-running serial Days of Our Lives contractually running through 2009, Reilly suggested a major overhaul of the daypart was in the works, with NBC News assuming responsibility for some of those hours. “The daypart has gotten very tough, and extremely tough financially,” he said. “It was a moneymaker for so long, and now the margins are just brutal, and that’s all the way around, that’s not unique to NBC. Unfortunately we do need to make money, and we certainly can’t lose money. So the fact that the daypart itself is struggling, the economics just mandate that we do this,” Reilly said.
Reilly also spent much of his time addressing questions regarding digital issues, and noted that the network might even offer online users a chance to participate in choosing what pilots NBC ultimately picks up for next season. “We may expose some of our pilots even in the middle of screening week, to certain Web audiences, to certain exclusive audiences, and let them play out. And if that doesn’t happen next season, it will happen with us.”
Reilly also touted the growing power of the Web. “I certainly see a time in the interactive universe, where the Web is going to become a very key measurement tool,” he said. “We’re not there yet. There are certain markers we look for, we do see a correlation between buzz and Website activity, but we don’t yet have a place where we can say those are our ratings. But it’s evolving and it’s evolving fast.”
And even as broadcasters increasingly target Web users, Reilly maintained his continued support for TV’s ability to draw mass audiences. “I think it’s hard to imagine a day when network television is not the predominant platform to launch our content and make the country aware of it,” he added. “What that television looks like, whether it’s integrated with your computer screen, your programming guide will certainly be more dynamic and interactive. I don’t think it will be flat grid. It will probably get to a place where there will be a cluster of favorites on your home page, so to speak, or suggestions being made. I think that will be the case. But I believe TV is going to be the main delivery system.
"People love that at-home viewing experience, and the television is the delivery mechanism.”
