Following in the steps of The ABC Saturday Night Movie and the Thursday, Friday and Saturday editions of MyNetworkMovie, NBC is reprising its network movie franchise NBC Sunday Night at the Movies for the May Sweep.
According to Hollywood Reporter, Upcoming theatrical titles include the broadcast premieres of National Treasure and Along Came Polly, along with a re-broadcast of the movie Shrek.
While The ABC Saturday Night Movie ranks towards the bottom of ABC series on a season-to-date basis (3.5HH/7%, 1.79 A18-49), MyNetworkTV has enjoyed greater success with its movie nights, which are amongst its best rated series on a season-to-date basis (MyThursdayNightMovie with a 1.0HH/2%, 0.50 A18-49, MyFridayNightMovie with a 0.8/1%, 0.42 A18-49 and MySaturdayNightMovie with a 0.6/1%, 0.37 A18-49).
If network broadcasts of theatricals are making a comeback, can the tv movie / miniseries genre be far behind?
Yes, I agree that NBC may be giving up on the idea of scripted or non-scripted series on Sundays 9-11 pm when football is in off-season.
I had held out a (faint) hope that NBC might bring back Studio 60 for a Sunday run during the May Sweep for one last chance to produce decent numbers before the upfront, but I guess that's not going to happen.
One interesting special coming up on Suday May 6 (pre-empting the movie) is "Saturday Night Live in the 1990's - Pop Culture Nation".
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Originally posted by Vogs: Think NBC is testing the waters for post-football, or simply has nothing better to put on for May Sweeps?
NBC is airing movies on Sundays during May because, basically, they have nothing else to air. But for you to say "they are following in the footsteps of MNTV" is a joke. You think NBC, or any of the other networks, ever even have MNTV cross their minds? Absolutely NOT. MNTV is a huge joke throughout the industry. Nobody really pays any attention to it (except for Dumont).
I really doubt NBC will schedule movies again on Sundays come January. I doubt they will do it, but as I have posted elsewhere on this site, I think NBC should have a Sunday lineup in January of Dateline at 7PM, Deal or No Deal at 8PM, Las Vegas at 9, and the final season of ER at 10PM. That lineup would easily do much better than what they ran this year on Sundays when football was over. Las Vegas and ER are both shows that repeat very poorly, so NBC could run the entire seasons of each show repeat free on Sunday nights. Las Vegas would be a nice alternative at 9PM to Housewives and Cold Case (if CBS leaves it there). And at 10 ER would probably beat Brothers and Sisters (if ABC leaves it there. As for CBS, I have a feeling they will move Without a Trace next season. I am thinking they will move it to Tuesdays at 10PM, therefore leaping over NBC in another time slot (it would beat Law and Order:SVU).
quote:
Originally posted by dumont demo: Following in the steps of The ABC Saturday Night Movie and the Thursday, Friday and Saturday editions of MyNetworkMovie, NBC is reprising its network movie franchise NBC Sunday Night at the Movies for the May Sweep.
According to Hollywood Reporter, Upcoming theatrical titles include the broadcast premieres of National Treasure and Along Came Polly, along with a re-broadcast of the movie Shrek.
While The ABC Saturday Night Movie ranks towards the bottom of ABC series on a season-to-date basis (3.5HH/7%, 1.79 A18-49), MyNetworkTV has enjoyed greater success with its movie nights, which are amongst its best rated series on a season-to-date basis (MyThursdayNightMovie with a 1.0HH/2%, 0.50 A18-49, MyFridayNightMovie with a 0.8/1%, 0.42 A18-49 and MySaturdayNightMovie with a 0.6/1%, 0.37 A18-49).
If network broadcasts of theatricals are making a comeback, can the tv movie / miniseries genre be far behind?
That would also be suicide for Las Vegas and ER as neither would be able to handle the constant specials that air through January and February and its never good to move a veteran so late in its run. Let ER die peacefully on Thursday next year and hold judgment on Las Vegas until we see if Tom Sellack really joins the show and has an effect. The CBS/ABC lineups will crucify just about anything NBC throws in those hours save for DOND and maybe reality offerings.
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Originally posted by AL: NBC is airing movies on Sundays during May because, basically, they have nothing else to air. But for you to say "they are following in the footsteps of MNTV" is a joke. You think NBC, or any of the other networks, ever even have MNTV cross their minds? Absolutely NOT. MNTV is a huge joke throughout the industry. Nobody really pays any attention to it (except for Dumont).
I really doubt NBC will schedule movies again on Sundays come January. I doubt they will do it, but as I have posted elsewhere on this site, I think NBC should have a Sunday lineup in January of Dateline at 7PM, Deal or No Deal at 8PM, Las Vegas at 9, and the final season of ER at 10PM. That lineup would easily do much better than what they ran this year on Sundays when football was over. Las Vegas and ER are both shows that repeat very poorly, so NBC could run the entire seasons of each show repeat free on Sunday nights. Las Vegas would be a nice alternative at 9PM to Housewives and Cold Case (if CBS leaves it there). And at 10 ER would probably beat Brothers and Sisters (if ABC leaves it there. As for CBS, I have a feeling they will move Without a Trace next season. I am thinking they will move it to Tuesdays at 10PM, therefore leaping over NBC in another time slot (it would beat Law and Order:SVU).
quote:
Originally posted by dumont demo: Following in the steps of The ABC Saturday Night Movie and the Thursday, Friday and Saturday editions of MyNetworkMovie, NBC is reprising its network movie franchise NBC Sunday Night at the Movies for the May Sweep.
According to Hollywood Reporter, Upcoming theatrical titles include the broadcast premieres of National Treasure and Along Came Polly, along with a re-broadcast of the movie Shrek.
While The ABC Saturday Night Movie ranks towards the bottom of ABC series on a season-to-date basis (3.5HH/7%, 1.79 A18-49), MyNetworkTV has enjoyed greater success with its movie nights, which are amongst its best rated series on a season-to-date basis (MyThursdayNightMovie with a 1.0HH/2%, 0.50 A18-49, MyFridayNightMovie with a 0.8/1%, 0.42 A18-49 and MySaturdayNightMovie with a 0.6/1%, 0.37 A18-49).
If network broadcasts of theatricals are making a comeback, can the tv movie / miniseries genre be far behind?
Well, you might have a point with the constant specials airing on Sunday's in January and February. However, NBC really needs to develop another hit and Thursdays at 10PM is one of the timeslots that they might be able to compete with a new show. It is really a very weak time slot at this point. This could change depending on what ABC and CBS does in that timeslot in the fall. But Shark is totally a loser (no matter what Marc says) as it consistently drops a huge chunk from CSI and gets a very weak 18-49 rating. And if ABC puts back on Men In Trees or October Road, well they are obviously very weak shows as well.
The only other timeslot I see that NBC really has a chance to develop a new show would be Mondays at 10.
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Originally posted by mushu_jj: That would also be suicide for Las Vegas and ER as neither would be able to handle the constant specials that air through January and February and its never good to move a veteran so late in its run. Let ER die peacefully on Thursday next year and hold judgment on Las Vegas until we see if Tom Sellack really joins the show and has an effect. The CBS/ABC lineups will crucify just about anything NBC throws in those hours save for DOND and maybe reality offerings.
quote:
Originally posted by AL: NBC is airing movies on Sundays during May because, basically, they have nothing else to air. But for you to say "they are following in the footsteps of MNTV" is a joke. You think NBC, or any of the other networks, ever even have MNTV cross their minds? Absolutely NOT. MNTV is a huge joke throughout the industry. Nobody really pays any attention to it (except for Dumont).
I really doubt NBC will schedule movies again on Sundays come January. I doubt they will do it, but as I have posted elsewhere on this site, I think NBC should have a Sunday lineup in January of Dateline at 7PM, Deal or No Deal at 8PM, Las Vegas at 9, and the final season of ER at 10PM. That lineup would easily do much better than what they ran this year on Sundays when football was over. Las Vegas and ER are both shows that repeat very poorly, so NBC could run the entire seasons of each show repeat free on Sunday nights. Las Vegas would be a nice alternative at 9PM to Housewives and Cold Case (if CBS leaves it there). And at 10 ER would probably beat Brothers and Sisters (if ABC leaves it there. As for CBS, I have a feeling they will move Without a Trace next season. I am thinking they will move it to Tuesdays at 10PM, therefore leaping over NBC in another time slot (it would beat Law and Order:SVU).
quote:
Originally posted by dumont demo: Following in the steps of The ABC Saturday Night Movie and the Thursday, Friday and Saturday editions of MyNetworkMovie, NBC is reprising its network movie franchise NBC Sunday Night at the Movies for the May Sweep.
According to Hollywood Reporter, Upcoming theatrical titles include the broadcast premieres of National Treasure and Along Came Polly, along with a re-broadcast of the movie Shrek.
While The ABC Saturday Night Movie ranks towards the bottom of ABC series on a season-to-date basis (3.5HH/7%, 1.79 A18-49), MyNetworkTV has enjoyed greater success with its movie nights, which are amongst its best rated series on a season-to-date basis (MyThursdayNightMovie with a 1.0HH/2%, 0.50 A18-49, MyFridayNightMovie with a 0.8/1%, 0.42 A18-49 and MySaturdayNightMovie with a 0.6/1%, 0.37 A18-49).
If network broadcasts of theatricals are making a comeback, can the tv movie / miniseries genre be far behind?
In a surprising move, NBC's new scheduling topper Vince Manze is bringing back theatrical movies -- a genre that largely has been written off by the broadcast nets and relegated to graveyard Saturdays -- to three high-profile Sunday nights during the May sweep.
The move is part of the strategy of veteran NBC promotion executive Manze, who said this month when he was named president of program planning, scheduling and strategy that he would focus on building event programming.
Looking to do that, he saw that the network had runs on romantic comedy "Along Came Polly," action-adventure "National Treasure" (both broadcast TV premieres) and a final run of "Shrek" and decided to put them on.
"Sunday seemed like the best place -- the place where we used to do events and miniseries," Manze said. "It seemed like a great thing to do and it accomplishes two things: building events and serving as counterprogramming to what the others are doing (on the night)."
In picking the movies, Manze said he put on his marketing hat, going for titles he can easily promote. For instance, he selected "Polly" because of its cast -- bankable feature comedy star Ben Stiller and such familiar faces to the NBC audience as "Friends" alum Jennifer Aniston, "Will & Grace's" Debra Messing and "Mad About You's" Hank Azaria.
Manze said the ratings expectations for the movies are not huge, but he wants to try new things with an eye for next season. Just like ABC struggled for years to jump-start its Monday lineup after "Monday Night Football" ended, NBC had difficulty getting traction on post-football Sunday night this season, and Manze hopes that using event programming instead of trying to launch series in January and February might work better.
Sunday used to be a movie night for the Big Three networks, until, during the past five years, one by one they switched to series programming after ratings for films -- theatrical and original -- began to plunge. With the proliferation of DVDs, VOD and multiple runs on pay and basic cable, theatrical movies as ratings weapons were abandoned first. So far this season, broadcast networks have aired feature films on Sunday only as counterprogramming to the Super Bowl and around Christmas.
During the May sweep, NBC also is trimming the "Deal or No Deal" editions down from two to one a week. Aside from the 100th episode of "Deal" on May 6, leading into a two-hour "Saturday Night Live" special, the game show won't air Sundays. Manze said he wants to save fresh episodes of the show, which has begun to soften lately, to air possibly during the summer.
Being in his new job as head of programming is "both exciting and overwhelming at the same time," Manze said. For his overall strategy for next season, he said his goal is to "bring people back to broadcast television" to make them again feel "part on an event, part of the gathering."
He is looking to air as much original programming as he can, stretching first-run episodes over the season in the best way possible.
"We can plan a little better," he said. "And we could use another couple of (hit) shows."
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This full article makes it seem like it's happening for sure next season, and it was already announced the Golden Globes would be back on Sunday.
Yes, it does sound from that article like NBC will be moving back towards showing movies on Sunday nights next year.
I think that would be a huge mistake though, as it has been proven over the last 10 years or so that people do not tune into movies on broadcast TV any more.
The reason NBC failed on Sunday nights this year was because they scheduled very badly. I mean, that Grease show was horrible. Apprentice was a show already on a downward spiral that needed a decent lead in to have any chance. And Crossing Jordan had no chance with no lead in and Without a Trace in that time period.
I still think that if NBC put on some good counter programming of established scripted shows viewers would tune in. This is why I said Las Vegas and ER for Sunday nights would be good because they both have a core set of viewers, and they are good counter programming to what the other networks are offering. Plus holding these shows over to January would allow for them to be run repeat free.
quote:
Originally posted by Vogs: hollywoodreporter.com
In a surprising move, NBC's new scheduling topper Vince Manze is bringing back theatrical movies -- a genre that largely has been written off by the broadcast nets and relegated to graveyard Saturdays -- to three high-profile Sunday nights during the May sweep.
The move is part of the strategy of veteran NBC promotion executive Manze, who said this month when he was named president of program planning, scheduling and strategy that he would focus on building event programming.
Looking to do that, he saw that the network had runs on romantic comedy "Along Came Polly," action-adventure "National Treasure" (both broadcast TV premieres) and a final run of "Shrek" and decided to put them on.
"Sunday seemed like the best place -- the place where we used to do events and miniseries," Manze said. "It seemed like a great thing to do and it accomplishes two things: building events and serving as counterprogramming to what the others are doing (on the night)."
In picking the movies, Manze said he put on his marketing hat, going for titles he can easily promote. For instance, he selected "Polly" because of its cast -- bankable feature comedy star Ben Stiller and such familiar faces to the NBC audience as "Friends" alum Jennifer Aniston, "Will & Grace's" Debra Messing and "Mad About You's" Hank Azaria.
Manze said the ratings expectations for the movies are not huge, but he wants to try new things with an eye for next season. Just like ABC struggled for years to jump-start its Monday lineup after "Monday Night Football" ended, NBC had difficulty getting traction on post-football Sunday night this season, and Manze hopes that using event programming instead of trying to launch series in January and February might work better.
Sunday used to be a movie night for the Big Three networks, until, during the past five years, one by one they switched to series programming after ratings for films -- theatrical and original -- began to plunge. With the proliferation of DVDs, VOD and multiple runs on pay and basic cable, theatrical movies as ratings weapons were abandoned first. So far this season, broadcast networks have aired feature films on Sunday only as counterprogramming to the Super Bowl and around Christmas.
During the May sweep, NBC also is trimming the "Deal or No Deal" editions down from two to one a week. Aside from the 100th episode of "Deal" on May 6, leading into a two-hour "Saturday Night Live" special, the game show won't air Sundays. Manze said he wants to save fresh episodes of the show, which has begun to soften lately, to air possibly during the summer.
Being in his new job as head of programming is "both exciting and overwhelming at the same time," Manze said. For his overall strategy for next season, he said his goal is to "bring people back to broadcast television" to make them again feel "part on an event, part of the gathering."
He is looking to air as much original programming as he can, stretching first-run episodes over the season in the best way possible.
"We can plan a little better," he said. "And we could use another couple of (hit) shows."
*********************************
This full article makes it seem like it's happening for sure next season, and it was already announced the Golden Globes would be back on Sunday.
