NBC’s fall schedule has been a disaster, even under the promising leadership of new NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt. But going into midseason there is some hope for NBC based largely on two music-themed shows, the new drama Smash, about the making of a Broadway musical, and the second-year reality program The Voice, which was a surprise hit last fall.
NBCUniversal is pursuing American Idol host Ryan Seacrest as a possible successor to Matt Lauer on the Today show, if Lauer vacates his co-anchor seat next year, say people close to the company.
The National Football League is close to inking an eight-year extension of three media-rights deals that should earn it a total of about $3.2 billion a year from its broadcast partners, a 60% increase over its prior contract, according to people with knowledge of the talks.
The NFL and NBC announced Sunday during the Detroit-New Orleans game that the Grammy Award-winning singer will highlight the show at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Feb. 5.
Exclusives
The two parties are holding early-stage talks about renewing Sunday Night Football, a package that has been with NBC since 2006 and is the cornerstone of the fourth-ranked network’s primetime schedule. While the current deal doesn’t expire until 2013, sources say NBC wants to get a deal done early as it prepares to negotiate higher retrans fees from cable and satellite operators.
After talking for nine months on a plan in which NBC would use its clout and scale to negotiate attractive retrans deals with cable and satellite in exchange for a percentage of the revenue, there is still no agreement. But both sides say they’re confident there will be one. The problem is that there is no one-size fits-all formula.
NBC is pulling out all the stops in support of its inaugural NHL Black Friday broadcast, promoting the game during its coverage of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and enlisting the support of its biggest on-air talent.
The network also schedules a special original episode for Thursday, Dec. 8, at 10 p.m.
Every hit show starts with an exec saying yes to a pitch, and during the past few months, networks and studios have bought hundreds of promising projects, from original ideas like “mechanical-human dramas” to remakes of classics like The Munsters and The Rifleman. THR parses the loglines and pilot commitments to analyze what the networks are buying.
In an unsettling development for NBC’s adaptation of the British series Prime Suspect, the series starring Maria Bello will wrap after its initial 13-episode run.
The fourth-place network has scheduled premiere dates for new series Smash (Feb. 6), The Firm (Jan. 8), Fashion Star (March 13) and Are You There, Chelsea? (Jan. 11). It also also swaps Rock Center With Brian Williams and Harry’s Law.
The news comes hours after Piers Morgan broke the news that he will not be returning to the America’s Got Talent judges table next season.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Executors of Michael Jackson’s estate have blasted NBC for plans to air a documentary on the doctor convicted of killing the singer. In a letter Wednesday […]
Comcast promised to spend more in program development and other areas to revitalize the NBC network. So far, the spending hasn’t yielded much, but Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis said there is no need to increase the level— just allow time for NBC entertainment chief Bob Greenblatt to craft hits.
While other networks have generated new hits, NBC has not, and the network’s new leadership has made clear to its staff that rebuilding will take time and patience.
Gray Set To Talk Reverse Comp With NBC
Robert Prather, the group’s president-COO, says about 45% of Gray’s retrans deals are up this year and he hopes to have those concluded by year end. He’s set to talk with NBC about Gray’s 10 affiliates by the end of the month.
AFTRA has set a Nov. 7 start date for negotiations with ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox on a new Network Television Code contract. It’s the biggest contract the American Federation of TV and Radio Artist has, covering $250 million a year in employee earnings.
Does An NBC Turnaround Matter Any More?
By the time Comcast gets things right, broadcast’s prime roost won’t be the same.
On a night when nearly every show on broadcast was down from last week, likely due to Halloween, NBC’s new newsmagazine Rock Center with Brian Williams got off to a poor start. The new show averaged a 1.0 rating in the 10 p.m. timeslot last night in its premiere, below even what the drama The Playboy Club had been averaging in the timeslot before it was canceled. Rock drew 4.1 million viewers, which was better than Playboy‘s last two outings but still a very distant third in the timeslot.
News-Press & Gazette Company and Journal Broadcast Corp. convinced the FCC to uphold their nonduplication claims against KNBC and KCBS Los Angeles in favor of their KESQ and KMIR, respectively.
NBC has fallen further behind its competitors this fall, heightening the challenge facing its new owner Comcast as it works to mount a turnaround.
NBC has scheduled the reboot of Fear Factor, which will serve as a bridge between The Sing-Off and The Voice in the Monday 8-10 p.m. slot. The revamped gross-out competition will premiere on Dec. 12.
