NBC Moves towards 52 week schedule (Wizbang Pop!)

NBC Universal took a big step toward undoing one of the television industry's oldest traditions by announcing Tuesday that it would move to a year-round schedule of staggered program introductions. The move is intended to appeal to advertisers, who crave fresh content to keep viewers tuned in.

NBC plans to announce a 52-week schedule in April, a month before ABC and CBS will unveil their fall lineups at splashy presentations known as upfronts. The decision means that NBC will be committing to a new lineup of shows earlier than any of its competitors, while also inviting advertisers to build marketing plans around specific shows and perhaps to integrate brands and products into the plots of the shows themselves.

"We absolutely think this is going to change the industry," said Michael Pilot, the head of sales for NBC. That was one of the goals cited by Jeff Zucker, the president and chief executive of NBC Universal, in comments he has made recently about how the strike by Hollywood writers could create opportunities to change some of the ways networks do business.

[nyt]

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Comments (2)

I think this would be a gre... (Below threshold)

1. Posted by John F Not Kerry | February 20, 2008 1:36 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

John F Not Kerry:

I think this would be a great idea. The cable channels have this figured out already.

Posted on February 20, 2008 13:36

The movie industry moved to... (Below threshold)

2. Posted by jpm100 | February 20, 2008 7:28 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)

jpm100:

The movie industry moved to this in a way.

It used to be several movies would come out on the same weekend. They used to compete.

Now the usual case is that even semi-big movies get their own weekend to come out. That way everybody goes to the same show and crappy movies get big opening weekend.

What will happen here is that they will trickle out new shows throughout the year.

In the case of movies, I believe they are taking advantage of viewer, but for TV it may be better for viewer.

Posted on February 20, 2008 19:28

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