Yes, it’s fun to be wrong on the internet. Because, the internet never forgets. When I said in 2013 that NBC was on the verge of collapsing, I may have been right. But when I asked if they would be the first broadcast network to collapse, and if that collapse would be soon that turned out to be dead wrong.
Flash forward 10 years and you can see that NBC’s been up and down, but they seem to be in a bit of a pickle in 2023 as well:
nielsen.com
Only two of the top 10 rated broadcast programs are on NBC, although to be fair that’s better than ABC or Fox did, with zero programs in the top 10. It’s pretty easy to see that the programs that did better are the ones that appeal primarily to baby boomers, who are still more committed to broadcast television than other generations.
It’s certainly not easy. Nielsen measures broadcast television in terms of audience watching in the first seven days. In other words, they measure the number of TVs that have watched. They measure streaming in terms of minutes streamed, so there’s no way to get a truly fair comparison. That probably makes sense because of the way people stream as opposed to the way they watch. If you stream, you’re likely to watch multiple episodes in a row, while that generally isn’t possible within the 7-day window where over-the-air TV is measured.
Still, this makes it very hard to have an honest conversation about whether or not streaming beats broadcast, because they are measured so differently. I think we can say that younger folks generally spend more time streaming than they do watching “linear TV,” but we can’t say to what extent that’s true.
Streaming ratings also don’t take into account “FAST” networks like Pluto and Tubi that mimic live TV by providing a commercial-filled experience and programs that air at a specific time. Keep in mind that the most popular FAST apps are owned by the same companies that own broadcast networks so it is important to know.
NBC is the top of a (much smaller) heap at the moment and I sincerely hope they manage to do a better job of planning than they did in the 1990s. From the mid-1980s until the early 2000s, NBC was an entertainment powerhouse with a string of hits that just kept coming… until they didn’t. NBC made the costly error of paying so much for its mid-90s halo products, ER and Friends, that they had no money to develop new series. As the decade wore on, NBC produced a string of forgettable flops and when those two halo shows signed off, the slump began.
Let’s hope that NBC has better plans in store. With this being an Olympic year, they should have some good ratings at that point. But what about their broadcast schedule? As part of the massive Comcast family they have options they didn’t have back in 2013, and hopefully that means they can keep looking forward to providing winning entertainment in the future, no matter what screen it’s on.
The post THROWBACK THURSDAY: When I thought NBC would fail appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
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Flash forward 10 years and you can see that NBC’s been up and down, but they seem to be in a bit of a pickle in 2023 as well:
| RANK | PROGRAM | NETWORK | AUDIENCE (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NCIS | CBS | 9.9 |
| 2 | FBI | CBS | 9.4 |
| 3 | Young Sheldon | CBS | 9.3 |
| 4 | Young Sheldon Special | CBS | 9.3 |
| 5 | Blue Bloods | CBS | 9.3 |
| 6 | Night Court (Jan. 17 Broadcast) | NBC | 9.1 |
| 7 | Chicago Fire | NBC | 9.1 |
| 8 | Ghosts | CBS | 9.0 |
| 9 | Young Sheldon Thanksgiving Special | CBS | 8.6 |
| 10 | Fire Country | CBS | 8.5 |
Only two of the top 10 rated broadcast programs are on NBC, although to be fair that’s better than ABC or Fox did, with zero programs in the top 10. It’s pretty easy to see that the programs that did better are the ones that appeal primarily to baby boomers, who are still more committed to broadcast television than other generations.
Can you compare broadcast to streaming?
It’s certainly not easy. Nielsen measures broadcast television in terms of audience watching in the first seven days. In other words, they measure the number of TVs that have watched. They measure streaming in terms of minutes streamed, so there’s no way to get a truly fair comparison. That probably makes sense because of the way people stream as opposed to the way they watch. If you stream, you’re likely to watch multiple episodes in a row, while that generally isn’t possible within the 7-day window where over-the-air TV is measured.
Still, this makes it very hard to have an honest conversation about whether or not streaming beats broadcast, because they are measured so differently. I think we can say that younger folks generally spend more time streaming than they do watching “linear TV,” but we can’t say to what extent that’s true.
Streaming ratings also don’t take into account “FAST” networks like Pluto and Tubi that mimic live TV by providing a commercial-filled experience and programs that air at a specific time. Keep in mind that the most popular FAST apps are owned by the same companies that own broadcast networks so it is important to know.
What’s in store for NBC now?
NBC is the top of a (much smaller) heap at the moment and I sincerely hope they manage to do a better job of planning than they did in the 1990s. From the mid-1980s until the early 2000s, NBC was an entertainment powerhouse with a string of hits that just kept coming… until they didn’t. NBC made the costly error of paying so much for its mid-90s halo products, ER and Friends, that they had no money to develop new series. As the decade wore on, NBC produced a string of forgettable flops and when those two halo shows signed off, the slump began.
Let’s hope that NBC has better plans in store. With this being an Olympic year, they should have some good ratings at that point. But what about their broadcast schedule? As part of the massive Comcast family they have options they didn’t have back in 2013, and hopefully that means they can keep looking forward to providing winning entertainment in the future, no matter what screen it’s on.
The post THROWBACK THURSDAY: When I thought NBC would fail appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
