What NBC Can Learn From Baseball About Their Primetime Fiasco

Spring is here and NBC can learn something from baseball. When you've been in last place for as many seasons as NBC has, you need to learn something, too. As Nikki Finke reported recently, the Peacock Network is even getting its tail feathers kicked by Univision. It's time for spring training.

NBC's problem is getting new shows to stick. Rookie entries like Kings and Chopping Block delivered more dismal numbers. The NBC lineup contains a lot of veteran players who are looking old in the tooth or former all stars like ER that are retiring. NBC can't a get a hit and remains stuck in the basement.

Now think about how baseball deals with its roster of talent. They don't just take a promising kid out of high school, throw millions of dollars at him and immediately toss him into the lineup at Fenway Park. They have a farm system of AA and AAA leagues where players get a chance to advance based on their performance. It's a learning system that treats players like a long term investment.

NBC Universal is wasting it's biggest resource - the farm team of cable networks it owns such as Bravo, USA and the recently renamed SyFy, formerly The SciFi Channel. These networks have been successful - SyFy is coming off it's best year ever - and produced some highly rated, well reviewed shows like Battlestar Galactica, Monk and Real Housewives

Maybe it's time for NBC to start using it's strengths in cable to build a great primetime lineup. Developing shows with the lower production costs and enhanced creative freedom that cable brings is cost effective. A successful cable show already has a built-in audience, experienced crew and a working production pipeline.

When a show on an NBC cable property hits, give them a shot at the big leagues. Don't screw up something good by changing everything. Take the shows that work, give them a slightly bigger budget and about 25% more bam - higher caliber guest stars, prizes or production values.

NBC is in a unique position to do this because of the resources it has and a strong NBC is good for all the cable networks down the line. Right now, it's all hit or miss. There's no development taking place where it counts; in front of an audience. The stakes are so high that shows in primetime are usually given just a few episodes to prove themselves or vanish forever.

In fact, if they wanted to be ultramodern they'd take advantage of this internet thing and start a Triple-A league on their Hulu platform. Launch a whole bunch of ultra-low cost shows, try to build an audience and then move the ones that make it up the food chain.

And remember that the farm system works both ways, too. Struggling players are sent down to the minors, too. Instead of killing a show and losing all the investment, how about moving it back if it doesn't work in primetime?

I could drop the baseball analogies and throw in a lot of geek jargon about Niche Culture and The Long Tail that nobody at NBC but Jimmy Fallon and ?uestlove would probably understand but the big point is that what NBC is doing isn't working. Times have changed but there's still hope. Moves like the Leno primetime shuffle shows that there are willing to take big risks.

Given the trouble they are having, banking on talent you already have doesn't really seem all that risky, does it?.

Full disclosure: Lee Stranahan is in a low level position of no importance as a graphic artist for an NBC owned show in Burbank. Until this Thursday, anyway; then he's moving to New Mexico to make movies and teach seminars.

Comments

[Lisbeth35]

NBC is a mess. They put whatever shows might potentially good against shows that are very strong. (I would watch 30 Rock but it is on during the heavy hitter--Greys). They have schedule and programming issues. I heard Kings is good, but I am not going to watch it unless I hear it will be around a while. Tired of good shows getting pulled---ahem, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Book of Daniel.

And they really lost me with David Gregory for Meet the Press. Should be Aaron Brown or Gwen Ifill.

Who makes these decisions?

[AdvancedDegree]

Here's the biggest problem at NBC. The network lacks an identity , and I would like to see more people of color headline shows or even be an integral part of a show. But what will move NBC forward is them determining what kind of network they are going to be and base their programming from there. Remember when they ruled, they ruled with comedy and a few dramas sprinkled in. I for one would like to see NBC bring back "A Different World."

[richchaplin]

I think that's a GREAT idea. If all networx did that, then we would still have "Pushing Daisies" and "Eli Stone" and "Journeyman" and "Jericho" to watch.

[BoVandy]

Maybe this was just a poorly worded sentence, but the Sci-Fi channel never had Monk, or Real Housewives on it.

[Megley]

Oh please, NBC--leave "Burn Notice" (USA) alone!

[NHBill]

NBC is clearly transiting the broadcast network to the new realities. It's kind of like when FM started to take over AM radio. Broadcast will be live. Think Today and Tonight Show, Olympics and sports. Cable will be scripted and reality. As in the radio transition it will take a few years to phase in. The reason is economic. Cable pays twice ...fees and ads. Broadcast pays once ...just ads. There will a lot of hand wringing. But the writing is on the wall if you can read it. No question the days of 'must see TV" on NBC are over. Look at it this way ...if you had a strong music station on AM in the sixties you better had found an FM station for your format by the '70's. Fox puts their best-scripted shows on FX and saves the Live American Idol for broadcast. They are all going to do it. Other than some nostalgia for broadcasting I don't really see why it matters. If you have cable or a dish you have more channels than you can watch anyway. Ultimately it's sites like HULU, YouTube and Netflix that may put both broadcast and cable out of business. Since the networks are the creators of the content they are all for it. It will cut out the middleman.

[RobinSeattle]

Uh Lee, this will never happen.

Makes too much sense.

Remember, this is corporate America you're dealing with.

[jemiltd]

As a screenwriter who can't get past the network wall, I am with you. There will be a steady move to alternative networks, and all the lazy, non-talent reality shows in the world will not change that.

[Stefano]

So Bravo develops, promotes, and ultimately must give up what succeeds. They are most likely separate business units, I'd love to be the finance or sales guys when they are told they are losing their top program to the "big leagues." C'mon man, get with the times, network TV is dead, in 5 years, there will be little distiction in the ad buyers mind between broadcast and cable. (Most viewers are already there, they didn't grow up with a Big 3 or even 4). Your model just can't work in reality, maybe in the early 90's or late 80's before cable distribution was almost the same as broadcast. Your plan could increase NBC's viewship and therefore money, but would kill off their more profitable cable operations, ultimately costing them alot more. I wouldn't suggest it in a meeting my friend.

[NChooseK]

I'm sorry more people aren't watching Kings. So far, I think it's been very good, but eventually they will have to switch from Ian McShane as King Silas to whoever teh new kid is as King David, and that's going to be a letdown.

[dkuz09]

If the show is allowed to get that far!

But I love Kings, that show is amazing, and Ian McShane is incredible in it.

[temptxan]

NBC's problem is Jeff Zucker. He arrogance has produced very few hits, some tolerable programming, a dubious business channel, and and off the wall news department. They will stay in the basement until they remember the audience has a brain.

[JustThisGuy]

Scifi, sorry syfy, is burning off its existing audiance. Galactia was a critical hit, and was cancled. Meanwhile they have become the home of wrestling, and monster of the week movies that no one watches. If you are not willing to invest in good shows in 'the farm leagues', you will never get anything good.

[BoVandy]

Eureka, the only show I still watch on the Sci-Fi network has been off the air for 6 months, and there has been no announcement on when it will be back, despite the fact that it WILL be back at some point.

The people who are running Sci-Fi (I will never call it Syfy because it's so damn dumb) are trying to run their network like NBC runs theirs. Why does that make sense to anyone?

[michiganfan]

Exactly. What I want to know is, when SciFi saw the end of Battlestar Galactica coming a year or two ago, why in the world did they not acquire the rights to Firefly/Serenity?!?

That would have been a perfect fit for them. It has a built-in audience of loyal fans that, by cable-channel standards, would be huge. It would have given them a first-rate sci-fi program to be there new flagship.

Now I worry that it may be too late. Most of the actors have other jobs now, and Joss Whedon is wasting his talents on Dollhouse, so the window of opportunity may have closed.

[michiganfan]

*their* new flaship, not there...

-oops

[dkuz09]

That's not true, Galactica was ended by the writers themselves, it wasn't canceled, there was nothing the network could do about that. And either way, they have a "BSG: The Plan" coming out this fall. Plus their new series "Caprica". And there were a lot of previews for some interesting programs during the BSG: series finale so all is not lost on SyFy. I think people will be surprised by the crop of shows coming up this year....

[arealamerican68]

Maybe NBC should learn how to report the news equally and remove their lips from Obama's rearend. Kinda funny that Fox News has a higher Nielson rating in all their programs. Glenn Beck's Nielson ratings are higher than all the mainstream medias' primetime shows combined. Maybe if they actually stopped the lies they would pick up some viewers. NBC makes themselves look bad with all the bias coverage. I have never seen such embarrassing media coverage. Pretty bad that Jay Leno asks harder questions of the president then the media does. Embarrassing.

[BoVandy]

I find it hilarious that you trumpet Fox, then claim NBC's coverage is biased.

You do see the irony there right?

[richchaplin]

My faith in God has to survive Glenn Beck. If it wasn't for my faith I would see that God has not helped Beck, has not helped him back off from the edge of sanity, has not enlightened him to the irrationality of his delusions. Beck is really enuf to make one an athesist. I guess God MUST work in mysterious ways...