Networks jockey for best time periods with new fall lineup

At some point in the future, the broadcast networks will stop losing viewers. The alternative, that they wither away to nothing, seems unlikely, however much some haters of old media may be rooting for that day.

So the question is when this halt will occur. How about with the new season that starts Monday? Doesn’t seem so silly when you realize how quickly the media change these days. Just a year ago, after all, Jay Leno was headed to prime time, Ellen DeGeneres was bound for the “American Idol” judges’ panel and Steve McPherson was ensconced as ABC’s top programmer. The new season won’t find any of them in those former roles.

In fact, there are signs that the broadcast erosion may have already slowed if not stopped altogether — thanks in part to ABC’s Emmy-winning sitcom “Modern Family” and Fox’s musical comedy “Glee,” unlikely hits that were mere blips on the cultural radar a year ago. CBS, Fox and NBC each logged slightly more total viewers during the 2009-10 season than the previous one, according to Nielsen Co. data that count live plus DVR viewing up to a week after a program initially airs. (Despite the growing popularity of DVRs, 94% of all viewing during Prime-time was done so live last season, according to Nielsen for the 2009-10 season)

However, every network was still down significantly — from 4% (Fox) to 13% (ABC) — compared with the 2006-07 season, the last complete cycle before a writers strike severely disrupted the industry.

So far, critics have been tepid about the new season’s offerings and CW’s cheerleader drama, “Hellcats,” and action remake “Nikita” opened to solid but hardly blockbuster numbers. But there are some bold scheduling moves, most notably from CBS, which is shifting its hit sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” from Mondays to lead off Thursdays. In mid-season, a new lineup of judges will help determine whether Fox’s “Idol” remains TV’s No. 1 show. And NBC, which had spent the last few seasons on a cost-cutting jag, is attempting to shake off the Leno blues by leaping back into scripted programming, with new shows making up more than one-third of its fall lineup.

CBS, the most-watched U.S. network, has done an excellent job hanging onto its core audience and over the last season was flat in viewers (an average of 11.9 million) and the ad-friendly demographic of viewers ages 18 to 49. Now it’s making an aggressive play with “Big Bang” on Thursdays, a key night for advertisers trying to reach viewers planning their weekends.

Programming chief Nina Tassler said the network is trying to be realistic about the prospects for “Big Bang” on the new night, where it will be paired with a new comedy, “$#*! My Dad Says” starring William Shatner. CBS has not had a comedy block in that Thursday slot in more than 40 years.

“We don’t expect it to do nearly the numbers it did on Monday,” she said of “Big Bang” in an interview. But “that show is a very strong brand … overall we’re gonna do better in the time period.” Indeed, rivals say that CBS smells weakness in NBC’s Thursday comedy block kicked off by “Community” and Emmy favorite “ 30 Rock.”

Another big CBS move: The remake of “Hawaii Five-O,” occupying the 10 p.m. Monday slot recently held by “ CSI: Miami,” which has been shipped to Sundays.

Fox, which has won the past few seasons in young adults thanks to “Idol,” has a spring in its step from the sleeper success of “Glee,” and now hopes to leverage the show as a lead-in for a new comedy block on Tuesdays. “Raising Hope” is the latest from writer-producer Greg Garcia (“My Name Is Earl”) and “Running Wilde” is from “Arrested Development” overseer Mitch Hurwitz.

“Comedy was one of our big goals,” said Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly, who admitted that the network’s recent half-hour efforts have resulted in a “mixed bag,” with titles such as “‘Til Death” and “Do Not Disturb” failing to make much headway.

With the new series, “I feel like we’ve got a real bona fide shot there to pop a comedy,” Reilly added. Observing the success of “Modern Family” this past season (made by Fox’s sister studio), “you really started to feel as though people were starting to check out comedy again.”

On Mondays, Fox will gamble on “Lone Star,” an edgy drama about a young Texas con man (James Wolk) living a double life. “It’s a tricky show because of its provocative premise,” Reilly said. “I feel like this is an opportunity to pull some cable viewers back that like shows like ‘Weeds’ and ‘ Breaking Bad,’ shows that have a little bit of danger. And yet it is ultimately, at its core, a relationship soap.”

Of course, much of Fox’s success will ultimately depend on what happens with “Idol” at mid-season. Rivals say the show’s ratings will likely continue to drift down but that it can’t be discounted.

With a new top programmer, Paul Lee, taking over from McPherson earlier this year, ABC is a network in desperate need of a turnaround. A few seasons back, it was competitive with CBS and Fox; this past year it was tied with NBC for third place in viewers 18-49 and drooped an additional 7% in the category compared with the previous season. And that was with “Dancing With the Stars” delivering some of its best numbers ever and “Modern Family” turning into a hit.

The problem is that ABC’s anchor shows ( “Desperate Housewives” and “Grey’s Anatomy”) are aging and executives haven’t found the new hits to take their place.

This season the network is taking the risky step of opening Tuesday and Thursday nights with two new and hence unproven dramas. The Thursday offering, the zeitgeist-y “My Generation,” has already drawn catcalls from many critics and looks destined for a tough fight against the CBS and NBC comedies.

“No Ordinary Family,” a quirky domestic drama about superheroes with former “The Shield” star Michael Chiklis, might face even worse odds Tuesdays, opposite “Glee,” CBS’ “NCIS” and NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.”

“Believe me, we’ve had a lot of conversations about that 8 o’clock time period,” admitted Jeff Bader, ABC’s executive vice president in charge of scheduling. The Tuesday leadoff slot “might be one of the most competitive time periods in the fall.”

But the network believes that its series will capture enough male viewers to help the show break through. “‘No Ordinary Family’ should be able to make inroads with the audience that isn’t the ‘Glee’ audience,” Bader said.

The network with the most at stake, however, might be NBC, which is struggling to right itself after it failed noisily in its bid to refashion the institution of prime time with the low-cost Leno experiment. The network is introducing 71/2 hours’ worth of new shows per week this fall, the most of any network.

“What we’re trying to do with the new schedule is improve in specific times slots and slowly try to rebuild the schedule by building nights,” said Angela Bromstad, NBC’s president of prime time entertainment. “I know that we’re up against some really stiff competition but I think at the same time we feel strongly creatively about our shows.”

The network is banking heavily on “The Event,” a serialized sci-fi drama. “We set out trying to do something special, something big and something that could be a show that could fill the void for the audiences of ‘ Lost’ and ‘24’ and ‘Heroes,’ with those shows going off the air.”

However, the show’s lead-in is “Chuck,” which has consistently delivered marginal ratings. “We’re hoping that ‘The Event’ is going to be a self-starter,” Bromstad said, noting that the network would use its Sunday NFL games for a heavy promotional push.

Similarly, NBC has high hopes for “Undercovers,” a husband-and-wife caper from “Lost” creator J.J. Abrams. But the show will kick off Wednesdays in a tough slot opposite CBS’ reality war horse “Survivor.”

The scheduling gods don’t seem to be smiling, but who knows? NBC might surprise everyone with an out-of-the-box hit. As Fox’s Reilly points out, “At this juncture, it’s not always obvious what the season’s gonna be like.”

True enough. Someday we may look back on the 2010-11 season as the time when the networks launched in earnest their long-awaited comeback.

scott.collins@latimes.com