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Conservatism to Mark New Season on Major Networks

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Safety and conservatism are the watchwords of the three major networks’ prime-time schedules for fall, according to a sampling of opinion Tuesday from advertising executives here and in New York. And NBC, perhaps playing it the safest of all, should have no trouble maintaining its large ratings cushion over what these industry observers nonetheless see as improving competition from CBS and ABC.

Meanwhile, Fox Broadcasting’s schedule, which includes a new night of programming, drew praise from ad executives, who said that planting its youth-oriented hit “21 Jump Street” as the cornerstone of its new Monday night lineup would help the fledgling network siphon off young viewers from ABC’s “MacGyver” and NBC’s “Alf.”

Betsy Frank, senior vice president at the Saatchi & Saatchi DFS advertising agency in New York, said that NBC’s surprising cancellation of the controversial “Nightingales” and Fox’s moving its equally controversial “Married . . . With Children” to the later hour of 9 p.m. suggest that all the networks have become sensitive to objections from some viewers and advertisers over program content.

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“I was surprised that they canceled ‘Nightingales,’ especially after they made such a big deal about giving them better underwear,” Frank said. “I think overall you may see a controversial episode here and there, but in general there are fewer jiggle shows (on the fall schedules).

“Instead you see a lot of throwbacks--established personalities like Richard Chamberlain (in “The Hawaiian” on CBS) and Lindsay Wagner (in CBS’ “The Peaceable Kingdom”). And ‘Free Spirit’ (a new ABC sitcom about a witch who keeps house for a suburban family) is really another ‘Bewitched.’ The networks would like to establish a schedule like the one they had back (in the ‘60s and ‘70s) when they pulled in 90 or 95% of the audience.”

“The networks are aware that advertisers are very concerned about the environment in which they place their ads,” said Paul Schulman, whose New York company buys advertising time on all three networks. “There will still be some violence and scenes with sex, but the networks won’t do anything in bad taste.”

Jack McQueen, senior vice president of FCB/Telecom, credited the networks for hanging on to a few “innovative, marginally rated shows,” such as ABC’s “thirtysomething,” but said that in general, “the experimentation (in programming) is pretty much being handled by Fox and the multiplicity of signals available on cable.”

Competition from cable, Fox, independent stations and VCRs has contributed to a decline in the combined network share of audience from 90% to 68% in the past decade. McQueen said he didn’t see anything in the major networks’ new lineups that would put an end to that erosion.

“New shows and a new schedule won’t do it,” McQueen said. “The one thing that will stem the tide is innovative promotion. And I do see more dough being poured into that kind of thing.”

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McQueen said that CBS’ recently unveiled promotional extravaganza with K mart and NBC’s promotional tie-in with Sears, announced Tuesday, are attempts to find new ways to lure viewers back to the networks. But he said the most important promotional test will be whether the networks can find better ways to persuade viewers to sample their shows at the very moment viewers are flicking their remote controls and deciding what to watch.

The problem of promoting a huge slate of new shows, especially for CBS and ABC, which trail NBC by a wide margin, is one reason some low-rated shows such as CBS’ “Tour of Duty” and “Paradise” survived for another year, Frank said. As it is, she said, CBS will be hard-pressed to adequately promote its drastically revamped lineup, which includes three new sitcoms, five new dramas and the reality-based “Rescue 911.”

Though CBS hasn’t taken any big risks or added any new show that had any of these executives buzzing with excitement, the last-place network’s fall schedule drew high marks.

Frank said that the network was smart to abandon its attempt to draw in younger viewers with shows such as “TV 101” and “Dirty Dancing” and to go back to giving the core CBS audience the type of show it likes to watch--dramas featuring big-name television stars of the past such as Chamberlain, Wagner, Tim Reid in “Snoops,” “Simon & Simon’s” Gerald McRaney in the new sitcom “Major Dad,” and “Dallas’ ” Jack Scalia in the new San Francisco police drama “Wolf.”

“CBS looks stronger, and I think the race for second with ABC is going to be very tight,” Frank said. “Yes, it’s probably old-fashioned to reach back to these stars, but I think it’s terrific. Look what happened to them last year when they tried to reach that younger audience. That audience is all locked up by NBC, ABC and Fox.”

“CBS is clearly going to a broader appeal than it did last year and, by going after big stars who have proven successful in the past, they are showing the industry that they are willing to spend big dollars to get the audience back,” Schulman said.

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Schulman believes that CBS has staked its fall lineup on several key shows that just might lead it out of the ratings cellar. He said “Snoops,” a Washington-based spy show about a crime-solving married couple, could be another “Murder, She Wrote.” If that series takes off on Fridays at 8 p.m. and Lindsay Wagner’s new show on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. also does well, CBS’s lineup will start to look formidable, Schulman said.

He also said the new sitcom about a young man who becomes a Hollywood agent, “The Famous Teddy Z,” is a funny show and well-suited for the network’s Monday night comedy lineup, which includes “Murphy Brown” and “Designing Women.”

ABC, which put itself at least partially on the right track this past season with its Tuesday night lineup that included ratings winners “Roseanne” and “The Wonder Years,” played it rather conservatively for fall, McQueen said, by adding six new comedies, two dramas and a news magazine with Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer. But he and Frank agreed that the new schedule will help the network continue to pull in younger viewers.

“They have a lot of comedies on their schedule and they do them as well as anyone right now,” Frank said.

ABC’s new lineup, announced late Monday, features a half-hour show from Steven Bochco (“L.A. Law,” “Hill Street Blues”) about a 16-year-old doctor, a sitcom about four teen-age models, another comedy about an inner-city school teacher, a spinoff of the ABC hit “Perfect Strangers” and a weekly vehicle for comedian Jackie Mason that will follow “Roseanne” in the strong Tuesday night lineup.

Schulman said that ABC renewed its acclaimed dramas “China Beach” and “thirtysomething,” despite less than glowing ratings, because advertisers are willing to pay a premium for spots on so-called “quality shows” that attract the prime “yuppie” demographic audience.

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Some of the executives expressed regret that NBC, known as the innovator of such quality programs as “Hill Street Blues,” “St. Elsewhere” and “L.A. Law,” essentially chose to stand pat. The first-place network, which finished first every week last season to win its fourth prime-time season in a row, added only 4 1/2 hours of new programming, including three hourlong dramas on Friday night.

“They could’ve made some more exciting changes,” Schulman said, “but when you’re doing so well, there’s not much you have to change.”

Overall, Frank said, the new schedules are heavy on action, adventure and male-oriented programs, specifically designed to complement the auto industry’s planned introduction of new cars this fall.

“There will be some good stuff and some embarrassing stuff,” Frank concluded. “But this year’s schedule gives me more optimism than last season as far as finding appropriate advertising vehicles for my clients.”

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