‘Santa Barbara’ Is 1 of 2 Daytime Casualties at NBC

Acknowledging the unprofitable economics of its daytime programs, NBC will turn some time periods over to its affiliates as part of a major overhaul of its schedule.

The move, the second time in a year that NBC has cut its daytime programming, is the strongest evidence yet of the network’s retrenchment efforts in the face of stiffer competition from syndication, cable and other networks.

NBC will drop its struggling afternoon soap opera “Santa Barbara” on Jan. 15. It will also cancel its medical advice show, “Doctor Dean.” Both shows ranked near the bottom in daytime ratings.

In the last several years, NBC has cut back a third of its daytime programming, to four hours from six hours. The decision to drop “Santa Barbara” was prompted last week when John Rohrbeck, president of NBC-TV’s stations division, refused to continue carrying the soap opera after key affiliates in Boston, Philadelphia and St. Louis dropped the show, sources said.

Affiliates will be handed back the 11 to 11:30 a.m. time period to fill in with syndicated shows. Network executives are still pondering how to fill the “Santa Barbara” 3 to 4 p.m. slot. Among the replacement shows apparently under consideration are an expanded version of “Classic Concentration,” a youth-oriented game show, and a talk show hosted by Sassy magazine editor Jane Pratt.

The cancellations underscore the rapidly changing economics of daytime television, which only a few years ago could account for up to 70% of a network’s profit.

Traditionally, daytime programs cost much less than prime-time shows to produce and attracted healthy advertising because of their success in reaching a largely female audience.

But in recent years, the daytime marketplace has become increasingly crowded, with syndicated shows pulling viewers away from the weaker network shows.

“NBC has been hurting in the daytime race,” said Bill Croasedale, president of national broadcasting at the Los Angeles-based ad agency Western Media. “They have been running a really poor third against ABC and CBS.”

NBC’s problems have been compounded by the fact that impatient affiliates, facing their own financial pressures, are no longer willing to stick with ratings losers when they can acquire more profitable syndicated shows on their own.

NBC, which had been the prime-time ratings leader for five years before being bumped into second place by CBS this last season, is now retrenching from several ambitious expansion plans launched in recent years.

Network staffers have been buzzing for several weeks about an “October surprise” that could entail further cutbacks and might include the long-anticipated “strategic” transaction hinted at by NBC’s parent, General Electric.