Why the Networks Won’t Panic

The Big Three networks were walloped by more than just a severe prime-time blow in the traditional season-end ratings released last week.

Viewing also dipped for the networks’ morning shows--except NBC’s “Today”--as well as for their nightly news and daytime lineups.

In the nightly news, for instance, CBS’ Dan Rather and Connie Chung dropped 11% from the previous year, NBC’s Tom Brokaw was off 12% and even ABC’s top-ranked Peter Jennings slid 6%.

And in the wake-up competition, “CBS This Morning” was off 9%, ABC’s “Good Morning America” was down 7% and NBC’s “Today” held even with the previous season.

To add to the bad news, all of the Big Three also suffered audience loss--a cumulative 8%--in their prime-time theatrical films (“Presumed Innocent” on CBS was No. 1 with only a modest 28% audience share).

They were also down 9% in their made-for-TV movies, with comeback outings of two old series--”The Rockford Files” and “Cagney & Lacey”--heading the list with an equally modest 28% share. Again, NBC was the only network to hold even with last season.

True, CBS’ collapse in prime time was the chief motivating force for the networks’ decline. And CBS research chief David Poltrack says coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial on competing channels affected daytime and nightly news ratings.

But with the overall slide--only Fox and NBC edged up a bit in prime time last season--many may ask:

Why would anybody want to buy a network?

Why do the names of media powers such as Ted Turner, Barry Diller and Disney constantly arise as potential bidders for one or more of the Big Three?

The answer is partly that even a poorly performing network has a huge distribution system of more than 200 stations that is very tough to build from scratch.

Another key answer came last week when, despite the news that CBS had dragged down the overall average of network households from 61% to 57%, sponsor representatives expressed confidence that buying of ads would be healthy.

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Emerging as a clear reason for this was that all of the four networks, including Fox, now have bought into the pursuit of the 18-to-49-year-old viewers that sponsors treasure for their spending habits.

Rarely in the half century since popular TV was introduced in the United States have advertisers exercised such control over the networks.

Not that the networks ever were altruistic in the sense of ignoring sponsors. On the contrary, from the days of radio and early television, they have always sought to please and appease the advertisers who support them.

In the book “Live TV,” former NBC boss and visionary Pat Weaver is quoted as saying:

“Networks had nothing to do with radio except as facilities. . . . After about 1934 or 1935, all of the programming was done by (advertising) agencies. They ran radio and also began all of early television, really.

“In my case, I consciously said it would be better if we build a television service that was not agency -run, because there you must do what the client wants, and while a lot of the public interest will be covered, they still won’t want to do a lot of things that ought to be done.”

In early- and even middle-aged television, some of the best-known series even bore the corporate names of the sponsors that controlled them. There was “The Colgate Comedy Hour,” “The Dinah Shore Chevy Show,” “Kraft Television Theatre,” “The Dupont Show of the Week,” “General Electric Theater,” “Ford Theatre,” “Philco TV Playhouse” and “The Bell Telephone Hour,” to name just some.

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And of course, the still-healthy “Hallmark Hall of Fame” shows how a firmly focused sponsor attitude can have a positive effect in some cases, although there have been numerous examples to the contrary.

In broadcasting’s pioneer days, products sometimes even became a trademark of the programming content. One of the most famous examples was the Milton Berle series, where the shows opened with four Texaco servicemen singing:

“Oh, we’re the men of Texaco, we work from Maine to Mexico. . . .”

There were other happy examples, including Ernie Kovacs’ memorable commercials for Dutch Masters cigars.

But in the modern framework of network-sponsor relationships, there is no excuse for ageism to be openly accepted and practiced. You can dress it up and call it by all kinds of fancy names, but that’s what it is.

Still, the networks can always be maneuvered into new directions, and that’s why they remain plum targets of acquisition. For even with just 57% of the audience, or even 50% or 40%, they still are far and away the most effective way to reach television audiences.

Despite handier-sized satellite dishes and the spread of computers, cable continues to come on strong. Last season, it increased to a 25% audience share. The various basic cable networks--not including pay TV--raised their viewership by 11%.

O.J. or no O.J., the daytime programming of the Big Three networks dropped with some of the chief viewers--women 18 to 49. CBS, the perennial leader, was down 19% in this category, ABC slipped 13% and NBC was off 9%. NBC, however, held even with women 25-to-54, although CBS and ABC fell off with this group too.

The good news in prime time was that reality shows, acknowledged to be on a downward swing, slumped 5% in viewing, while general drama series--which had been increasingly replaced by tawdry newsmagazines--were up 3%.

Dramas such as “ER” and “NYPD Blue” were certainly of major importance in this comeback, and other entries such as “Law & Order” and “Chicago Hope” also helped.

NBC has surely benefited throughout the day because of the new interest in the network’s splashy hits such as “ER,” “Seinfeld,” “Frasier” and “Friends.”

The added glitz in NBC prime time inevitably helped Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show,” which increased its audience by 5% and cut into the lead of CBS’ David Letterman series, which was down 9% while trying to hold the fort with almost no lead-in help from his network’s prime-time lineup.

NBC’s spurt also probably contributed to the solid showing of the morning “Today” series, with some observers believing more viewers simply tuned in again to the network they watched the night before.

ABC’s late-night entry, “Nightline,” turned in a solid showing, staying about even with the previous season and actually finishing second to Letterman.