So Far, Nothing’s Habit-Forming

The prime-time TV season’s first week brought the major networks a mixed report card, with viewers exhibiting a willingness to sample new programs but bailing out just as quickly, while overall viewing continued to show a modest decline.

The networks, in fact, seem to be cannibalizing one another’s audience, with NBC’s strategy of scheduling an unprecedented 18 situation comedies throughout the week initially hurting CBS and ABC sitcoms on Monday and Wednesday, respectively.

Based on results issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research, NBC remained the clear ratings leader, averaging 16.5 million viewers during prime time last week, compared to 15.3 million for CBS, 13.1 million watching ABC and 9.2 million tuned to Fox.

Those totals represent an aggregate 2% drop compared to the corresponding week a year ago, even with audiences for NBC’s “Seinfeld” and “ER” inflated to record levels by the latter’s heavily promoted live episode. Despite losing audience, the four main networks still accounted for more than 60% of prime-time viewing.

Yet unlike last season, where highly anticipated new series such as “Cosby” and the Michael J. Fox comeback “Spin City” blasted out of the starting gate, the only new show to open with such lofty numbers so far is “Veronica’s Closet”--NBC’s Kirstie Alley sitcom, which airs in the coveted half-hour after “Seinfeld.”

Some newcomers have shown potential, such as ABC’s “Dharma & Greg,” CBS’ “Brooklyn South” and Fox’s “The Visitor” and “Ally McBeal.”

With all the options now available to them, however, viewers appear to have little patience with new programs, and in some instances success has proven short-lived. An example would be “The Visitor”--a sci-fi drama from the producers of “Independence Day”--which saw one-third of its first-week audience disappear last Friday. Similarly, “Brooklyn South” declined by 19% Monday compared to the program’s premiere.

In contrast to ABC, which introduced 11 new series in September and moved several other shows to new time periods, Fox seemed to benefit by largely standing pat, scheduling just four new programs to avoid the new-season crush and returning most shows in the same time slot.

“Time is precious [to viewers],” said Giles Lundberg, Fox’s senior vice president of research and marketing. “To carve out another 30 minutes or 60 minutes for a new television program, it’s really got to be worth their while.”

From a scheduling standpoint, all the networks have immediate trouble spots to consider--including NBC, which may have spread its comedy troops too thin.

NBC had cause for enthusiasm regarding the performance of such shows as “Caroline in the City” and “Suddenly Susan” Sept. 20, as well as “3rd Rock From the Sun,” which moved to Wednesday and nearly equaled the audience for ABC’s “The Drew Carey Show.”

This week NBC’s Monday lineup looked shakier, however, as CBS’ comedies rebounded, and NBC stumbled with several new comedies: “The Tony Danza Show” and “Built to Last” ranked fourth in their time slots on Wednesday, while “Men Behaving Badly” and “Jenny,” starring MTV’s Jenny McCarthy, looked equally vulnerable on Sunday.

NBC’s position as the top-rated network nevertheless appears to be in scant jeopardy, if only by default. Neither CBS nor ABC has caught fire early with new shows, and NBC will pad its season-long average by televising the Super Bowl and World Series--perennially two of the year’s highest-rated sports events.

Coming off a disappointing year, ABC can probably rule out a rapid turnaround based on its initial results. The network still faces problems Thursday and Saturday nights, where it has introduced four new series, and faces a stiff challenge from NBC on Tuesdays, where ABC’s “Hiller and Diller”--a new comedy that occupies the key half-hour following “Home Improvement”--didn’t fare particularly well last week.

ABC did see some growth in its Sunday performance from last year with “The Wonderful World of Disney” launch, the hit movie “Toy Story.” Still, the overall rating came in short of expectations, and ABC won’t have titles of that caliber to offer every week. The franchise will be watched closely, given its importance to Disney as the most overt manifestation of its role as ABC’s corporate parent.

CBS remains strong Saturday and Sunday behind such shows as “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “60 Minutes” and “Touched by an Angel.” The network even held its own Thursday, providing an alternative to NBC’s “Must-See TV” shows with the Gerald McRaney drama “Promised Land” (which scored its highest rating ever last week) and “Diagnosis Murder.”

The network’s biggest gamble, however--acquiring the ABC shows “Family Matters” and “Step by Step”--looks to have misfired, with few of the children and teenagers who favor those programs finding them on CBS’ older-skewing lineup. Last Friday, three times as many kids watched ABC’s “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” as “Family Matters,” and totals among teenagers were even more lopsided.

From a financial standpoint, CBS also has to grapple at some point with the fact that its programs don’t do as well in the younger age brackets sought by advertisers, which most directly determine prime-time profitability.

The next few weeks could provide a window of opportunity for ABC and CBS, with NBC and Fox each preempting regular programming certain nights to televise the Major League Baseball playoffs. Baseball principally appeals to men and doesn’t usually peak ratings-wise until well into the League Championship Series, with the World Series to begin Oct. 18.

Various forces are conspiring to whittle away at the network audience, including cable and the fledgling WB and UPN networks. The WB scored record ratings Monday with “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” which lived up to its name by actually winning its time period in Los Angeles on KTLA-TV Channel 5. UPN remains a factor Wednesdays thanks to “Star Trek: Voyager”--still the highest-rated program on either new network.