ABC Finds Discord in Shake-Up of Fall Schedule

As network schedule-setting deadlines approached under a veil of secrecy in mid-May, producers and agents trying to ascertain where ABC would position series found themselves seemingly staring at a jigsaw puzzle with too many pieces.

Unfortunately, the prime-time lineup that the network ultimately presented advertisers didn’t make the picture much clearer: “NYPD Blue” and “20/20” both moving to Wednesday nights at 10 p.m., irking the former’s producer, Steven Bochco, and the latter’s star anchor, Barbara Walters? A new drama bumping “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” on Sundays, where the quiz show dominated its time slot? “Once and Again” renewed for a third season but relocated to Fridays until December, when “20/20”--after a two-month hiatus--is in theory supposed to return?

Though all the networks go through certain contortions seeking to satisfy producers, advertisers and the financial officers at their parent companies, ABC’s lineup reflects an especially difficult juggling act--one that underscores the various forces that currently go into shaping a network’s prime-time schedule.

ABC’s varied to-do list for next season, for example, included extending “Once and Again,” a modestly rated series produced by parent the Walt Disney Co.; reducing “Millionaire’s” presence due to its aging audience profile; being better-prepared to fill the void left each January once the “Monday Night Football” audience disperses; and perhaps most significantly, cobbling together the most attractive roster for media buyers during the so-called upfront advertising market this summer.

In terms of “NYPD Blue,” premiering the show in November allows ABC to book more advertising in the fall, since the series will surely command higher rates than a new drama or “20/20” would in the same slot. At the same time, having both “Blue” and “20/20” available provides ABC options if Bochco’s “Philly,” a new drama starring Kim Delaney as an attorney, falters at 10 p.m. Tuesdays or one of the network’s Friday components quickly flops.

ABC Entertainment Executive Vice President Jeff Bader called “NYPD Blue” “one of our core shows,” noting that ABC faces too many challenges elsewhere to leave it off the schedule until January (as the network has done the past two seasons) or throw a new series against “Law & Order.”

Still, none of this reasoning has done much to mollify Bochco, who asked ABC at the very least to order an additional year of “NYPD Blue”--committing to the series into 2003, or a 10th season--as a vote of confidence.

“In return for asking us to take a very significant risk, put a net under me,” he said, adding, “I thought we were treated really shabbily.”

ABC has pointed out that the network already holds the right to renew the show for an additional season and that its ratings expectations are modest--only that the show will improve ABC’s performance in its slot.

Though “NYPD Blue” has proven durable, averaging 14.2 million viewers during the just-concluded TV season, the show figures to experience an almost certain hit opposite “Law & Order,” whose audience surged this season with “The West Wing” funneling viewers in its direction.

Bochco conceded one of his goals is to make clear to the “Blue” cast that he is not sacrificing his existing show to benefit the new one. And while the producer stated “nobody’s going to lie down here” in terms of competing for audience, based on the competitive landscape he suggested there’s a real likelihood ABC has moved his show “into a slot where it’s going to get its [expletive] handed to it.”

Even rivals have expressed some puzzlement regarding ABC’s scheduling moves, with one executive at a competing network saying the lineup has “failure built into it,” in the sense shows in production seem positioned to replace programs penciled in to occupy a given time slot.

In that respect, the prospect of a constricting advertising market took its toll on all the networks’ decision-making this spring. Anticipated spending decreases have heightened competition for ad dollars, prompting broadcasters to play a sort of shell game by announcing series that put the best face on their fall lineups but are unlikely to be around in January.

Fox, for example, scheduled two programs that halted production long ago, the animated “Family Guy” and live-action superhero spoof “The Tick,” in part because they offered a more advertiser-friendly alternative to unscripted fare. Even if they succeed, however, industry sources question how soon Fox could have new episodes ready, meaning the shows amount to little more than place-holders until midseason.

ABC appears to have employed a somewhat similar strategy, with the understanding “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”--which saw its audience drop more than 30% compared to the previous year--can quickly be called upon to replace programs should they fail.

In the interim, ABC can sell ad buyers a sexy spy drama, “Alias,” at 9 p.m. Sundays knowing “Millionaire” can expand to add a third edition on short notice--especially if declines that hour begin to take a toll on “The Practice” at 10 p.m.

Bader acknowledged “Alias” represents a gamble, but ABC’s hope is the show will take root during September and October while the time-period incumbent, Fox’s “The X-Files,” is preempted by the major league baseball playoffs.

“The question is can we hook an audience in six weeks, [and] we think we can,” Bader said.

Bochco also questioned the scheduling of “Once and Again,” citing clear financial incentives (the show is produced by Disney and repeats on the Lifetime cable channel, of which Disney is a part owner) that appear to have spurred its renewal.

“‘On the one hand, I applaud them for sticking with shows they believe in,” he said. “[But] if ABC was an owner of ‘NYPD Blue,’ wherever they put us at least there would be a net under it.”

Bochco was not the only TV heavyweight upset by ABC’s announcement. At first saying the “20/20” time-period switch was disappointing but “not the end of the world,” Walters then publicly used her daytime chat show, “The View,” to imply she might leave the network. Walters subsequently became more conciliatory, noting that she remains contractually bound to “20/20” until December 2002 and ABC News beyond that.

As always, ABC will have two additional hours to fill once “Monday Night Football” ends in December. In the past, a mix of feature films and made-for-TV movies usually filled the breach, but ABC has said it will introduce two new programs in 2002--the unscripted “The Runner,” which has been delayed by logistical problems, and the Supreme Court drama “The Court,” starring Sally Field.

Yet even that game plan could be revised depending on how series perform in November, when ABC will have to reshuffle the deck--and decide which cards to keep--once football is over.

“It’s Groundhog Day,” Bader said of the dilemma. “It happens every year.”