Post by dkennedy on Apr 19, 2005 5:16:42 GMT -5
Peacock Gets Back in Game: ‘It‘s the Right Time‘
Reuters April 18, 2005
NBC executives always said that the only way they would sign an NFL rights deal was if the finances were right. On Monday, they took the plunge.
"It‘s the right time," said Bob Wright, chairman and chief executive of NBC Universal. "We have worked out an arrangement that we can live with, that‘s attractive to us."
Although ABC has been losing a reported $150 million a year on "Monday Night Football," NBC believes it can avoid the same fate, mostly through advertising revenue. Executives in a conference call Monday declined to discuss whether the network would ask affiliates to chip in to help pay for the $600 million-a-year contract, as ABC has done in the past.
Randy Falco, president of NBC Universal Television Networks Group, said the affiliates‘ "initial reception is very, very positive."
NBC‘s deal with the NFL calls for it to carry the kickoff game of the 2006 season on Thursday, Sept. 7, in primetime. The 16 regular-season "Sunday Night Football" games will begin with a 7-8 p.m. ET pregame show, followed by the kickoff at 8:15 p.m.
NBC executives said that they weren‘t interested in a "Monday Night Football" package anyway because it could have interfered with their late-night franchises. "MNF" often runs past midnight ET, delaying the start of "Nightline" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live."
FOUR-HOUR PACKAGE
NBC gets four hours in broadcast primetime Sundays, beginning at 7 p.m. ET across the country. ABC, during "Monday Night Football," gets only two hours, from 9-11 p.m. ET.
"This package has never been available to any broadcaster," said Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Universal Television Group.
The return of football to NBC will relieve the network‘s entertainment division of programing four hours for 16 weeks in the fall. Sunday is not one of NBC‘s strongest nights: "Dateline NBC" is barely competitive with CBS‘ "60 Minutes" at 7 p.m., while struggling 8 p.m. drama "American Dreams" was given a reduced episode order this season, and its cancellation is widely expected.
By going with football, NBC effectively punted on Sundays rather than undertake what would have been the equivalent of running the ball from the opposing 10-yard line: programing four hours of primetime.
The NFL is just the kind of live programing that industry experts say is the only TiVo-proof real estate for advertisers.
It remains to be seen what NBC will do with its 9-11 p.m. dramas "Crossing Jordan" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," which hold up respectably against strong competition like ABC‘s "Desperate Housewives." There‘s speculation that the shows could be relocated to shore up nights where NBC is weaker, like Tuesday, or they could stay in place during the offseason, where they could benefit from a concentrated burst of rerun-free episodes. Fox energized its real-time drama "24" with a similar scheduling strategy.
EVENT NIGHT
Zucker said Sunday nights in January and February have been difficult because of all the event programing such as the Super Bowl, the Academy Awards and Grammys.
"By using this to launch more year-round programing, probably beginning in March, I think we will have less of a problem," Zucker said Monday.
Brad Adgate, senior vp research at New York-based Horizon Media, said that with "Sunday Night Football" on broadcast TV, NBC will be getting a top-10 show for 16 weeks during the fall.
"I think it‘s a great move for NBC," he said. "This puts them back on the map as far as major sports go, along with the Olympics and NASCAR."
NBC has quite a history with the NFL, going back to 1939, when the network was the first to televise an NFL game. The Philadelphia Eagles and Brooklyn Dodgers met at Ebbets Field and could be seen on about 1,000 TV sets in and around New York.
Its first NFL championship telecast was in 1955, and it had a five-year contract to televise the AFL in 1964. NBC bought the American Football Conference
Reuters April 18, 2005
NBC executives always said that the only way they would sign an NFL rights deal was if the finances were right. On Monday, they took the plunge.
"It‘s the right time," said Bob Wright, chairman and chief executive of NBC Universal. "We have worked out an arrangement that we can live with, that‘s attractive to us."
Although ABC has been losing a reported $150 million a year on "Monday Night Football," NBC believes it can avoid the same fate, mostly through advertising revenue. Executives in a conference call Monday declined to discuss whether the network would ask affiliates to chip in to help pay for the $600 million-a-year contract, as ABC has done in the past.
Randy Falco, president of NBC Universal Television Networks Group, said the affiliates‘ "initial reception is very, very positive."
NBC‘s deal with the NFL calls for it to carry the kickoff game of the 2006 season on Thursday, Sept. 7, in primetime. The 16 regular-season "Sunday Night Football" games will begin with a 7-8 p.m. ET pregame show, followed by the kickoff at 8:15 p.m.
NBC executives said that they weren‘t interested in a "Monday Night Football" package anyway because it could have interfered with their late-night franchises. "MNF" often runs past midnight ET, delaying the start of "Nightline" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live."
FOUR-HOUR PACKAGE
NBC gets four hours in broadcast primetime Sundays, beginning at 7 p.m. ET across the country. ABC, during "Monday Night Football," gets only two hours, from 9-11 p.m. ET.
"This package has never been available to any broadcaster," said Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Universal Television Group.
The return of football to NBC will relieve the network‘s entertainment division of programing four hours for 16 weeks in the fall. Sunday is not one of NBC‘s strongest nights: "Dateline NBC" is barely competitive with CBS‘ "60 Minutes" at 7 p.m., while struggling 8 p.m. drama "American Dreams" was given a reduced episode order this season, and its cancellation is widely expected.
By going with football, NBC effectively punted on Sundays rather than undertake what would have been the equivalent of running the ball from the opposing 10-yard line: programing four hours of primetime.
The NFL is just the kind of live programing that industry experts say is the only TiVo-proof real estate for advertisers.
It remains to be seen what NBC will do with its 9-11 p.m. dramas "Crossing Jordan" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," which hold up respectably against strong competition like ABC‘s "Desperate Housewives." There‘s speculation that the shows could be relocated to shore up nights where NBC is weaker, like Tuesday, or they could stay in place during the offseason, where they could benefit from a concentrated burst of rerun-free episodes. Fox energized its real-time drama "24" with a similar scheduling strategy.
EVENT NIGHT
Zucker said Sunday nights in January and February have been difficult because of all the event programing such as the Super Bowl, the Academy Awards and Grammys.
"By using this to launch more year-round programing, probably beginning in March, I think we will have less of a problem," Zucker said Monday.
Brad Adgate, senior vp research at New York-based Horizon Media, said that with "Sunday Night Football" on broadcast TV, NBC will be getting a top-10 show for 16 weeks during the fall.
"I think it‘s a great move for NBC," he said. "This puts them back on the map as far as major sports go, along with the Olympics and NASCAR."
NBC has quite a history with the NFL, going back to 1939, when the network was the first to televise an NFL game. The Philadelphia Eagles and Brooklyn Dodgers met at Ebbets Field and could be seen on about 1,000 TV sets in and around New York.
Its first NFL championship telecast was in 1955, and it had a five-year contract to televise the AFL in 1964. NBC bought the American Football Conference