Network TV Is Officially Back

As someone who has spent the better part of my career navigating the ever-evolving landscape of television, I find myself both intrigued and invigorated by the synergistic relationship between broadcast networks and streaming platforms as portrayed in this article.

Despite all your Grampa Simpson-inspired jokes about it, CBS executives couldn’t be happier: The network’s revamp of Matlock, featuring Kathy Bates, has been a massive success. In just a week since its debut, every episode of the drama has drawn an astonishing 13.5 million viewers, according to ratings giant Nielsen, with streaming viewership on Paramount+ included. This not only makes Matlock the most popular new show this fall by a significant margin but also the second most-watched entertainment program on broadcast TV overall (after Tracker).

As a film enthusiast, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the resurgence of scripted hits on networks in 2024 – a breath of fresh air for broadcast employees, many of whom have weathered years of layoffs. Interestingly, audiences are embracing traditional weekly TV shows, the kind that produce as many episodes in one season as some popular streaming series do throughout their entire lifespan. This isn’t just proof that there’s a niche for conventional comedies and dramas in our post-Peak TV era; it hints at the fact that viewers are still craving this type of television entertainment. Simran Sethi, president of scripted programming for ABC Entertainment and Hulu, echoes this sentiment, stating, “The audience has made it clear to us that they enjoy these shows with extensive episode libraries, that they appreciate following ongoing relationships with characters over numerous or even hundreds of episodes.

Each of the Big Three broadcast networks has reasons to celebrate:

At CBS, not only is the show “Matlock” generating impressive overall ratings, but it’s also significantly enhancing the Eye network’s already potent Thursday schedule. Positioned between long-running hits like “Ghosts” and “Elsbeth”, “Matlock” has seen a 60% increase in linear viewership compared to previous CBS Thursday night dramas such as “CSI” and “So Help Me Todd”. It’s worth noting that while “Matlock” appeals to a larger older demographic, the younger audience is also engaging with the show. In fact, when including streaming, “Matlock” ranks as the 8th most popular entertainment series on network TV among adults under 50, surpassing shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Law & Order: SVU”.

In terms of comedies, “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” a new show by Chuck Lorre, following his spin-off from “The Big Bang Theory,” continues where its predecessor, “Young Sheldon,” left off as the most-watched comedy on broadcast TV. It attracts an average of 8.1 million weekly viewers on linear TV (which increases to 10.1 million when streaming is included), according to Nielsen. Meanwhile, the new Monday-night sitcom “Poppa’s House” has a smaller overall audience, with approximately 4.6 million weekly linear viewers. However, it retains its lead-in from “The Neighborhood” better than the show it replaced, “Bob Hearts Abishola,” and CBS reports a significant increase of 205% in its streaming viewership compared to “Bob.” (A disagreement with Nielsen means CBS can’t use their data when making claims about its programs, but the network has access to rival measurement firm VideoAmp and its own Paramount+ data. The ratings from VideoAmp generally align with Nielsen’s.)

At ABC, the series titled “High Potential” – a crime procedural starring Kaitlin Olson – has surpassed expectations. This program about an intelligent janitor-turned-murder-solver has become ABC’s highest-rated new series since the debut of “The Conners” in 2018, which benefited from its link to the classic sitcom “Roseanne”. Each week, “High Potential” attracts approximately 6.6 million linear viewers, and when combined with streaming audiences on Hulu and Disney+, it reaches nearly 11 million viewers according to Nielsen. Remarkably, this impressive viewership is achieved despite the show airing at 10 p.m., a time slot traditionally associated with lower overall viewing and a higher failure rate for new dramas in recent years.

ABC is feeling somewhat hopeful but careful about the new Ryan Murphy series, “Doctor Odyssey,” which they’ve placed between their established shows “9-1-1” and “Grey’s Anatomy” on Thursdays. Although it hasn’t quite matched the success of “High Potential,” “Doc Odd” is drawing an audience of 5.14 million viewers, which is around 25% more than what was previously attracting “Station 19” in that time slot. Additionally, it has slightly outperformed the 4.9 million viewers “Grey’s” had in the 9 p.m. slot during its abbreviated season last spring. So far, “Doctor Odyssey” is averaging a total of 6.9 million viewers when streaming figures are included, and its pilot episode managed to pull in a robust 11.1 million viewers within its first five weeks on air.

➼ NBC’s big hit this season is Happy’s Place, the Friday-night sitcom reuniting Reba McEntire and Melissa Peterman. The show is currently averaging just over 5 million weekly viewers on linear (and notching roughly 6.5 million with streaming added in), nearly doubling what NBC was doing on Fridays last fall with imported Canadian drama Transplant. Happy’s Place has also consistently succeeded in the same-day Nielsen ratings, regularly outperforming ABC’s veteran Shark Tank, which airs in the same time slot, in total viewers — along with everything else on NBC’s Friday-night lineup. Meanwhile, St. Denis Medical has only been on the air for a few weeks, but NBC suits are very hopeful about the early sampling for the new mockuseries from Superstore creators Justin Spitzer and Eric Ledgin. The show is averaging about 6.5 million viewers and doing particularly well with NBC’s target demo of adults under 50, ranking 10th in Nielsen’s season-to-date top 10 for the demo, thanks to huge streaming numbers.

After a series of victories with scripted shows over the last two years, the autumn harvest of successful broadcasts on TV networks is abundant. Newcomers like CBS’s “Tracker” and “Elsbeth”, which premiered in February, have excelled in their respective Sunday and Thursday time slots, joining “Fire Country” from 2022 to give the network a dynamic lineup of drama series that don’t bear the initials of government agencies. ABC introduced “Will Trent” at the start of this year, and its ratings have consistently grown since then, an unusual trend in broadcast TV nowadays. Although NBC’s reboot of “Night Court” isn’t garnering the massive ratings it did immediately following its 2023 premiere, it has managed to maintain a dedicated audience on Tuesdays.

Unlike episodic series like “Squid Game” or “The Boys,” which briefly enter viewers’ lives every few years and generate a lot of hype but not as many awards, ongoing broadcast hits establish stronger, enduring connections. Sethi notes that characters on network dramas or sitcoms become regular fixtures in one’s home, staying for weeks or even years. He believes the bond audiences form with these long-running, character-driven shows will remain timeless.

The Nielsen data supports this claim: Popular shows like those mentioned typically garner between 7 to 11 million viewers within a week of their new episodes airing, considering linear broadcasts and DVR replays. This number may seem substantial but is significantly lower compared to what similar hits drew 20 years ago. However, these shows are now managing to pull in larger audiences on streaming platforms too. For instance, around 43% of the weekly viewers for ‘High Potential’ are streaming it, thanks to services like Hulu, Disney+ (ABC, Fox), Paramount+ (CBS), and Peacock (NBC). Similarly, shows such as ‘Abbott Elementary’, ‘Matlock’, and ‘Tracker’ each attract around 3 million weekly streaming viewers. Additionally, according to Nielsen, approximately half a dozen network comedies and dramas are adding around 2 to 2.5 million streaming viewers each week this season, including both new shows like ‘Doctor Odyssey’ and ‘George & Mandy’s’, as well as returning favorites such as ‘Ghosts’ and ‘9-1-1’.

The surge in cord-cutting and the advent of streaming platforms like Disney+, Paramount+, and Peacock over the past five years have significantly expanded the platform for network shows to be viewed outside of traditional broadcast systems. As Lisa Katz, president of scripted content for NBCUniversal, puts it, “People are finding these shows in all the places we offer them.” While it may have been more convenient for viewers when NBC shows were alongside ABC and Fox series on Hulu, they now receive increased platform support from Peacock, even though Peacock (with approximately 36 million subscribers) is present in fewer homes than Hulu (52 million). Similarly, with Disney having full ownership of Hulu, it has a greater motivation to direct Hulu’s viewers towards ABC network shows and the flexibility to place them on Disney+, potentially reaching even more audiences.

As network television series increasingly attract viewers on streaming platforms, they are simultaneously drawing broadcasters back to a crucial demographic: adults under 50, a group that advertisers have long been eager to reach but had previously deemed resistant to network TV. In fact, five major Thursday night network mainstays (ABC’s 9-1-1, Dr. Odyssey, and Grey’s Anatomy; CBS’s Matlock and Ghosts) are pulling over half of their overall demo viewership from streaming this season. The demo audience for High Potential on streaming (a rating of 1.77) is currently three times larger than its already impressive Tuesday-night linear audience (0.57) among younger viewers. These additional streaming views significantly impact the network standings: While High Potential currently ranks as the 12th show among adults under 50 based on linear ratings alone, its combined linear and streaming demo rating (2.34) would catapult it to the top spot on broadcast TV this season, surpassing Abbott Elementary (2.15) and placing it well ahead of the next three highest-rated shows in the combined rankings: 9-1-1 (1.7), Tracker (1.62), and Ghosts (1.59).

Currently, networks and studios don’t routinely share the combined linear-streaming ratings, such as those mentioned earlier, due in part to the fact that Nielsen only started providing more current streaming content data fairly recently (different from the minutes-viewed metric they also release weekly). However, it’s important to note that this data does exist. It seems probable that networks might eventually make an effort to make these combined rankings more accessible to the public. This is because these figures demonstrate that although young viewers may not be tuning in to network shows on TV or even through DVR, they are indeed watching them via affiliated streaming platforms. For companies like Disney, Comcast, and Paramount, this viewing trend holds significant value as they adapt their businesses for the post-Peak TV era. As CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach explains, “We compile all these numbers to get a complete understanding of how a show is performing. Our shows must perform well and be successful on both linear and streaming platforms.

While ensuring a program fits well within a network’s linear programming is crucial, executives like Reisenbach at ABC and NBC are also considering how shows align with their streaming platform’s originals. For instance, Fire Country, which debuted two years ago, complemented Taylor Sheridan’s shows, such that if you watched Lioness on Paramount+, the app might recommend Fire Country, leading you to catch up on its earlier seasons. As you continue watching there, it might suggest network broadcasts, where you may encounter promos for 1923, and find yourself back on Paramount+.

According to Sethi, she’s noticed a pattern in viewer habits regarding ABC shows on Hulu and Disney+. She noted that “High Potential” has garnered substantial viewership on Hulu, and interestingly, those viewers are finding “Will Trent” and binge-watching all three seasons of the show. In her words, “It’s like a self-sustaining ecosystem.” Sethi, along with NBCU’s Katz, handles scripted development for both broadcast and streaming platforms. Both of them agree that this arrangement facilitates ensuring projects find their appropriate home within the larger company.

In a surprising move, even though ‘Suits’ is currently streaming on Peacock and originally aired on cable’s USA Network, after its resurgence on Netflix, the team behind it decided that the new spinoff series, ‘Suits: L.A.’, would be an NBC prime-time show. As stated by Katz, they acquire shows for both broadcast and streaming, and sometimes certain projects, like the upcoming Peacock comedy ‘Laid’ which lives up to its suggestive title, might not be suitable for broadcast due to content. However, ‘Suits’, in their opinion, seemed adaptable for NBC without any major alterations to the show’s essence. Katz also mentions that viewers can still watch it on Peacock as well.

In this economy where cost reduction is a priority among all streaming services, they’re eagerly seeking shows that attract large audiences at minimal costs. Interestingly, some of the most-viewed programs on Hulu, Peacock, and Paramount+ aren’t exclusive streaming originals, but rather, weekly episodes from their associated broadcast networks. In the past, network executives felt overlooked as their corporate leaders redirected funds from scripted broadcast series to streaming investments. However, the balance hasn’t fully swung back, but with the financial demands of streamers and the current wave of network successes, there’s a growing perception in the industry that network TV’s scripted content production still offers value as a supply source for streamers – both now and in the future.

This is due to the fact that numerous hit shows from this year are expected to become future catalog favorites, such as “Lost”, “Prison Break”, and indeed “Suits”. These series generate massive viewership when released in bulk on streaming platforms like their sister networks or licensed out to services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. As Reisenbach explains, producing these shows initially on broadcast television and completing 18-22 episodes per season (which is equivalent to two seasons of streaming content) creates vast libraries that can continue to perform well for a long time. For executives like Reisenbach, this is the primary advantage of network-style series over premium streaming shows: they are inherently more efficient at providing viewers with the binge-worthy experience they consistently prefer. “There’s significant value we can harness by creating shows that appeal to the broadest audience possible,” she adds, emphasizing that it’s a win-win-win situation for everyone involved.

2024-12-17 17:54

Network TV Is Officially Back

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