LOS ANGELES -- Network audiences faced with reruns used to melt away like ice cream on a sultry day in the good old summertime. The current reality, though, is that summer represents a miniseason of fresh prime-time programming -- with "reality" being the operative word.
Thanks to the economics of shows like "Big Brother" and "The Mole," which are cheaper to produce than sitcoms or dramas, networks finally are making a stab at competing with summer activities and cable channels.
It can be a win-win-win situation: For viewers, or at least those who favor unscripted series; for the networks and for advertisers. (OK, there are always potential losers, including cable TV's slate of original summer series and balmy nights of stargazing.)
Broadcasting's relatively ambitious 2002 summer lineup can be traced to the astounding success of ABC's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in summer 1999.
"All summer long, NBC is new and different!" is the message to callers to NBC put on hold -- a far cry from the network's one-time effort to palm off reruns by touting them as "New to you" if you skipped the first airing.
"I think you'd have to say this is our most aggressive slate of summer programming," said NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker.
New fare makes up about 40 percent of NBC's summer schedule, including "Crime & Punishment," a real-life version of "Law & Order," and the stunt-oriented game show "Dog Eat Dog."
Forget the reruns
Other networks are showing hustle. Fox has a half-dozen unscripted series, among them "American Idol: The Search for a Superstar." CBS is offering three hours weekly of "Big Brother 3." ABC's schedule includes "Mole II: The Next Betrayal" and "Houston Medical."
"It's intelligent programming. Who wants to sit home and watch reruns?" said "Crime & Punishment" producer Dick Wolf.
Very few people, as ratings demonstrate. Even the most popular shows (and especially dramas) fare poorly in repeats. NBC's "ER," for example, ranked 38th recently with a rerun that drew 8.4 million viewers. The drama's season-ending episode in May was seen by 27.4 million.
That's a serious threat to networks and not simply because of lost ad revenues. If viewers aren't watching in the summer, how will they know what dazzling programs the networks have in store for the fall?
"I think you can correlate much of the success of networks this past season to their success last summer," said Zucker. "The ability to promote your new shows can't be underestimated."
So although a network has already have paid for the right to a second airing of a comedy or drama, it might do better to invest $400,000 per half-hour of a new reality series, one network executive said.
It's a worthwhile gambit despite the fact that summer ratings, even when boosted by new shows, inevitably are lower than the regular fall-to-spring season. Last year, summer viewership levels fell 12 percent below those of the regular season.
"Even if the numbers are lower, if we can get a little traction going into fall it will help considerably," said Jeffrey Bader, ABC Entertainment executive vice president.
ABC, which lost nearly a quarter of its audience in the 2001-02 season and lagged badly among advertiser-favored young adult viewers, desperately needs some ratings sunshine. Bader said the network's getting it.
For the first week in June, "we finished ahead of CBS with adults 18 to 49. ... That means more people are seeing the promotions for our new shows than their new shows," he said.
Whether the networks translate the summer attention to regular season success remains to be seen. Madison Avenue showed confidence in fall schedules -- or at least the economy -- by placing about $7.7 billion in ad commitments with the six major networks.
Advertisers also are pleased that networks finally are showing year-round signs of life, said Tom DeCabia, executive vice president of the media buying firm Schulman Advanswers NY.
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