TRAC Scheduling Assistant / February 2011

If Valentines Were GRPs…

As you can see from the Dates to Remember box to the right, February is a potentially brutal sweep month for PTV, especially on Sundays. With three juggernauts populating the February schedule Sunday could be a very difficult night to gain any traction, which bodes particularly poorly for Masterpiece Classic. But, that isn’t the only troublesome area of the NPS as we look to dusty repeats of “Reagan” for two weeks on American Experience, repeats of Pioneers of Television, and the odd assortment of one-off’s that are hard to promote. All that said, we still have schedules to craft that will (hopefully) grow station cume ahead of the all-important March pledge drive. We understand that Common Carriage can sometimes make it difficult to maneuver a schedule, but look for the spots where pairs and slides can really make a difference on any given night.

February 2011 NPS – A Week by Week Walkthrough

Week 1 (2/1 – 2/5) / Title (Common Carriage in bold) / Projected Rating
Tuesday, 2/1 / Pioneers of Television “Crime Dramas” / 1.5
Frontline / 1.0
Independent Lens “For Once in My Life” / 0.5
Wednesday, 2/2 / NOVA scienceNOW “Where Did We Come From?” / 1.1
NOVA “Making Stuff Cleaner” / 1.3
Green Builders (r) / 0.7
Thursday, 2/3 / Antiques Roadshow “San Diego, CA” (r) / 1.1
Pioneers of Television “Crime Dramas” (r) / 0.7
The This Old House Hour / 0.6
Friday, 2/4 / Washington Week / 0.6
Now on PBS / 0.4
Masterpiece Classic “Downton Abbey” (r) / 0.7
  • The week launches with a potentially strong title from the Pioneers of Television series - as a Tuesday leadoff you could do worse. If you’re in the split mood the 2nd hour of prime on Tuesday is a great spot to consider a stronger pairing with Pioneers of Television. Let’s face it: Frontline sports the same rating regardless if it’s in the 2nd or 3rd hour of prime. If the move to Wednesdays is to bear fruit, the pairing of NOVA scienceNOW and NOVA has two strong (read new) episodes this week.If you’re already doing well on Thursdays with non-NPS fare stick with it.

Week 2 (2/6 – 2/12) / Title (Common Carriage in bold) / Projected Rating
Sunday, 2/6 / Nature “Clever Monkeys” (r) / 1.2
Masterpiece Special “...Unseen Alistaire Cooke” (r) / 0.9
Nancy Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime / 0.5
Monday, 2/7 / Antiques Roadshow “San Diego, CA” / 2.4
Reagan: American Experience “Lifeguard” (r) / 1.1
Tuesday, 2/8 / Pioneers of Television “Local Kids’ TV / 1.1
Frontline / 0.8
Independent Lens “When I Rise” / 0.5
Wednesday, 2/9 / NOVA scienceNOW “How Does the Brain Work?” / 1.1
NOVA “Making Stuff Smarter” / 1.3
NOVA “Smartest Machine on Earth” / 1.1
Thursday, 2/10 / Antiques Roadshow “San Diego, CA” (r) / 1.1
Pioneers of Television “Local Kids’ TV (r) / 0.6
The This Old House Hour / 0.5
Friday, 2/11 / Masterpiece Special “...Unseen Alistaire Cooke” (r) / 0.5
  • Sunday is, well, weird. Two repeats in the first two hours of prime followed by a new documentary on “Nancy Reagan.” We get that the competition is the Super Bowl, but couldn’t we get stronger repeats and NOT designate “Nancy Reagan” as Common Carriage? However, there are a number of Masterpiece Classic (or Mystery) episodes that are bound to do better than a reprise of “Alistaire Cooke.” Speaking of Nancy Reagan, her husbands excellent, but old episode on American Experience returns on Monday for two weeks. It feels a little too ripe, but it will be hard to find 4 ½ hours to fill its slots. Wednesday brings a NOVA trifecta as all three episodes are new AND Common Carriage. Hmm, no real wiggle room here.

Week 3 (2/13 – 2/19) / Title (Common Carriage in bold) / Projected Rating
Sunday, 2/13 / Nature “The Himalayas” / 1.6
Masterpiece Classic “Any Human Heart” / 1.5
Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century / 0.6
Monday, 2/14 / Antiques Roadshow “Des Moines, IA” / 2.4
Reagan: American Experience “…Crusade” (r) / 1.0
Tuesday, 2/15 / Pioneers of Television “Late Night” (r) / 1.4
Frontline / 0.8
Independent Lens “Adjust Your Color: The Truth…” / 0.6
Wednesday, 2/16 / NOVA scienceNOW “What’s the Next Big Thing?” / 1.1
NOVA “Crash of Flight 447” / 1.4
NOVA “The Deadliest Plane Crash” (r) / 1.0
Thursday, 2/17 / Antiques Roadshow “Des Moines, IA” (r) / 1.2
Pioneers of Television “Late Night” (r) / 0.7
The New This Old House Hour / 0.6
Friday, 2/18 / Masterpiece Classic “Any Human Heart” (r) / 0.8
  • This Sunday we’re up against the Grammy Awards, but that’s not usually our core audience’s cup of tea. Fortunately, the NPS delivers new episodes of Nature and Masterpiece Classic to attract our audience away from the competition. Wednesday is once again stacked with NOVA, with a repeat episode in the 3rd hour that is not Common Carriage. For disaster fans it’s a pretty good night.

Week 4 (2/20 – 2/26) / Title (Common Carriage in bold) / Projected Rating
Sunday, 2/20 / Nature “Broken Tail: A Tiger’s Last Journey” / 1.6
Masterpiece Classic “Any Human Heart” / 1.5
Before There Were Parks: Yellowstone & Glacier (r) / 1.0
Monday, 2/21 / Antiques Roadshow “Des Moines, IA” / 2.4
Jimmy Carter: American Experience / 1.6
Tuesday, 2/22 / Pioneers of Television “Sitcoms” (r) / 1.6
Frontline / 0.8
Independent Lens “William S. Burroughs: A Man…” / 0.5
Wednesday, 2/23 / NOVA scienceNOW “Can We Make it To Mars?” / 1.1
NOVA “Venom” / 1.2
Secrets of the Dead “Headless Romans” (r) / 0.9
Thursday, 2/24 / Antiques Roadshow “Des Moines, IA” (r) / 1.2
Pioneers of Television “Sitcoms” (r) / 0.8
The New This Old House Hour / 0.6
Friday, 2/25 / Masterpiece Classic “Any Human Heart” (r) / 0.8
  • Usually by this week of the sweepthe broadcast nets have exhausted their inventory of sweep specials, stunts and schedule gymnastics. On Sunday we get a new, reasonably strong title from Nature, and Masterpiece Classic will live or die by the numbers from the week before. Fortunately, Jimmy Carter is a more popular ex-president than president – maybe that will help with the ratings for American Experience. Or not. Wednesday continues with the NOVA pairs and a repeat Secrets of the Dead, the latter presenting a great opportunity for using a stronger title.

Week 5 (2/27 – 2/28) / Title (Common Carriage in bold) / Projected Rating
Sunday, 2/27 / Nature “Clash: Encounters of Bears & Wolves” (r) / 1.3
Masterpiece Classic “Any Human Heart” / 1.4
Remembered Earth: New Mexico’s High Desert (r) / 0.6
Monday, 2/28 / Antiques Roadshow “Des Moines, IA / 2.4
Triangle Fire: American Experience / 1.3
Alan K. Simpson / 0.6
  • A short week, but certainly an important week. The goal this week is to build as much cume as possible heading in to March pledge. If you start your drive on March 5 (PBS dates) you should use each night to grab and churn audiences through the schedule. The NPS for Wednesday, March 2, American Masters and Great Performances, is a great schedule for traditional PTV audiences and is a good way to get these folks to the screen. It’s all about cume.

1