New Year, Same Deck Chairs

TRAC Scheduling Assistant / January 2011

New Year, Same Deck Chairs

We ring in the New Year with a major shuffling of the deck chairs in the NPS. As you now know, NOVA scienceNOW and NOVA are moving to Wednesday night in hopes of placing the shows in a more advantageous timeslot for PTV audiences. All that can be said is “we’ll see.” The ratings for NOVA on Tuesdays were already on the decline, and putting it up against even tougher network and cable competition in the 2nd hour on Wednesday is a tough test. The NPS also moves The This Old House Hour to the 3rd hour of prime, which can only be seen as series suicide. Again, we’ll see.

January 2011 NPS – A Week by Week Walkthrough

Week 1 (1/1) / Title (Common Carriage in bold) / Projected Rating
Saturday, 1/1 / Great Performances “From Vienna: The New…” / 0.9

Great Performances is a yearly tradition for many of our older viewers. It’s not a lot to ask for a day with fairly low viewership outside of sports. Daytime stunts do gain some traction with PTV viewers.

Week 2 (1/2 – 1/8) / Title (Common Carriage in bold) / Projected Rating
Sunday, 1/2 / Nature “American Eagle” (r) / 1.2
Masterpiece Classic “My Boy Jack” (r) / 1.6
Monday, 1/3 / Antiques Roadshow “Miami Beach, FL” / 2.2
Robert E. Lee, American Experience / 1.9
Yellowstone: Land to Life (r) / 0.7
Tuesday, 1/4 / NOVA “Killer Subs in Pearl Harbor” (r) / 1.3
Frontline / 1.0
Independent Lens “Men Who Swim” / 0.5
Wednesday, 1/5 / Masters of the Arctic Ice (r) / 1.0
Great Performances at the Met “Don Pasquale” / 0.5
Thursday, 1/6 / Antiques Roadshow “Miami Beach, FL” (r) / 0.8
Masters of the Arctic Ice (r) / 0.6
The This Old House Hour (new time) / 0.7
Friday, 1/7 / Washington Week / 0.6
Need to Know / 0.4
Masterpiece Classic “My Boy Jack” (r) / 0.9

The week has a fairly strong start with the American Bald Eagle – regal, majestic, and luckily for us a very capable mid-air hunter! Masterpiece Classic “My Boy Jack” is a push. Thankfully, Antiques Roadshow returns with a new season, followed by what looks to be strong a strong episode from AMEX. Things get interesting on Tuesday as NOVA has just 2 more episodes before the jump to Wednesday. Two options: go with the NPS as is, OR go ahead and move NOVA to Wednesday night now, and use season one repeats of Pioneers of Television in the 1st hour on Tuesday. Wednesday is another push, but potential exists for not airing the repeat of Masters of the Arctic Ice (not Common Carriage) and sliding Great Perfs. to the 3rd hour – opening 2 hours at the top of the night for stronger lead-off and pairing.

Week 3 (1/9 – 1/15) / Title (Common Carriage in bold) / Projected Rating
Sunday, 1/9 / Nature “Elsa’s Legacy: The Born Free Story” / 1.4
Masterpiece Classic “Downton Abbey” / 1.4
Mustang – Journey of Transformation (r) / 0.6
Monday, 1/10 / Antiques Roadshow “Miami Beach, FL” / 2.2
U.S. Grant: Warrior: American Experience / 1.4
Ribbon of Sand (r) / 0.5
Tuesday, 1/11 / NOVA “Deadliest Earthquake” / 1.3
Frontline / 1.0
Independent Lens “Children of Haiti” / 0.7
Wednesday, 1/12 / American Masters “Jeff Bridges: The Dude Abides” / 1.4
American Masters “The Doors: When You’re…” (r) / 1.0
Thursday, 1/13 / Antiques Roadshow “Miami Beach, FL” (r) / 1.0
Breakfast Special (r) / 0.7
The This Old House Hour / 0.7
Friday, 1/14 / Masterpiece Classic “Downton Abbey” (r) / 0.9

Elsa returns to television, albeit posthumously, on a new episode of Nature. The story will resonate with boomers, and maybe, just maybe, some parents with young kids will watch. Masterpiece premiers “Downton Abbey,” another period, class struggle piece with all the expected drama. The upside is that it runs 4 weeks and has time to build; the downside is that if it bombs we have 4 weeks of disappointing ratings.AMEX gives us another potentially strong title. American Masters on Jeff Bridges feels like an iffy way to start prime time – this may be a good time to slide for a stronger 8p/7p title.

Week 4 (1/16 – 1/22) / Title (Common Carriage in bold) / Projected Rating
Sunday, 1/16 / Nature “White Falcon, White Wolf” (r) / 1.3
Masterpiece Classic “Downton Abbey” / 1.4
Ribbon of Sand (r) / 0.5
Monday, 1/17 / Antiques Roadshow “Miami Beach, FL” / 2.1
Dinosaur Wars: American Experience / 1.0
After the Wall – A World United / 0.7
Tuesday, 1/18 / Pioneers of Television “Science Fiction” / 1.4
Frontline / 1.0
Independent Lens “Between the Folds” (r) / 0.5
Wednesday, 1/19 / NOVA scienceNOW “Can We Live…” (new time) / 1.0
NOVA “Making Stuff Stronger” (new time) / 1.2
Killer Stress, A National Geographic Special (r) / 0.6
Thursday, 1/20 / Antiques Roadshow “Miami Beach, FL” (r) / 1.0
Pioneers of Television “Science Fiction” (r) / 1.0
The This Old House Hour / 0.7
Friday, 1/21 / Masterpiece Classic “Downton Abbey” (r) / 0.8

This is the week in the NPS that showcases a handful of night/time changes. The new season of Pioneers of Television should do well on Tuesdays, but the new Wednesday night lineup looks to be problematic. Of course, both NOVA scienceNOW and NOVA are Common Carriage, leaving little wiggle room for sliding. Hopefully David Pogue will be a strong draw and give NOVA a fighting chance.

Week 5 (1/23 – 1/29) / Title (Common Carriage in bold) / Projected Rating
Sunday, 1/23 / Nature “Birds of Paradise” / 1.2
Masterpiece Classic “Downton Abbey” / 1.3
Tuba U: Basso Profundo (r) / 0.3
Monday, 1/24 / Antiques Roadshow “San Diego, CA” / 2.3
Panama Canal: American Experience / 1.3
Washing Away: After the Storms (r) / 0.4
Tuesday, 1/25 / Pioneers of Television “Westerns” / 1.7
Frontline / 1.0
Independent Lens “Herb and Dorothy” (r) / 0.6
Wednesday, 1/26 / NOVA scienceNOW “How Smart Are Animals?” / 1.0
NOVA “Making Stuff Smaller” / 1.3
Bear Island (r) / 0.9
Thursday, 1/27 / Antiques Roadshow “San Diego, CA” (r) / 1.0
Pioneers of Television “Westerns” (r) / 1.2
The This Old House Hour / 0.7
Friday, 1/28 / Masterpiece Classic “Downton Abbey” (r) / 0.8

This week in the NPS looks really good – on paper. With new episodes of Masterpiece Classic, ARS, AMEX, NOVA science NOW and NOVA perhaps the schedule stands a better than even chance of attracting core viewers and light viewers as well. It would be nice if Frontline delivers a new episode for the week.

Week 6 (1/30 – 1/31) / Title (Common Carriage in bold) / Projected Rating
Sunday, 1/30 / Nature “Born Wild: The First Days of Life” (r) / 1.5
Masterpiece Classic “Downton Abbey” / 1.3
Monday, 1/31 / Antiques Roadshow “San Diego, CA” / 2.2
Greely Expedition: American Experience / 1.3
Chautauqua: An American Narrative / 0.6

Keep doing what you’re doing. The new AMEX contains some desperation and cannibalism, which just screams for a great pairing in the 3rd hour.