Articles

May 13, 2015
 

NIELSENWAR: The CBS Fall Schedule

 

CBS doesn’t typically cultivate daring in its fall schedules, but this year it’s making one exception.  Here’s a quick look (new shows are in ALL CAPS, new timeslots are in italics):

MONDAY

Sept-Oct

8PM:  The Big Bang Theory

8:30PM:  LIFE IN PIECES

Nov

8PM:  SUPERGIRL

9PM:  Scorpion

10PM:  NCIS: LA

Running Supergirl against Gotham isn’t as crazy as it seems:  not only was Gotham slumping by the end of this past season, but although they’re technically in the same genre, Supergirl is likely to be more female- and family-oriented than the very adult Gotham.  Nevertheless, it’s a risky move to make with a very important series.  Also, while shifting a new show like Life In Pieces from Monday to Thursday just a few weeks after its debut would normally seem odd, it will be traveling with The Big Bang Theory, and that overrides any other considerations.  Scorpion is one of CBS’s newest procedurals, so it should be less at risk of erosion than some of the veterans.

TUESDAY

8PM:  NCIS

9PM:  NCIS: New Orleans

10PM:  LIMITLESS

This is more like typical CBS:  the 8-10PM hours stay in place, and although Limitless is subbing for Person of Interest, both are procedurals with a sci-fi twist.  The network will try to make the most out of whatever on-screen appearances Executive Producer (and star of the original movie) Bradley Cooper will give them.  However, ABC’s Quantico may give Limitless more of a run for its money than CBS has faced in the past from that network in this slot.

WEDNESDAY

8PM:  Survivor

9PM:  Criminal Minds

10PM:  CODE BLACK

Again, just a touch of change at 10PM, where CBS will switch from cop procedural to medical procedural, and hope for better results than Stalker and CSI: Cyber gave it in the 10PM slot this season.

THURSDAY

Sept-Oct

8PM:  Thursday Night Football

Nov

8PM:  The Big Bang Theory

8:30PM:  LIFE IN PIECES

9PM:  Mom

9:30PM:  ANGEL FROM HELL

10PM:  Elementary

Fall Thursdays will get a temporary boost from Thursday Night Football, and then Big Bang Theory will be back to safeguard the 8PM hour, if perhaps a little lower than it’s been.  The pairing of Mom with the new Angel From Hell will be interesting, as the latter sounds like it’s going to be much broader than the more nuanced, blue-collar MomElementary will toil in a tough timeslot, facing Shonda Rhimes (now for the full season) on one end, and NBC’s flashy new action show The Player on the other.

FRIDAY

8PM: The Amazing Race

9PM:  Hawaii 5-0

10PM:  Blue Bloods

Expectations will be for the same modest returns as last season, as the dramas continue to churn out profitable episodes for international and post-network sales.

SUNDAY

7PM:  60 Minutes

8PM:  Madam Secretary

9PM:  The Good Wife

10PM:  CSI:  Cyber

The announcement that Ted Danson will move over to CSI: Cyber may give some help to the shaky newcomer (and there may be an early lift from the series finale of mothership CSI, complete with William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger, that will air on the first Sunday of the season).  But this night will stay very quiet for the network.

MIDSEASON:  The new CRIMINAL MINDS: BEYOND BORDERS and RUSH HOUR, as well as the returns of THE ODD COUPLE, 2 BROKE GIRLS, MIKE & MOLLY, PERSON OF INTEREST and UNDERCOVER BOSS.

OVERALL:  CBS’s one big swing will come with SUPERGIRL, which will require recruitment of an audience that may not know where the network is on its Channel Guide.  The rest is more or less routine, and should give CBS its usual slightly declining stability–although that decline will be offset by its coverage of the 2016 Super Bowl, which will help its season average, if not its profits.  Unless SUPERGIRL hits, CBS is likely to have its usual posture at the network poker table, playing its hands skillfully with a careful eye on its chips.

 



About the Author

Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."