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October 21, 2011
 

The Sked: PROMO WATCH — through Thursday October 20

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Written by: Mitch Salem
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With its schedule in the #1 position and no new shows to launch, CBS had plenty of time to maintain its current schedule and celebrate the 60th anniversary of the CBS Eye logo throughout the night with brief montages of The Eye over the years (similar to the Peacock transformation montages NBC aired back in the Must See TV days).  We’ll post a link to the CBS graphics when available. 

NBC continues to hammer away at the Grimm launch very hard (now 200 promo seconds over the past week in the sampled programming and clearly the network’s top priority).  Rock Center with Brian Williams (the replacement for Playboy Club Mondays at 10) is now up to 60 seconds of time over the past week.  NBC also promoted the Halloween-themed comedy block when it is back in originals next week.  The network managed to hit each show briefly with great costume and decoration visuals and Halloween sound bites.  The only fly in the ointment would be a Game 7 of the World Series next Thursday.  The last time a Game 7 was played — 2001 (Arizona-NY Yankees) and 2002 (Anaheim-San Francisco) — the games rated a 14.6 and 11.1 with Adults 18-49, respectively.  In those years, Game 1 was about a 5 rating — so NBC and the others networks would be up against at least an 8.5 or a 9 rating.  A reminder, with the series tied 1-1 there is a 47% chance of a Game 7 (based on the previous 95 World Series played).


Once Upon a Time is catching up to Grimm in terms of promo tonnage — 190 promo seconds over the last week (in mostly higher-rated program, to boot). 
FOX continues to struggle to make any significant push for any new program — there just isn’t enough time in the World Series for promotional availabilities. 

To make the chart easier to read at a glance, there is now a “Cliffs Notes” version below that just lists the top four priorities for each network, making it easier to compare each network to the other.  For greater detail, the chart at the bottom lists all shows each network has promoted in the last week in case you are interested in finding a particular series.
   

ON-AIR PROMOTION PRIORITIES

TOP FOUR SHOWS EACH NETWORK
Over the Last Seven Days 
(# of promo-seconds)
Dates sampled: October 16-20, 2011

ABC
  Once Upon a Time   190
  Man Up!            125

  Revenge            120
CBS
  Person of Interest 145
  Rules Engagement   115
  Unforgettable      110
  Big Bang Theory    85

NBC
  Grimm              200
  Up All Night       70
  Prime Suspect      60
  L&O: SVU           60
  Rock Center        60

FOX
  The X Factor       70
  Allen Gregory      65

  Terra Nova         55
  Bones              50


ALL SHOWS PROMOTED

(# of promo-seconds)
Dates sampled: October 16-20, 2011

ABC
  Once Upon a Time   190
  Man Up!            125

  Revenge            120
  Pan Am             100
  Desperate Hswvs    100
  Grey’s Anatomy     65
  Happy Endings      60
  Extreme Mak. Home  60
  Castle             45
  Suburgatory        30
  Dancing…Stars    30

  Private Practice   30
  Last Man Standing  25
  The Middle         20
  Modern Family      15
  20/20              15

CBS

  Person of Interest 145
  Rules Engagement   115
  Unforgettable      110
  Big Bang Theory    85
  A Gifted Man       45
  The Mentalist      45
  Survivor           40
  NCIS: LA           40
  Hawaii Five-O      40
  NCIS               35
  2 Broke Girls      30
  Late Show          30
  CSI: Miami         25
  CSI                25
  Criminal Minds     25

  Good Wife          20
  Amazing Race       20

  Two Half Men       20
  The Talk           20

  CBS News           20
  NFL on CBS         20
  How I Met Mother   20
  Blue Bloods        10
  Mike & Molly       10
  60 Minutes         10

  College FB Sat     10
NBC
  Grimm              200
  Up All Night       70
  Prime Suspect      60

  L&O: SVU           60

  Rock Center        60
  Biggest Loser      45
  Harry’s Law        40
  Chuck              35
  Parenthood         30

  Leno/Fallon        30
  Whitney            20
  Sunday Night FB    20

  Notre Dame FB      10
  The Office         05
  Community          05
  Parks & Rec        05
FOX

  The X Factor       70
  Allen Gregory      65

  Terra Nova         55
  Bones              50
  MLB Postseason     40
  The Simpsons       40
  House              35

  Glee               20
  Alcatraz           20
  Kitchen Nightmares 10

  NFL on FOX         10

Programs Sampled
Thu Oct 20 2011: Grey’s Anatomy, Big Bang Theory, Rules of Engagement, The Office R, Whitney R, World Series Game 2 (10-11 pm)



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."