Four months ago, there was much chatter across the broadcast television industry that NBCUniversal was seriously thinking about dropping the 10pm hour from the NBC television network, handing it back to affiliates while O&Os took it for their own programming.
Considering the controversial and ultimately disastrous decision to place former Tonight Show host Jay Leno in the 10pm hour in September 2009, a move that lasted four months due to abysmal ratings, there was some merit to the discussions floating around the industry.
Now, word has surfaced that the powers that be will not be erasing the 10pm hour from the NBC network lineup — at least not at this time.
According to Deadline, the 2023-2024 broadcast season will include a 10pm hour offering network programming on NBC. Deadline reporter Nellie Andreeva says NBCUniversal Television and Streaming’s Susan Rovner, Chairman of Entertainment Content for the NBCU arm, “relayed the message during recent agency presentations.”
NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell as recently as October 2022 hinted that the 10pm hour would be shed from the network’s schedule; it has been years since shows such as L.A. Law attracted big audiences in the time slot for NBC.
There are also production costs, which are also a factor for NBC as it ramps up its Peacock OTT platform with original programming.
Should the 10pm hour go back to affiliates, Hearst Television President Jordan Wertlieb, who co-chaired the RBR+TVBR and Radio Ink-presented Forecast 2023 in November 2022, told Deadline, “I expect they will and I hope they will.”
NBCU’s NewFronts (May 4) and Upfront Presentation at Radio City Music Hall (May 15) are already on the calendar, and there’s a safe bet the 10pm hour will be a topic of discussion for ad buyers at the latter event. Why? Deadline says that ongoing NBCU agency presentations have featured NBC executives playing a trailer for the upcoming Found and promoted the Nkechi Okoro Carroll drama “as an example of the distinct, character-driven procedurals different from the Dick Wolf brand that NBC would be targeting.”
