Here’s another clue that NBC doesn’t care anymore | CliqueClack TV
Here’s another clue that NBC doesn’t care anymoreNBC’s Southland is no more
So, we’re about a month into a new television season and, frankly, things are looking okay. Save for the cancellation of CW’s The Beautiful Life: TBL (which was produced by Ashton Kutcher, so you knew it was going to be canned), most of the new and returning shows are doing okay (except for Dollhouse, which is really an entity unto itself). We’ve even had some full season pickups come out. In fact, I’ve heard Glee has been renewed for the next five decades!
However, this only pertains to CBS, ABC, FOX, CW, the Spice Network, and most of the other global television networks. NBC, on the other hand, is going in reverse. Instead of giving full season orders to their new programs, they’re actually pulling a FOX and canceling shows before they premiere. Case in point: Southland. After drawing solid numbers in the former ER slot last season, and being renewed for this season, the network has decided to cancel the John Wells-produced program even before it aired its first cold open. Instead, they’ve decided to air episodes of Dateline in its place.
Idiots!
Here’s network television, struggling to do something relevant in the ever-growing field of cable programming and high-quality web series, and NBC is trying to put an end to it all by pulling a stunt like this. They can really say that Dateline is pulling in higher numbers than a show that hasn’t even aired? Does Jeff Zucker, head muckity at UNBC, hop into his souped-up DeLorean to see what the results will be?
This is just another example on how NBC really doesn’t give a crap about television anymore. Well, about programming a network. Getting the money from the shows it now airs… well, that’s a different story. Sure, The Jay Leno Show could be sinking and dragging everything down around it in the process, but the pricey network executives don’t care because the advertisers are still buying time and the money tree is still producing twenty-dollar-bills.
However, that will not last forever. Especially if viewers really start leaving the network in droves. No matter what Zucker and the other NBC execs say, ratings still drive revenue. And, when you’re down to just seven hours of scripted programming, there’s a chance that you’ll be losing the audience that you built for so many years. At that point, the whole theory that ratings don’t matter falls on deaf ears.
I hope that Wells and his team find a new home for Southland. Perhaps on A&E, AMC, or TNT. When that happens they can begin to pummel NBC and garner the critical awards while executives at their former network try to blame someone for letting go of the show in the first place. It is a day I wait for with high anticipation.
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