How will the new CBS Sunday fare?
SHILO: Sundays on CBS are handcuffed due to football, as fall overruns can push air times back by as much as an hour, making launching something new there next to impossible. As a result, they’ve stuck with The Amazing Race, The Good Wife, and The Mentalist for another season of what turns out to be syndication farming. As live ratings for all three tend to be solid at best and underwhelming at worst, the network has opted to use the night to gain episodes for syndication packages and air veterans that already had low ratings ceilings. It’s a decent way to go about handling unusual circumstances, but it’s not a night that seems especially high priority to the network. Overall, I think it’ll be an okay performer, though I’m very curious what it will look like next season if The Good Wife and/or The Mentalist conclude this season.
CRAIG: I keep saying it, but those CBS viewers are loyal. If they love The Good Wife and The Mentalist, they’ll keep watching, and not even football delays will get away from that.
I think, especially considering it’s CBS, there’s something to be said for being stable throughout the year with known brands. Now, for all we know they could get rid of one or both of those shows, like you said, next year… but for now, I think CBS will be fine doing “well enough.”
