Upfronts 2017: Assessing Each Network’s Needs

No matter how good a season a network might have, there’s always going to be room for improvement. Broadcast networks have to program so many hours that even with a positive season full of full-fledged wins and needed scheduling breaks, something that is becoming much more rare in this television environment, there are hours that could be strengthened, nights that could become more than they are. Not everything on a network works at a same time, so upfronts tend to be the time where executives gather together to see what holes need to be fixed for the upcoming season and what combination of scheduling trickery and development muscle they’re going to need to get to where they want to go.

Though upfronts are a stressful time for the broadcast networks, filled with hand-wringing over bubble shows and uncertainty about the following season’s schedule, they’re a good time for KSiteTV Editor-in-Chief Craig Byrne and Contributing Editor Shilo Adams. Neither claims to be an expert in the ways of the television executive, but each spends enough time watching TV, reading the trades, and analyzing scheduling moves to be able to construct an article of informed takes about the state of each broadcast network. As part of their annual upfront coverage, set to kick off tomorrow, Craig and Shilo have taken a look at how NBC, FOX, ABC, CBS, and The CW are doing and determined what each network could do better in the following season.

NBC

CRAIG: Last season, This Is Us had me, at least, surprised. I assumed the interest was a combination of NBC’s aggressive advertising of the trailer + Milo Ventimiglia’s butt; clearly, I was wrong. What I think really worked best with This Is Us is that it was something *different* from the trends, and in doing something like it, it really stood out on a network where four of the most prominent shows all take place in Chicago.

NBC has made some small strides toward rebuilding their comedy brand; although it’s a step backward in a way, I think commissioning a new season of Will & Grace was really smart, if used well in a way that can build and lead into other potential hits. I still think there is work to be done in that department, and it’s hard for half hours to take hold on a schedule that is almost all either The Voice, football or Chicago something.

I also think NBC needs more genre material for Fridays now that Grimm is done. Sadly, after years of trying, NBC still hasn’t found their Grimm replacement, and now they won’t even have Grimm. Sure, it’s possible that something like Midnight, Texas will pop over the summer; either way, I’d love for NBC to embrace that audience some more.

SHILO: The most important thing for NBC is to both protect and utilize This Is Us. It’s the type of show that comes around only so often, so while NBC needs to make sure the momentum continues for as long as possible, it has to use This Is Us as a direct lead-in for new shows. FOX made the mistake of not directly using Empire on new shows and I feel like that’s at least partially responsible for how shallow their drama slate is; granted, NBC is in a much better position currently than FOX was when Empire premiered, but I feel like they’d regret not at least seeing how This Is Us could work with something new. This is a golden opportunity to diversify their drama brand with lighter, family-friendly programming and to keep from becoming the Dick Wolf Network. The Dick Wolf shows have done well for NBC, providing them with stability and repeatability, but if that’s all NBC is, the network would be in worse shape for it. So This Is Us could allow them to build at least something of a secondary drama brand that, quite frankly, would poach some of ABC’s audience before that network had a chance to flex its familiarity with families through the dramatic format.

Considering the boom of This Is Us, NBC would likely be wise to carve out more comedy space next season. Though putting comedy after The Voice has proven to not be effective, audiences are hungry for lighter escapist fare and NBC already has a pretty decent comedy brand, so it would be a fairly easy way to diversify their schedule and play to one of their strengths. NBC’s comedies might not be the broadest out there, but with their primary scheduling piece being a lighter drama, it might be worth a shot to find more (and better) hours for comedy next season.