In business I’ve learned to craft a strategy, commit, execute, and adjust course as needed. The key element is commitment. New things (read: change) are hard for a lot of people. Introducing a new product and changing the look of a website are both evolutionary steps that can lead to long-term success but will always encounter short-term challenges. Take the NBC’s most recent series of catastrophic mistakes in handling their new show Kings.
Kings was to debut in the Thursday time slot vacated by ER. Of course, the same fear that led NBC to offer Jay Leno a 10pm show after he retires from his 11:30pm show led NBC to extend ER by three episodes. So NBC moved Kings to Sunday nights. Sunday nights being the home of older crowd ratings magnets like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, 60 minutes, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters. Lest we forget Fox’s Sunday night lineup with Family Guy and The Simpsons. How was Kings going to compete with that?
Conventional wisdom would tell you to move the show to a less competitive time slot, say Tuesday nights, where it could squash such cinematic spectacles like Biggest Loser: Families and Janice Dickenson Modeling Agency. No, instead NBC moves it to Saturday night. Yes, like the bottom shelf of a grocery store, Saturday night is where TV shows go to die. This line from Variety Magazine speaks for itself:
Peacock plans to air two-hour editions of “Dateline NBC” in the 7-9 p.m. slot beginning Sunday. NBC execs believe the newsmag will serve as a better lead-in to “Celebrity Apprentice.”
Wait, there’s more. NBC aired it on one Saturday night, its first Saturday night scheduled for April 18. But the new came today that, effective immediately, NBC is pulling the series until June when it will air the remaining episodes.
So in a matter of weeks the series’ airing time is changed three times. In the age of word of mouth advertising, how is one supposed to share the television experience that is Kings with friends when no one, not even NBC, knows when it airs?
Back we are to the idea of commitment. I am certain the show is costly and I recognize the value of the broadcast airwaves. But in a day of shrinking network dominance, shouldn’t NBC at least consider forming a plan, committing to it, and trying like mad to make it work?
It takes time for a product to be successful. Perhaps network executives aren’t used to the same product lifecycle as the rest of us. Given their current state of affairs, perhaps there is something to be learned from those of us outside of Hollywood.
As an aside, take a moment to enjoy a bit of the programming set to replace Kings on Sunday.
