ABC Adding Shows To Build on ‘Housewives’ Ratings

Walt Disney’s ABC television network will add five new shows in September, including a drama about the first woman elected president of America, to appeal to the female viewers who helped ABC rise in the ratings this year.“Commander-in-Chief,” starring Geena Davis, is one of 12 new shows slotted for prime time over the year, ABC said in a statement yesterday. Seven new programs, including a comedy starring Heather Graham, will debut in January, when the network will no longer show “Monday Night Football” after 35 years.ABC is trying to build on the success of “Desperate Housewives,” which helped move the network to third place among audiences from fourth last year. Broadcasters are presenting their new programs to advertisers this week in the so-called upfront market, vying for an estimated $9.8 billion in ad spending.“If any network is well-positioned, it’s ABC right now,” said Bill Carroll, vice president of Katz Television Group, which advises TV stations on scheduling. The network has to “build on the success of ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ‘Lost,’ and, like every network, look for that next big comedy hit.”The upfront, which General Electric’s NBC kicked off Monday, brings together ad buyers and network executives for a week of presentations and parties that begin the bargaining over ad rates for new shows. Total spending on TV commercials at the upfront may rise about 4% from last year, Credit Suisse First Boston analyst William Drewry said in a report Monday.ABC, which unveiled its schedule yesterday at the Tupelo Grill in New York, may boost its share of television ad spending this year by 26% to about $2.07 billion, Mr. Drewry said. The network will show advertisers clips from new shows today at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall.“We are still the underdog and we will bust our hump as hard as we can,” ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson told reporters at the press conference.The network’s scheduling choices for next year partly reflect an attempt to win more female viewers, who tuned into “Desperate Housewives,” Mr. McPherson said.“Commander-in-Chief,” “Hot Properties,” a comedy about four women working in a Manhattan real estate office, and “Emily’s Reasons Why Not,” starring Ms. Graham, are part of that strategy.The network also is trying to bolster audiences by moving successful shows to nights that this season lagged in ratings. ABC’s best ratings have come on Sunday nights with “Desperate Housewives” followed by “Boston Legal,” and Wednesday nights with “Lost” followed by “Alias.”“Boston Legal” next season will air Tuesdays, where it will be tested without a “Desperate Housewives” leadin. “Alias” will anchor ABC’s Thursday night lineup.Among its new shows, ABC is adding “Invasion,” a drama about people in a small town fighting an alien takeover, and “The Night Stalker,” about a crime reporter hunting a serial killer, and “Freddie,” a comedy starring Freddie Prinze Jr. as a chef.“George Lopez,” “Hope and Faith,” “Rodney,” “Supernanny,” and “Wife Swap” all will return, the network said.ABC is canceling shows including “Blind Justice,” about a blind policeman, and family comedies “Complete Savages” and “My Wife and Kids.” The network said the comedy “Less Than Perfect” will return later in the season.ABC and News Corporation’s Fox are the only two networks to add viewers this season. That’s translating into advertising sales, ABC’s head of ad sales, Mike Shaw, said at an April Deutsche Bank Securities conference. “We’re getting the first or second phone call.”Disney’s network added household audiences and viewers aged 18 to 49, and the network rose to third place from fourth in audience ratings. ABC’s average audience size rose to 10.1 mil lion viewers from 9.04 million, according to Nielsen Media Research.The rising ratings may give ABC an edge setting prices with ad buyers. The network may also try to sell more of its advertising time at the upfront, rather than wait for the so-called scatter market after the season starts. That strategy would let ABC executives lock in revenue early.The network this year may sell 85% of its prime-time inventory at the upfront, compared with 78% a year ago, Mr. Drewry said in the report.Shares of Burbank, Calif.-based Disney, up 18% in the past 12 months, rose 21 cents to $27.28 yesterday. Disney is the world’s second-largest media company after Time Warner, whose WB network also announces its fall schedule today.“Monday Night Football,” which consistently ranks in the top 10, in January is moving to Disney’s ESPN cable sports network. ABC loses about $150 million a year under its current “Monday Night Football” contract, according to Goldman, Sachs & Company analyst Anthony Noto.NBC said Monday it’s adding three new dramas, one new comedy, and two new “reality” shows, including Martha Stewart’s version of “The Apprentice.” NBC, first last year among the four biggest broadcasters, slipped to fourth after “Friends” and “Frasier” went of the air.The upfront market accounts for ad time sold by the national TV networks. Local stations sell ads based on the “sweeps” ratings periods held four times a year, including one in May.

ABC Adding Shows To Build on ‘Housewives’ Ratings

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