The May ratings sweeps are over, and the undisputed loser is NBC. NBC could only manage one series in the Top 25 for the entire season: one of the many and varied versions of “Law And Order” came in at #16. That puts NBC in fourth place behind FOX, although they were still ahead of CW.
NBC now has all its chips on doing well with the coverage of the Beijing Olympics, which will last for almost the entire month of August, but it’s unclear what they really might expect to gain as a long-term advantage. NBC is only bringing out four new series in the fall, so it’s not like there’s all that much to promote. Moreover, when they broadcast the Winter Olympics from Torino, Italy in 2006, the games were squashed in the ratings by programs like American Idol and Dancing With The Stars. Granted, they won’t have that kind of competition in August, but there’s a concern that viewer interest in the Olympics has dwindled, and there are many who have strong negative feelings about the games taking place in China.
Over at TVNewser there’s a post about open speculation that corporate parent GE might be willing to sell off NBC-Universal and that a potential buyer might be TimeWarner. TimeWarner is in the process of spinning off their cable division, but media industry analysts see a merger as a way to provide TimeWarner with a broadcast television presence…as well as a way to consolidate CNN and CNBC to compete against FOX News and Fox Financial News.
