Broadcast Schedule’s New Paradigm: How 8 PM Became “The Best Time Period On TV For Live Viewing” As 10 PM Hangs In (For Now)
- TV networks are now prioritizing the 8 PM time slot for their strongest shows, with local stations providing strong lead-ins for primetime programming.
For decades, TV schedulers were trained to look for self-starters to open the nights at 8 PM without having to rely on a lead-in. It was considered a challenging assignment that only the strongest shows could fulfill. Over the years, hits like Friends, The Big Bang Theory, NCIS , Survivor and Dancing with the Stars have held the anchor position, tasked with generating momentum for the rest of the lineup.
Meanwhile, 10 PM was hailed as the marquee drama slot, with such iconic series as ER, Law & Order (the original), The Practice, NYPD Blue and, more recently, Blue Bloods , calling the hour home.
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Things have changed over the past few years as linear ratings have eroded amid a shift in viewing habits.
As the bulk of entertainment programming consumption has shifted to streaming, live viewing for the fare local stations carry in the Prime Access 7-8 PM hour leading to networks’ primetime — a mix of syndicated game shows, newsmagazines, comedy and drama repeats as well as local news — has remained surprisingly resilient, generating lead-ins stronger than the ones most current primetime series can provide. Suddenly, 8 PM is the cushiest time slot on television for the major broadcast networks except Fox.
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Meanwhile, the breakout success of ABC’s High Potential this season notwithstanding, 10 PM dramas are becoming an endangered species. Out of the eight drama series that were canceled or ended this season, six aired at 10 PM. Networks more and more opt for newsmagazines and unscripted series in the hour amid constant drumbeat that the three broadcast networks that program the hour won’t do that for long, begging the question, was this the last upfront where we saw ABC, CBS and NBC all unveil 8 PM – 11 PM schedules?
TV’s new golden hour
The Access numbers are pretty eye-popping. With Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! , the biggest shows in syndication, as tentpoles, the ABC stations deliver 5.113 million Live+ Same Day viewers in the 7 PM hour leading into the network’s primetime. For CBS, the 7 PM – 8 PM mix of programming, including newsmagazines Inside Edition and Entertainment Tonight, local news and comedy repeats , brings in 4.443 million viewers (L+SD). NBC’s primetime inherits Access lead-in of 4.159 million L+SD viewers from Access Hollywood , local news, drama repeats and other shows.
For comparison, to illustrate how strong the Access viewership levels are, this season there were eight non-sports primetime programs on CBS averaging more than 5 million in L+SD, three on NBC and none on ABC whose focus has been on the adult 18-49 demo.
Besides breakout hit High Potential, all of the other most watched ABC non-sports programs that have averaged more than 4 million viewers in Live+Same day, including 9-1-1, Will Trent and Dancing with the Stars , air at 8 PM.
Craig Erwich, president, Disney Television Group, spoke about the emergence of 8 PM as the premiere time slot on ABC when he discussed the decision to put Celebrity Wheel of Fortune , hosted by Ryan Seacrest, on Fridays at 8 PM next fall , coming off the Access combo of the syndicated Wheel of Fortune , also hosted by Seacrest, and Jeopardy!.
“We have this incredible luxury that we’re able to put Celebrity Wheel of Fortune on Fridays at eight. If you were writing a story about live viewing, I actually think one of the stories you would write about is that eight o’clock on ABC is the single best time period on television for live viewing,” he told Deadline. “Our local stations dominate. The Prime Access ratings coming out of Wheel and Jeopardy , which we have on our own stations at 7 PM – 8 PM, are the best places to launch shows. When we talk in the scheduling room, where are we going to put our big priority this year? It’s always eight o’clock.”
The picture is similar on NBC. Of the three Chicago shows, the network’s most watched scripted series, the one that is getting the largest L+SD viewership this season is the one that airs at 8 PM, Chicago Med . NBC’s most watched unscripted program in L+SD is the Monday edition of The Voice, which also starts at 8 PM.
During NBC’s Saturday pre-upfront press call, Jeff Bader, President, Program Planning Strategy, NBCUniversal Entertainment, spoke about the power of the 8 PM slot when discussing t he scheduling of the new unscripted series On Brand with Jimmy Fallon. It will debut in September behind The Voice on Tuesday and then move to the Friday 8 PM hour in October once the NBA season starts and takes over Tuesday nights on NBC.
“We really want On Brand to work, and the two best time periods for that show are having The Voice as a lead-in, which is amazing. Access now is the best lead-in, the broadest live lead-in that you can give shows,” he said. “To be able to give the Access time period on Friday at 8 PM is a huge opportunity for the show; we’re just giving it the best opportunity to succeed.”
The ‘Grosse Pointe’ Experiment
NBC recently provided a case study for the impact of the Access lead with the scheduling relocation of struggling freshman drama series Grosse Pointe Garden Society from its original Sunday 10 PM time slot, where it aired behind Suits LA, to Fridays at 8 PM.
Years ago, a move to the lower-trafficked Friday night would’ve been considered a demotion. But not now, especially when the potent 8 PM slot is involved. Despite the mystery drama being highly serialized, making it harder for a casual viewer to join in, Grosse Pointe saw an immediate 20% L+SD viewership jump on its new night and has since improved that to 40%. That is off a small base, and Grosse Pointe remains NBC’s lowest rated series of the season in L+SD but the effect of the Access lead-in was instant and notable.
The Fox exception
The Access lead-in bonanza does not extend to Fox as the network’s local stations, which carry programming such as Extra and TMZ from 7 PM – 8 PM, deliver 1.946 million viewers in the hour, less than half of what ABC, NBC and CBS get from their stations to kick off primetime.
That makes Fox shows work harder for their ratings. Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade acknowledged that during the network’s pre-upfront call on Sunday.
“We’re actually really proud. Access isn’t the strongest part for us,” he said. “We actually grow 38% on our Access. I think we’re the only network to do that.”
10 PM Jitters
Conversations about the Big 3 broadcast networks returning the 10 PM hour to their local stations began around the time DVRs were introduced more than two and a half decades ago, kickings off the slow decline of 10 PM as viewers started using the time period to catch up on shows they had recorded. The process was accelerated by the arrival of streaming, which took on-demand viewing to another level. It also shifted broadcast networks owners’ priorities to building their digital platforms, with the networks’ role evolving into providing an initial window for programs destined for streaming.
Recalling how his long-ago predecessor David Barrett, “first raised this in the late-’90s with ABC,” Hearst Television President Mike Hayes said last October that discussions with the networks about 10 PM have continued ever since, insisting, “We see it as a win-win.” Stations have long argued that they could do better in the hour with local programming.
Steven Kern, SVP, Program Planning & Scheduling for NBCUniversal Entertainment shared his own recollection about the 10 PM debate.
“It’s more than a decade,” he said on the NBC pre-upfront call. “It used to come up when Jeff [Bader] and I worked at ABC every few years.”
The NBC warning shot
While local stations have been eager to take over the 10 PM hour for decades, the prospect of that did not become real until 2022 when NBC became the first network to admit that it was seriously considering dropping the slot under then-NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell. In October 2022, he acknowledged that the cost-cutting measure amid declining linear viewing for entertainment programming would allow NBCU to “reallocate resources” toward areas of the company that were growing.
It is unclear whether Shell would’ve followed through with the plan as he was ousted several months later. But rumors about broadcast networks potentially abandoning the 10 PM hour have continued, alternating among the networks. First it was NBC, then ABC last year, and most recently CBS, likely stemming from the fact that the proponent of NBC’s 10 PM retreat, Shell, is now poised to become President of CBS parent Paramount Global if/when its merger with Skydance Media is complete.
According to sources, Shell did float the idea about dropping the 10 PM hour with CBS executives but that was put to rest after he was presented with detailed arguments — and data — why programming the time slot makes financial sense for the network.
10 PM drama
Of the three broadcast networks that air three hours of primetime Monday-Friday, CBS is the one that appears most committed to 10 PM dramas, having the genre on the fall schedule five nights a week with CIA, NCIS: Sydney, Elsbeth, Boston Blue as well as encores on Sunday, to be replaced by Watson in January.
“The 10 PM dramas are good business for CBS from a performance and P&L standpoint, as well as the value they bring to Paramount+,” George Cheeks, Paramount Global co-CEO and CBS President and CEO, told Deadline. “These dramas also provide a powerful lead-in for late local news for our affiliates and O&O’s.”
NBC, which has 10 PM dramas on three nights with Brilliant Minds, Chicago P.D. and The Hunting Party, is not contemplating an exit from the hour either.
“That conversation [10pm] comes around every [year] for the last decade but not right now,” Bader said on Saturday.
With NBCU’s 11-year NBA deal commencing in October to join the company’s NFL and college football packages, NBC will have three nights a week of live sports in the fall and two in midseason that easily fill three hours of primetime.
ABC has two 10 PM dramas on the fall schedule, which features two nights of football programming, returning hot newcomer High Potential on Tuesdays and veteran Grey’s Anatomy on Thursdays. The network, which regularly slots game shows and newsmagazines in the time period, is trying something new this fall with Shark Tank on Wednesdays 10 PM.
“We’re absolutely committed to 10 o’clock,” Erwich told Deadline. “We’ve launched our biggest hit show there, High Potential. Grey’s Anatomy continues to thrive there. We put one of our most important shows, Shark Tank there, it’s a big hour for us.”
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