ABC at the Upfront : Lots of Holes to Fill

(Media Life Magazine) – ABC has had the biggest ratings bumps and the most-buzzed-about shows the past two seasons, and so you might think that it is in the best shape heading into next month’s upfront. That’s not the case. In fact, ABC may have more hours to fill than any other broadcast network, and it has more pilots in development, 34, than any other network. There are three major problems ABC must address when it unveils its new schedule May 16.

· First, it must come up with a strong Monday strategy to take the place of “Monday Night Football,” which moves to ESPN. “MNF” was a top-20 staple, and ABC’s ratings will suffer without it.
· Second, the network has to fix its comedies. Only one has averaged better than a 2.8 this season, the quickly yanked “Crumbs.” ABC has by far the weakest comedy lineup of any Big Four network, and just one of this year’s launches, “Freddie,” has a shot at a second season.
· Finally, it must use hit shows “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” to better advantage. It did not launch a new hit show out of any of them this year, and they all rank in the top 10 among adults 18-49. The network must make smart scheduling decisions to leverage these shows into a stronger overall schedule, instead of concentrating its strength on just Sunday and Wednesday.

"ABC, in a sense, has some of the same problems NBC faced when it was the No. 1 network – strong success in a few time periods masking problems on other nights,” says a report issued by Magna Global US this week. “The network is relatively weak during two hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and without football, needs something solid on Monday.”

· Season-to-date numbers – ABC is the only network that’s grown among adults 18-49 this season, up 8% from a 3.8 rating to a 4.1, but some of that can be attributed to the Super Bowl. It’s averaging a 3.3 among 18-34s, up 6% over last season’s 3.1, and a 4.7 among 25-54s, up 7% over last year’s 4.4.
· Safely returning – “Desperate Housewives,” “Lost,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Boston Legal,” “20/20”
· On the bubble – “Commander in Chief,” “Hope & Faith,” “According to Jim,” “George Lopez,” “Invasion”
· In development – MediaVest, in a report issued this week, estimates that ABC has only seven solid returning hours of programming out of 22 total. Some bubble shows will make it, but there’s the potential for four new dramas and perhaps five or six comedies. Drama “Secrets of a Small Town” sounds a lot like “Housewives,” centering around a quirky local mystery. ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson has singled out drama “Brothers and Sisters,” with Calista Flockhart and “Six Feet Under’s” Rachel Griffiths. The network is also high on "Men in Trees" with Anne Heche. As for comedies, “In Case of Emergency” with David Arquette already has a six-episode commitment. An untitled Patricia Heaton project looked promising until rumors surfaced that she was going to daytime. A project with Heather Locklear entitled “Women of a Certain Age” is also getting strong buzz, and the network has yet another Bonnie Hunt show in development.