If you haven't noticed the start of the new fall television season, you should grab a bag of chips and settle in for a wondrous time of year for couch potatoes. The big networks launched new series this week, and a lot is on the line. Every fall, the networks are judged by the success of prime-time shows, and this year is no different. So here are a few of the big shows you may have missed.
Network |
New Shows |
Hits -- New Season |
---|---|---|
NBC |
The Event, Chase, Outsourced |
30 Rock, The Office, Parenthood |
ABC |
My Generation, Better With You (7 new prime-time shows) |
Dancing With the Stars, Grey's Anatomy |
CBS |
Hawaii Five-O, $#*! My Dad Says |
Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory |
Fox |
Lone Star, Raising Hope, Running Wilde |
House, Glee, Bones |
The race is on
Ironically, Disney
NBC, a division of General Electric
My surprise of the week was CBS
The losers ...
News Corp.'s
And the winners are ...
TiVo
My network winner is by far CBS, which appears to be making the same show over and over but gets viewers to tune in. Who am I to argue a strategy that seems to be working. Maybe another NCIS is in order for next season?
A couch potato's bottom line
What does this week mean for investors? Well, one week doesn't make a season, but it can certainly tell the direction a network is heading. Fox appears to be resting on its laurels this year, which could come back to bite them. Idol is fading fast, and the loss of Simon Cowell puts a cloud over the series. I could see a fall from the top spot in the valuable 18-34 crowd advertisers covet.
So far, I like what both ABC and CBS are doing. CBS crushed everyone Tuesday through Thursday and appears to have good traction for the year. For Disney, ABC may not be performing fantastically, but how can you not like ESPN as a sidekick? Or is it the other way around?
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