CBS Eyeing Fall

It's way too early to be thinking about fall -- come on, the summer hasn't even arrived yet! Nevertheless, the networks are already projecting ahead to the season after next as they bring out their upcoming schedules.

Disney's (NYSE:DIS) ABC asset and General Electric's (NYSE:GE) NBC division are counting on new shows based on the GEICO caveman (I always thought that commercial campaign had more layers of complexity to it than one might have believed) and sci-fi themes, respectively, to keep the ratings climbing. According to reports, CBS (NYSE:CBS) also has a genre offering up its sleeve, as well as a few other (hopefully) entertaining concepts.

The eyeball network is wise to bring the cultural lure of the vampire to its airwaves. Moonlight features a private investigator who also does the Dracula thing -- fans of Carl Kolchak might be looking forward to that one. Hugh Jackman will be producing a show with musical elements called Viva Laughlin, about the opening of a casino in Vegas. I suppose the success of High School Musical and Dancing With the Stars might indicate that there is an audience out there for something like this, although whenever I hear the word "musical" used to describe a TV show, I can't help thinking of Cop Rock. There's a sitcom based on some smart guys and a sexy lady called The Big Bang Theory; I'm not sure how that will turn out, but I like the title. And there's also a show coming called Power of 10, which looks for people who can figure out survey data before it's revealed -- not sure about that one.

I can't say that these programs sound particularly compelling, but it's difficult to judge what will work and what won't until a few episodes are out of the gate. CBS should have brought more shows like Moonlight to the table, since vampires, ghosts, and the like are always fascinating -- look at the success of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed, for example. But that's me, I suppose; any network exec would tell you that variety is key to a strong slate. Nevertheless, NBC is embracing fantasy with a new version of The Bionic Woman and a time-travel series in addition to a Heroes spinoff. Programs like these are always worth a try in my book, as they theoretically appeal to the valuable younger demos.

CBS has been doing pretty well lately, and it will need to prove that Sumner Redstone's idea of splitting his old media company in two was the correct thing to do. It is now competing for investor attention against former parent Viacom (NYSE:VIA), owner of the wildly popular MTV Networks.

Going up against ABC, NBC, and News Corp.'s (NYSE:NWS) Fox is pretty challenging, but these new series will perhaps catch on and help to diversify the network away from its CSI-driven identity. While I am not wowed by these ideas, CBS remains an interesting investment idea both because of its yield and its assets -- remember, the company also co-owns, with Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), the CW platform, and runs the Showtime cable channel. I look forward to seeing how these shows eventually fare, but I'd like to enjoy my summer first, thank you.

Check out the Fool's slate:

• ABC You Next Fall
• Internet Usage Spikes in "The Office"
• Cable Clicks Toward the Future

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Fool contributor Steven Mallas owns shares of Disney and General Electric. As of this writing, he was ranked 4,429 out of 28,872 ranked players in the Motley Fool CAPS system. Don't know what CAPS is? Check it out. The Fool has a disclosure policy.