'Ed' On the Move To Wednesdays
LOS ANGELES - NBC is moving "Ed" from Sundays to Wednesdays beginning Dec. 6, in an attempt to strengthen its Wednesday night lineup. The hour-long dramedy will be grouped with the successful dramas "The West Wing" and "Law & Order." Meanwhile, "Titans" which currently occupies the Wednesday 8 p.m. time slot will be moved to Mondays at 8 p.m., beginning Dec. 4. To make up the extra hour on Sunday, NBC is inserting "World's Most Amazing Videos" into the 7-8 p.m. time block. "'Ed' is one of the season's brightest freshman hits, both from a critical and ratings standpoint," said NBC Entertainment President Garth Ancier said in a statement. "This is a show that fits perfectly with 'The West Wing' and 'Law & Order' and will provide viewers with one of the best nights of television, start-to-finish, on any network in recent memory." NBC is hoping the addition of "Ed" on Wednesdays will create a "Must See TV" block which will dominate the ratings similar to its Thursday night lineup. With the hits "West Wing" and "Law & Order," the network is already two-thirds of the way there. The two dramas regularly lead the broadcast nets in their timeslots. So far the only weak hour has been 8-9 p.m., when "Titans" airs. Season to date, "Titans" has pulled a household average of 6.2 rating/ 10 share. In comparison, "The West Wing" has drawn a 13.7/21 and "Law & Order" a 12.0/20. On Sundays (typically the most watched TV night of the week), "Ed" has managed an 8.2/12 average. Whether "Ed" can grow in its new timeslot is the main question facing NBC. However, it won't be difficult for "Ed" to better the performance of "Titans," even with strong competition from "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Meanwhile, "Titans" will be coupled with "Dateline" and "Third Watch," in its new timeslot The move could help the show because it is now on a night known for having more young female viewers, the primetime soap's main audience. The move will give the Aaron Spelling series a chance to grow by airing new episodes in December while other nets will be showing repeats. Many critics forecast that "Titans" would be one of the first freshman shows to be canceled, yet in the last two weeks the series has made slight gains in ratings, although the total numbers are still low. The 8-9 timeslot was initially filled by two family comedies, "Daddio" and "Tucker," which failed to find an audience. Ancier showed his support of the series by saying, "We continue to be pleased with the creative direction of this show under Aaron Spelling, Charles Pratt, Jr. and E. Duke Vincent's supervision and remain mindful of the fact that primetime soaps usually take a while before hitting full stride." Sunday's new lineup will begin at 7 p.m. with "World's Most Amazing Videos," with "Dateline" following at 8 p.m., and finishing off with the "NBC Sunday Night Movie" from 9-11 p.m. |
Now it's on Melrose Place's old time slot. How much longer before Heather Locklear joins the cast?