USA's White Collar Gets a Fall Premiere

Cable Series the Latest to Challenge Broadcast's New Fall Lineup

Oct 4, 2009

Coming off a very successful summer season, some cable networks are competing head-to-head with broadcast networks' new fall shows. USA's 'White Collar' is the latest.

The new fall lineup is traditionally the domain of broadcast networks. That may be changing. After this summer's all-time viewership highs, cable networks are ramping up their challenge to broadcast's dominance by premiering their own new fall shows. USA is the latest cable network to do so with its entrant, White Collar, premiering October 23rd.

Cable's Fall Series: An Alternative to Broadcast

Many cable networks stay clear of broadcast's new fall shows, preferring the slower summer months. USA did especially well this summer with Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, Monk, and new hit Royal Pains. But the network isn't sticking strictly to summer, despite its success. It will premiere White Collar just after audiences have a chance to try out broadcast's new fall lineup. "We intend to launch it late enough that people have already sampled the broadcast menu and are interested in seeing something fresh," said Bonnie Hammer, president of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment and Universal Cable Production (MediaWeek, 8/30/09).

Like USA, Syfy is also premiering series against the broadcast networks' new fall shows. "We absolutely embrace the year-round programming strategy," said Syfy president Dave Howe (Ibid). Indeed, Syfy's fall premiere of new series Stargate Universe actually rated higher than the second episode of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse on Fox, getting 2.3 million total viewers vs. Dollhouse's 2.1 million. Syfy will also premiere the second season of Sanctuary on October 9th.

This represents somewhat of a shift in cable strategy. It's one thing to offer new series when broadcast shows are on hiatus. It's another to directly compete with some of the strongest shows on TV. And yet USA and Syfy are not alone. Showtime and HBO have been having success with some of their original programming. FX has, as well.

The 10pm Void: Opportunity for Cable Series?

The 10pm hour may actually present cable with a greater opportunity to make inroads into broadcast's audience. The Jay Leno Show airs five nights a week at 10pm, making NBC vulnerable to other scripted fare. Neither the CW nor Fox programs 10pm. As for CBS and ABC, the only really competitive night is Thursday; the rest of ABC's 10pm offerings haven't attracted large audiences.

That could make way for cable series to grab an audience that wants to watch a scripted show, but isn't enthused by CBS's usual procedural fare. That any cable networks will seriously challenge broadcast in that timeslot is unlikely, though not impossible. Still, it'd be quite savvy given the void in broadcast's programming.

Some Cable Networks Steer Clear of Fall Series Competition

Not all cable networks agree with the strategy of challenging broadcast's new fall lineup. Notably, TNT is not following the other networks' lead. "You're not going to get your highest ratings if you put your show on in November," said Jack Wakshlag, Turner Broadcasting's chief research officer (Ibid). TNT has cable's highest-rated program with The Closer. It likes airing new programming in the summer and winter just fine and its ratings bear out the success of the strategy.

Regardless of whether all cable networks jump on the fall premiere bandwagon, it's significant that some are making the attempt – and consider broadcast weak enough for their shows to have a chance of success. That, more than anything, speaks of broadcast's diminished strength, at least in theory.

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