The Case For NBC's 'All New Saturday Nights'

This is that time of the year when TV critics write think pieces about the future of the industry. We're less than two months out from the broadcast networks announcing their new fall schedules and that prompts a lot of introspection about the direction of television. There are new platforms for watching television and those options are exploding in popularity. A year ago 2% of teens were watching television on their tablets. Now it's 20% and rising. The competition for viewers has never been keener and there is a growing sense that the broadcast networks are too hamstrung by tradition and inertia to make the quick pivots necessary to turn things around. Their audience is getting older at the same time they're spending more resources trying to grab the younger demographic. It's a scenario that doesn't have a happy ending.

I've written a lot over the past couple of years laying out my arguments for change in the industry. Rather than trot out another general overview of the problems, let me just point you to Tim Goodman's excellent piece in the Hollywood Reporter in which he argues the industry needs a Steve Jobs -like visionary to lead the way. Instead, let me focus today one small suggestion that I think would be a modest, yet very successful turnaround idea for the troubled folks at NBC.

Decide that you are going to own Saturday nights. Announce during the upfronts that effective immediately you are introducing an "all new Saturday night" programming block. Every week, three new hours of television. No reruns, no clip shows similar to the "American Ninja Warrior" hours that are currently airing on Saturdays. All new, every week, no exceptions.

On the face of it, it sounds like a fairly insane idea. The last time NBC had new original programming on Saturdays was during the 1999-2000 season. CBS stuck it out for three more years but the current industry feeling is that the night doesn't draw enough viewers to make original programming a financially viable option. And three hours of new programming every week for a network that's struggling to get viewers on any night seems to be just nuts. But there are some solid business reasons for the decision.

NBC Has Nothing To Lose But More Money
Sure, the idea might not work and it could prove to be a big financial hit for parent company Comcast. It's already struggling to justify the money it spends on programming for the other six nights of the week. But when you're pivoting a company you have two choices: retrench or dig in and for the fences. The later might not work but lowering expectations only results in a longer, more painful death spiral.

In the 1980s and 1990s general merchandise retailers such as Sears, K-Mart, J.C. Penney and Montgomery Ward were struggling to hold on to customers who increasingly spent more time at Walmart than the local mall. Each company had their own path to turn things around but in the case of Montgomery Ward they made the decision to retrench. They closed a few stores, trimmed their payroll and spent less money on inventory. Those decisions resulted in fewer customers and when people did come into the stores they found less merchandise that might tempt them into spending their money. Wards closed in 2000 and while all of its rivals are still struggling, they are also still alive and kicking.

There's a temptation in broadcast TV to make that Wards decision and that attitude has led to a situation in which the three hours of primetime programming on Saturdays are just tossed away. It's a foolish idea and in an era where every viewer counts, it ultimately is a costly one.

Saturday Nights Are Made For Branding
When you look at the most successful networks--cable or broadcast--is that they all have one thing in common. Strong branding. Viewers know what to expect from CBS and it's the same for USA, Food, HGTV, TLC or HBO. Viewing statistics show that a large number of people find a show by channel surfing and that strong branding helps tilt them towards stopping at a network where they have a sense of what they can expect.

Promoting three hours of new programming every Saturday is the strongest branding idea any broadcast network can roll out. It will take some time to build the idea in the mind of viewers who are accustomed to seeing reruns of crime shows on Saturdays. But the idea that when someone is watching television on a Saturday they know there is also something new on NBC is a powerful message.

Program Saturday Nights Like It's A Cable Network
The broadcast networks have been surprisingly tame when it comes to rolling out new reality and non-scripted programs. Vulture's Joe Adalian has a good take on some of the reasons, which I won't recount here. But this Saturday programming block is going to need lots of modestly-priced shows and this is a way to try them out and see which ones connect. Ask cable producers for their favorite pet project ideas and break some barriers. Roll a number of short-run shows through that first hour of the night and see if anything sticks. The advantage of launching this in the summer is that any show that does break out can be quickly turned around with new episodes and serve as a hole filler in the fall.

Build On The 'Saturday Night Live' Audience
Despite the incessant complaints about the quality of the show, SNL remains one of NBC's few ratings gems. So take advantage of that by airing shows in that third hour of the night that builds on SNL's audience. That 10:00 hour is the place to try out some new ideas for talk or variety shows. Experiment with hosts and guests with the main goal of finding the next star. Including some teases for SNL (including an early look at a sketch done in rehearsal) is a good tie-in. Push the boundaries of what a talk/variety show can be, knowing that this is an exercise more about developing new stars and formats than grabbing some massive ratings bump.

Hire A Saturday Night Only Staff And Forbid Them From Listening To Anyone Else At The Network
Broadcast networks are notoriously hidebound and that reliance on what has worked before is a great part of the reason things are so screwed up right now. Hire an executive you trust to run Saturday's programming block and then leave them alone. They don't need notes from twenty other NBC primetime executives or phone calls from network suits reminding them "we don't do that here." Hire a bunch of hungry people to work at the Saturday night block and allow them to create. The night should have a different feel than anything else on the network. Distinctive promos that make the night feel like some television answer to pirate radio.

Don't Be Afraid To Fail
Television is an amazingly risk-adverse business and the temptation is to program not to fail as opposed to creating shows that are either going to be big and painfully implode. Try a musical show where artists known and unknown can come on, play a song or two and send people to the network version of Pledge Music to fund their next project. If some well-respected actor or producer would like to stage a one-hour production of some play, consider the idea. The goal for every project is that everyone works cheap with the promise of an unusual amount of creative freedom.

Embrace New Technology Because You Love It, Not Because You're Afraid
Encourage people to DVR the programs and make them available on every possible platform. This isn't about eeking out a few extra dollars to cover costs. You're building branding and buzz and the opportunity to get viewers to see Saturday nights (and NBC) in a new way. Make as many shows as possible available immediately not just on Hulu or NBC.com, but Netflix or Amazon Prime.

All of this doesn't preclude adding sports to the mix some nights, or acquiring international shows that might play well here. What about a new classic-style game show? This is the place to try anything, as long as its new and buzzable.

Aside from the fact that I'm convinced this would work, it's also an idea I find very exciting. If I was working in television I would fighting to get onto this team. There is nothing more exciting that trying something new and if it's done correctly that passion will spill over onto what ends up in front of the cameras.

NBC's "All-New Saturday Nights." It kind of has a ring to it.