With a fall that hasn't gone unnoticed by Wall Street or its parent company General Electric Co. (GE), NBC has been put on notice that it doesn't have a long time to get things going again. Only a short two years ago, NBC was the first place Network: Now they are No. 4 - not only in total viewership, but in the desired demographic of young adults.
Shari Anne Brill, director of programming at media buyer Carat USA said, "What was especially glaring for NBC is they were so far ahead in first place only two years earlier ... To slip to fourth is a pretty devastating fall."
News Corp.'s Fox (NWS), within the targeted audience of viewers from 18 to 49, are projected to solidly retain their No. 1 position with their huge hits like "24," "House," and its biggest hit - "American Idol."
For investors in GE, they are beginning to put the pressure on the parent company to get NBC more profitable, as they feel it's dragging down the stock of the company because of its poor performance.
Matthew Perry - Male lead in "Studio 60"
The Wall Street Journal reported that Jeff Zucker, NBC Universal Television Group chief told them that GE has given the broadcaster two years to make it happen.
NBC has put all of its marketing effort into action to promote its new shows this year. The two that have drawn the most interest are the Aaron Sorkin drama "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and a comedy "30 Rock," - which will star Tina Fey, the "Saturday Night Live" actress.
The one hope that NBC has is that past history has shown that if networks can come up with a couple of big hits in a season, it can propel them to higher finishes and better advertising dollars. NBC is under pressure to make sure those hits materialize.
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