Presidential Address PreEmpts Leno Tuesday, December 1st

On Tuesday December 1, President Obama will be making an address to the nation. Therefore, the next to last episode of the current cycle of THE BIGGEST LOSER will air from 9-11PM ET on 12/1. As this is a very important episode the week before the highly anticipated live finale and the 2-hour format at this late stage does not lend itself to re-editing, it will just slide later by an hour. THE JAY LENO SHOW will be pre-empted for this night only.

The following will be booked:

Tuesday, December 1st
8:00-9:00 NBC News Special: Presidential Address To The Nation
9:00-11:00 THE BIGGEST LOSER (Original) (2-hours)


Mountain and Pacific Time Zone Stations Prime Lineup for 12/1 Will Be:

DATELINE (repeat)
THE BIGGEST LOSER (Original) (2-hours)

Surprise! Friday Nights in December Changed

Friday, December 4th
8:00-9:00 A MUPPETS CHRISTMAS: LETTERS TO SANTA (Repeat)

Friday, December 11th
8:00-9:00 LAW & ORDER (Original)

Holiday Hours for NBC and OneDomain

From NBC:
BE ADVISED THAT IN OBSERVANCE OF THE THANKSGIVING DAY HOLIDAY, THE NBC AFFILIATE RELATIONS OFFICES IN NEW YORK AND UNIVERSAL CITY WILL BE CLOSED FROM 2:00PM, WEDNESDAY, 11/25/09, THROUGH FRIDAY 11/27/09.

ODI offices in Birmingham, AL will be closed on Thursday and Friday.

My office rarely closes, as my primary office is equipped for client service at any time, while my mobile office is undergoing upgrades.

For a quick view of my office through a cell phone camera, visit http://houseoftvratings.blogspot.com/

Chuck at 8/7; Heroes 9/8 Mondays in January

Mondays will feature Chuck and Heroes in January and early February. (smart move)
There's a two hour Heroes premiere on Monday, 1/4 and a special Sunday 2 hour premiere of Chuck on 1/10.

There are some other minor moves, but RDRx clients will find them in MediaOffice inventory Friday morning.

Emmys in 2009, plus NBC is pleased with NFL Sunday

THIS JUST IN... (from NBC)

Through Week 10 of the NFL season, NBC's “Sunday Night Football” stands as the most watched
primetime program on any network! It's #1 in Households and also in the coveted A18-49 demo.
This is unprecedented for the NFL in primetime competing against so much original programming.
This season's “Sunday Night Football” is the most watched NFL primetime package in 12 years!

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UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – November 18, 2009 – NBC will broadcast the “62nd Primetime Emmy® Awards” live on Sunday, August 29 (8-11 p.m. ET; other time zones delayed), it was announced today by Paul Telegdy, Executive Vice President, Alternative Programming, NBC and Universal Media Studios.

"NBC is excited to host television's biggest night with the Primetime Emmy Awards," said Telegdy. "Scheduling and announcing the telecast for August 29 this early in the awards cycle will give the Television Academy and NBC a head start on creative discussions."

The first time NBC broadcast the Primetime Emmy Awards on August 27, 2006 -- due to the scheduling of the network's popular NFL Football franchise Sunday nights in September -- it was the highest-rated entertainment program of that summer. It still ranks as the highest-rated Emmy Awards telecast of the past four years.

Nominations for the “62nd Primetime Emmy Awards” will be announced Thursday, July 8 at 5:40 a.m. (PT) from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood, Calif.

Want another hour of Christmas @ Rock to sell?

From NBC:
CHRISTMAS IN ROCKEFELLER CENTER (Optional Program): NBC is pleased to offer an additional hour of Christmas in Rockefeller Center to all stations. This optional hour will consist entirely of local inventory and lead directly into the scheduled Network "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" program in all time zones. Full format details to follow shortly.

RDRx comment: Smart move, NBC. This program is an absolute sure thing with a track record a decade long, always delivering a large audience of money demos. With this additional hour also having no network spots, this is a great chance to dramatically increase your revenues from this program on this day.

Clients, please let me know as soon as possible if your station plans to carry this extra hour. You can't sell it if it isn't in MediaOffice!

Friday The 13th Removes Most Mystery

Emails indicated, and now APT confirms, that Tuesday through Saturday NBC Prime schedules have been confirmed through First Quarter 2010, with no significant changes. However, we still don't know anything about the last hour of Sunday or either hour of Monday.

All RDRx NBC clients have already been updated to reflect all of these changes. Look in your Public area in Avails for a Master Planner saved by RDRx dated in the past 48 hours, and use it as a template for your avails and media kits.

A Friday Gift from NBC

Yep, Friday afternoon @ 30 Rock. So far, they've changed the scheduling/duration of a skating special airing in January. Let's see if they move the deck chairs any more before departing for CT for the (update: 3 day) weekend.

Of course, when I tease NBC about the careless way they treat local station sales, I'm talking about the people who move these shows around as if they were pawns, not the kind folks in Affiliate Relations who have to tell us, our traffic departments and (through us) our clients already sold on moved/cancelled programming the bad news. You can bet the messengers don't have homes in the Hamptons or in CT.

Update: *Just* 12 changes in January, half of all sports programming in the month. See you on Tuesday, suits in Manhattan. We'll be here when you get back.

But Wait.. More Changes to NBC Sports

Yep, APT reminds us that NBC Sports loves change. I'll start making the fourth and first quarter changes this morning.

All 3 Sunbelt stations now have NBC Sports listings and estimates through January of 2011 in preparation for their departure in 56 days.

In Wine Country to Dry Up in April

Saturdays, April 10 - September 18, 2010
2:02a-2:30a BELLATOR FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS (Original)

As I finish up Sunbelt Sports through 2010, I'll begin replacing the In Wine Country show with this MMA half hour. From the wine-tasters to the beer-chuggers.. trust me, I live in Las Vegas, home of UFC and TapOut. Truck Customizers, gun shops, tattoo parlors, bail-bond services and ambulance chasers lawyers are all potential advertisers to the hard-core MMA fans.

After further review, I'm a dolt. Regular readers here already know that. :)
TV audiences of Strike Force, the MMA show in the same time period for several years, had a tiny audience that was mostly young females. It's late Saturday night, and most male MMA fans are otherwise occupied. :)

NBC's APT Shows TBA for January Prime

NBC's "newly improved" APT still shows nothing but TBA in most of Prime for 2010 aside from Olympics.

Stations who will be my clients next year will still be able to sell other than time period blocks. Those who aren't... well, I can't save the world. Honest, I tried. 61