NEW YORK — May 11, 2014 — Coming off a season in which the network catapulted to No. 1 in the 18-49 demo and saw double-digit improvement in many prominent timeslots, NBC has announced a line-up of popular returning series, inventive new comedies, compelling new dramas and season seven of the Emmy Award-winning musical competition series “The Voice.”
NBC is on track to win the traditional September-to-May primetime season in adults 18-49 for the first time in 10 years. In “most current” averages through the season’s first 32 weeks, NBC’s 2.8 rating in 18-49 is up +17% versus one year ago, making it the network’s top average at this point in the season in five years, according to Nielsen Media Research.
NBC is also #1 for the season if its nights of Sochi Olympic coverage are excluded from its averages (giving it a 2.6 rating through 32 weeks, versus a 2.5 for #2 Fox). Also, NBC’s regular line-ups are up versus last season on five of seven nights of the week and even with last year on a sixth, while Sunday night is down just 2%.
In total viewers, NBC is up +35% to 9.4 million persons, its biggest overall audience at this point in the season in eight years. NBC ranks #2 in total viewers, marking the first time in 10 years the network has ranked higher than #4 at this point. Excluding its nights of Sochi Olympic coverage, NBC still ranks #2 for the season in total viewers and is up +21% versus a year ago to 8.5 million viewers.
Highlights of the just-announced year-round schedule, which will be bolstered by the Feb. 1 Super Bowl, include a pair of comedies — “Bad Judge” and “Mission Control” — from the brilliant and warped minds of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay; “Marry Me,” the new series from “Happy Endings” creator David Caspe; “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” from the Emmy Award-winning team behind “30 Rock” — Tina Fey and Robert Carlock; and projects from Ellen DeGeneres and the producing team of Rashida Jones and Will McCormack.
On the drama side, Emmy and SAG Award winner Debra Messing stars as a cop balancing her job and stressful home life in “The Mysteries of Laura”; Katherine Heigl returns to television as a high-level CIA analyst in “State of Affairs”; Hope Davis is forced to choose between family and country in the riveting modern-day spy drama “Allegiance”; a wildly popular DC Comics character gets a primetime makeover in “Constantine”; and NBC’s lineup of A-list producers includes Joe Carnahan, Peter Horton, Greg Berlanti and David S. Goyer.
The new drama additions are “Allegiance,” “Constantine,” “The Mysteries of Laura,” “Odyssey” and “State of Affairs.”
The new comedy additions are “A to Z,” “Bad Judge,” “Marry Me,” “Mission Control,” “Mr. Robinson,” “One Big Happy” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”
Returning scripted programming includes “About a Boy,” “The Blacklist,” “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago P.D.,” “Grimm,” “Hannibal,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Parenthood” and “Parks and Recreation.”
Returning alternative series include “America Ninja Warrior,” “America’s Got Talent,” “Celebrity Apprentice,” “Hollywood Game Night” and “The Voice.”
Previously announced new event series will also join the year-round line-up, including “Emerald City,” “Aquarius,” “A.D.” and “Heroes Reborn.”
“We had a stellar year in scripted programming development that resulted in the unprecedented number of new original series joining the line-up during the coming year, which spans from September 2014-September 2015,” said Bob Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment. “I’m inordinately proud of NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke and Paul Telegdy, President of Alternative and Late Night Programming, for delivering such a high volume of new quality programming to augment a line-up that has begun to show strong signs of solidification.
“We have grown substantially year-to-year, even factoring out the boost from the Olympics, to get us to #1 in the 18-49 demo and #2 in total households. The overall goal was to maintain stability from our growing number of anchor shows, while, at the same time, striving to make every show an event — a guiding principle of our development strategy. And reinvigorating Thursday was a top priority, made possible by moving ‘The Blacklist’ there in the 9 p.m. timeslot after exposing it to the audience watching the Super Bowl.
“The multi-pronged strategy behind moving ‘The Blacklist,’ which has shown enormous linear ratings and record time-shifting, is to not only enliven our Thursday night lineup but also create two desirable timeslots — lead-outs from ‘The Voice’ (8-10 p.m. Monday) and ‘The Blacklist’ (9-10 p.m. Thursday).”
Said Jennifer Salke, President, NBC Entertainment: “Comedy is very important to this network, which is why we are launching new series on Tuesdays following ‘The Voice’ and on Thursdays in the fall as CBS frees up some of the comedy audience when it turns to NFL football. Furthermore, we have several of our strongest comedies by some of our best auspices being held for midseason, including the final season of ‘Parks and Recreation,’ Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,’ the Ellen DeGeneres-produced ‘One Big Happy,’ and ‘Mission Control’ from Will Farrell and Adam McKay. We also have the previously announced ‘Mr. Robinson,’ starring Craig Robinson.
“On the drama front, no fewer than seven new series and two new event miniseries will bolster a line-up that already includes three Dick Wolf shows (‘Law & Order: SVU,’ ‘Chicago Fire,’ ‘Chicago P.D.’), the final season of ‘Parenthood,’ plus ‘Grimm’ and ‘Hannibal.’ And, of course, we bring back ‘The Blacklist,’ the most successful new show on broadcast television. A trio of sophisticated new 10 p.m. dramas — ‘State of Affairs’ (starring Katherine Heigl), ‘Allegiance’ and ‘Odyssey’ — have a cinematic look and feel, as well as compelling action storylines. Part of NBC’s legacy is its strength in drama, and we’re extremely proud of both our rich history and what’s ahead.
“In addition, we have several attention-getting events, such as ‘The Bible’ sequel ‘A.D.,’ from Mark Burnett and Roma Downey; ‘Aquarius,’ which marks David Duchovny’s return to broadcast television as a cop on the hunt for Charles Manson; and a 13-episode reboot of the popular series ‘Heroes,’ titled ‘Heroes Reborn.’
“There is unprecedented enthusiasm that our turnaround will continue in a big way. As we aggressively schedule on a year-round basis, our goal remains to provide an exciting and vital line-up of unprecedented original programming.”
“NBC is clearly building upon its success of the season with this new schedule,” said Jordan Wertlieb, President, Hearst Television and current Chair of the NBC Affiliate Board, “The stability of the lineup coupled with a terrific development slate will excite NBC affiliates and advertisers.”
NBC FALL 2014-15 SCHEDULE
(New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET)
MONDAY
8-10 p.m. — “The Voice”
10-11 p.m. — “The Blacklist” / “STATE OF AFFAIRS” (beginning Nov. 17)
TUESDAY
8-9 p.m. — “The Voice”
9-9:30 p.m. — “MARRY ME”
9:30-10 p.m. — “About a Boy”
10-11 p.m. — “Chicago Fire”
WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. — “THE MYSTERIES OF LAURA”
9-10 p.m. — “Law & Order: SVU”
10-11 p.m. — “Chicago P.D.”
THURSDAY
8-9 p.m. — “The Biggest Loser”
9-9:30 p.m. — “BAD JUDGE” (“The Blacklist” beginning Feb. 5)
9:30-10 p.m. — “A TO Z”
10-11 p.m. — “Parenthood”
FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. — “Dateline NBC”
9-10 p.m. — “Grimm”
10-11 p.m. — “CONSTANTINE”
SATURDAY
8-11 p.m. — Encore programming
SUNDAY
7-8:20 p.m. — “Football Night in America”
8:20-11:30 p.m. — “NBC Sunday Night Football”
Read more at http://collider.com/nbc-2014-tv-schedule-constantine/#vq3IOXTjgkOoxpXj.99