(2 of 4)
Last June, Silverman hit NBC like a springtime twister in Oklahoma. He reshuffled his programming executives, added 30 people to his West Coast creative staff and commissioned 45 new pilots and films. It was too late to overhaul the 1978 opening fall lineup, but at mid-season Silverman peremptorily canceled all nine new shows scheduled by his predecessors.
The results were catastrophic. For the first three months of 1978, NBC had an average weekly rating of 18.1; during the same period this year the ratings averaged 16.8, and in the last week of April they plunged even lower, to 14.3, a disastrous 4.9 points behind ABC and 4.6 in back of CBS. NBC ended with a season average of 17, down 1 point from 1977-78 and 4 points behind first-place ABC. Since each point translates into $30 million in pretax profits over a year's time, this means that NBC stands to gross $120 million less than ABC this year. CBS finished with a rating of 18.7, which would put it some $50 million ahead of NBC.
As if to bless its fall schedule, NBC will soon revive its famed peacock, replaced in 1976 by an "N" logo. Also returning this fall are five old standbys (Little House on the Prairie, CHiPs, Quincy, The Rockford Files and The Wonderful World of Disney) and five shows inserted at midseason (Diff'rent Strokes, B.J. and the Bear, Mrs. Columbo, Real People and Hello, Larry). Significantly, no sitcoms were among the six new shows announced by NBC: The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, a comedy-adventure starring Claude Akins as a sheriff with a touch of larceny; From Here to Eternity: The War Years, from last year's mini-series with William Devane; Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, another attempt to crack the prime-time jinx against sci-fi shows; Shirley, a family comedy-drama about a mother facing single parenthood; The Force, a spin-off from last year's mini-series To Kill a Cop; and A Man Called Shane, about a globetrotting secret agent.
Outside the network, the new schedule was greeted with puzzlement or disdain. "An abortion," declared one West Coast production executive. "Everybody is disappointed." Said Joel Segal, senior vice president at Ted Bates, a New York advertising firm: "Clearly they are willing to settle for less than strong numbers with a known quantity rather than gamble on an unknown."
In late-night programming, the network was buoyed Wednesday night when Johnny Carson told a cheering studio audience that he would remain beyond Oct. 1—his threatened retirement date—and possibly into 1980. "I feel I owe it to the show and to NBC," he said, and NBC seems prepared to pay whatever it takes to keep him. His contract already brings him at least $2.5 million annually. He's worth it: his ad-packed, low-overhead show accounts for nearly 10% of the network's pretax profits. After 17 years, Carson had said he "found it impossible to keep my energy level and do the kind of quality work I want to do." He denied any differences with Silverman, but he was reportedly piqued by pressure to increase his Tonight appearances, now about three a week.