by Fred Jackson & Jody Brown
It appears NBC Television has given up on any attempt to produce family-friendly programming.
An Associated Press report quotes NBC’s West Coast president, Scott Sassa, who says the network has not done very well developing such shows and its audience is not very interested. The report says the admission is noteworthy because when Sassa came into the job three years ago, he made a big point of saying family-oriented programming was a priority.
But, as AP notes, NBC currently has no children as regular characters in its prime-time lineup — other than a character on the show Friends who is expecting an out-of-wedlock child. And according to Sassa, family programs on other networks that have shown moderate success “don't have the upscale demos that we want that would allow us to keep them on the air [at NBC].”
So what is the “NBC mold” for success? According to a Washington Post report, that would include programs that are “smart, upscale, young and urban” — such as the upcoming episode of Fear Factor that will feature Playboy centerfold models, which is slated for halftime of next month's Super Bowl.
In the interview with AP, Sassa admits trying to walk a line between not shocking people with adult-oriented themes and dialogue, while trying to respond to HBO’s popularity with such programs as Sex and the City.
The report says another indication that NBC is moving to appeal primarily to adults came last week when it became the first network to accept hard liquor ads.
(This article courtesy of Agape Press.)
