Why is CBS So Hot? - Ed Martin - MediaBizBloggers

People ask me why CBS is doing so well this fall, at least when compared to the other broadcasters, all of whom are facing significant challenges. The answer seems so obvious that I wonder why I need to reply: CBS understands what its audience wants to watch and custom-designs its shows to appeal to viewers of other CBS programming. The network has built a solid base of like-minded series assembled in such a way as to encourage viewers to sit through one or more of them when they are first telecast, though many of them do very well in DVR households, too. (Live + 7 ratings indicate that veteran The Mentalist and freshman Hawaii Five-O are time-shifted favorites.) CBS has put together six nights of logically progressive television entertainment that holds and/or entices viewers, in the process creating a welcoming environment (not unlike that of certain basic cable networks) and reinforcing its reputation as a quality brand.

CBS actually kicked off its current winning streak last May during Upfront week with the brazen announcement that Thursday hit Survivor would move to Wednesdays at 8 and The Big Bang Theory would be moved from the network's Monday comedy block to open its Thursday night. Those moves made more news that week than any programming announcements at any network and instantly put the excitement of fall competition in play. Five weeks into the 2010-11 season it is clear that both moves were very smart indeed.

All praise aside, CBS' new series aren't exactly show-stoppers. (There isn't a Good Wife in the bunch.) But they seem to be working for the network so far, and they look even better when stacked against the other broadcasters' increasingly disappointing new entries. Thanks to its cool legendary theme song and hot contemporary cast, the reboot of the classic crime drama Hawaii Five-O has been an early and not entirely unexpected success. Romantic comedy Mike & Molly is slowly developing into a sturdy performer and looks like a keeper, though it remains dependent on its powerful lead in, Two and a Half Men. The William Shatner sitcom (Bleep) My Dad Says, by far CBS' weakest new show, has the best slot of any new series on any schedule, nestled securely between Big Bang and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, where it cannot lose. I give CBS credit for trying something new, turning a Twitter feed into a sitcom and all, but I think the network is wasting a great lead-in on a creative misfire. Can Shatner save the day here? Time will tell.

Meanwhile, the appealing The Defenders ought to be doing better than it is on Wednesday at 10, since it has unremarkable competition on ABC and NBC, but there may be a flow issue there: The unrelenting intensity of Criminal Minds at 9 p.m. likely draws an audience segment that may not be particularly interested in a lightweight legal drama starring two notably funny guys (Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell). I'd like to see these two shows swap time slots or The Defenders move over to Friday at 8.

This brings me to Blue Bloods, the show I pegged several months ago as CBS' best new show, which is now looking like the best new show on any broadcast network, period. Bloods is turning out to be perfect Friday night entertainment in the tradition of Dallas, Miami Vice and Picket Fences, among others. I think it would make a powerful companion to The Good Wife, but given what it is doing for the network right now it should probably stay where it is. (The media remains focused on series lead Tom Selleck, but I'd like to point out that Donnie Walhberg is kicking butt as a no-bull-(bleep) cop who isn't afraid to say what's on his mind.)

CBS' performance this fall might not stand out the way it does if the other networks weren't having so many problems. I was hardly the only critic to point out last May that the development cycle that fed the opening months of the 2010-11 season looked to be the weakest in years. Now we've seen the proof. I try to give new shows that don't seem promising a few weeks before I write them off, but with very few exceptions (most of them on CBS) I don't see any reason why viewers should invest any more time in broadcast's fall freshmen. Rather, they should stick with veteran favorites and hope for better things at mid-season.