B&C's Upfront Central: The Latest News From the 2014 Upfronts and Beyond

May 21, 2014 Top Stories Upfronts 2014: No Sitcoms to Sell, But Studios Still Sing 'I Will Survive' That sitcom shortage you keep reading about is not going to be righting itself in 2014-15. Three of the big four broadcast networks are dumping three hours of comedy from their schedules: CBS is losing its once-strong Monday 9 p.m. hour, which formerly contained such power players as Two and a Half Menand Everybody Loves Raymond; Fox is dropping sitcoms from Tuesdays at 8 p.m. (although ABC is adding comedy in that slot); and NBC is ousting comedy on Thursdays at 8 p.m., the slot from which Friends once ruled primetime. As a result, there will be even fewer comedies in network prime next year than there were this year, with the total number of sitcom pick-ups dropping to 19 from last year's 24. Of those, only five survived into season two: CBS' Mom and The Millers, ABC's The Goldbergs, Fox's Brooklyn Nine-Nine and NBC's About a Boy. (Another one, NBC's The Night Shift, hasn't aired yet, and two—Fox's Us & Them and Murder Police—were canceled before they even aired.) What that means is there will be no A-list sitcom heading into syndication for at least five more years. More» Upfront Central: Affiliates Say No Net Is Exempt from Dramatic Retooling Another upfront week has come and gone. The sizzle reels sizzled, as they are designed to do; now all the rookie shows have to do come fall is maintain the buzz they got in mid-May in Manhattan's grand theaters. A poll of attendees revealed that Fox has the most work to do, NBC moving The Blacklist to Thursday is the juiciest story line and no network is exempt from dramatic retooling for the new season—not even CBS. "The challenge is always, how much more time do you have with veteran shows," says Emily Barr, Post-Newsweek president and CEO. "It's, when do you say good-bye and pass the baton to a new show?" More» More News from B&C First Wave of Shows Reaches Amazon » Netflix Sets European Invasion Through Rest of 2014 » Microsoft Research Shows Why Consumers Jump from Screen to Screen » Around the Web For ESPN and Fox Sports, Native Come Naturally (AdAge) » Google Beats Apple on List of Most Valuable Brands (Adweek) » These Three Charts Show that TV Will Never Be the Same (TheVerge) » Calendar May 22 On Demand Summit Convene New York June 4-5 Sports Technology Summit Crowne Plaza Charlotte Executive Park Charlotte, NC June 11 The Business of Multiplatform TV Summit Roosevelt Hotel New York, NY June 24 Next TV Summit Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel Santa Monica, CA For more details click here »

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