NBC Has "Most Promising Lineup"

by Sep 19, 2001, 12:00 AM

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The start of the Fall TV season may be postponed, but NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and UPN's "Star Trek: Enterprise," are still poised to be the most popular programs of the Fall 2001 television season, according to a recent survey from the Microsoft UltimateTV service conducted by E-Poll.

The UltimateTV/E-Poll survey of 1,020 respondents was conducted August 24-27, 2001, and concluded that approximately 45% of the UltimateTV "Viewing Intentions Survey" respondents said they planned to watch "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," the newest series in NBC's "Law & Order" family, while 42.3% said they intended to beam up "Star Trek: Enterprise," a mid-22nd century saga featuring Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer.

"These results really indicate the value of spin-offs," said Tim Bucher, Vice President of Consumer Products for the UltimateTV Group at Microsoft. "Time will tell if the offspring fare as well as their illustrious parents.

"UltimateTV's 'Viewing Intentions Survey' provides an informative snapshot of what viewers are looking forward to in the new TV season," Bucher continued. "As network programs drive a high percentage of overall TV watching, viewer interests in the new fall shows should have a significant impact on their nightly viewing habits and preferred personal viewing schedules."

NBC also held the number three through eight spots of the top ten programs people said they planned to watch, while ABC, CBS and UPN had one apiece. More than a third of respondents - 36% - said they would watch NBC's "Scrubs," a half-hour medical sitcom from the co-creator/executive producer of "Spin City," while 30% said they would tune in to NBC's "UC: Undercover," an action-thriller focusing on the secret lives of an undercover Justice Department crime fighting unit.

NBC's "Emeril," the sitcom featuring chef Emeril Lagasse, was chosen by 28.7% of respondents, and 26.4% said they would watch NBC's "Crossing Jordan," a one-hour drama about a medical examiner starring Jill Hennessy. Approximately 26% said they would watch NBC's "Lost," described as a "global adventure" in which six strangers, taken to a secret location and paired off into three teams of two each, must get back to the Statue of Liberty first. NBC's "Inside Schwartz," a sitcom about an athletics-obsessed sportscaster whose inner thoughts and fantasies are revealed through personal conversations with sports figures, was chosen by 21.3% of respondents.

Rounding out the top ten were ABC's "Bob Patterson" starring Jason Alexander ("Seinfeld"), chosen by 20.2% of survey respondents, and CBS' "The Amazing Race," the global competition program from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, picked by 19.5% of survey participants.

Asked which network has "the most promising lineup" based on promotional ads seen, survey respondents also chose NBC by a wide margin, 38.9%, although a significant one in six respondents (17.1%) felt that none of the networks have promising lineups. Fox was number two with 12%, CBS third with 11.6%, ABC fourth with 9.5%, UPN fifth with 5.9%, the WB sixth with 3.2% and PAX with 1.6%.

"NBC, which has had great success with its summer reality series, is the only network to build better than 50% awareness for its new fall shows," Bucher pointed out. "And net-lets like the WB, UPN and PAX are still struggling to gain an awareness foothold."

Two sci-fi themed shows were at the top of the list of shows cancelled last season that survey respondents said they'd most like to see brought back: NBC's "3rd Rock From The Sun," with 12.4% saying they'd like it to continue, and UPN's "Star Trek: Voyager," with 8.1% of respondents saying they'd like the program to return. Third on the list was CBS' "Walker, Texas Ranger," with 7.1% saying they'd like to bring it back, followed by the syndicated "Xena, Warrior Princess with 5.6%, and 5.1% voting for CBS' "Diagnosis Murder."

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