NBC has shown movies on Sunday nights for 20 years, but come this fall, that will change, as less than a week after “The Lost Empire” recorded one of the lowest ratings ever for a miniseries, NBC
announced it will cut its weekly movie showings from two to one, leaving Saturday its only movie night. CBS is also looking for answers, with ratings for its Wednesday night movie down 22% and Sunday
night movie off 11% this year. Once a mainstay in prime-time, movies and miniseries are fading away at broadcast networks, victims of time-starved TV viewers and a glut of alternatives. Alan Wurtzel,
NBC's chief researcher, says viewers are much less patient, often unwilling to set aside two hours, much less two evenings, to watch a movie or miniseries.
