• WSJ, Monday, March 27, 2006 11:18 AM

How long has it been since media buyers and planners applauded NBC for its lineup of TV shows? It's been a while. With stinkers such as "Joey," an Olympics telecast that basically flopped with viewers, and nothing to counter the enormous popularity of Fox's "American Idol," NBC has been in the doghouse for a couple of years. But media vets are impressed by what NBC showed them last week, saying the network has a number of winners in development. They're especially keen on NBC Uni's plans to make that content available across a variety of platforms. Reports TheWall Street Journal's Brooks Barnes: "Prominent media buyers say they are impressed with NBC's early strategy for the fall TV season.... Particularly noteworthy, media buyers say, are NBC's plans to give new shows a presence on new-media venues of increasing interest to advertisers: the Web, cell phones and other digital devices." Not that this is anything brand-spanking-new. But it seems that to get Madison Avenue's attention these days you've got to offer your content on multiple platforms. Among the fall dramas best received by media buyers was "The Black Donnellys." The Journal: "Highlighting NBC's digital focus, the new drama will have mini-episodes available exclusively online and on cell phones, and the show's writers will have a blog."

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