• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, June 1, 2006

Summertime is the happy time for network TV accountants--a time for financially prudent moves.

One move is giving promotional time to your sister cable networks.

NBC is doing just that--for the first time--for its USA sister cable network. NBC will air a one-hour highlight show of USA's sci-fi drama "The 4400."  NBC has also done runs of Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica"and Bravo's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" in other down periods.  For cable shows, summer is their time to shine--especially for new shows, which can use the promo help.

Advertising rates aren't as high in the summer. That's why summer winds up being a place to bulk up on network promotional time--especially for new fall shows that need traction and buzz.

The summer is a period of reruns, as we all know. Network accountants like that. While networks are increasingly starting up many new reality shows in recent summer periods, those programs are relatively inexpensive productions.

Networks are loath to offer up much, if any, decent license fees. To make up the difference, producers will bring in advertisers--typically for modestly priced branded entertainment activities. NBC's "Last Comic Standing" and CBS' "Game Show Marathon" has started the reality parade.

CBS as well is looking to make some financially prudent moves this summer--but those aren't on screen. CBS and its affiliates are meeting in Las Vegas, looking to hammer out a new digital agreement. The existing one gives stations a too-sizable 50 percent of current digital revenues. That surely isn't prudent enough from CBS' perspective--not when other similar stations deals, like that of Fox's, give stations anywhere from 12.5 percent to 25 percent.

What will make stations back down? Oh, just a little thing they really want: the NFL. Stations can give up their hefty stake in future digital profits, in return for modest financial contributions for the NFL--something that gives them hefty benefits in a big way right now.

But let's not trivialize the summer too much--the down period brought two of network TV's biggest shows in recent years, CBS' "Survivor" and Fox's "American Idol."

The summer is part-spring-training, part-NFL-Combine, where coaches get to see the un-touted players in the 40-yard dash, the vertical jump, and bench press. Watching who passes these tests, coaches hope to find an under-the-radar player--for little money--that can make it into the starting lineup.