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Nets Find Profit In Niche Efforts

While its decision to move "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" to cable net USA raised some eyebrows last week, it's not unusual. If the upfront presentations were any indication, NBC is not the only broadcast network moving to cable, or at least looking a lot like a cable network.

A network's stable of shows defines its broadcast brand, but in cable, networks are defined by their genre or audience profile. And the broadcast nets are now starting to take on personalities that fit into niches.

Producers start to pitch more like-minded shows to those networks hoping to capitalize on their current successes, and the networks themselves often want similar fare as companion pieces to anything that works. But it could be a trap as their economic models rely on mass audiences to rake in that $9 billion that gets spent in the upfront.

"Yes, the networks have narrowed and become more niche," says John Rash, senior vice president/director of media negotiations for media buyer Campbell Mithun. "But economically, it is imperative the broadcasters remain broad."

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