Here's why NBC might be killing off a third of its primetime lineup

NBC plans to cut 10 p.m. hour of its prime-time schedule and handing over programming duties to local affiliates, reported Aug. 26. to the media, including IndieWire, after the story broke. "As a business, our advantage lies in our ability to provide audiences with the content they love through broadcast, cable and streaming."

OK, but how exactly would killing a third of the prime time programming accomplish this? We'll get to that, but the real unspoken reason is easier to identify, official statement or not: it's all about cost reduction.

Live sports, which weigh heavily on NBC's bottom line, are getting more and more expensive. It also doesn't come cheap to make Peacock a vital player in the ongoing, content-centric streaming wars. Eliminating one hour of linear television could help offset some of these costs. It also doesn't entirely eliminate a revenue stream: NBCUniversal still monetizes its affiliates through an ad revenue split when local programming airs.

On the other hand, affiliates probably wouldn't turn down the primo time slot to better line their pockets. Local market content, like news, is much cheaper to produce - and 10 a.m. is better than 11 a.m.

Always 10 p.m. is usually the least-watched primetime slot as people turn off their TVs and turn themselves in. This means that it generates the lowest hourly income of national advertisers. These factors are partially offset by the fact that 10 p.m. is the most delayed prime time.

Compared to its competitors, NBC has more success at 10 p.m. time he can give up. From September 20, 2021 through Thursday, August 25, NBC's entertainment programming (so, not sports) averaged a "live" rating of 0.38. That number jumps to 0.56 with a week of (mostly) DVR catch-up viewing. Live + 7 Day is how linear TV ratings are usually reported these days; all notes in this story are Nielsen data.

Meanwhile, CBS scored an average rating of 0.32 live+ on the same day; ABC averaged 0.29. With delayed viewing, CBS and ABC both drop to a 0.46 rating, an even bigger lag behind NBC. Again, CBS, which is older than the other two networks, is first in terms of total viewers during the hour; NBC is second.

NBC Procedure "Chicago P.D."

Lori Allen/NBC

NBC, CBS, and ABC have offered national programming from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. — aka prime time — since the early days of television. Younger broadcast networks (both in terms of lifespan and demo reach) Fox and The CW have already halted their prime-time programming at 10 p.m., leaving the reins to affiliates.

Eliminating the 10 a.m. hour from NBC's (and only NBC's) averages for this September-August period would have NBC overtaking CBS in "live" viewership. In Nielsen's Live+7 Day issues, CBS would only maintain a total viewership advantage of 5,000 over NBC. Seeing it this way is both unfair and reasonable: on an average prime-time basis...