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The lights are coming back on in Hollywood.
CBS announced Monday that new episodes of scripted series will return in mid-February, making it the first network to make scheduling plans after reaching a tentative agreement last week to end Hollywood’s longest labor crisis in decades. Will go.
The network will use its telecast of the Super Bowl on Feb. 11 to launch its new series “Tracker,” starring “This Is Us” actor Justin Hartley, immediately following the conclusion of the game’s trophy celebration.
Several returning series, including “Young Sheldon”; “NCIS”; “Evil spirit”; Tom Selleck drama “Blue Bloods”; And “FBI” will premiere that weekend.
The premiere will be delayed by about five months than usual. Due to the double strike of screenwriters and actors, Hollywood script production has been severely disrupted since May, and has effectively stopped since July. The writers first reached an agreement with the studio in late September, allowing writers’ rooms to reopen and new episodes of late-night shows such as “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” to air. The actors reached a temporary agreement last week, which will allow the cameras to start rolling soon.
The CBS prime-time February lineup will be significantly different from the strike-induced schedule the network has been airing since September. The schedule has been heavy on reality series, repeats, international takeovers and game shows. For example, CBS relied on programs such as 90-minute versions of “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race,” repeats of the popular cable series “Yellowstone” and prime-time versions of “The Price Is Right.”
Network television executives had privately expressed concerns about declining ratings without the significant assistance of scripted programming. But the damage, at least so far, has been less significant than some feared. Prime-time network viewership has declined 11 percent since September compared with the same period last year, according to ratings agency Nielsen, and ratings among adults under 50, the most important demographic for advertisers, have declined. There has been a decline of 6 percent.
However, CBS suffered the most without the stability of scripted programming. Its average viewership is down more than 30 percent since mid-September, according to Nielsen.
Over the past year or so, network executives have become more conscious of programming specifically for people over 60, a constituency that has not abandoned them in favor of streaming entertainment. Enter the strike-inspired lineup that includes decades-old game shows, as well as shows like ABC’s “The Golden Bachelor.”
ABC, Fox and NBC are expected to announce their winter lineups full of scripted programming in the coming days.
The winter series will have fewer episodes than usual due to the delayed start date. New seasons of all CBS scripted series will run from 10 to 13 episodes, and as usual, will conclude in May. Many CBS series, including “Young Sheldon” and “FBI”, traditionally have more than 20 episodes per season.
CBS said that two new shows that were expected to premiere in the 2023–24 television season – “Matlock”, a revival of the classic series starring Kathy Bates, and “Poppa’s House”, a comedy starring Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. – instead. It will be pushed to the 2024–25 season.
