Slide this one into the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" category.
NBC Universal has announced that it will move away from high-cost scripted programming in its 8pm hour and move to more unscripted programming. Translation: More reality shows The announcement came as the company said it would restructure 700 jobs, saving up to $750 million annually.
Despite the huge ratings that Heroes is getting and the fact that shows like My Name is Earl and The Office are doing well for the network, NBC admits that they haven't put enough money and effort into developing the much cheaper unscripted shows, like ABC's Dancing With the Stars and CBS' Survivor, and FOX's American Idol. In fact, when one looks at the unscripted programming from NBC in the past, aside from The Apprentice, which was produced by Survivor's Mark Burnett (and which Martha Stewart killed), the network came off looking like amateurs.
"You're going to see more of a commitment to it on our part," NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly told the Hollywood Reporter. "Although we've had success in unscripted programming with 'The Apprentice' and 'Deal or No Deal,' we've probably dedicated less of our budget toward that compared to some of our competitors." On the heels of Heroes' massive success (which is produced in-house at NBC), he was quick to note that they wouldn't be giving up entirely on scripted programming. "We're going to stay in that business ... but we are going to need to balance our portfolio so that we can afford to continue to do that business because the margins are getting tougher and tougher."
