CBS announced today its 2007-2008 Fall Primetime lineup, featuring five new series - one comedy, three dramas and one reality program.
These freshman series will join 17 returning programs on the current CBS lineup, which will win the 2006-2007 season in viewers and adults 25-54, continuing the Network's multi-year winning streak.
The five new series feature bold and creative concepts, including Viva Laughlin, where drama is accented by iconic music; Cane, starring Jimmy Smits as the head of a powerful South Florida Cuban-American family; Moonlight, a romantic thriller with a new twist on the vampire legend; The Big Bang Theory, a comedy about genius geeks from "Two and A Half Men" co-creator Chuck Lorre; and KID NATION, a reality series where 40 kids will try to build a new society in an abandoned ghost town.
Stephen McPherson, president, ABC Entertainment, today outlined ABC’s plans for next season and unveiled the network’s 2007-08 fall schedule before a crowd of ABC affiliates and representatives of the advertising and media communities at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. Scheduled to debut next season are four new comedy series: “Carpoolers,” “Cavemen,” “Miss/Guided” and “Sam I Am”; along with seven new drama series: “Big Shots,” “Cashmere Mafia,” “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Eli Stone,” “Private Practice,” “Pushing Daisies” and “Women’s Murder Club.” Alternative series “Oprah’s Big Give™” is also slated to debut.
In addition to the new series, ABC previously announced season renewals for “Brothers & Sisters,” “MEN IN TREES,” “Ugly Betty,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Boston Legal,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “The Bachelor,” “Supernanny,” “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and “Wife Swap"
“October Road” and “Notes from the Underbelly” will return for second seasons as well.
“We’re heading into the new season with a strong lineup of returning shows that we’ve developed and nurtured over the past few years,” said McPherson. “That solid foundation will help us launch an exciting development slate as we continue our forward momentum this fall. We’re dedicated to working hard week after week to deliver the best stories and most memorable characters on TV.”
During the 2006-07 TV Season, ABC’s first season in decades without “Monday Night Football,” the network solidified its dominance with women and in all upscale measures. And with the addition of “Ugly Betty,” “Brothers & Sisters,” “October Road” and “MEN IN TREES,” ABC has added a new generation of broad-appealing, young, accessible dramas to its roster. ABC is the #1 network with Women 18-34 and Women 18-49, and is currently in second place for the season among Adults 18-49, leading both NFL-fueled CBS (with ”Super Bowl 2007”) and NBC (with ”Sunday Night Football”).
Excluding sports from the mix this season (to account for the loss of “Monday Night Football,” the 2006 “Super Bowl” and the Bowl Championship series) ABC is the No. 2 network to Fox among Adults 18-49. The network airs 7 of the Top 20 TV series in the key young adult sales demographic. ABC retained 99% of its Total Viewers, 100% of its Adult 18-34 audience and 95% of its Adult 18-49 audience year to year in the “non-sports” averages. Additionally, ABC marked its second straight season as the No. 1 television network among advertiser-prized upscale, high-income Adults 18-49 (with/$100K+ annual income). And ABC is the only network whose May Sweep performance is up from a year ago.
As previously announced, “Saturday Night College Football” will return for a second season on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 (8:00 p.m., ET).
ABC Television Network today announced fourteen early pick-ups for the 2007-08 season for new breakout series “Brothers & Sisters,” “Ugly Betty” and “MEN IN TREES,” as well as returning hits “The Bachelor,” “Boston Legal,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “Lost.” The announcement was made by ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson at the March Development Meeting in Los Angeles. These series join previously announced “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “Supernanny” and “Wife Swap,” which have also been renewed for the 2007-08 season. “We have had a strong year, with two of the season’s breakout hits, ‘Ugly Betty’ and ‘Brothers & Sisters,’ and the solid performance of ‘MEN IN TREES,’” said McPherson. “We are pleased that viewers have invested in these new favorites along with our other returning series. These shows provide us with a substantial foundation to make 07-08 our best schedule yet.”
