Word: nbc
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...lowest finish in ten years. Problems mounted elsewhere as well. ABC's daytime schedule slipped out of first place last year for the first time since 1978. And the network's evening newscast, which a few years ago was closing in on No. 1-ranked CBS, has fallen behind NBC in recent weeks, to third place...
...result of hard, uphill work. Even at the height of its success, ABC never quite overcame its image as the upstart of TV's network fraternity. CBS, with its distinguished legacy of William Paley, Edward R. Murrow and Playhouse 90, has always embodied broadcasting's old- school elite. NBC, originator of the Today and Tonight shows and numerous other firsts, is a respected, if sometimes stodgy, TV pioneer. ABC, by contrast, is the brash outsider, by turns more innovative and more shrewdly commercial than either of its rivals...
...image comes from years as TV's best-known underdog. The American Broadcasting Co. was created in 1943 when the FCC forced the National Broadcasting Co. to give up one of its two radio networks (NBC kept the so- called Red Network; its Blue Network became ABC). Ten years later, ABC merged with United Paramount Theaters, whose chief executive, Leonard Goldenson, became president of the new company and its guiding spirit...
...Days, Laverne & Shirley); others exploited buxom blonds and sexual humor ( (Three's Company, Charlie's Angels); still others were sentimental puffballs from Producer Aaron Spelling (Love Boat, Fantasy Island). In the 1974-75 season, ABC was last in the ratings at 16.6, more than 3 points behind second-place NBC. Within two years it boasted seven of TV's ten top- rated shows and had climbed to first place with a whopping 21.6 rating. With its roster of lighthearted, youth-oriented shows, ABC had gauged the national mood well, but still it got no respect. To critics who disparaged...
...late '70s were not limited to prime time. The network's soap operas (General Hospital, All My Children, One Life to Live) made it No. 1 in the daytime ratings by emphasizing younger characters, livelier story lines and more elaborate production values than its rivals on CBS and NBC. Good Morning America, which was launched in 1975 with an upbeat mix of news, features and talk, replaced NBC's then 29-year-old Today in 1980 as the early-morning pacesetter. In the same era, ABC's News division became a full-fledged rival of CBS and NBC...