DVR Gridlock 2012-13: Sunday Nights

 

 

7:00 p.m.

ABC: "America's Funniest Home Videos"

CBS: "60 Minutes"

FOX: "The OT," "The Cleveland Show"

NBC: NFL Pre-Game

 

ABC: "Once Upon a Time"

CBS: "The Amazing Race"

FOX: "The Simpsons," "Bob's Burgers"

NBC: Sunday Night Football

 

ABC: "Revenge"

CBS: "The Good Wife"

FOX: "Family Guy," "American Dad"

NBC: Sunday Night Football

 

ABC: "666 Park Avenue"

CBS: "The Mentalist"

NBC: Sunday Night Football

 

 

What's Changed: The two big Sunday moves were ABC's shift of "Revenge" from a comfy Wednesday slot to the differently comfy "Desperate Housewives" slot and CBS' move of "The Mentalist" into what has most recently been the "CSI: Miami" slot at 10 p.m. [or whenever football pushes the slot to]. The night's only new program is "666 Park Avenue," though the supernatural real estate drama is so much like a horror-tinged combination of the two shows leading into it that it doesn't seem that foreign.

 

How the Ratings Race Is Impacted: With "Desperate Housewives" down dramatically in its waning years and "Revenge" establishing itself as a solid Wednesday performer, ABC won't lose much in this swap and may even gain a little thanks to giving "Revenge" a more successful lead-in. ABC would have rather developed an alternative "DH" replacement either in "Pan Am" or "GCB" (or even "Missing" or... anywhere) and while "Revenge" will keep this night steady, ABC's sacrifice of its first Wednesday 10 p.m. toehold in years is a steep price. "Revenge" also is going against one of the few other upscale, brainy soaps on primetime with "Good Wife," plus whichever dramas AMC, HBO and Showtime are running. Since "Revenge" is the buzzier and younger-skewing drama, it'll probably eat into the already dwindling 18-49 numbers for "Good Wife," but "Good Wife" will eat into the overall "Revenge" audience, though "Revenge" is a stronger DVR show. Fortunately for ABC, "666 Park Avenue" has almost no standards to live up to in the 10 p.m. hour and 7 million viewers and a 2.0 rating in the 18-49 demo would be considered an instant success after what aired there last year. That won't be easy, because "The Mentalist" is guaranteed to draw better than CBS' more recent 10 p.m. Sunday dramas, possibly by several million viewers and a half-a-demo point. That still sets both ABC and CBS to be up on the tough night, which will still be dominated by NBC's football all fall. In the spring, NBC is expected to air "Celebrity Apprentice" for only an hour a week at 9 p.m. followed by the completely incompatible "Do No Harm" at 10 p.m., but that has "overhaul" written all over it. 

 

My Predicted DVR: I recap "Amazing Race" on Eastern time and also record Eastern feeds of the AMC, HBO and Showtime dramas, though even that is obviously a potential logjam. That sets my DVR up for "Once Upon a Time" and FOX comedies at 8 p.m. I lose (or OnDemand) "Family Guy" at 9 p.m. in order to record "Revenge" and "Good Wife." I can afford to give "666 Park Avenue" some time to grow. Probably. With all of the shifting and new shows, my Sundays remain steady, which is to say jam-packed.