NBC considers dropping an hour of prime-time programming - WSJ
David McNew/Getty Images News

NBC (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is weighing cutting back on prime-time programming in order to save costs as the broadcast audience continues to shrink, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The rough plans include NBC withdrawing from programming the 10 p.m.-11 p.m. ET hour, handing those seven hours per week to local affiliates to program - though the matter hasn't yet come up with NBC's affiliate board, according to the report.
"Prime time" in the U.S. has traditionally been set in the 8 p.m.-11 p.m. hour in Eastern Time (7 p.m.-10 p.m. in Central and Mountain). Typically, 11 p.m. has brought local newscasts before NBC runs late-night standby The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35 p.m.
That last hour of prime time at NBC is made up mostly of scripted dramas, which could get cut or displace programming earlier in the evening.
But if the idea moves forward then NBC would likely look to move The Tonight Show earlier, to 11 p.m. or even 10:30 p.m., to get a jump on rival shows at CBS (PARA) (PARAA) and ABC (DIS), according to the report. (Fox (FOX) (FOXA) already doesn't program the 10 p.m.-11 p.m. hour.)
Cutting the hour could save NBC tens of millions of dollars in content costs, and affiliates might welcome the chance to draw more ad revenue from programming the extra hour. And it could offset bigger bills coming for NBC Sports, from higher rights fees to the NFL as well as its $350M/year part in the Big Ten college football contract.
Altering the idea of prime time is both a sea change and arguably long overdue, as broadcast audiences have suffered years of declines, and advertisers more and more are embracing streaming advertising. Nielsen's most recent monthly look at TV usage says streaming has surpassed cable (and some time back passed broadcast) as the top use of a television.