EXC on CBS: Second Date Announced; Rating Expectations

CBS has announced July 26 as the date of the second EliteXC prime time special. The first special is set to air on May 31. The announcement of a second date is of course no guarantee it will actually take place, the television industry is nothing if not a show me business with the ratings of the first special crucial to the actual broadcast of a second event.

There was some gnashing of teeth about EliteXC's chance of success in light of CBS's quick cancellation of Secret Talents of the Stars last week. The program got the axe despite finishing third in its time slot (Wednesday Night at 10PM) and drawing 4.6 million viewers.

However, it is important to remember that was a very expensive reality TV production, footed entirely by CBS. In contrast, EliteXC is very inexpensive programming, costing only a relatively small licensing fee. Expensive programming has high expectations and has to perform out of the gate. Inexpensive programs, particularly those that the network believes in, generally have lower pressure to deliver out of the gate. Given CBS's significant financial commitment to the company, and the brand's seeming importance to Showtime, it is not unreasonable to expect that EXC will be given every chance to succeed.

The results will be measured against "comp" ratings, i.e. comparable ratings from the same time slot and time of year. In that light, the bar becomes much lower with the bench mark being Saturday night during the summer, a traditional dumping ground for network television. Very early speculation around the industry suggests that anything approaching three million viewers would be considered a success.