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Second (and Third) Windows: NBC Gets Creative with Cable Nets

Ah, the days of vertical corporate integration. Makes you nostalgic for when companies only had that one broadcast platform. But lately, it's been that media conglomerates seem to have entire portfolios of channels to manage and spread their programming (especially when it's created in-house from their wholly owned studios) across multiple networks.

Such is the case with NBC, which announced that it would schedule weekly second windows for new series Bionic Woman and Life on Sci Fi and USA respectively. Bionic Woman will reair its Wednesdays at 9 pm episode on Sci Fi on Fridays at 7 pm, beginning September 28th; Life will encore at midnight ET, early Monday mornings, after its initial bow on NBC Wednesdays at 10 pm.

If that weren't enough, USA and Bravo will air special blocks of programming on October 6th and 7th, offering viewers another opportunity to catch their dramas, including Journeyman and Chuck, which don't come from studio sibling NBC Universal:

USA: Saturday, October 6th
1 pm: Friday Night Lights (2nd season premiere)
2 pm: Chuck (pilot)
3 pm: Life (pilot)
4 pm: Life (2nd episode)
5 pm: Journeyman (pilot)
6 pm: Bionic Woman (pilot)

Bravo: Sunday, October 7th
Noon: Chuck (pilot)
1 pm: Chuck (2nd episode)
2 pm: Journeyman (pilot)
3 pm: Life (pilot)
4 pm: Bionic Woman (pilot)

Additionally, Sci Fi will reair the pilot episodes of Chuck and Journeyman as well, if you didn't already catch the first three airings or so, while Bravo is scheduled to air marathons of 30 Rock on Sunday, September 30th and Friday Night Lights on October 5th, as a lead-in to the critically-acclaimed, if ratings-starved series' second season premiere on NBC that evening.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Big Brother 8 (CBS); Smallville (CW); Ugly Betty (ABC); Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (FOX)

9 pm: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS); Grey's Anatomy (ABC); Don't Forget the Lyrics (FOX)

10 pm: Without a Trace (CBS); Dateline (NBC); Men in Trees (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

10 pm: Tim Gunn's Guide to Style on Bravo.

See the style maven make it work on his own fashion series, where he and supermodel Veronica Webb take on one hapless fashion victim and make them over into a sartorial superstar.

Comments

Dani In NC said…
I like having more than one opportunity to catch a show. Even though I have a Tivo, there are still times when several of my choices are airing at the same time. I like being able to record Mad Men or Saving Grace at 3a.
Anonymous said…
Wow. What whores.
The CineManiac said…
So will NBC carry this out all season? Because Wednesdays at 9 are crowded for me with Private Practice, Gossip Girl, Bionic Woman, Criminal Minds, and Ghost Hunters all airing at that time.
But with Sci-Fi running the episodes of GH again later in the night, and Bionic Woman airing again Fridays at 7pm, this would allow me to TiVo Private Practice & Gossip Girl and wait for the DVDs of CM.
Please say NBC will continue this all season long.
Anonymous said…
I think it's a great idea to offer viewers a way to catch their shows in different timeslots. Besides, you just know that the networks and studios will try to combine the ratings for each airing to bolster their numbers.

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