Networks ramp up Wednesday night lineups

For the broadcast television networks, the most heart-pounding, nail-biting hour of programming this fall will be ... Wednesday nights at eight.

In that ordinarily prosaic prime-time slot, the networks have scheduled some of their most promising new shows, creating a dramatic five-way race for viewers' attention.

With many shows premiering next week, networks and advertisers will be paying close attention to how viewers react to Wednesday's overstuffed menu at 8 p.m. Central time, 9 p.m. Eastern time, which features more freshman shows than any other time period.

Thursday night traditionally gets all the glory. That's when the networks schedule their heaviest hitters, and it's favored by advertisers wanting to reach viewers before the weekend. But Wednesday has become increasingly significant because each network is anxious to burnish its identity in the cluttered media landscape.

Fox has "Kitchen Nightmares," a reality show starring the demanding chef Gordon Ramsay. ABC has "Private Practice," a spinoff of "Grey's Anatomy." NBC has "Bionic Woman," a sci-fi drama. The CW has "Gossip Girl," a hair-pulling high-school soap opera.

CBS, which won the time slot last year with around 17 million viewers a night, is keeping the procedural "Criminal Minds" in place. But that show's continued success isn't a sure thing. In a last-minute switch, the network was forced to replace the show's star, Mandy Patinkin, with Joe Mantegna.

"It's a lot of good material in one slot, and it is a little daunting," said Mike Darnell, the executive vice president of alternative programming for Fox. "You assume by the time you're four weeks in, the good ones really exist there, and the ones that aren't good will have started to die."

With the exception of Fox, all the networks say they scheduled Wednesday night without paying much attention to the competition. The result is four dramas up against one reality show in the slot.

Some industry executives believe that counterprogramming is a dated idea because people have so many options in the vast TV landscape that it's no longer possible to compete against one or two other networks. "Long gone are the days when you could say, 'Oh, NBC's putting on a show that's really strong with young adults. Let's put on 'Matlock,' " said Jeff Bader, the executive vice president in charge of scheduling for ABC Entertainment.

Fox, however, concedes that it is still engaging in counterprogramming. It originally scheduled "Bones," a procedural show about a forensic anthropologist, this year returning for its second season, in the 8 p.m. spot. But after sizing up the competition, the network swapped it out for "Kitchen Nightmares."

"We thought it was a little looney tunes for every network to put a drama there," said Preston Beckman, Fox's executive vice president of strategic program planning. "We looked at all the pieces and said, 'Hey, here's a classic example where counterprogramming could actually pay off for us.'"

Unlike other days of the week, right now no single network dominates on Wednesdays. Sunday belongs to ABC, with "Desperate Housewives," which averaged 22 million viewers a night last season, according to Nielsen Media Research. Monday is CBS's province, with the comedy "Two and a Half Men" and "CSI: Miami." Fox rules Tuesday, thanks to "House"; Thursday is the high-stakes standoff between ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and CBS' "CSI." Viewership levels drop off Friday and Saturday nights to the point where those nights are practically irrelevant.

In the past, however, different networks have ruled on Wednesdays. In the 1950s, Wednesday was Arthur Godfrey's night, when the famous radio host and his pals sang and danced and raked in advertising dollars for CBS. Godfrey gave way to the Wild West, with Wednesday loaded with wagon-train dramas. In the 1960s, CBS maintained its hold over the night with an all-star prime-time lineup: "The Beverly Hillbillies," "The Dick van Dyke Show," "Green Acres," "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.," "Lost in Space." The 1970s brought "Hawaii Five-O" and "Medical Center" for CBS.

The 1980s were all about "Dynasty" on ABC. In the 1990s, Wednesday went up for grabs.

This year's crop of Wednesday shows, however, won't have long to prove themselves. After three months, Fox's blockbuster "American Idol" and ABC's hit "Lost" come off break and are likely to return to Wednesdays and dominate the night, as they have done in the past.