By Joe Flint 

When TV executives presented their schedules for the coming season to advertisers this week, their pitch was all about the future -- from harnessing data for ad targeting to making more content available on demand.

But the programming they unveiled ripped a page from the past.

CBS Corp.'s lineup, announced on Wednesday, includes a new take on "MacGyver," a 1980s hit about a resourceful fix-it guy, and a television version of the movie "Training Day."

Earlier in the week, the Fox network said it plans TV versions of "Lethal Weapon" and "The Exorcist" and a reboot of hit antiterrorism drama "24" called "24: Legacy," while Comcast Corp.'s NBC has a television version of the Liam Neeson movie franchise "Taken" and Walt Disney Co.'s ABC has "Time After Time," which is based on a 1979 movie about H.G. Wells chasing Jack the Ripper in modern-day Manhattan.

Betting on familiar brands is a way for broadcasters, buffeted by steadily declining ratings and stepped-up competition from cable networks and streaming services, to limit their risks in a tough environment. But in Hollywood, there are hardly any guarantees that what worked before will work for a new generation of viewers.

"What the TV networks were giving us is comfort food," said Ben Winkler, chief investment officer for OMD, an ad-buying firm owned by Omnicom Group. "They are playing to their audience [ad buyers] but that audience is different from the real audience that is out there."

Despite the clouds overhead in TV-land, most network executives are upbeat. Ad-spending commitments at this year's "upfront" marketplace -- when the bulk of ad inventory is sold for the coming season -- are expected to grow after several down years.

Many media executives say that is because marketers have buyer's remorse after shifting some money previously earmarked for TV into digital advertising. This year, those dollars are starting to flow back, they say, in recognition that while digital platforms may allow targeting of ultra-niche audience segments -- like 20-somethings who are health enthusiasts and like yogurt -- TV may be better for blasting a message to the masses and launching new products.

"The bloom is off the rose," said CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves. "We are playing a very strong hand going into the upfront marketplace." CBS is set to finish first in total viewers and key demographics in prime-time this season, though its average audience is slightly smaller than it was last season, according to Nielsen.

David Levy, a cable executive who heads Time Warner Inc.'s Turner unit, claimed that some food and consumer-products marketers who pulled back from TV advertising paid for it. "We've seen that they've lost some sales -- dramatic sales, double-digits," he said on the WSJ Media Mix podcast.

As he and other executives noted all week, TV is trying to match the perceived efficiency and precision of digital outlets. Broadcast and cable networks have been rolling out a host of products to help marketers target ads at niche audience segments. Viacom Inc.'s latest initiative uses data from American Express to help advertisers predict when consumers might be in the market for a certain product.

At NBC's upfront, sales chief Linda Yaccarino took a shot at digital as well by asking an Amazon Echo -- a device with a robotic voice assistant -- why it marketed itself on television. "Because digital takes weeks to get the same results that TV gets in a single day," came the response.

This was a big transition year for several big networks. CBS and ABC have new leadership in their entertainment units. At CBS, Glenn Geller took over for Nina Tassler, who stepped down last fall, while Channing Dungy succeeded Paul Lee at ABC.

At ABC, which is poised for a third-place finish in viewers behind CBS and NBC and fourth among adults 18 to 49, a demographic advertisers covet, the network is betting heavily on comedies, with four new sitcoms including "American Housewife," about a woman trying to raise her less-than-perfect family in a wealthy suburb, and "Downward Dog," which is told from a pooch's perspective.

CBS is adding three new comedies to its traditionally drama-heavy lineup. Those shows -- "Kevin Can Wait," "Man with a Plan" and "The Great Indoors" -- star Kevin James, Matt LeBlanc and Joel McHale, respectively.

Fox, for its part, is trying to restock after losing some 30 hours of programming with the completion of "American Idol." Besides the reboots, Fox is also launching "Star," a show about a rising girl band from "Empire" creator Lee Daniels, and a hybrid animation and live-action comedy called "Son of Zorn" that features the voice of actor Jason Sudeikis. Fox is poised to finish the latest season fourth in total viewers and third among viewers 18 to 49.

Fox parent 21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal-parent News Corp were part of the same company until mid-2013.

While the networks tried to put a happy face on their challenges, one star had a more cynical take. "2016 is still an exciting time in broadcast television in the same way 1937 was an exciting time to be on the Hindenburg," said ABC's Jimmy Kimmel at the network's presentation.

Suzanne Vranica contributed to this article.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 19, 2016 05:44 ET (09:44 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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