NBC should try cable’s strategy
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“Gold Rush” (7 p.m., Discovery) ends its third season with the three teams f inding (spoiler alert!) gold. The end of moose season doesn’t end quite so successfully on “Yukon Men” (8 p.m., Discovery). But the moose might be OK with that. The antics on “Bering Sea Gold” (9 p.m., Discovery) include a joke gone awry and the need for a new dredger.
It’s no secret that shows like these are among the most popular on cable, often outdrawing network series. Their success is due to the distractive quality of extreme workplace shenanigans. But cable networks are also free to air these series repeatedly, allowing viewers to catch them at random and then make a habit of watching them.
Networks are charged with finding the largest audiences, but don’t have the flexibility of their rivals. Tonight, A&E offers viewers all of prime time to get hooked on “Duck Dynasty” (7 p.m. to 10 p.m.). There’s three “American Pickers” (7 p.m., 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.) on History. MTV unscrambles three installments of “Ridiculousness” (7:30 p.m., 8 p.m., and 8:30 p.m.). That’s a lot of the same, again and again.
It’s easy to decry the repetitive nature of these schedules, but they represent the way people watch television. In contrast, NBC spends a bundle on a show like “Smash,” only to have people dismiss it as a failure after a few outings in its second season.
Perhaps it’s time for NBC to take a page from cable. Nobody’s watching its current lineup anyway. NBC came in fifth in the February sweeps, so why not shake things up? Would anybody really miss “Dateline NBC” or “Rock Center With Brian Williams” tonight if the network rolled out three helpings of “Smash” instead? Is it a great show? No. Is it better than “Duck Dynasty”? Give the people a chance to decide.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
Ramsay encounters an arrogant restaurant owner on “Kitchen Nightmares” (7 p.m., WHBQ-TV Channel 13).
Reba’s brother (Blake Shelton) wants to market a barbecue sauce with a secret ingredient on “Malibu Country” (7:30 p.m., WPTY-TV Channel 24).
The numbers point toward a reunion on “Touch” (8 p.m., WHBQTV Channel 13).
Back- stabbing on “Spartacus” (8 p.m., Starz, TV-MA).
Gordon sets out to blow Carrie’s cover on “Banshee” (9 p.m., Cinemax, TV-MA).