For as much as I’d like to think my musings are original and trail-blazing I’m perpetually reminded by my metrics that I’m clearly neither. Spend enough time around numbers as I have and you can’t help but take that sort of approach.
So when I look at the numbers specific to ABC of late I’m anything but bowled over. It finished a solid third in total viewers and a relatively distant second in what still defaults to advertisers’ target demo of adults 18-49. And with the notable exception of the social media and Disney Plus-infused live broadcasts of DANCING WITH THE STARS practically everything else that occupied its prime time schedule in 2025-26 was trending down. Yes, I know that’s true of pretty much all of linear television, but the trajectories on their returning shows were higher than a majority of their competitors’. Don’t just take my word for it–the SPOTTED RATINGS website does a pretty darn good of keeping such copious records, and as usual numbers, like ball, don’t lie.
Yet anyone who attended Disney’s upfront presentation yesterday afternoon would likely have forgotten those facts in the midst of a corporate-focused firehose of performances that did its absolute best to bury it. DEADLINE’s Peter White apparently noticed by throwing shade on the proceedings in the opening graf of his recap:
Disney didn’t want to miss out on all the songs and dances at this year’s Upfronts so brought along the Savannah Bananas to kick things off with a slightly off-pitch opener. It was apt given that their second baseman Jackson Olson is waltzing off to Dancing with the Stars.
And speaking of top bananas, White’s colleague Dade Hayes reported on how rookie czar Josh D’Amaro did his best job to keep up with his more talented employees during his opening spiel:
“You cannot acquire a hundred years of trust,” D’Amaro said, nodding to the company’s century-plus of existence. “You can’t put generations of belonging on a balance sheet. “Disney, he continued, “is part of people’s lives in a way few brands have ever been. And in a world of infinite choice and constant distraction, that kind of presence is rare. And getting rarer.”
If some of ABC’s shows had scripts as compelling as D’Amaro’s speechwriters were able to produce perhaps those red numbers might have been a tad smaller, or heaven forbid perhaps even green.
White, Hayes and a majority of their fellow journos–even the so-called maverick competitors who don’t work for Penske–were pretty much united in presenting Disney–and even ABC–in the best possible light. Maybe they’re still riding the coattails of their defiant stand in favor of Jimmy Kimmel keeping his job–at least for now–or effectively sticking a finger in Brendan Carr’s eye in response to his ridiculous acceleration of their broadcast stations’ license renewals. But the fact that they are fully running back a lineup of mostly mediocre performers and not even attempting to launch a single original program save for yet another attempt to expand the universe of an aging procedural that couldn’t even crack a 0.3 demo rating (the practically Canadian-sounding ROOKIE: NORTH) speaks even louder to the point that the network is anything but a priority to the folks that run it.
Hence all the more kudos to my far more established and way more detail-oriented comrade-in-arms Marc Berman for having the cajones to call this out on his silver anniversary-celebrating PROGRAMMING INSIDER site yesterday. I’ve been looking up to Marc–literally–since childhood, and he always seems to be a few steps ahead of me. Not just because he’s substantially taller, either. I’ve sung his praises before and I’m going to once again. Because his take on what went down at North Javits Center yesterday was pretty much where I landed and then some:
ABC’s newly announced fall 2026 primetime schedule underscores a growing reality across broadcast television: stability and cost control now matter more to networks than aggressive expansion or creative risk-taking. While the network is framing the schedule as a sign of “undeniable strength,” the bigger story may be what’s missing — namely, an ambitious slate of new programming. For the first time in its history, ABC renewed its entire scripted lineup, a move that executives are touting as evidence of momentum. But the decision also reflects a broader industry-wide shift in which broadcast networks are increasingly relying on proven franchises (many of which are declining), established procedural dramas, live sports, and unscripted programming rather than investing heavily in fresh scripted concepts.
For as much as I griped yesterday about how lackluster their competitors who preceded them on stage on Monday were, at least they were willing to try something new. So too were those who didn’t even bother to absorb the expense of putting on a mini-concert while the demo most likely to enjoy it was about to brave rush-hour traffic to head over to get first dibs on YouTube’s buffet. An expansion of the worlds of GHOSTS and PRIVATE EYES might not be earth-shattering news items, but they are each one more new idea than Craig Erwich and his band of merry men of women were capable of delivering.
I do realize that Erwich is a very busy man, since these days he’s also responsible for the Hulu and Disney Plus sides of things. But I would at least love to ask him this: was there not a single thing in development–even in its formative stages–that merited even a humble brag? Are the freaking Savannah Bananas the best you’ve got in your briefcase?
Berman, to his credit, did try to at least explain why this level of indifference exists:
(T)he modern broadcast strategy appears increasingly centered on operational efficiency: fewer risks, fewer originals, more franchises, and maximum utilization of already-established brands. The fall 2026 schedule may indeed represent stability for ABC. But it also highlights how dramatically the business model of broadcast television has changed — from one built on constant reinvention to one now focused primarily on sustainability and budget discipline.
I’m not capable of being that nice. Not when this is the end result after gutting the majority of experienced executives who market and research these shows. If no one is left to do the heavy lifting of getting the word out at all, should any of us be surprised that they’re no longer even willing to focus around a single novel idea that might actually be able to reverse those steadily reddening downticks? Was there not even a game show reboot worth throwing up against a wall, Craig?
You just keep running it all back, boobie. Must be nice to be running ABC–which apparently now stands for the Afterthought Broadcasting Company.
Until next time…