CBS Pink-Slips The Job

CBS has pink-slipped its new unscripted effort The Job after just two episodes. The midseason competition series bowed Friday, Feb. 8 to 4.01 million viewers and a 0.9 in the adults 18-49 demo, per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data. In CBS’ target demo (adults 25-54), The Job averaged a 1.2 rating in the 8 p.m. time slot. When compared to the episode of Undercover Boss that aired in the time slot the previous week, The Job was down 53 percent among the 18-49 set and fell 57 percent in the guaranteed demo. Deliveries for Friday night’s follow-up episode sealed the show’s fate, as The Job fell to a 0.7 in the 18-49 demo. CBS will replace The Job with new episodes of Undercover Boss beginning Friday, Feb. 22. CBS has not announced if it will burn off the remaining six episodes of the series’ order or if it will make the show available online. The Job was produced by Embassy Row (Watch What Happens Live, Talking Dead) and Mark Burnett Productions. With The Job out of work, a total of 10 new series have been canceled since the broadcast season began in September. CBS has killed off three of the five freshman series that have premiered thus far in the 2012-13 campaign, pulling the drama Made in Jersey on Nov. 5 and ending the comedy Partners on the 16th. Next up for CBS is the cop show Golden Boy, which is slated to premiere in a special time slot on Tuesday, Feb. 26. After another episode airs the following week, Golden Boy will move into its regular Friday 9 p.m. slot on March 8. CBS has not scheduled a premiere date for the multicamera sitcom, Friend Me. Looking ahead to 2013-14, CBS has ordered a dozen comedy pilots and 11 dramas. According to CBS Corp. CEO Les Moonves, very few of these projects are likely to find a spot on the network’s prime-time roster. “As always, the bar will be very high to get on our schedule,” Moonves told analysts last week during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. “Once again, we do not have many holes to fill at CBS, and we have several exciting new prospects to fill the few that we do.” In a bit of a reversal from recent years, Moonves elected against making any prognostications about the sort of price increases CBS will be looking for in this spring’s upfront. “My sales department will kill me,” Moonves joked. “I am not going to make—last year, I said double digits, and we only had 9 percent [CPM growth]. The year before, I said double digits, and we had 12 percent to 13 percent. So it’s a bit early to make the prediction. We’re going to be up, but I’m not going to give you a number right now. But I’m feeling very confident.”

Convergent TV

CBS Pink-Slips The Job

Reality series is canned after just two episodes

Anthony Crupi

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Anthony Crupi