NBC’s ‘Rock Center’ Might Arrive in ‘Early October’

By Alex Weprin 

Could NBC’s upcoming newsmagaine “Rock Center” be hitting the airwaves sooner rather than later? The Willston Herald in Willston, North Dakota spoke to correspondent Harry Smith, who was in town shooting a piece for the program last week.

Plans call for this to be a new prime time magazine show on NBC, expected to air sometime in early October.

“It will be hosted by Brian Williams and will be kind of a cross between Nightline and Sixty Minutes. It’s really exciting,” said Smith.

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Considering that October starts on Saturday, we should find out soon whether an early October launch is in the works. An increasingly likely timeslot is Monday nights at 10 PM, currently home to “The Playboy Club.”

“Playboy” has so far failed to light up NBC’s ratings, with its second episode failing to attract even four million total viewers, very poor for a broadcaster. TVByTheNumbers currently has it as the most likely series to be canceled in its “Renew/Cancel Index.”

“Playboy” has also drawn plenty of negative attention from organizations like the Parents Television Council, which has called for a boycott, as well as some affiliates which are declining to air the program at 10 PM, citing content concerns.

If NBC decides to stick with “Playboy” but still wants to debut “Rock Center” in October, it could give it one of “Dateline'”s hours on Friday evenings, as the new series “Grimm” will not debut on Friday nights until late October.

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