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Is ‘The Blacklist’ Ready to Fly Solo? NBC Wants Its Prized New Drama Series to Go It Alone — and the Season May Hang in the Balance

Dec 3, 2013  •  Post A Comment

While a lead-in from “The Voice” has helped NBC’s new scripted hit “The Blacklist” build an audience, TheWrap.com reports that the network is planning a January run for the drama series without assistance from the singing competition.

After Monday’s midseason finale, “Blacklist” will return Jan. 13 with a lead-in from “American Ninja Warrior.” For the two weeks starting Jan. 20, the crime thriller will air after two-hour editions of “Hollywood Game Night.”

The programming poses a risk to NBC’s ratings hold on this season, the piece notes.

“NBC is No. 1 in the key 18-49 demographic this season, in large part because of the pairing of ‘The Voice’ and ‘The Blacklist.’ It was also No. 1 at this point last season, before ‘The Voice’ took a winter break and ‘Sunday Night Football’ left the airwaves,” the story reports. “Whether NBC can hold on to No. 1 starting next month will depend to some degree on whether it can keep winning Monday nights without ‘The Voice,’ which doesn’t return until spring.”

The piece points out, “NBC does have one major advantage this winter over last: It will air the Winter Olympic Games.”

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3 Comments

  1. The Blacklist does not need The Voice in order to get an audience. That show is great and I would watch it even if it aired at 3AM. (I’d DVR it, of course!)

  2. NBC should move “Revolution” back to Mondays, and shift “The Blacklist” to Wednesday at 9 or 10 pm (either before or after Law & Order: SVU).
    NBC could maximize the best ratings from all three shows with that lineup.

  3. Don’t watch The Voice. Do watch The Blacklist. The Voice lead-in makes no difference. I tune in for The Blacklist after watching another channel. The Voice does not make The Blacklist a winner; awesome writing and acting by James Spader makes it a winner.

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