Because of so many uncustomary disruptions occurring at the start of the season -- including the presidential debates, several football overruns, an October Miss America pageant and other specials -- it is unlikely that network programmers will alter their schedules much during the November sweeps, the New York Daily News observed today (Thursday). "I don't really think anybody can make any definitive assessment of any program yet," Alan Wurtzel, NBC's head of research, told the newspaper.

"It's just too early." Tom DeCabia of Schulman/Advanswers, a New York media buying company, noted that some of the new shows have yet to air in their regular time slots. "These shows haven't been on enough to pull them yet," he told the Daily News. "There's no reason to go out and start panicking. We still have plenty of time to see how they're going to perform."

Source: Studio Briefing