This paper analyzes NBC's decline in television ratings during the mid-2000s and proposes a management turnaround strategy rooted in GE's Six Sigma quality control framework. Drawing on Jack Welch's celebrated revitalization of GE, the paper applies the principle of measurable performance standards to NBC's programming challenges. It identifies NBC's core strengths — evening news viewership and reality programming — as the foundation for a recovery strategy, arguing that investing in these areas while reviving the network's historically innovative brand identity offers the clearest path back to ratings dominance.
At present, there is a glaring decline in one of GE's key divisions: NBC. Once upon a time in entertainment history, NBC was at the forefront of cutting-edge television, with its "Must See TV" Thursday lineup of Friends, Seinfeld, and ER — the envy of every other network. Then along came HBO, and along went these classic shows into syndication, or in the case of ER, simply downhill as its major stars departed. Now, over the course of the first seventeen weeks of the television season under review, CBS had been first in viewers' homes fifteen times (CNN.com, 2005).
Although NBC still held on in the top five and occasionally surprised with a jump in the Nielsen ratings, it had yet to regain sure footing. Clearly, this fall from the top of the ratings was, if not a decline in artistic quality, then a definite deficit in the network's appeal to viewers. Before, NBC succeeded by leading rather than by copying other networks. Seinfeld, Friends, and ER were all risky propositions in their time. The management solution, accordingly, is to play to the product's strengths.
One of the most outstanding management success stories of the latter 20th century was Jack Welch's revitalization of the then-failing GE corporate enterprise through his statistically quantified quality control procedure known as Six Sigma. Quality control is defined as "the managerial process during which actual process performance is evaluated and actions are taken on unusual performance. It is a process to ensure whether a product meets predefined standards and requisite action taken if the standards are not met" (Six Sigma Dictionaries, 2004). Welch set standards for his corporation in specific and quantifiable ways, and required its different divisions to meet those specifications.
The decline of NBC's flagship programming illustrates the difficulty of maintaining a strong network identity over time. The departure of cornerstone shows and the rise of premium cable competitors like HBO fundamentally shifted the viewing landscape. Audiences that once gathered around NBC's Thursday night lineup migrated to new platforms and competitors, eroding the network's dominant position in the ratings.
The challenge for NBC's management, then, is not merely one of finding new hit shows, but of rethinking the network's overall brand strategy. Copying the formulas of competing networks would be a short-term fix inconsistent with the history that made NBC great. A longer-term solution must be grounded in measurable goals — the kind Six Sigma demands — and in an honest assessment of where the network's genuine strengths lie.
An assessment of NBC's current performance reveals two clear areas of strength. First, its news division remains a powerful draw: NBC Nightly News handily won the evening news ratings race, averaging 11.4 million viewers (8.0 rating, 15 share) (CNN.com, 2005). Second, its reality television offering The Apprentice had proven to be one of the network's reliable performers. These two areas represent the foundation upon which a turnaround strategy can be built, consistent with the Six Sigma principle of identifying and reinforcing measurable strengths.
"Cost-effective programming strategy proposed"
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