NEW YORK — For James Goldston, executive producer of "Nightline," the prospect of a prolonged writers strike that paralyzes much of the television industry offers an awkward upside.
The longer a work stoppage keeps "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and "Late Show With David Letterman" in repeats, the better shot the ABC late-night newsmagazine -- which is remaining live -- has at drawing more viewers.
Indeed, "Nightline," which introduced a new anchor team two years ago, has already enjoyed an immediate lift. During the first week of the writers strike, the usually third-place program drew the largest number of households, according to early Nielsen data of 56 metered markets. The newsmagazine pulled an average of 2.8 million households, while Letterman had 2.7 million and Leno had 2.6 million.
"We take no pleasure in there being a strike whatsoever," Goldston said. "It's no good for anybody. What's also true in the odd circumstance this presents us with is that it is an opportunity of sorts for people who have maybe not sampled the new 'Nightline' or who are looking around for alternatives to come to the show."
"Nightline" is not the only news program that stands to benefit from the strike. As the broadcast networks ration their dwindling supply of original comedies and dramas, news divisions have been instructed to prepare to pick up the slack. If the walk-out drags into next year, the prime-time schedule could be filled with NBC's "Dateline," ABC's "Primetime" and CBS' "48 Hours Mystery."
For newsmagazines, the situation offers a chance to flex their muscles. In their 1990s heyday, they were on as much as 20 hours a week, but since, their roles have steadily diminished. "Dateline," which once aired five nights a week, was not scheduled to be back on until after football season ends early next year.
Now newsmagazines are readying to be tent-pole shows again.
"The reality is that '48 Hours' is the utility player for the network, a role we cherish and consider part of our core responsibility," said Susan Zirinsky, executive producer of the CBS newsmagazine.
In anticipation, producers are sketching out story ideas and stockpiling shows, with an eye toward delivering new material in January. Last week, "Dateline" staffers were instructed to be ready to produce as many as three hours a week after the new year. The show, which has long served as a fill-in for NBC, has spent this fall readying new episodes, including a few new installments of its controversial "To Catch a Predator" series.
