The TV Zone

Primetime bound? (Getty)

In this morning's good wrap by Timesmen Bill Carter and Brian Stelter about Jay's move to 10, they mention "one ABC employee" who says the idea of moving "Nightline" to 10 has been raised. In fact...a similar move already took place years ago: "20/20" and "Primetime." Remember?

Back in the the glory days of both shows, they were splashed across 10 for a full week (with one night exception, though I forget which one). The move was of course a bust. (Just as "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" was.) The networks have thought about "stripping" ideas forever, and they typically resort to them in moments of weakness or crisis or because they simply become bankrupt of ideas.

Faced with an uncertain future and declining everything, the networks - like the newspapers - are searching for whatever does two things, and pretty much always have:

Save them money and make them money. If by moving "NL" to ten, they'd accomplish that, then they'd do it, and would have done it years ago.

As it now stands, the only thing that will keep the networks in business now and thenceforth is that which has kept them in business from the earliest days:

Find a hit.

Just one hit. One big monstrous culture-busting language-changing mind-warping hit, and everything else will follow.

In the meantime, "history-changing moves" like Jay to 10 are mere placeholders until something better, namely a bone fide hit, comes along. Find me and you the next "Seinfeld," then we can talk about "history."

(Thank you for enduring my late afternoon history lesson; class dismissed.)