Also, networks are looking to cut corners anyway they can in this economy ... you can bet your last dollar that the industry is paying close attention to how well Jay Leno's new, primetime talk show is doing in the ratings. If it succeeds, well, you'll probably start seeing fewer hour-long, dramatic programs on TV...
Being way OT, I'll simply post this as a one-time illustration, so please let's not get into a discussion about it unless it can somehow be related to the topic at hand.
While I have nothing against Jay Leno personally, I hate that NBC, in its cost-savings insanity, has put a talk show on in primetime five nights a week. Last week he had decent ratings - but that was with no competition as everything on the other networks was reruns. The good news for those of us who hate what NBC has done is that this week it has been a totally different story so far. Monday's rating was his worst so far. He rebounded a bit on Tuesday - but he was still coming in a distant third. And I couldn't be happier.