Networks Shy About New Series In Summer

Viewers looking for original-series programming during the hot summer months are going to find the pickings slim.

Just like the old days, but not like recent summers, which have been touted by the networks as the hot inbetween seasons for new shows. Now a chill has set in.

Indeed, on CBS, the only new series episodes coming in summer are leftovers from the final year of “Northern Exposure.” Ironically, that series got its start in July 1990, as a summer offering that was not expected to make it back for aregular-season run.

“It’s costly to launch in the summer and then launch again in the fall,” said a CBS spokeswoman, explaining the dearth of new programming. “Also, these shortflight orders don’t necessarily work.”

Traditionally, until recent years, the summer season had generally been a wasteland. TV usage is down drastically compared with the fall and winter months, as people tend to spend more time away from their sets. Network programmers and bean counters were never hot on trying to lure them back. Hello, reruns.

But aping Fox’s success a few years ago in airing original summer episodes of such series as “Melrose Place” and “Beverly Hills, 90210,” its competitors jumped head-first into the summer-programming fray.