'ER' audience is eroding

Is NBC losing its grip on Thursday nights?

Maybe.

The network has already undergone a seismic shift in its scheduling on that night. The last time NBC didn't have four consecutive sitcoms on its regular Thursday-night schedule from 7-9 p.m. was 1983, when "Fame" occupied the 7-8 p.m. hour. After all these years and a lot of sitcoms — including "Cheers," "Cosby," "Family Ties," "Night Court," "Mad About You," "Frasier," "Seinfeld" and a lot of really bad pretenders — that came to an end in February when NBC president Jeff Zucker moved "The Apprentice" to Thursdays at 8 p.m.

At least for the short term, it's been a good move. Donald Trump & Co. have done very well in the ratings, even beating "CSI" in the advertiser-friendly 18-49 demographic last week.

But whether "The Apprentice" is in it for the long haul we won't know for a while. Only a couple of reality shows ("Survivor," "American Idol") have held up in the ratings over several seasons; most reality shows fade rather quickly.

You can hardly blame Zucker for trying something other than sitcoms, given that the network hasn't developed a hit comedy since "Will & Grace," which is in its sixth season. What was he going to do — move "Happy Family" there? Or "Whoopi"?

Still, you've got to wonder how NBC is going to fare on Thursdays next season when "Friends" is no longer there. "Will & Grace" isn't going to do it. Or "Scrubs."

Remember when "Coupling" was supposed to be the next "Friends"? Didn't quite turn out that way.

And, at long last, "ER" seems to be losing its grip on the 9-10 p.m. hour. Oh, it still does quite well. Original episodes of the series are pretty much a sure bet to win the time period.

But unlike past years when "ER" was smothering its competition, the 10-year-old medical drama has CBS's "Without a Trace" breathing down its neck. Last week, "Trace" came closer to a first-run episode of "ER" than ever.

"ER" 's lead was hardly paper thin — the NBC show attracted 19.24 million viewers, 1.12 million more than "Without a Trace." But it's one more sign that we're well into a trend that doesn't bode well for "ER."

When "Trace" premiered in September 2002, it trailed "ER" by 10.5 million viewers. By the end of last season, that lead had been cut to less than 5 million — although that's attributable to "ER" losing viewers, not "Without a Trace" gaining them.