Monitor (American TV program)

Monitor was an American newsmagazine television program which premiered on NBC on April 12, 1983. It was named after the earlier NBC Radio series of the same name. NBC News created this program as a platform to possibly challenge the success of CBS's 60 Minutes. After being initially broadcast on Saturdays at 10 P.M. Eastern time, the program was moved to Sundays at 7 P.M. Eastern time for its second season, going head-to-head with 60 Minutes, and was renamed First Camera.

Overview

Production was based in Washington, D.C., with offices in the Tenley Circle area immediately east of NBC's Nebraska Avenue studios. Lloyd Dobyns, the show's anchor, appeared on a stark white, modernistic set. In the absence of a theme composed especially for the show, the producers opted to use the opening minute of "Piano Concerto No. 1 In D-Flat Major, Op. 10: I Allegro brioso" by Sergei Prokofiev, feeling that it added gravitas to the show—something they hoped would set them apart from ABC's lightweight 20/20.

In test audiences (including one in which future NBC anchor Sarah James was a college student), the show did not test well, but producers refused to change the format. The first episode featured an extended story on Bobby Czyz, a light heavyweight boxer from New Jersey. The show placed last in its time period in national ratings in its debut and was one of the least-watched programs in all of prime time. Additionally, the Prokofiev score brought complaints and was compared to a funeral dirge.[1] Reporters that worked on the program included Mark Nykanen.[2][3]

Despite attempts to add anchors to broaden its appeal, new theme music and changing the title to First Camera, the changes failed to draw in viewers, and its new time slot only damaged ratings further; seeing no hope of successfully competing against the powerhouse 60 Minutes, 7 percent of NBC affiliates declined to carry the revamped show, and it was further hurt by frequent pre-emptions due to football runovers. As a result, First Camera was removed from the NBC schedule several months after the makeover, its last episode airing April 1, 1984.

References
  1. Lloyd Dobyns correspondence
  2. "First Camera". The San Bernardino County Sun. September 25, 1983.
  3. JULIANNE HASTINGS (August 11, 1983). "TV World;NEWLN:NBC News preparing for all-new season". UPI.
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