Out of that tension comes the negotiation that the Friends cast, Warner Bros., and NBC just concluded. First, we look at the deal from NBC's point of view. Although ad sales are the usual focus of a television network, NBC's interest in a Friends' renewal this season is more about succession. NBC would prefer more time to replace this top-10 sitcom and to build another popular series by pairing it with Friends on the schedule. As NBC looks at Friends, it sees the profitability of that half-hour in primetime as secondary.
Friends increases the audience of the series that follows it.
Indeed, with ER, it hammocks all of Thursday night. Promotion of other series during the Friends telecasts also spreads out the benefit throughout the week. This points to the value of ER, too. Even with ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire attacking the middle hour, the slot between Friends and ER is a coveted incubator. The change in value does not, however, reflect any lesser value now than two years ago.