Monitor (TV)
Encyclopedia
Monitor was an NBC newsmagazine
series in 1983. NBC News created this series as a platform to possibly equal the success of CBS
's 60 Minutes
.
Production was based in Washington, DC, with offices in the Tenley Circle
area immediately east of NBC
's Nebraska Avenue studios. Lloyd Dobyns
, the shows host, appeared in a stark white modernistic set. In the absence of a theme composed especially for the show, producers opted to use classical music composed by Sergei Prokofiev
, feeling that it added gravitas to the show - something that they wished 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 frame in national rating
s in its debut.
Monitor failed to attract viewers. The Prokofiev score brought complaints and was compared to a funeral
dirge
.
Despite attempts to add anchors to broaden its appeal, the show was removed from the NBC schedule shortly after its premiere.
Newsmagazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published piece of paper, magazine or a radio or television program, usually weekly, featuring articles or segments on current events...
series in 1983. NBC News created this series as a platform to possibly equal the success of CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
.
Production was based in Washington, DC, with offices in the Tenley Circle
Tenley Circle
Tenley Circle is a traffic circle in the Northwest Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Tenleytown. Tenley Circle lies at the intersection of Nebraska Avenue, Wisconsin Avenue, and Yuma Street....
area immediately east of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Nebraska Avenue studios. Lloyd Dobyns
Lloyd Dobyns
Lloyd Allen Dobyns, Jr. born is a former NBC news reporter and correspondent.Born in Newport News, Virginia, he graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1957. He started his broadcasting career in his hometown, eventually serving as an anchor at WAVY television in Portsmouth/Norfolk/Newport...
, the shows host, appeared in a stark white modernistic set. In the absence of a theme composed especially for the show, producers opted to use classical music composed by Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
, feeling that it added gravitas to the show - something that they wished 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
Bobby Czyz
Robert Edward "Bobby" Czyz is a retired American boxer. A New Jersey native of mostly Polish and Italian descent, he is both a former world light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion.Czyz was born in Orange, New Jersey...
, a light heavyweight boxer from New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. The show placed last in its time frame in national rating
Audience measurement
Audience measurement measures how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also in relation to newspaper and magazine readership and, increasingly, web traffic on websites...
s in its debut.
Monitor failed to attract viewers. The Prokofiev score brought complaints and was compared to a funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
dirge
Dirge
A dirge is a somber song expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral. A lament. The English word "dirge" is derived from the Latin Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam , the first words of the first antiphon in the Matins of the Office...
.
Despite attempts to add anchors to broaden its appeal, the show was removed from the NBC schedule shortly after its premiere.