Times are good for USA channel

By David Bauder

NEW YORK — These may not be the best of times for the United States, but they’re great for USA.

The cable channel that is home to the fussy-detective story “Monk,” the mismatched marshals of “In Plain Sight” and professional wrestling is booming, and it couldn’t be more opportune for parent company NBC Universal, considering how its namesake broadcaster is suffering.

USA averaged more than 3.2 million prime-time viewers during the first three months of 2009, more than any other cable network in history and even more than the fifth broadcast network, the CW, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The more important number is $1 billion. Those are the profits USA and its cable sister, SciFi, contributed to NBC Universal’s bottom line last year. (The company won’t break out those two networks individually.)

“USA is the single biggest asset that we currently have at this company,” said Jeff Gaspin, president and chief operating officer of NBC Universal’s cable entertainment group.

A new season of “In Plain Sight,” starring Mary McCormack and Fred Weller, debuts Sunday on USA. So does the drama picked up from NBC, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”

Along with being a success that has its eighth and final season this summer, “Monk” set a template for USA that will continue.

“Monk” was already in place, and doing well, when Bonnie Hammer took over as the executive in charge of USA five years ago. Hammer did some consumer testing, though, and some of the results were tough to take.

USA might seem like a coveted name for television, with the American flag a potent symbol. Yet USA didn’t really stand for anything as a network; some people likened it to an old shoe, and the American flag USA was using as an on-air calling card was polarizing (so the network dropped it).

Most cable channels, such as SciFi, appeal to a niche audience, and the constant goal of operators is to expand it by making their image less specific. USA wanted to do the opposite.

“We wanted to take a hugely successful network and make it feel more like a club,” Hammer explained.

They settled on the slogan “characters welcome” to use as both an image that viewers would have when they turn to USA, and as a guide for the kind of programs USA would seek for the future. Tony Shalhoub’s OCD Monk, for example, is clearly a unique character. So is the nonpsychic police consultant in “Psych.” The lead in the upcoming “Royal Pains,” which debuts June 4, is a doctor on call to wealthy people.

The idea is to find a quirky character to build mostly lighthearted dramas around. “We wanted good, smart escapism, a little blue sky,” Hammer said.

The same principles were applied to broadcast reruns acquired from the syndication market, and this is where USA really hit the jackpot. One is “House,” still a hit with original episodes on the Fox broadcast network, where the oddities of Hugh Laurie’s lead character are well-documented. “NCIS” was a hunch that paid off handsomely: Seven of the 17 most-watched programs on cable TV the week before last were “NCIS” episodes, and the originals are exploding in popularity on CBS.

The focus on characters is both specific yet broad enough to encompass the dumped Debra Messing in “The Starter Wife” and all of the cartoonish leads put forth by World Wrestling Entertainment.

“They have the perfect formula for the current state of the economy,” Gaspin said. “We want a relief right now from the day-to-day, not more angst and depression.”

Because it introduces only a handful of new series each year, USA executives have time to choose what is right for them and time to promote them. As a result, USA has a better success rate than broadcasters: Of the six series that have debuted since Hammer started, only two (one developed by her predecessor) failed to make it to a second season.

If one-third of the new series a broadcast network introduces makes it beyond the first year, that’s considered a successful development effort.