NBC failed to reach its guaranteed ratings levels this year, resulting in the company being forced to refund advertisers an average of $500,000 each. What’s really amazing about that is that the trouble started long before the Writer’s Strike kicked into gear.

Not one NBC’s new fall shows has been a hit, and the network appears to be having a hard time figuring out just what is going to work for their audience. It doesn’t really help that people have more options than ever to NOT watch NBC programming on a television. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched an NBC show online this season. At least a dozen times.

Since NBC’s online advertising for streamed shows, and their advertising for network television aren’t related, they don’t share “ratings” and I’m sure the migration of online content, and NBC’s particularly younger skewing shows, have something to do with their ratings troubles.

Can remake shows like “American Gladiators” and “Knight Rider” save the ratings slump? Or are remakes the wrong way to go? NBC is gambling that they’ll get the job done…only time will tell.