From the New York Daily News:

First-Runs, Reruns, Also-Rans: It's Summer on the Networks
By RICHARD HUFF
Daily News Staff Writer

Summer programming gets under way tonight, and over the next few months the networks will offer a handful of serious contenders along with downright duds to fill the time before the fall.

Some of the shows were created specifically for the summer, while other series were not considered good enough for the networks to risk putting them on during the regular season.

Tonight's debuts of CBS' reality series "Survivor" and ABC's animated series "Clerks" offer examples of various reasons shows land on the summer slate.

CBS produced "Survivor" for broadcast during the summer. It's inexpensive by network standards and, because of the hype factor, the network was able to sell all the available time to eight advertisers. If the show finds a big audience, great — CBS will do it again. If not, the network will have made its money.

On the other hand, "Clerks," based on Kevin Smith's movie of the same name, has been kicking around ABC since January. It was shelved until now — after ABC claimed the No. 1 spot for the season and advertisers stopped looking at the network ratings.

The quality of the shows aside, it does appear this year that the networks are working harder to keep people watching.

"For the past few years, the networks have been talking about more original programming, but it has not been of the regular series variety," said Steve Sternberg, senior partner at ad buyer TN Media.

"I think it's a good thing, but you have to be careful" lest the new shows get lost among the reruns, he added.

The reason for the traditional shift to reruns during the summer is economics, of course. Networks essentially break even buying the rights to a show's first broadcast, and make a profit on the second airing. But reruns generally draw smaller audiences, so summer has been the time to schedule them. The low-percentage strategy: Perhaps viewers who watched other shows during the season will try something different.

"A lot of times, original programming doesn't do as well as the repeats [in summer]," Sternberg said.

A couple of shows, Fox' "Time of Your Life" and CBS' "Falcone," will air during the summer in last-ditch efforts to save them. If either becomes a hit, new episodes could air later in the year. There's a precedent: Past summers have yielded such hits as "Northern Exposure" and "Beverley Hills, 90210."

Here's a small sample of the new shows ahead:

• "Young Americans," a drama set in a New England prep school, debuts July 12 on the WB.
• "MYOB," a comedy by Don Roos, the creator of "The Opposite of Sex," debuts June 6 on NBC.
• "Sammy," an animated series from David Spade ("Just Shoot Me"), airs on NBC starting July 25.
• "Big Brother," a reality series in the spirit of MTV's "The Real World," will air on CBS starting July 6.
• "Baby Blues," a WB animated comedy, has yet to be assigned a time slot.