What happens in "Vegas" will soon be happening on Friday nights. As far as CBS is concerned, anyway.
CBS is bumping the freshman drama, which stars Michael Chiklis and Dennis Quaid, from its Tuesdays at 10 p.m. timeslot, and into Friday night, where it will occupy the 9 p.m. timeslot starting on April 5.
The network's new drama "Golden Boy," which stars Theo James as New York City's youngest police commissioner, will take over the "Vegas" timeslot. The series ran previews in the "Vegas" timeslot Feb. 26 and March 5, and was due to take over the Friday 9 p.m. timeslot on March 8. It will still air an episode in that slot on that date.
"Vegas," which has been the relatively weak ratings link in a Tuesday night roster that includes the tremendously popular "NCIS" and "NCIS: LA," will run its remaining six episodes in its new time slot following CBS's coverage of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament. It will also precede the drama "Blue Bloods," which "Vegas" has been drawing comparable ratings to. The shift is an experiment to see if the show makes a better fit in the Friday-night lineup.
"Golden Boy" got off to a soft start with its Feb. 26 preview, drawing a 1.8 rating in the advertiser-sought 18-49 demographic. While somewhat disappointing, that still marked a 20 percent boost over the "Vegas" episode the previous Tuesday. The second "Golden Boy" preview dipped 11 percent. The previews have won their time period in the demo and total viewers, averaging a 1.7 and 10 million total viewers.
Aside from giving "Golden Boy" a high-profile slot, following the popular "NCIS" and "NCIS: LA," the schedule shift will allow the network to air all original episodes for the remainder of the season on Tuesday nights without dipping into repeats.
