Money | television New Shows Offer NBC Ray of Hope Southland, Parks and Recreation lead upturn By Matt Cantor Posted Apr 15, 2009 12:03 PM CDT Copied NBC late-night star Jay Leno performs during a stand up show billed as "Jay's Comedy Stimulus Plan" at the Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Mich., Tuesday, April 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) After years of poor ratings, NBC may be on the rebound with the help of two new series: cop show Southland and Amy Poehler’s comedy Parks and Recreation. Parks scored only 6.9 million total viewers, but it maintained 88% of The Office’s coveted young-adult audience. Southland topped CBS’ Harper’s Island in the 18-to-49 demographic and beat expectations by almost equaling Harper’s Island's total viewership. NBC’s young-adult viewership hasn’t dropped this season, ending a longstanding downward trend, while ABC and Fox have lost viewers. And American Idol’s domination seems to be waning. But NBC has a long way to go: it’s the fourth-ranked network in total viewers and only has one top-10 show, Sunday Night Football, which ends halfway through the TV season. Read These Next JD Vance in hot water over birthday boating trip. Two state troopers were shot in Pennsylvania Kelly Clarkson's ex died a day after she disclosed he was ill. "Rock's forgotten genius" said no to Led Zeppelin. Report an error