Move creates all-unscripted Sunday lineup

NBC is tinkering with its schedule again, switching the Wednesday edition of "Deal or No Deal" to Sundays and moving "Crossing Jordan" to the middle of the week.

With the change, the network's Sunday lineup becomes an all-unscripted night. "Deal or No Deal" will take over the 9 p.m. ET timeslot, and "The Apprentice," which has struggled in the ratings this season, moves back an hour to 10 p.m. starting March 4.

"Crossing Jordan," meanwhile, will air at 9 p.m. Wednesdays beginning March 7, joining "Friday Night Lights" and "Medium" for an all-drama night.

The Sunday shuffle moves "The Apprentice" out of the way of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and CBS' "Cold Case," which have both contributed to the Donald Trump-fronted show's ratings decline this season. Through last week, the series was averaging only 7.9 million viewers per week, easily the lowest number of its six seasons. Sunday's (Feb. 18) episode was well below that, drawing only about 6 million people.

"Deal or No Deal" should also provide a stronger lead-in than "Grease: You're the One That I Want," which is staying put at 8 p.m. The game show has held its own in tough timeslots this season, averaging better than 10 million viewers against "Grey's Anatomy" and "CSI" on Thursdays and more recently opposite "American Idol" on Wednesdays.

"Crossing Jordan," meanwhile, gets the unenviable job of airing against "Idol" on Wednesdays. The sixth-year series, which stars Jill Hennessy as a Boston medical examiner, is drawing 7.7 million viewers a week this season.