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fredfa

02-10-07, 07:06 PM

The Business of Television
Commentary: Jeff Zucker’s First 100 Days
By J. Max Robins Broadcasting & Cable 2/12/2007

As Jeffrey Zucker was anointed the new CEO of NBC Universal at a town-hall meeting last week, his minions were no doubt listening carefully, noting each and every time Zucker and his boss, General Electric Chairman Jeffrey Immelt, name-checked senior NBCU brass.

After all, those shout-outs to USA Networks chief Bonnie Hammer; NBCU’s cable, digital and cross-network guru Jeff Gaspin; or NBCU TV West Coast President Marc Graboff may hold clues to who will be the winners and losers in the Zucker era.

Whatever Zucker does in making his first impression on the media giant, he’ll likely do it soon—as any new leader would in those initial 100 days before organizational entropy sets in. Look no further then Zucker’s former NBCU colleague David Zaslav, who took a hammer to Discovery Communications less than a month after taking the reins (see “Zaslav’s Vision for Growth,” p. 4).

The consensus is that Zucker will be true to the GE ethos of trying to wring profits from divisions while cutting their budgets. Imagine him turning his lieutenants upside down and shaking them until every last coin hits the floor.

But the real question is: Will Zucker be a company man or a visionary?

Consider some of his media counterparts. When Bob Iger took over at Disney after years of playing second fiddle to Chairman Michael Eisner, he quickly spruced up the Mouse House with watershed digital deals and reinvigorated programming over platforms from broadcast to broadband.

When Leslie Moonves became CEO of CBS, newly disentangled from Viacom, he made several strategic moves to put a new-media coat of paint on an old-media brand and watched his stock leap. (Moonves has expressed the desire before to have a film studio, and now that his rival Zucker has one, watch the CBS boss fulfill that dream.)

Even if Zucker does have the vision to bring some new-media luster to the Peacock, he’ll likely face some resistance from the stodgy ranks at GE. The new chief has some first-rate media and entertainment talent in key positions.

But, as one NBC vet joked last week, with all the GE veterans dug in throughout NBCU’s operations—from finance and new media to stations and sales—a discussion about programming can start to sound an awful lot like a number-crunching session at the aircraft engines division.

It’s hard to imagine Zucker turning to these guys for support at a time when smart, bold bets are needed to transform an old-media player into a new one. But he has a key patron in Immelt.

Remember, when outgoing NBCU chief Bob Wright took charge more than two decades ago after a stint running GE Financial Services, he seemed an unlikely candidate to create billions of dollars in value for a company venturing into a new-media play called cable—let alone preside over NBC during an enviably long run as the No. 1 broadcast network. But Immelt’s own predecessor, Jack Welch, invested his faith in Wright and guided him toward his long tenure.

Zucker is smart, infinitely ambitious and fiercely competitive, and he no doubt believes he has the Wright stuff—and then some—to transform NBCU as much as or more than the outgoing chairman did.

Immelt has already bet big on Zucker to be that guy. And with the GE chairman’s support, he just may make that major acquisition or strategic play that will be the gateway to growth.

But in these first 100 days, he’ll have to work hard to make his case heard over the roar of those GE engines.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6415589

Mikef5

02-10-07, 07:09 PM

Because it is too expensive to get an HD trailer to Hawaii?

(And the ratings in past years, when HD wasn't a major -- or even no -- factor, were miniscule, too.)
Actually, you're probably right but there just was a major increase in people buying HD capable tv's just to watch the last Super Bowl. You'd think that the networks would realize that maybe it's time to do these things in HD, sports is the driving factor in buying these HD sets, and maybe that would help with the dismal ratings that the Pro Bowl has been getting.

Laters,
Mikef5

fredfa

02-10-07, 07:24 PM

homcom

02-10-07, 07:47 PM

Perhaps you are right, Mike.

Maybe ESPN, the Fox RSNs and the networks should figure out a way to share the cost of an HD trailer, and then shuttle it around the islands when necessary. But then, aside from a handful of golf and tennis tournaments and the University if Hawaii, what is there to broadcast in HD back to the mainland?

Perhaps we'll have to wait until the February 2009 DTV switchover -- maybe then one or more of the Hawaiian stations might have a truck.

By the way, I think more and more the driving force behind the HD explosion is the rapid decrease in prices and the growing acceptance by women of the quality of the picture.

Oprah's switch to HD (rumored for later this year) should help a bit in that regard, too!
I don't think there are enough events in Hawaii to support a truck right now. The demand for HD trucks outpaces the supply right now on the the mainland. Once the supply reaches the demand level I think we will see a HD truck for Hawaii. Right now there is just too much money to be made with a HD truck on the mainland to have a HD truck sit dark for long periods of the year.

however, I do think we will see ESPN do more events from Hawaii using a flypack and office trailers. Hopefully we will see a HD feed of the Maui Invite come next college basketball season.

dad1153

02-10-07, 07:51 PM

The Business of Television
Commentary: Jeff Zucker’s First 100 Days
By J. Max Robins Broadcasting & Cable 2/12/2007.

Zucker is smart, infinitely ambitious and fiercely competitive, and he no doubt believes he has the Wright stuff—and then some—to transform NBCU as much as or more than the outgoing chairman did.

I was wondering why TV media/headline writers weren't using this pun in their stories about Zucker taking over Wright's post at NBC. The levy has broken, let the flood of 'Wright stuff' witticisms begin! :rolleyes:

fredfa

02-10-07, 08:00 PM

Good points, homcom.

URFloorMatt

02-10-07, 09:07 PM

And here's why " NOT IN HD, NOT GOING TO WATCH"
They can put golf and bull riding in HD but not the Pro Bowl... go figure...

I'd wager it probably has a lot more to do with the fact that the game is meaningless, uncompetitive, and poorly scheduled.

kevin j

02-10-07, 09:16 PM

Maybe they ought to move the pro bowl from Hawaii and have it in LA or San Diego then it'd be in HD for sure.

fredfa

02-10-07, 09:55 PM

Critic’s Notebook
NBC News braces for new boss
Zucker's past choices offer mixed signals
By Brian Lowry Variety February 10, 2007

Is Jeff Zucker the guy to finally engineer a true overhaul of broadcast news -- for better or, more likely, worse?

Zucker's responsibilities as the newly anointed CEO of NBC Universal include movies, which is appropriate, inasmuch as GE's corporate baton-pass evoked ironic thoughts of two film titles: "Barbarians at the Gate" and "The Over-the-Hill Gang."

In this new version of "Barbarians," Zucker has been cast in the role of executioner, having already begun wielding an ax meant to slice $750 million out of NBC's budget, most coming from its news operations. The twist is that the former wonderboy "Today" producer once resided inside the gate, whose ivied walls have long protected TV news from infidels who would dramatically reshape its fiefdom.

Zucker is hardly the first to cite a need to reconsider TV news. CBS chairman Leslie Moonves, for example, made considerable noise about shaking up the hoary institution known as CBS News, only to be met with fierce resistance from newsies. He settled for placing the Eye net's news division under CBS Sports prexy Sean McManus and hiring Katie Couric, leading to changes in "The CBS Evening News" that have thus far proved mostly cosmetic.

Zucker, by contrast, approaches the task at hand with the credentials of having worked at NBC News. In that respect, think of him as Nixon in China: Just as it required a hawk to negotiate peace with a communist power, a news veteran should possess greater authority in addressing skittish news personnel as one of their own.

Despite his resume, however, Zucker is a pragmatist, and his penchant for news-lite values and quick fixes -- including plans to "super-size" "Today" to four hours -- offer little comfort to news purists.

In addition to cost reductions associated with the already-announced "NBC 2.0" campaign, the network is recycling the slick-but-sleazy sting operation "To Catch a Predator" and other crime-oriented fare on MSNBC. This "crime pays" message has spread throughout news, from NBC's "Dateline" to ABC's "20/20" to CBS' "48 Hours Mysteries."

Zucker promised on a conference call that further changes will occur as NBC adapts to meet the digital future. "We're never going to stop asking if we're correctly structured and properly set up," he said.

Yet while the days of sheltering news from bottom-line concerns are long since gone, it doesn't bode well for broadcast reporting if those divisions must toe the same financial line as other units. Crafting "stories" around bogeymen down the street, after all, is invariably far easier and cheaper than digging truths out of Washington, Europe and the Middle East.

To his credit, Zucker is unabashed in defending the news division's fluffier and more salacious efforts, which increasingly leave "The NBC Nightly News" as a lonely island of hard news. His customary response, in essence, is "Only dweeby TV critics worry about such things."

Just because he's probably right doesn't make the trend any less disquieting.

• • • • • • • • • • •

As for questions of age and "The Over-the-Hill Gang," Wright's step toward retirement at 63 -- with GE chairman Jeffrey Immelt installing a younger replacement in Zucker -- felt particularly strange juxtaposed against the Directors Guild of America's annual awards dinner.

Not only did Martin Scorsese, 64, and Walter Hill, 65, collect top honors at that event for "The Departed" and the AMC longform "Broken Trail," respectively, but 84-year-old emcee Carl Reiner masterfully continued his tradition as the evening's host.

Throw in septuagenarian Oscar nominees Peter O'Toole, Alan Arkin, Clint Eastwood and Judi Dench, and the rationale for a corporate mandate of a changing of the guard after 60 has seldom appeared more arbitrary and flawed.

Such policies hardly reflect the media world's present reality, where Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone remain lions well into winter and Barry Diller just celebrated his 65th birthday. Nor is there much evidence to support the notion that younger execs possess an inherent advantage surfing new-media waves that, frankly, are unpredictable enough to subject anybody to a dousing now and again.

As a mere stripling of 41, Zucker is blessed in that he needn't worry about being "over the hill" any time soon. If he hopes to emulate Wright's longevity in a hit-driven business, though, he and his team must banish the specter of another vintage comedy title that for a while could easily have been invoked to describe NBC: "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight."

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117959128&categoryid=14

shuttermaker

02-10-07, 09:55 PM

I'd wager it probably has a lot more to do with the fact that the game is meaningless, uncompetitive, and poorly scheduled.

Its also played by a majority of players who win a popularity contest. Not all that get voted to participate deserve to be there. I think that the voting should be taken away from the fans. JMO

fredfa

02-10-07, 10:02 PM

But then maybe only the players will watch it :)

keenan

02-10-07, 10:33 PM

Maybe they ought to move the pro bowl from Hawaii and have it in LA or San Diego then it'd be in HD for sure.
It's against the law to play professional football in LA. :D

homcom

02-10-07, 10:42 PM

Maybe they ought to move the pro bowl from Hawaii and have it in LA or San Diego then it'd be in HD for sure.
That would take away alot of the motivation for players to go to the game. I have had family members who have gone to the Pro Bowl with their companies, all it is a NFL sponsored vacation in Hawaii.

fredfa

02-10-07, 11:04 PM

And for too many years here, Jim, we didn't have professional football -- we had the Raiders. :)

And we don't want to spring for $1 billion for a stadium. And think about all those network doubleheader games we'd miss!

Aside from some politicians, almost all sports radio talk show hosts and some newspaper columnists, there really isn't that big a groundswell for the NFL here.

We do seem to get along quite well without having a team of our own -- and since the majority of us are from some place else anyway, it seems we all have teams to root for. Or we can just jump on the bandwagon du jour.

It's against the law to play professional football in LA. :D

fredfa

02-10-07, 11:10 PM

TV Notebook
NBC Sunday sees post-NFL slump
Web must make future plans for the night
By Rick Kissell Variety February 10, 2007

Football is over for NBC, and the net's new Sunday night game plan hasn't exactly found the Nielsen end zone.

One of the down sides to airing a primetime football series -- as ABC learned over 35-plus years on Monday nights -- is that the audience is borrowed to some extent, and it can be difficult to start a lineup from scratch when the season ends.

The Peacock had a decent post-football attack, but its revamped Sunday lineup has pretty much been sacked, and it must now make future plans for the night.

Of course, it's not easy replacing "Sunday Night Football," which in its first season on NBC averaged a 6.4 rating in adults 18-49 and 16.5 million viewers overall to rank among the top 10 primetime programs on television.

And this package, because it included a pregame show and occupied all four hours of NBC's Sunday lineup, is even more difficult to replace than "Monday Night Football," which ate up just two of ABC's three hours on the night from 1970 to 2005.

The Peacock ended the fourth quarter of 2006 in a tie with ABC for the Sunday 18-49 lead (5.5 rating), nearly doubling its fourth-place 2.8 average of a year earlier, according to Nielsen data. But after its soft Sunday start in 2007, the net could fall to third or fourth for the night by season's end.

Events like NFL conference championship games, the Super Bowl, the Grammys and the Academy Awards all serve as potholes for any Sunday program in the first quarter -- let alone a whole new lineup looking to find its groove. But NBC gave it a shot.

Unscripted competition skein "Grease: You're the One That I Want" looked pretty good in its Jan. 7 premiere in the 8 o'clock slot (4.3 rating in 18-49), but auds turned out not to be hopelessly devoted: It averaged a mere 2.7 over its next three airings.

Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" was asked to fill out the 9 o'clock hour, and the Los Angeles-based edition opened with a 4.1 and has averaged a 3.0 since. Show has clearly seen its best days, but at this number, it remains a serviceable entry for the net.

Filling out the night has been the return of vet crime drama "Crossing Jordan," which mustered a mere 2.4 rating in its first three airings at 10 o'clock opposite ABC's promising first-year sudser "Brothers & Sisters" and CBS' crime vet "Without a Trace."

Not exactly a lineup for rivals to fear, but it was fairly low-risk and could have paid off if "Grease," a search for the leads in an upcoming Broadway play, had clicked.

So going forward, one option would be for NBC to open Sundays in the second half of the season with movies and specials. However, the net's feature film library has been dwindling over the years, while its meager output of telepics and specs makes one wonder if the division is still up and running.

But it would take just a handful of movies and specs to get the net through the event-filled Sundays of January and February, and it could finish the season with male-skewing dramas.

Net has shown this season with "Heroes" that it can use its football platform to help draw men to new hours. And if organized-crime drama "The Black Donnellys" is successful on Mondays when it bows in a few weeks, it could be the kind of appointment show that could be reserved for a second-half run next season, a la "24."

But NBC will still need a couple of other players to help drive it the length of the field and score on Sunday once the clock ticks down on football season.

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117959115&categoryid=14

homcom

02-10-07, 11:14 PM

And we don't want to spring for $1 billion for a stadium. And think about all those network doubleheader games we'd miss!
I would have to believe unless you had a good team in LA the rating would not be all that great. Currently the networks can get great ratings out of the number 2 market in the country. I don't see the networks as big fans of a team in LA.

fredfa

02-10-07, 11:17 PM

Agreed.

And in this age of parity, since very few teams stay on top for long, it might even hurt the NFL's ratings overall.

But the bottom line is simple: if the NFL really thought it needed Los Angeles, it would be here.

DoubleDAZ

02-10-07, 11:21 PM

You can have our Cardinals if you want them. :)

dad1153

02-11-07, 12:23 AM

TV Notebook
NBC Sunday sees post-NFL slump
Web must make future plans for the night
By Rick Kissell Variety February 10, 2007

Filling out the night has been the return of vet crime drama "Crossing Jordan," which mustered a mere 2.4 rating in its first three airings at 10 o'clock opposite ABC's promising first-year sudser "Brothers & Sisters" and CBS' crime vet "Without a Trace."

Could Crossing Jordan become the new What About Brian? Both shows are low-rated with little growth prospect. Yet somehow both remain on the air because they have a "hot" creator (JJ Abrams -from Lost and Alias fame- for 'Bryan' and Heroes creator Tim Kring for 'Jordan') behind them that their respective networks want happy so they can snag a potential new hit.

fredfa

02-11-07, 01:18 AM

Could be, Dad.

But that is not the kind of thinking which will keep the networks in business.

Better the nets search diligently for the next Marc Cherry or Shonda Rhimes. But that would require an executive to make a decision on his or her own -- and accept the consequences.

fredfa

02-11-07, 02:01 AM

The Business of Television
Bottom Line: Fox In Business
After Two Years of Talking, Channel To Launch by Q4
By Mike Reynolds MultiChannel News 2/12/2007

Just as many of its prospective viewers seek to diversify their portfolios, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. wants to expand the audience for financial-news watchers when it launches its long-anticipated Fox Business Channel in the fourth quarter.

How the new network — currently set to launch with 30 million pay television subscribers able to watch, through agreements with such distributors as Comcast, Time Warner Cable, DirecTV and Charter Communications — is going to do that remained unclear last week.

After two years of buildup, News finally made it official last Thursday: It will take on a category-leading cable network for the second time, with its business channel challenging CNBC in the way Fox News Channel took on CNN 10 years ago.

Fox Business will try to lure CEOs, CFOs, CTOs and CMOs away from CNBC. Focusing on that C-suite of viewers has enabled CNBC to ring up some $500 million in annual license fees and advertising revenues.

The new service will be developed and overseen by Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO, Fox News and chairman, Fox Television Stations. He knows the turf: He served as president of CNBC and MSNBC predecessor America’s Talking before joining News Corp. in February 1996 and launching Fox News Channel in Oct. 7 of that year.

But neither Ailes or Fox News senior vice president and managing editor of business news Neil Cavuto, who will oversee content and business coverage at the new service, would discuss specifics about programming to be launched or the channel’s strategies for different parts of the day. Their silence extended to whether Cavuto’s five Fox News Channel business shows — including Bulls & Bears and Your World With Neil Cavuto, the five highest-rated in cable (see chart) — would repeat on the new service.

Cavuto, who worked for eight years at CNBC, said: “We’re going to be entertaining, informative, youthful. We’re going to appeal to groups beyond old white guys with money.”

Riffing on that remark, Ailes said: “I have no problem with old white guys with money, being one of them. Having said that, it would be good to broaden the audience.”

One hint of what viewers can expect came from News chairman Rupert Murdoch. Speaking at the BusinessWeek Media Summit in New York last Thursday, Murdoch said it would be “more business-friendly than CNBC.” He added that the Fox channel’s rival tends to be “negative” toward business and to jump on scandals more than is warranted.

Friday morning, Ailes supported those philosophies. “We’re not getting up in the morning predisposed to be negative. Business is good for America; the capitalist system is good and we like that,” he said.

As for whether it will be less likely to “leap into scandals’’ than CNBC, Ailes notes that “we’ll cover them as we always have. We’re not going to assume guilt.”

The network, centered at News Corp.’s headquarters in Manhattan, is expected to launch in major markets around the country, including this nation’s financial capital, New York.

In making the announcement, Murdoch said, “We have long considered the business-television market to be underserved. I look forward to introducing new competition and a new voice to the business-news arena.”

News watcher Andrew Tyndall, who monitors TV-news viewing through the Tyndall Report, is not sure one is really needed.

“This is not an underserved market,” he said. “CNNfn didn’t make it. Bloomberg [Television], a very well-established name in the financial field, hasn’t really succeeded.” CNNfn shut down on Dec. 15, 2004, with distribution to 30 million homes. Bloomberg currently counts some 43 million subscribers.

The emergence of a Fox rival did not faze NBC Universal’s CNBC. Its vice president of media relations, Kevin Goldman, said: “Bring it on. We certainly welcome the competition, if it ever shows up.”

Although still down from the halcyon days before the Internet bubble burst in 2001, when it averaged 330,000 viewers and topped the $500 million mark in advertising sales the following year, CNBC has climbed back under Mark Hoffman, who returned to the network as president in 2005.

Last year, total-day viewership was up 22% to 169,000, while primetime watching grew by a third to 171,000 on average. Among the news-targeted demo of adults 25 to 54, CNBC improved 62% to 63,000 of those watchers in its 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. “business day” period.

“We’re in the best position we’ve ever been in and we’re only getting stronger,” Goldman continued. “We just wrapped up our best financial year ever and our measured audience is surging.”

CNBC has been preparing for the arrival of Fox Business Channel over the past 18 months, revamping its “look and feel,” Tyndall said.

“It has become less stuffy, has a more chatty style, jazzier graphics, younger people on [signature show] Squawk Box,” he said. “FNC is not going to be able to ambush CNBC, like FNC ambushed CNN.”

After launching under Ailes in October 2006, Fox News Channel surpassed CNN in primetime and total day ratings in January 2002. Last month, it marked five years atop those measures.

The timing for Fox News has been good: It’s been able to ink a series of renewals as its 10-year carriage contracts have begun to roll off. Thus far, Fox News has reached accords with Cablevision Systems, the National Cable Television Cooperative, DirecTV and Time Warner. Executives familiar with the pacts indicate that with escalating annual figures, the monthly license fee for those deals averages around 75 cents.

By contrast, Fox Business Channel license fees are believed to fall between 10 and 15 cents per subscriber per month.

Ailes anticipates the business service will start up with somewhere between 32 million and 33 million households able to watch. He was hopeful the Fox Business Channel roster, which already lists Time Warner Cable and Comcast in the area, would include Cablevision, the New York market’s dominant carrier.

“[News Corp. chief operating officer] Peter Chernin and I had good conversations with [Cablevision CEO] Jimmy Dolan when we signed Fox News. We hope to reach an agreement with Cablevision for Fox Business Channel,” he said.

Longer-term, Ailes envisions Fox Business’s subscriber base being almost twice that size.

“The network needs to be fully distributed. For a business channel, we don’t think you necessarily need 80 million. We think that’s 50 million to 60 million homes in the right markets.”

Ailes said staffing up would be a top priority in the months ahead. “We’re looking at a few hundred people in terms of production and talent,” he said, noting that he’d received a “flood of resumes” from CNBC employees. “We’re considering building a separate entrance to the building for them.”

Currently on board: Fox News executive vice president Kevin Magee who will have daily oversight of the service; and director of business news Alexis Glick, who will also have an on-air presence.

Asked about profitability, Ailes said the timeline for Fox News to break even was five years. For Fox Business Channel, he said that operating level would come within three to four years. “It took five years for Fox News to pass CNN; it wasn’t an overnight success,” he said. “We’re thinking we’ll have to pass through the wilderness here, too.”

Show Time for Fox

The most-watched business shows on cable appear on the Fox News Channel.

Top Cable Business Shows

Net Program HH Rating Viewers 2-Plus
FNC Bulls & Bears 1.0 1.08 million
FNC Forbes on Fox 1.0 1.06 million
FNC Cavuto on Business 1.0 1.05 million
FNC Cashin’ In 0.9 980,000
FNC Your World 0.9 928,000
CNN Lou Dobbs Tonight 0.8 894,000
CNN Lou Dobbs This Week 0.5 620,000
CNN In The Money 0.4 473,000
CNBC Morning Call 0.3 339,000
CNBC Power Lunch 0.3 333,000
CNBC Street Signs 0.3 332,000
CNBC Closing Bell 0.3 318,000
CNBC Kudlow & Co. 0.3 280,000
SOURCE: Nielsen Media Research (live), Jan. 1-Feb. 6, 2007.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6415557.html?display=Top+Stories

fredfa

02-11-07, 11:33 AM

TV Notebook
Concerts no longer grand on TV
Music specials becoming extinct in info age
By VARIETY staff. February 11, 2007
(Michael Learmonth in New York contributed to this report.)

If Elvis were still alive today and wanted to mount another comeback special, he'd probably pass on NBC and head straight for VH1 -- or maybe just post a few clips on YouTube.

For decades, superstar artists looking to juice their careers -- from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson to contempo country acts -- turned to television. It was a quick and easy way to goose album sales or simply pocket some easy cash from networks hungry for star-power.

In the era of "American Idol," you'd think all things music-related would be thriving on TV. But instead, as with so many other past network staples -- telepics, kiddie shows, the Miss America pageant -- the music concert special seems to be near extinction.

Madonna and Tony Bennett are the only two artists to attempt network specials this season. Both bombed big time for NBC, with the Material Mom's flameout hurting the Peacock's November sweeps standing.

With no other concert specials planned, this season will have the lowest tally of music specs in at least five years -- if not ever.

That's forcing labels to find more creative ways to use TV as a promotional tool, from booking artists on the network morning shows to getting more songs incorporated into series soundtracks.

Kudofests such as the Country Music Assn. Awards or Feb. 11's star-packed Grammys have also become huge platforms for artists.

But when it comes to the traditional concert special, network insiders believe pop music may no longer be ready for primetime.

"Music tastes are so fragmented, it's very difficult to garner a mass audience," says ABC alternative/specials topper Andrea Wong. "You try, because these are big, big artists. But it's hard."

Observers believe "Idol" reaches a broad audience only because it's "not really about music," as one Big Four suit puts it. "It's a great soap opera that has music as a thread."

One theory for the off-key performance of music specials holds the Internet is to blame.

There's been "a proliferation of music online," says Brad Adgate, senior VP of ad buyer Horizon Media. "(Specials) have lost their luster as music becomes more and more on-demand."

Indeed, a TV special used to be the only way fans who couldn't afford tickets to concerts could check out their favorite artists. Now, perfs are Webcast live or readily available on DVDs and even so-called "enhanced CDs" that include performance discs.

"The hourlong live perform-ance was about when you had an artist that needed to (sell) a record in a finite amount of time," says an exec at a major label. "Those sessions now are going to AOL, iTunes, Yahoo and Napster. The music biz has gone on-demand, and that's the expectation of young people."

Others say the decline is sim-ply a reflection of larger woes within the music biz.

"As a music fan it's disappoint-ing, but as a network programmer you have to be practical," says one network exec. "There isn't much in the music business these days that's special enough to thrive and survive as a one-hour special."

Cable has picked up some of the slack, but even it's losing its appetite for concerts.

HBO, which once boasted at least one annual major megastar music event, hasn't mounted a big concert in years. A&E's "Live by Request" franchise also seems to be in hibernation.

Some programmers blame the labels, noting the industry has done nothing to curb costs on music specials.

While NBC execs declined to be interviewed for this story, insiders said Madonna's reps wanted $5 million for the rights to her most recent concert tour.

Even in cases where sponsors help defray the cost of an event -- as Target did with Tony Bennett's NBC bash -- low ratings make music tough to justify.

"If we're going to spend $1 (million) or $2 million on something, I'd rather we spend it on one of our series," says one network wag.

A spurt of successful music specials on CBS during the late 1990s and early 2000s -- think Michael Jackson, Celine Dion and Shania Twain -- persuaded other nets to get into the act. While some did well, many bombed, including a series of duds in fall 2002.

Despite the poor track record for recent specials, network insid-ers still believe there might be room for the genre -- on a limited basis.

Country music still has a "big tent" audience that attracts fans ages 8 to 80, making acts like Rascal Flatts a good candidate for a primetime showcase.

Likewise, it seems logical that a combination of superstars -- maybe Elton John and Billy Joel -- could draw a crowd, given the right marketing.

"They call them specials for a reason," says one exec. "You have to pick your spots, and get the right artist at the right time with the right promotion. Even then, you're still rolling the dice, but at least you've got a chance."

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117959125&categoryid=14

JMCecil

02-11-07, 12:00 PM

fredfa

02-11-07, 12:49 PM

Critic’s Notebook
NCIS: The most popular show nobody talks about nion
By Doug Elfman Chicago Sun-Times Television Critic February 11, 2007

A decade ago, Lauren Holly co-starred on "Picket Fences," which won awards, critical acclaim and references in pop culture. But it often hovered around No. 60 in the ratings, she says. Now all that's reversed. She co-stars on a Top 10 series -- but it gets no awards, no press and no buzz.

"We're like the bad stepchild" in the media, Holly says of "NCIS," a hit drama based on real sleuthing of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. "I sort of miss the attention -- being written about, the ads in all the magazines, all that stuff. Instead, it's like we're out here by ourselves, and we're just glad we have a loyal fan base that follows us."

Loyal isn't the half of it. "NCIS" has remained in the Top 10 even while it's been running repeats in the same time slot as behemoth "American Idol."

"We're like the only show that does well against it," Holly says.

There's an online devotion, too. SpoilerFix.com, the site that spoils upcoming episode plots of TV shows, says "NCIS" is a Top 10 show for drawing Internet traffic to the site.

What the cast may not know is this: Critics partly neglect "NCIS" because CBS doesn't send us DVD screeners of upcoming episodes; we can't review what we don't have. (CBS wouldn't even supply me with new episodes after I said I was writing this big, splashy feature.)

The cast, Holly says, thinks non-viewers don't understand what the series is: a character-based show, more than a cop-procedure show. They associate it with "JAG," the military show from which it was spun off. (One critic has called "NCIS" a "JAG"-off.) Or they think it's a conservative show.

To the contrary, Holly says it's not conservative; it has a "great cast," it goes for both humor and somber story lines, it's well-shot and quickly paced, "and frequently there's a lot of secret sex going on."

Yet "NCIS" is the most popular show on TV that people don't talk about, she says.

She fears it could remain that way, "shy of us ripping off our clothes and running down Sunset Boulevard, screaming that our hair's on fire. It'll be like, 'Those are the people from that show -- "CSI What?" ' "

Mixing humor, innuendo, crime

"NCIS," which debuted in 2003, is not another "CSI" or "Law & Order." It always begins with a caper involving forensics and footwork. Sometimes it's solved, sometimes not. But that's not the thrust. Most of the series focuses on the interaction between the civilian detectives, who flirt with and rag on each other.

Granted, the tone is kind of bizarre. One episode this season began with a military vet getting blown up by a terrorist. At times, his death was treated sentimentally and with manipulative patriotism. Other times, a cop cracked crass jokes about the dead vet. Meanwhile, male and female cops checked out each other's butts.

That's the "NCIS" way. It mixes humor and playful innuendo with grim crime cases. One cop shot a mobile-phone video of another cop who was scratching a poison oak patch in his pants; the phone video made it look like the guy was not itching but masturbating.

Dialogue can be gung-ho silly. In another episode this season, a character said, "These scumbags have been selling weapons to tyrants and terrorists ever since they gave us the slip -- guns and bombs and RPG's used to kill American soldiers and Marines in every hellhole from Mogadishu to Baghdad. It's time it ended!"

That said, "NCIS" isn't a frat house. The three smartest and capable characters are women: NCIS Director Jenny Shepard (Holly), Israeli-born cop Ziva David (played by Chile-born Cote de Pablo) and wiry lab detective Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette).

Ziva gives the boys hell, calling them on lies and behavior even as they try to impress her into the sack. These women aren't den mothers or vixens. They're powerful figures who -- like women on other detective shows -- work diligently. They don't giggle or lose composure when men sexualize them.

But Holly jokes she wouldn't mind if de Pablo used her off-camera sexuality to draw more public attention to "NCIS."

"She wants me to start dating a celebrity, which is something I would never do -- not for the sake of dating a celebrity," de Pablo says.

"The women here are being portrayed as smart women," she adds. "I love the fact that they made the director of 'NCIS' a woman [Holly]. That would never happen in real life."

Harmon credits producer, crew

Arguably, the key character isn't any of the women but Mark Harmon's Gibbs. He's the ostensible lead. But Harmon puts all the credit for the show's ratings on the producer, the ensemble cast and the huge crew.

Harmon calls producer Donald Bellisario a demanding "force of nature" and "not for the weak of heart." (Bellisario tries to keep upcoming plots a secret from critics and fans.) Bellisario is a former Marine who previously created and wrote "JAG," "Magnum, P.I.," "Quantum Leap" and the first "Battlestar Galactica."

"You come here, you bring you're 'A' game. And you bring it every day," Harmon says. "We work an average of 16 hours a day, every day, and sometimes Sundays -- [from] July 4th till the end of May. People really put the effort in here."

Most hourlong series shoot scripts numbering at about 57 pages, but "NCIS" scripts are 80 pages, Harmon says. Hard work has garnered fan allegiance, he says. And with no bitterness in his voice, he suggests the show can gain more respect from the press if everyone on "NCIS" keeps plugging along.

"I think we're earning you guys who write about us, and I think we're earning the promos on CBS," he says. "The only thing we can control here is the work we do every day."

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/elfman/251811,SHO-Sunday-elf11.articleprint

fredfa

02-11-07, 01:07 PM

TV Sports
Here comes ACC HD
By Mark Washburn Charlotte Observer

Raycom/Lincoln Financial will announce next week that ACC basketball is going high definition.For the first time, the ACC tournament -- which begins March 8 -- will be broadcast in HD on the syndicated network.

Although the penetration of high-definition sets is still relatively low, those who get the broadcasts are growing increasingly vocal. They want their ACC in HD.

But technical problems have kept the network from switching to high def.

Ken Haines, Raycom's president, says affiliates aren't set up to receive syndicated programming in HD. They get their network programs in HD, but aren't set up to receive feeds from other sources.

Of the 35 stations that get ACC basketball from Raycom/Lincoln Financial, about a third will be equipped to receive the HD feed by tournament time. That includes WBTV (Channel 3) in Charlotte as well as other major markets, including Greensboro and Raleigh.

"We're looking at adding some regular-season games next year," says Haines. "I don't know how far away we are from doing all the games in HD."

Costs are part of the problem. While it is more expensive to do HD games -- cameras, a high-def studio truck and other equipment must be added -- there is no increase in ad revenues.

"It costs a lot more to produce in HD than standard definition. We haven't found anyone willing to pay more to be broadcast in HD," Haines says.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/television/16668167.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

02-11-07, 01:33 PM

Saturday’s fast national over night prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted near the top of Ratings News the first post in this thread.

fredfa

02-11-07, 01:48 PM

The Business of Television
Comcast opens early PPV window
In test, pics play on day of DVD release
By John Dempsey Variety

NEW YORK -- Comcast, the giant cable operator, has convinced five of the six major studios to participate in a test that could turn pay-per-view movies from a nothing revenue stream into a profit-generating bonanza.

As part of an unballyhooed experiment that kicked off 10 weeks ago, people who subscribe to Comcast's digital service in Denver and Pittsburgh can order titles such as "Superman Returns" through PPV video-on-demand on the same day the movie's DVD hits videostores. ("Superman Returns" was Comcast's inaugural movie, kicking off on Nov. 28.)

That day-and-date blueprint is a first: Before it gets hold of a movie, cable PPV typically has to wait anywhere from 30 to 60 days before the title springs free of its exclusive bondage in the videostore window.

These windows -- which are, at least in part, responsible for the sluggishness of the PPV VOD business -- were justifiable when DVD rentals were funneling big profit increases into the studios' coffers year after year.

But the business of DVD rentals has begun to soften in the last two years, propelling the studios to scout around for fresh income sources.

Enter Comcast chairman Brian Roberts, who has pleaded with the studios for more than a decade to stop giving vidstores what he regards as an unfair advantage in movie windows.

The studios listened this time, not only because DVD rentals have stopped climbing but because Comcast has passed a milestone: More than 50% of its 24.1 million subscribers buy the digital boxes that allow them to order PPV movies on demand (with the ability to pause, fast-forward and rewind).

That's a lot of potential PPV movie renters, permitting cable to claim another advantage over Blockbuster: For every $4 PPV movie rented by a cable subscriber, the studios pocket $2.40. That same $4 DVD rented by a videostore customer delivers only $1.20 to the studios.

Comcast hasn't put out any hard data on the Denver/Pittsburgh initiative, but Roberts told analysts recently that buy rates in the two cities are up substantially.

So even if PPV rentals through cable TV ended up demolishing the DVD rental business outside the home, the studios still would come out substantially ahead.

So why are the studios moving so cautiously, keeping the trial limited to only two cable systems? Because there's an even more lucrative DVD business that could be dented by PPV-on-demand: the sale of movie DVDs in chains such as Wal-Mart and Target.

Craig Moffett, media analyst with Bernstein Research, says his data show revenue from the sale of DVDs or videos in Wal-Mart, Target and other retailers has ballooned to $19 billion a year, compared with $8.2 billion a year for rentals (including Netflix and online movie services such as CinemaNow).

If the sale price of a DVD averages $16.50, according to Moffat's numbers, the studios typically harvest about 53% of each purchase, or $8.75. What worries the studios is that people who can rent a PPV movie on the day its DVD goes on sale at Wal-Mart may not only avoid renting the DVD but also steer clear of buying it. It would take almost four PPV rentals at $2.40 apiece to cover the loss of one DVD purchase at $8.75.

But Page Thompson, senior VP/general manager of video services for Comcast, says the buyer of a movie on DVD is a different animal from a renter of the title on DVD. "People want to collect DVDs of movies they like," Thompson says. "People also buy lots of DVDs as gifts. And the DVD extras are often a lure for someone who wants to learn more about a particular title."

The next battleground between cable TV and the retail stores could well be high-definition. Thompson says Comcast is offering digital subscribers as many as 100 hours a month of high-def VOD, including PPV movies, free movies, musicvideos and selected TV series like "CSI."

But Michael Pachter, an L.A.-based media analyst for Wedbush Morgan, says the studios are salivating at the prospect of re-releasing hundreds of their titles in the new format, charging up to $30 a movie for a high-def DVD, $16 of which would zip straight to the bottom line.

The last thing the studios want, Pachter says, is to make it so easy for cable subscribers to rent a PPV movie early in the window that they'd lose all interest in buying an expensive HD-DVD player, depriving the movie companies of billions of dollars in potential profits.

Maybe that's why Wal-Mart doesn't appear to be losing any sleep over the Comcast test in Denver and Pittsburgh, secure in the conviction that the studios will always gravitate to where the money is.

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117959124&categoryid=14

keenan

02-11-07, 02:18 PM

The Business of Television
Comcast opens early PPV window
In test, pics play on day of DVD release
By John Dempsey Variety

The studios listened this time, not only because DVD rentals have stopped climbing but because Comcast has passed a milestone: More than 50% of its 24.1 million subscribers buy the digital boxes that allow them to order PPV movies on demand (with the ability to pause, fast-forward and rewind).

I've never ordered PPV from Comcast but I wasn't aware this was possible with their non-DVR boxes. I thought PPV on cable was a linear stream, you watch it when it was scheduled to be on without the ability to pause, FWD and RWD.

I know PPV with DISH this possible as you can record the program to the DVR HDD. Is the author saying that Comcast now has an installed base of over 12 million DVRs? That seems rather high to me.

fredfa

02-11-07, 02:22 PM

I am sure those aren't HD DVRs.

The 12 million (even if "just" SD) seems high to me, too.

(But if the number is accurate, TiVo must be salivating!)

keenan

02-11-07, 02:26 PM

I am sure those aren't HD DVRs.

The 12 million (even if "just" SD) seems high to me, too.

(But if the number is accurate, TiVo must be salivating!)
The 12 million digital STBs seems about right, about 50% of Comcast's sub base is now digital, I just wasn't aware that they could perform all those functions with OnDemand material. I'm going to ask in my local thread, we don't have OnDemand on my particular system yet.

fredfa

02-11-07, 02:50 PM

TV Q&A
His 'Numb3r' is '24'
By David Inman The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal

Question: Is Peter MacNicol, who plays Larry on "Numbers," gone from the show? If so, was it his choice?

Answer: Sounds like "My Living Doll," a sitcom that ran on CBS in 1964-65. Julie Newmar played Answer: [/color][/B Actually, to be nitpicky, the show is called "Numb3rs." And MacNicol isn't leaving the show — he just took a break to appear on several episodes of "24," but he'll be back.

Question: I remember a show from the late 1960s or early '70s in which one of the leads was a female robot. The main thing I remember was that she had a set of moles on her neck, shoulder or something like that. These moles were her control points, including her shut-off switch. Can you help identify this show for me?

Answer: Sounds like "My Living Doll," a sitcom that ran on CBS in 1964-65. Julie Newmar played Rhoda, a robot that was being schooled in being a woman by Air Force psychologist Robert McDonald (Bob Cummings). McDonald also had his hands full keeping Rhoda away from lecherous neighbor Peter (Jack Mullaney), because if he ever found out Rhoda was a robot, oh boy! Friction between Newmar and Cummings led to his leaving the show about midway through the season. Mullaney's character was slated to step in as Rhoda's mentor, but the show was canceled instead. Due to an avalanche of requests from, um, nobody, there are reportedly plans to bring out "My Living Doll" on DVD later this year.

Question: I am writing you to ask about a movie that I recall seeing when I was very young. It was about a woman who was battling cancer; she had a little girl and was married. I remember that the main song in the movie was "Sunshine" sung by John Denver. I would like to know the name of the movie and if it is available on video or DVD.

Answer: That was a 1973 TV movie called, oddly enough, "Sunshine," with Cristina Raines and Cliff DeYoung. There was also a short-lived 1975 NBC series that continued the plot after Raines' character had passed away. Neither is on video.

Question: I remember seeing a comedy film about a couple of cowboys kidnapping two kids, a boy and a girl. The cowboys kept sending ransom letters to the parents. Well, the kids were so bad the parents didn't want them back and the cowboys were stuck with them. I'd like to know the name of the movie and who starred in it. I think maybe Jack Elam was one of the cowboys.

Answer: Methinks you're getting your abducted children comedies mixed up. The plot sounds a lot like O. Henry's story "The Ransom of Red Chief." That was made into a 1975 TV movie with Elam and Strother Martin as the hapless kidnappers. But they kidnapped just one child, which leads me to think you might be mixing this up with the Disney movie "No Deposit, No Return," which was released in 1976 and featured Don Knotts, Darren McGavin and David Niven. Both movies are on video. "No Deposit, No Return" is also on DVD.

Question: I hope you can help me. We lived in Southern California in the early 1970s, and I remember a Saturday morning show about a family that lived on a boat. I don't remember much else about the show. Can you help?

Answer: Sounds like "Westwind," which ran on NBC in 1975-76. It was about the Andrews family, including dad Steve (Van Williams) and mother Kate (Niki Dantine). Their boat was called the Westwind, and they sailed the Pacific while searching for thrills and adventure, not to mention a place where they could get the sand out of their shorts.

http://www.desnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,660194161,00.html

fredfa

02-11-07, 03:09 PM

TV Q&A
Odd behavior from Paula, Deal makers
By Tom Jicha South Florida Sun-Sentinel TV/Radio Writer February 11 2007

QUESTION: Last year I wrote to you to say how appalling it is to see Paula Abdul tripping out on something and you defended her. Now after seeing her drunken tirade on the Internet and how she appeared like a zombie on American Idol, it's quite obvious she has a problem. I hope you have come to your senses and will admit Paula is getting away with murder. If you haven't seen the light, I have one word for you and Paula -- REHAB! -- S.L., Deerfield Beach

ANSWER: It must be great to be able to judge a person's behavior and demons without ever coming within several thousand miles of them. Abdul does act strangely at times and I have reported on that. But I do not know, and you certainly do not know, what her excesses might be, if any. There are plenty of flaky, flighty people who are not under the influence of anything. Abdul says she is not a drinker. If you don't want to believe her, fine. But you are the irresponsible one for making charges you can't substantiate. The only people Abdul has to please are her American Idol bosses. Through their words and deeds, they have made it clear that they support her.

QUESTION: What are my chances of getting tickets to the Academy Awards? -- M.W., Fort Lauderdale

ANSWER: About as good as you winning an Academy Award. The supply-demand ratio is worse than for a Super Bowl and they all go to actors and studio types.

QUESTION: Has there ever been a time when regular programming was interrupted for a female show or a female game? Why can't these big game broadcasts, such as the Super Bowl, get their own channel? I missed 60 Minutes on Super Bowl Sunday because of the game. Let the president and these super duper games get their own channel and leave regular programming alone. -- D.D., Pembroke Pines

ANSWER: If you had channel surfed on Super Bowl Sunday, you would have noticed that nobody schedules original programming against the year's biggest TV event. More than 90 million people -- roughly three times the size of a typical American Idol audience -- watched the Colts beat the Bears. It would be a waste of a network's program budget to spend serious money trying to pick up the crumbs of an audience that are left. Next year, the Super Bowl won't be on CBS but you still won't get an original 60 Minutes. It will be all repeat segments.

QUESTION: As the FCC has recently stepped up its actions to protect the public from what it deems as harmful contents of certain broadcasts, why has it not set its sights on product manufacturers, who advertise one cost for a product, then add to the cost under the guise of shipping and handling. This add-on can be as much as 25 percent of the advertised cost. -- F.S., Sunrise

ANSWER: These charges are often absurdly high but my experience is they are listed, albeit in small print, or recited to a phone buyer. Caveat emptor.

QUESTION: Will you tell me why there are no Mario Lanza pictures on TV? I enjoyed all his movies. -- S.J., e-mail

ANSWER: I know what you're saying. It's just as hard to find an Ezio Pinza flick. Basically the problem is Lanza, who died in 1959, would have been 86 this month, which also is roughly the age of anyone who remembers him as fondly as you do. This is a demographic sponsors have no interest in reaching.

QUESTION: Can you tell me why Jamey Sheridan left Law and Order: Criminal Intent? -- M.M., e-mail

ANSWER: Sheridan asked to be let go, according to L&O creator Dick Wolf. The show is shot in New York and Sheridan and his family missed living in the West.

QUESTION: Something puzzles me about Deal or No Deal. One contestant decided to go all the way even though she was offered close to $100,000. When she finally wound up with less than a $1,000, the whole family whooped with joy. This doesn't make sense. I would expect emotions would run in another direction. Are they coached or advised to react in this manner? -- T.S., e-mail

ANSWER: Contestants are encouraged to act enthusiastically and no one wants to look like an old sourpuss on TV. Besides, even if the eventual prize was "only" $1,000, it was $1,000 more than she might have had otherwise. Wouldn't you smile if somebody laid a grand on you?

http://www.southflorida.com/movies/sfl-tv11tjqafeb11,0,6735396,print.story?coll=sfe-movies-promos

fredfa

02-11-07, 03:25 PM

TV Notebook
The Grammies: Musical mysteries
Predictions can be off-key, but Grammy often plays it safe
By Dave Tianen Milwaukee Journal Sentinel February 11, 2007

It is probably not a good idea to bet your mortgage on the outcome of tonight's Grammy Awards.

Last year, the smart money was predicting a stampede for Mariah Carey and the smart money lost its shorts. Part of the problem is that the Recording Academy, like the music industry in general, is made up of a zillion niche groups, and predicting their aggregate pack mentality gets dicey. That said, Grammy is a creature of habit in many ways.

Generally, Grammy loves old, safe, established names more than the young and frisky. Consider this: The big winners the last couple of years were U2 and Ray Charles.

This year, Mary J. Blige leads the pack with eight nominations, which reflects a longstanding habit of honoring artists years after they make their initial impact.

Grammy almost always prefers to cuddle with mainstream pop rather than cutting-edge or controversial music. The extreme example of that may have come back in 1991, when Natalie Cole's re-engineered duet with her dad's 40-year-old hit recording of "Unforgettable" took Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Record of the Year. It was presumably an oversight that her long-dead dad didn't take Best New Artist.

With the caveat that we will definitely not be wagering the kids' college tuition, here's our take (right) on the major awards at the 49th Grammys.

Album of the Year

Nominees: Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Stadium Arcadium"; Dixie Chicks - "Taking the Long Way"; John Mayer - "Continuum"; Justin Timberlake -"Future Sex/Love Sounds"; Gnarls Barkley - "St. Elsewhere."

Which will win: The betting favorite seems to be the Chicks. Grammy has always liked country artists who operate on the distant fringes of country, and the Chicks are clearly moving uptown musically. This is also an opportunity to embrace a controversial cause after most of the controversy has melted away. Which should win: Most of these discs weren't personal favorites. If forced to pick a prize puppy from this litter, I would opt for the polished pop craftsmanship of "Continuum."

Record of the Year

Nominees: "Be Without You" - Mary J. Blige; "You're Beautiful" - James Blunt; "Not Ready to Make Nice" - Dixie Chicks; "Crazy" - Gnarls Barkley; "Put Your Records On" - Corinne Bailey Rae.

Which will win: "Crazy" is an irresistible blend of savvy production and classic soul chops. Which should win: "Crazy."

Song of the Year

Nominees: "Be Without You" - Mary J. Blige (four songwriters); "Jesus Take the Wheel" - Carrie Underwood (three songwriters); "Not Ready To Make Nice" - Dixie Chicks (the Chicks); "Put Your Records On" - Corinne Bailey Rae (three songwriters); "You're Beautiful" - James Blunt (Blunt and two other writers).

Who will win: Blige is overdue for recognition, but Blunt's "You're Beautiful" is the kind of mainstream pop balladry the Recording Academy usually hops into bed with. Blunt's centrist pop appeal will probably trump Blige's veteran props. Who should win: "Jesus Take the Wheel" is the best-crafted song with a fleshed-out narrative of a life-changing near-death experience, but its overt religiosity will probably deter voters.

New Artist

Nominees: James Blunt, Chris Brown, Imogen Heap, Corinne Bailey Rae, Carrie Underwood.

Who will win: It's going to be hard to beat Underwood's multi-platinum sales and "American Idol" celebrity. Who should win: Piano prodigy and studio wiz Heap is easily the most intriguing musician in the batch, but she has no chance. Also, not that it matters, but she's been around for years.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=563546&format=print

keenan

02-11-07, 03:36 PM

I've never ordered PPV from Comcast but I wasn't aware this was possible with their non-DVR boxes. I thought PPV on cable was a linear stream, you watch it when it was scheduled to be on without the ability to pause, FWD and RWD.

I know PPV with DISH this possible as you can record the program to the DVR HDD. Is the author saying that Comcast now has an installed base of over 12 million DVRs? That seems rather high to me.
Apparently the non-DVR STBs can perform those functions according to Comcast subs in the SF bay area. I guess OnDemand works like a head-end based DVR.

fredfa

02-11-07, 03:46 PM

Wow. That sounds pretty good.

shuttermaker

02-11-07, 03:51 PM

Interesting take on music as usual. The industry hasn't figured out that people just flat don't like what they are offering. Madonna a flop? What a shock. Tony Bennet a flop....Say it isn't so......

Even the HDNet concerts are a colleciton of "who cares". For example Gorrillaz. That stuff is horrible. I have teenage kids who should be clamouring for Live concert material. Instead all of the stuff they show is lame and the kids don't care. The adult stuff is pop oriented that I hated when I was a teenager.

The industry should hire someone to get on the internet and see what is being accessed. Then try to quickly get that on the air RAPIDLY, not two years after its dead.

Very good points you make. Another problem I see is that most of the live material that could possibly generate decent ratings on prime time TV isnt suitable for airing without huge fines and penalties from the FCC. All you have to do is look at the "wardrobe malfunction" fiasco from a recent Super Bowl halftime show. The language and actions seen on stage by some of todays top grossing performers would have the FCC making money hand over fist.

fredfa

02-11-07, 03:52 PM

A personal note: I had the pleasure of working with Jennings a number of times. He was a consummate professional – and a great, great guy. Saying he will be missed understates the case tremendously.
Obituary
Veteran ABC News Cameraman Robert 'Skip' Jennings
Covered Wars, Presidents with Precision and Humor
(ABC News)

Longtime Los Angeles bureau cameraman Robert "Skip" Jennings died Friday afternoon after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Jennings, who worked for ABC for more than 30 years, will be remembered as one of the one of the hardest-working cameramen for the company.

Jennings began working at ABC News in 1965. Soon after, he went overseas to cover the Vietnam War. When Saigon fell, Jennings was the cameraman for the "baby rescue" operation in Vietnam, rescuing orphans who were being brought to the United States.

On one flight, Jennings was outside the aircraft filming and was unable to get back on; the plane crashed on takeoff.

Jennings risked his life repeatedly to get the story. After Vietnam, he went on to cover wars in Cambodia, Somalia, the Falklands and Afghanistan.

He was at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles when Robert Kennedy was assassinated and later at the jail when Sirhan Sirhan was booked. Jennings then rode the train covering the return of Kennedy's body to Washington, D.C.

Jennings went on to cover the political campaigns for every president from Nixon through Bush.

Once, while riding in a golf cart with President Gerald Ford, Jennings fell off the cart with his camera, broke his wrist and was taken to a nearby hospital, but came back to finish the shoot.

In one visit to California, Queen Elizabeth told Jennings that she wanted to try "used beans."

After some careful thought, Jennings suggested she call them "refried beans."

A memorial for Jennings is being planned.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/print?id=2865249

shuttermaker

02-11-07, 03:55 PM

Critic’s Notebook
NCIS: The most popular show nobody talks about nion
By Doug Elfman Chicago Sun-Times Television Critic February 11, 2007

Mixing humor, innuendo, crime

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/elfman/251811,SHO-Sunday-elf11.articleprint

This is Must See TV for me every week. I love this show.

keenan

02-11-07, 03:56 PM

Wow. That sounds pretty good.
Yes, OnDemand is not a bad idea at all, it's just a matter of price and the availability of good content.

fredfa

02-11-07, 04:02 PM

I apologize for missing this Friday….
TV Newsroom
Wake-up call to a.m. news: moms tuning out
Morning broadcast shows, once a staple for women, are seeing audiences shrink as news sources multiply
By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

NEW YORK — When her children were young, Jenny Lauck used to flip on "Today" or "Good Morning America" as she brewed her morning coffee and tended to her babies.

But several years ago, the 34-year-old mother of three stopped watching the morning shows. After getting TiVo, she had no patience to sit through multiple commercial breaks during a live newscast. On top of that, the segments began to seem more and more frivolous.

"Watching morning television for me is the equivalent of reading People magazine in the dentist's office," said Lauck, who writes for websites from her home in Santa Rosa, Calif. "They don't have anything new or particularly relevant to my life. It seems like a lot of fluff. I feel like I can get information faster and cleaner on the Internet."

Lauck's not alone in souring on network news programs. In particular, this season has seen a significant erosion of the morning shows' demographic sweet spot: 25- to 54-year-old women.

Almost 450,000 of these women — coveted by advertisers because of their household purchasing power — turned off the three broadcast morning programs so far this season, a decline of 10% compared to the same point last year, according to a Times analysis of Nielsen Media Research data. (Male viewers the same age also fell by 9%, but they make up a much smaller portion of the audience.)

It's difficult to trace the exact cause of the drop. It comes after two popular morning hosts, Katie Couric and Charles Gibson, left their shows to be evening news anchors. At the same time, the advent of "mommy blogs," the growing popularity of online news sites and the ever-more-frantic press of daily life appear to have led many women to forgo the morning ritual of watching TV.

News executives are sanguine about the ratings dip, calling it a short-term fluctuation. They attribute it in large part to the unseasonably mild winter in much of the country until recently, noting that temperate weather draws people outside, and away from their television sets.

"We are certainly aware of it, but not making a lot if it just yet," said Jim Bell, executive producer of NBC's "Today." "I maintain the foundation of the morning is perfectly stable and fine. I suspect that when there are big, breaking news stories or significant weather events, we will grow, as we've always grown."

If the dwindling female viewership persists, however, it has implications not only for the individual morning programs but the news divisions as a whole, which rely on the profitable shows to finance most of the network's news-gathering operations.

Until recently, the programs were buoyed by expanding audiences and seemed immune to the ratings declines plaguing the evening newscasts. But in the last two seasons, the combined viewership of "Today," ABC's "Good Morning America" and CBS' "The Early Show" leveled off. Viewership has shrunk by 4% so far this season — a slight drop, but one that suggests the morning programs too are vulnerable.

"There was a perception that early morning was bulletproof," said Bill McOwen, director of national broadcast for the media agency MPG. "Now it's starting to suffer from what its colleagues in the broadcast realm have dealt with for years: that other options exist."

It's a fact all too familiar to the evening newscasts, which have watched their audiences steadily deflate in the last few decades. That pattern has continued this season: The number of women watching the three nightly network broadcasts has dropped by 510,000, while male viewers have declined by 334,000.

Even Couric's much-trumpeted arrival at CBS did not substantially boost female viewership. While "CBS Evening News" has drawn about 29,000 more 25- to 54-year-old women on average this season, an increase of 2%, the size of the total female audience hasn't changed.

"It's a long process," said David Poltrack, chief research officer for the CBS Corp., noting that the number of younger women watching has increased more in the last month. "Katie has made significant advances in connecting with the young female audience. Relative to the other guys, we're making progress there."

Couric's rivals still beat her among women ages 25 to 54, even though they have both lost some of those viewers this season. NBC anchor Brian Williams is down 15.5% in that demographic, while ABC's Charles Gibson, who currently attracts the most women in that age group, has shed 7%.

Television news veterans chalk up the waning female viewership to a medley of factors, including the growing migration of women to online news sites and the relentless stream of disheartening reports about the war.

"My gut instinct is it may have something to do with Iraq," said Judy Woodruff, a former CNN anchor and NBC correspondent who now serves as senior correspondent for "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer" on PBS. "The news is so negative and so depressing day after day that it may well be that everybody — and especially women, who may be able to identify with the mothers and sisters and daughters — it may be that they're reacting in this way. The news is not happy."

That's why Jennifer Satterwhite turned off the news. Until about a year ago, the 37-year-old Plano, Texas, resident used to faithfully watch the evening news in the kitchen as she prepared dinner.

"I stopped mainly because they seemed to start it with bad news story after bad news story," said Satterwhite, a stay-at-home mother who is writing her first book. "It's like getting beaten in the face every night. I just don't like to end the day that way, with all the murder and kidnapping and war."

Some men have also clearly lost their appetite for network news, though not in numbers as large as women. And for the news divisions, female viewers are crucial — especially when it comes to the morning programs, designed specifically to appeal to mothers who manage their family's spending.

"Seventy percent of our revenue comes from women 25 to 54," said Steve Friedman, vice president of morning broadcasts for CBS News. "That's why these morning shows on the networks have been so feminized. It's always, 'How to catch your cheating husband,' not 'How to catch your cheating wife.' "

But many women are now turning online to get the kind of parenting and lifestyle stories that have long been the staple of the morning shows. The number of "mommy blogs" in recent years has exploded — now numbering 6,400, according to the blog search engine Technorati — as women use personal websites to swap tales about the pressures of modern motherhood.

"The very issues that typically get covered on the morning shows are very robust and alive in the blogosphere," said Pete Blackshaw, chief marketing officer for Nielsen BuzzMetrics, which tracks blog trends. "It's safe to say that the Internet is beginning to cannibalize a lot of these conversational topics."

Beth Blecherman, a former "Today" viewer and mother of three, said she has rarely watched the morning show since she began blogging on Silicon Valley Moms Blog, a website she helps run with other mothers in the area. Instead, the 43-year-old Palo Alto, Calif., resident regularly peruses three dozen other mommy blogs for ideas and support.

"Now that I've been blogging, the morning shows feel like they're staged to me, whereas the mommy blogs are pretty authentic — to the point of being almost too honest some times," said Blecherman, a former senior manager at Deloitte & Touche who now does part-time consulting from home. "It's a way to get really fresh information from other moms, kind of like a virtual moms group. I don't see a need to watch the morning shows."

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-et-women9feb09,1,4463793,print.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage

VisionOn

02-11-07, 04:29 PM

Apparently the non-DVR STBs can perform those functions according to Comcast subs in the SF bay area. I guess OnDemand works like a head-end based DVR.

OnDemand has always had that ability on regular STBs for as long as I can remember it on TWC. That must be close to 5 years now. However even after all this time it still performs poorly. If the servers do not timeout on busy nights, the control delay is still awkwardly slow and the image quality is mediocre. Add that to the fact that all major movies are not also available as a widescreen version and I'm still hesitant to order through it. Even if movies are available on DVD release date it has to perform better than this.

The most insane thing about TWC OnDemand is that to order a HD MOD, you have to subscribe to the 6 channel HD Package. Which makes no sense. To pay for an HD movie you have to pay for the package first. Which means that they are losing revenue from a huge chunk of the audience like myself who are quite happy with just their networks and premium movie HD channels, but would pay to watch the occasional new release in HD. As such I'm using the Xbox Live service to access HD MOD even though it's less convenient.

I hope Comcast is doing this better.

keenan

02-11-07, 04:48 PM

The most insane thing about TWC OnDemand is that to order a HD MOD, you have to subscribe to the 6 channel HD Package.

I hope Comcast is doing this better.
I think Comcast is the same way, which I agree, is pretty stupid.

dad1153

02-11-07, 05:56 PM

The Business of Television
Bottom Line: Fox In Business
After Two Years of Talking, Channel To Launch by Q4
By Mike Reynolds MultiChannel News 2/12/2007

After launching under Ailes in October 2006, Fox News Channel surpassed CNN in primetime and total day ratings in January 2002. Last month, it marked five years atop those measures.

Fox News Channel is three-and-a-half months old yet it has beaten CNN in the ratings for five years??!! :eek: :rolleyes: :p

Show Time for Fox

The most-watched business shows on cable appear on the Fox News Channel.

Top Cable Business Shows

Net Program HH Rating Viewers 2-Plus
FNC Bulls & Bears 1.0 1.08 million
FNC Forbes on Fox 1.0 1.06 million
FNC Cavuto on Business 1.0 1.05 million
FNC Cashin’ In 0.9 980,000
FNC Your World 0.9 928,000
CNN Lou Dobbs Tonight 0.8 894,000
CNN Lou Dobbs This Week 0.5 620,000
CNN In The Money 0.4 473,000
CNBC Morning Call 0.3 339,000
CNBC Power Lunch 0.3 333,000
CNBC Street Signs 0.3 332,000
CNBC Closing Bell 0.3 318,000
CNBC Kudlow & Co. 0.3 280,000

SOURCE: Nielsen Media Research (live), Jan. 1-Feb. 6, 2007.

Ailes has a delicate balancing act of trying not to syphon viewers away from Fox News to his new FNC Business Channel. Unlike CNBC and MSNBC or CNN and the now-defunct CNNfn I see a closer co-relation between the average Fox News viewer and a potential FNB Business Channel viewer that would cannibalize each other's audience. At least Fox News has so many viewers it can afford to lose a couple of hundred thousands viewers from 'O'Reilly,' daytime programming and/or 'Hannity' and still come close to matching CNBC's viewership.

Critic’s Notebook
NCIS: The most popular show nobody talks about nion
By Doug Elfman Chicago Sun-Times Television Critic February 11, 2007

I still contend that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on ABC is the least publicized hit network show on the air right now. It might not rank Top 10 but its been a Top 20 resident (with both overall viewers and the 18-49 demo) since its inception in late 2003, its repeats score good ratings (the only reality show that has managed this feat, which unlike 'Survivor' and 'Amazing Race' guarantees revenue come non-Sweeps and summer months) and its one of the few shows (unscripted or scripted) that tries to do positive things for others instead of pitting people against each other. I can also understand why the show doesn't receive media coverage. The host, builder and family in need are some of the biggest camera hams and phonies one could hope not to encounter (you'd hog the camera and cry on cue too if you could get a dream home out of the deal), commercialism runs rampant through the so-called charity in the show, and every 'EM:HE' show is exactly the same. Only the members of the interchangeable design team (except for team leader Ty Pennington) and the design of the homes changes from week to week... slightly!

That said NCIS is one of the few shows on network TV that I'm tempted to catch-on with DVD's because the promos make it seem like such a kooky and fun action show to watch. Even I can tell this is no JAG-off (that show was preachy as hell but it gave is the beautiful Catherine Bell :) ), and that computer girl with the pony tails and "goth" make-up seems like she'd be a riot as comic relief. Guess I need to be pushed around a little and I might just become an 'NCIS' convert. Any takers? :D

dad1153

02-11-07, 06:04 PM

This week TNT cut the opening of all its Law & Order repeats down to a 20 second intro (only cast members differentiate one show from another). This means that now the only place you can enjoy the show's signature minute-long opening (which is shorter than the 1:30 min. original into that ran during the show's first four seasons) is on NBC first-run/repeats or DVD Box Sets. Talk about an incentive for me to try to help keep the mothership show running on network TV for a few more years. :o

fredfa

02-11-07, 07:07 PM

I wouldn't push you, Dad, but NCIS can be a hoot. I generally record them and watch them three-four at a time.

JMCecil

02-11-07, 07:37 PM

Very good points you make. Another problem I see is that most of the live material that could possibly generate decent ratings on prime time TV isnt suitable for airing without huge fines and penalties from the FCC. All you have to do is look at the "wardrobe malfunction" fiasco from a recent Super Bowl halftime show. The language and actions seen on stage by some of todays top grossing performers would have the FCC making money hand over fist.
Yeah, I forgot about the hip-hop generation situation where it ain't music without nonstop cussing and skanky stripper wannabees.

But, then on the rock side where the biggest bands, like say Foo Fighters etc.., sound terrible live. What it boils down to is that there really aren't a lot of acts worth plunking down money to see anymore. Anyone that is good is either obscure and unsupported by the lables or so old that they need walkers, oxygen tanks and a nursing staff to get them on stage.

theratpatrol

02-11-07, 07:58 PM

So I guess the Gramys is not in HD tonight? :confused:

shuttermaker

02-11-07, 08:01 PM

So I guess the Gramys is not in HD tonight? :confused:

It is.

PJO1966

02-11-07, 08:01 PM

So I guess the Gramys is not in HD tonight? :confused:

Nope. I'm almost glad. It makes the decision to watch it on the east coast feeds much easier. If I had to choose between live and HD, it would be a tough choice.

fredfa

02-11-07, 08:06 PM

I undersood it would be in HD...but I won't see the show for three hours.

AAF

02-11-07, 08:34 PM

NCIS: The most popular show nobody talks about

I enjoy NCIS too. It's not remotely realistic, but it's great fun.

A short sea story:

About a hundred years ago when NCIS was just NIS (the name changed after a series of screwed up investigations and bad publicity) I happened to be in the Philippines where the command hosting me dropped the ball on my accommodations.

As a result, I found myself walking into a transit barracks room full of Marines. They looked up at me and collectively asked, "What the hell are you?" I was tired and a bit grumpy but replied promptly…whereupon they all but ran for the door and disappeared. I realized too late that they thought I said, “I'm NIS!”

Such is the power of a guilty conscious, but I had no complaints because I had room to myself for the next 3 days. :p

So I thank the underappreciated folks at NCIS.

fredfa

02-11-07, 08:36 PM

Great story AAF!

It is sad to me that NCIS seems to skew so solidly to older viewers. I suspect younger ones would enjoy it, too.

It ain't a cure for world hunger, but, as you noted, it can be a lot of fun.

fredfa

02-11-07, 08:37 PM

By the way, from what I read in the Grammys post, the awards are in HD, and from all accounts the PQ and audio are pretty spectacular.

PJO1966

02-11-07, 08:41 PM

By the way, from what I read in the Grammys post, the awards are in HD, and from all accounts the PQ and audio are pretty spectacular.

Oh well, I'll be watching live in SD. I miss my east coast HD feeds.

URFloorMatt

02-11-07, 09:40 PM

The surprising thing for me about NCIS (versus Extreme Makeover) is that NCIS sits in a brutal time period and has weathered years of both American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. And sometimes House.

DoubleDAZ

02-11-07, 09:45 PM

Never missed an episode, and yes, it can be a bit hokey, but isn't that what some TV is supposed to be? With shows like NCIS, I don't need sitcoms. NCIS gives me some drama, some action, some love interest, and some comedy, what more could I want? :)

fredfa

02-11-07, 10:48 PM

Technology Notebook
Behind the Flat Screen Price Slashes
The No-Name Brand Behind the Latest Price War
By Damon Darlin The New York Times February 12, 2007

If his Olevia line of televisions was ever going to get any attention from consumers, Vincent F. Sollitto Jr. would have to do something big, splashy and, in economic terms, just plain crazy.

On the day after Thanksgiving, Mr. Sollitto, the chairman and chief executive of Syntax-Brillian, had 32-inch Olevia liquid-crystal display TV sets selling at Circuit City for $475, almost half its regular price.

Syntax almost certainly lost money on the TVs. The flat screen that makes up about half the cost of an L.C.D. TV is about $350 on its own. But Mr. Sollitto could not have been more pleased. The Olevias outsold Sony and other brands while they lasted. That forced the premium brands to lower prices throughout the holiday season and take notice of the upstart from Tempe, Ariz.

“I think we are being annoying to those guys at the moment,” he said. “We are going to be on that radar screen soon if we aren’t there already.”

In the battle for market share in big-screen TVs, there is a lot of pain to go around as prices drop sharply. Circuit City, for instance, lured a lot of customers into its stores with the promotion. But last Thursday it said it would have to close about 70 stores because of slim profit margins on televisions and other products. Profits at almost all of the major TV makers are down.

The only ones not getting hurt are consumers, who enjoyed sliding prices on HDTVs in 2006. They are likely to see a rerun of the same action in 2007 as prices are expected to fall further by 40 percent or more. For that they can thank the low-price brands like Syntax’s Olevia.

“It does impact the business,” said Bruce Tripido, senior director of marketing for Sharp’s entertainment products. “They’ve accelerated the price compression and the reduction in profitability for everyone across the board.”

Of course, Olevia does not have the luxury of the name recognition enjoyed by Sharp and others. “A year ago we were nobody,” Mr. Sollitto said. “We were just trying to get people to hear our story.”

That is starting to change. Viewers of ESPN’s high-definition cable channels and its other media outlets are more familiar with the brand after a spate of advertising. Consumer Reports magazine recently rated an Olevia a best buy, along with a Sony.

Mr. Sollitto, a 21-year veteran of I.B.M. who later worked at a succession of other high-tech companies, predicted that Olevia would become a top-tier brand.

Jonathan Dorsheimer, vice president of equity research at Canaccord Adams, said this was “an achievable goal” for the company. He said Syntax had already garnered about 4 percent of the United States market, even though until late last year its sales were confined to regional electronics stores and online vendors, which make up only about 40 percent of the total market.

The company could increase its share to 7.5 percent of the United States market as it moves into the big stores, said John Vinh, a senior research analyst at C. E. Unterberg Towbin.

This year, Olevia TVs are in Circuit City, Office Depot and Kmart stores and will soon be in Target’s revamped electronics departments. Best Buy is experimenting with selling the brand online. The company expects to sell slightly more than a million TVs in the fiscal year.

There are about 80 brands in the crowded American market for L.C.D. televisions, most of them value-priced. Olevia’s competitors include Vizio, which has had success selling through Wal-Mart and Costco, and a number of brands recycled from yesteryear, when the United States still made televisions: Zenith, Emerson, Sylvania, Westinghouse and Magnavox

With the exception of Zenith, which has become the value brand of the Korean company LG, these brands are used by “virtual companies” that, like Syntax, contract with assemblers to build the TVs.

Syntax, though, has attracted the interest of investors because it is the only publicly traded TV-focused company in the United States. Its shares shot up from $2.02 in May to a 52-week-high of $11.70 in early January.

It has fallen since then and dropped 15 percent on Thursday after Mr. Sollitto issued a more conservative forecast for revenue growth — a tripling of revenue in its 2007 fiscal year ending June 30.

Mr. Vinh said investors’ expectations had run ahead of reality, and he brushed off the drop in price. He is forecasting that the shares, which closed at $8.11 on Friday, will go to $14 a share, and the handful of other analysts following the company remain optimistic. “The company is in hypergrowth mode,” Mr. Vinh said. “That’s a good problem to have.”

Mr. Sollitto is essentially taking a ride on the falling prices of flat panels, the main component in the TVs, and the drop has steepened because of a glut. It owns no factories, but buys the panels and has contracts with four manufacturers to assemble the televisions. This keeps costs down but is risky because the company does not control the supply of parts.

Right now that does not matter so much. While there is high demand for L.C.D. TVs and only eight suppliers of the flat panels that are the main component of L.C.D.’s, many of the independent factories in Taiwan are not running at full capacity. To reach greater efficiency and better economies of scale, they offer a lower price to anyone who commits to buying a lot of panels.

For example, the price of a 37-inch panel has fallen to $476, from $690 a year ago. Sweta Dash, an analyst who tracks panel prices for the market information company iSuppli, expects them to drop to $375 by June, presaging even bigger discounting at the retail level for those TVs in the next few months.

The three biggest names in the business, Sony, Sharp and Samsung, which hold about a third of the market, declined to comment on Olevia. Jonas Tanenbaum, Samsung’s vice president of visual display marketing, noted that “there has always been a disruptive force in the market.” Indeed, 15 years ago Samsung was the scrappy company building credibility.

“The off-brands are residing in a price band where we are simply not going to reside,” said Mr. Tripido of Sharp. His company has considered selling a value-priced TV, which would not carry the Sharp name.

Instead, Sharp’s strategy is to produce panels in its advanced plants in larger sizes, like 46, 52 and 65 inches, where the value brands cannot compete. (It also has a 108-inch TV coming.) Then it prices aggressively.

“The pricing was incredible right out of the chute” with the new sets, said Eric Haruki, an analyst with IDC, a market research company. “The big guys made pricing moves on their own.”

The result is a smaller price gap between the premium names and the value brands, creating a future risk for Syntax. Right now the average price of a 32-inch L.C.D. TV from a lesser-known brand like Olevia is $834, while a premium brand like Sharp sells for $1,217. Riddhi Patel, an analyst at iSuppli who tracks the overall market, predicts that by Christmas the prices will be more like $600 versus $850.

When the margin is only $150 to $200, Ms. Patel said, a shopper is more apt to shrug off the difference and choose the recognized brand name.

“We will be prepared for what’s coming, and that’s a very aggressive price reduction throughout the year,” Mr. Sollitto said.

As consumers develop a sweet spot for even bigger TVs, Olevia is pushing to sell 42-, 47- and 52-inch sets, some of them in the higher-resolution 1080p standard.

Mr. Sollitto said brand recognition becomes more important as the price difference between a top brand and his brand narrows. “The advertising makes a difference,” Mr. Sollitto said. “People are looking for a brand.” That explains why Olevia spent $2.4 million on advertising in the last three months, a tenfold increase in its ad budget.

Syntax has lined up three factories in China and Taiwan to assemble 1.3 million TVs in 2007. It also has a contract factory in Ontario, Calif., operated by Solar Link Technologies of Taiwan, to more quickly deliver to retailers in the United States. It is now seeking the capacity to produce 1.2 million more TVs. Mr. Sollitto has been racing to arrange financing for all this growth.

“Our biggest concern right now is, let’s not bite off more than we can chew,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/12/technology/12olevia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=technology&pagewanted=print

Iteki

02-11-07, 11:52 PM

This is Must See TV for me every week. I love this show.

I've been watching since the start...I was concerned that the cast chemistry would suffer after they killed off Kate, but it's actually gotten better, which I wouldn't have believed. Great show.

MWJones

02-12-07, 12:39 AM

That said NCIS is one of the few shows on network TV that I'm tempted to catch-on with DVD's because the promos make it seem like such a kooky and fun action show to watch. Even I can tell this is no JAG-off (that show was preachy as hell but it gave is the beautiful Catherine Bell :) ), and that computer girl with the pony tails and "goth" make-up seems like she'd be a riot as comic relief. Guess I need to be pushed around a little and I might just become an 'NCIS' convert. Any takers? :D

Pauley Perrette plays Abby Sciuto, the goth forensic scientist on the show is not only good with her comic relief, as you put it Dad, but she actually has a degree in forensic science. Acting came later for her. I believe that it makes her character more realistic since she understands the technobabble that comes with many parts of that nature.

The DVD "audio commentaries" by Don Bellisario hint to this story and several others.

I think that Don Bellisario has the golden touch over the last 25-30 years with the shows that he created, and this is just another in that string. He seems comfortable enough to blend some occasional in-jokes naming some of the other series he was involved with over the years.

I think the combination of casting, writing and production is why I stay tuned to this show, when similar shows (Law and Order, CSI) have turned me off.

fredfa

02-12-07, 12:47 AM

Nice to see you posting again MWJ! :)

fredfa

02-12-07, 12:54 AM

Grammy Winners

The show isn't over on the west coast yet, but if you'd like to see a complete list of tonight's Grammy winners you can find it here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070212/ap_en_mu/grammys_list;_ylt=Al2miPYsCQfevjlpmtELHcxY24cA

Kracko

02-12-07, 02:21 AM

Fredfa, any word on the ratings for BSG?

dad1153

02-12-07, 08:10 AM

The surprising thing for me about NCIS (versus Extreme Makeover) is that NCIS sits in a brutal time period and has weathered years of both American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.

What do you call Sunday night at 8PM? That's primo prime-time viewing time, and 'EM:HE' more than has held its own over the years. This past Fall against the all-mighty Sunday Night Football 'EM:HE' often beat NBC's games soundly in ratings and the demo (except for marquee match-ups like the 'Manning Bowl'). Of course it helps that (a) the NFL game doesn't start until 8:25PM after pre-game coverage and (b) 'EM:HE' works as female-skewing counterprogramming to the male-skewed NFL games. And hey, the fact that 'NCIS' got an article mentioning its popularity while 'EM:HE' continues to get close-to-zilch media coverage (even as it approaches the magic 100 episodes needed for weekday syndication stripping) while remaining a Top 20 show since 2003 speaks volumes about what the media deems "cool" and "hot." And this coming from one of the most Blue-state liberal posters on this forum (me) that's been watching 'EM:HE' religiously since November of 2004! :D

dad1153

02-12-07, 08:20 AM

I think that Don Bellisario has the golden touch over the last 25-30 years with the shows that he created, and this is just another in that string. He seems comfortable enough to blend some occasional in-jokes naming some of the other series he was involved with over the years.

You mean like the killer robot military Humvee episode from a couple of months ago that was clerly a dig at Glen Larson's Knight Rider? Bellisario worked under Larson for the 70's version of 'Battlestar Galactica' (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0069074/) and created one of the many 'Knight Rider' rip-offs from the 80's, TV's Airwolf (a cross between 'KR' and the Roy Scheider movie 'Blue Thunder'). Even from the promos of this particular episode it was obvious 'NCIS' was poking fun at the Larson-Bellisario working relationship over the years.

fredfa

02-12-07, 10:21 AM

The Business of Television
Q&A: The New NBCU ns
Jeff Zucker Seizes the Moment as CEO
By Michele Greppi Television Week February 12, 2007

In two decades at NBC, Jeff Zucker has risen from researcher at the Seoul Olympics to president and CEO of NBC Universal, a position that will require him to become fluent in the lingo of the worlds of film and theme parks.

It speaks volumes about the rapidity of his ascent that among his direct reports, the number of people who are younger than the 41-year-old executive can be counted on one hand, perhaps even a couple of fingers.

After his appointment last Tuesday he talked with TelevisionWeek National Editor Michele Greppi about how most steps up in his career "just happened," how he had no designs on the big job until the past year and about the number of issues facing him and NBC Universal.

Television Week: In our best Chris Matthews voice, we're saying, "Tell me something I don't know about the next year."
Jeff Zucker: I believe the momentum with NBC's prime-time lineup and with Universal's film slate will continue to improve.

Television Week: What will be NBC Universal's biggest success/improvement story in your first year as all-high mucky-muck?
Jeff Zucker: See answer to Question 1.

Television Week: What will be NBC Universal's retransmission strategy moving forward?
Jeff Zucker: I obviously don't want to talk about this too much publicly, but as you know this company has vast -- half of this company's assets are on the cable side. That's one of the more under-reported stories about this company, which is that half of this company's operating profit is derived from those cable entities. That puts us in a slightly different position than others when it comes to retrans. Retrans is a very important part of who we are and who we will be.

Television Week: Fox News announced last week it will launch its business news channel this year. What will be CNBC's greatest strength and vulnerability?
Jeff Zucker: I think the fact that we have spent the last two years getting our house in order at CNBC and the fact that CNBC's performance is demonstrably better than it has been, up more than 150 percent from its low point a few years ago, is the best response to anyone who wants to come into that world.

Television Week: Any thoughts on the CNBC "money honey" tempest around Maria Bartiromo's dealings with Citigroup and a former executive?
Jeff Zucker: I would just say I believe Maria has handled herself with incredible class, and has done everything we asked her to do, and has not crossed any lines and remains an incredibly important part not just of the CNBC family but the NBC Universal family as well.

Television Week: How much improvement can you reasonably expect from the cable entertainment channels, which, as you say, are the driver of the company right now?
Jeff Zucker: We expect to see double-digit growth out of them, but that is a phenomenal performance on top of a phenomenal performance.

Television Week: How about MSNBC? It's headed for what's described as a phenomenally profitable this year now that NBC Universal is the sole owner.
Jeff Zucker: Consolidating our ownership in it last year and then having this growth on top of that has come at a very nice time. It's really making nice progress.

Television Week: How much is Keith Olbermann, the MSNBC "Countdown" host who has been negotiating a new contract, worth?
Jeff Zucker: Keith Olbermann is an incredibly important part of MSNBC and I expect he'll be part of our future for a long time.

Television Week: That would be the longest he's ever stayed in one place professionally, wouldn't it?
Jeff Zucker: Well, look, I think when you're happy and you're doing a great job, it makes complete sense to stay where you are.

Television Week: Would you like to hazard a prediction about how the prime-time race will play out this season?
Jeff Zucker: No. The only thing I would say is that there is no question that four networks in prime time will be incredibly closely-bunched, and my guess is that there's half a ratings point separating first from fourth. It's never been that competitive from first to fourth.

Television Week: Now that you have total control over the universe, what can you promise fans of "Friday Night Lights"?
Jeff Zucker: I would say that this entire company loves "Friday Night Lights" and we're going to do everything we can to see that that program gets to the playoffs.

Television Week: And that means …?
Jeff Zucker: We love this show, we believe in this show, there's no group that wants that show to come back more than this company.

Television Week: Against the backdrop of the digital emphasis by NBC Universal, can you say what has been learned so far from "iVillage Live," which is running on the NBC Universal-owned stations.
Jeff Zucker: What it has proven is that there are new economic models that can work in daytime and we've got to continue to refine them and hone them and commit to trying new things. So far we are pleased with the initial plays of "iVillage Live."

Television Week: At what point did you know you wanted to run the whole shebang?
Jeff Zucker: Wellllllll, I think that's something that only became clear to me within the last year, that that was a real possibility, and only then did I think that would be something I would want to do.

I've never had a career path where I set out or knew what I was going to do next. The next thing just happened, and that was always the case. I just wanted to do the job well that I was in.

Only within the last year, when I was given the responsibility for the entire television group -- and that was two-thirds of the company -- did I think about ultimately moving into this position.

Television Week: How will you put your first big stamp on the Zucker era?
Jeff Zucker: I don't feel any pressure to announce any big initiative. It just doesn't work like that.

The fact is the key areas I want to focus on are content, making sure that at NBC, especially in prime time, they continue the momentum they have under way, making sure the film studio has the resources they need to have the summer they hope to have. So content will continue to be a major area of focus.

The digital side will be the other main area of focus. We've spent a year experimenting. Now we have to focus on the economics.

Obviously, cost will continue to be a key area of focus. I'm not sure that focus ever ends.

Television Week: Can you give any specifics on where NBCU 2.0 stands?
Jeff Zucker: We've made tremendous progress. We are very close to having met all the goals we set when we announced NBCU 2.0 last year. There's still a little work to be done. We're very much on target and have identified most of that and feel very positive about that. We're not going to let up on looking at our cost structure and our cost basis ever. This is an evolution and an ongoing process.

Television Week: Does it surprise you that some people in the industry still shake their heads and say they don't get your ascent?
Jeff Zucker: All I ever have been worried about is doing the best I can do, and making sure the people who work for me are supported and motivated, and the people who I work for feel I am getting the job done for them. Beyond that, everything ta