Post by annabelleleigh on Apr 24, 2009 9:25:38 GMT -5
This is the central piece in a new Businessweek special report on the future of television. I post it because I know there are others here who are interested in the subject and also because it mentions the L&O franchise.
We know that the mothership will be back for a 20th season next year likely only if it structures a deal like the one cited in the article for Friday Night Lights.
CI is already setting records for repurposing due to its relative high cost per episode as measured against its ability to attract viewers in an original airing (minimally acceptable but not stellar.) And of course CI's move to USA network almost two years ago marked an historical shift in financial and distribution modeling for a property once exclusively aired on a broadcast network.
The entire piece is nicely concise; the full report is juicier. There is also a slide show on the Businessweek site featuring those shows with the most product integration. For those who are fascinated with such things.
In short, the better we understand the thinking about new TV business models the more likely we'll be able to guess whether CI will have a Season 9. So, dear members seeking enlightenment, read on.
Boldfaces mine.
AL
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How Network TV Will Reinvent Itself
By Ronald Grover and Tom Lowry
Businessweek
April 22, 2009
Excerpt:
"It's not easy being a network executive these days. Consider the challenges: While NBC (GE), ABC (DIS), CBS (CBS), and Fox (NWS) continue to siphon upwards of 60% of the television advertising dollars and to attract the biggest audiences, broadcast revenues are down an estimated 9% this year and may never be what they once were.
Competition, meanwhile, is everywhere. The cable guys are making some of the most popular shows on TV and are pressing for an increasing share of advertising dollars as companies target the kind of audience niches in which the likes of AMC, TNT, and Bravo specialize. And it goes without saying that the array of entertainment options—YouTube clips of improbable Scottish singers, online games, pirated movies and TV shows—is luring eyeballs away from destination television.
These forces have been gathering momentum for some time, of course. But some network bosses seem to understand they have reached an inflection point. "The business model has to change, and I think every network executive knows that," says BBC Worldwide Americas President Garth Ancier, a onetime top programming executive at Fox, NBC, and the WB. "I'm just glad I don't have to be the one to do it."
For decades network TV has been about reach. Programmers traditionally chose shows with broad appeal, the better to get millions of viewers and, in turn, persuade national advertisers to buy those eyeballs. That era is essentially over and the networks are scrambling to adapt to a fragmented landscape where even popular shows are lucky to pull in 10 million viewers. "They have to rethink what they put on the air, how many hours they'll do it, everything in their playbook," says a former top executive who now produces TV shows.
A Shorter Prime Time
Network executives are loath to reveal much about their plans. But it's fair to say that five years from now network television will look very different. The 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. prime-time period likely will be shorter, programs will be tailored to audiences, and increasingly advertisers will show up in the programs instead of just the commercials. Even more radical, say industry insiders: Networks may turn over programming to outsiders some nights or let local stations provide their own shows on, say, Saturday evenings.
NBC, currently the most challenged of the Big Four networks, has been the first to rethink its strategy. To save money, the Peacock network already shares its Friday Night Lights programming with satellite operator DirecTV (DTV), which jointly finances production of the football programming but airs it on DirecTV's own Channel 101 before it airs on NBC. And this fall, the General Electric-owned network will air late-night talk show host Jay Leno on prime time five nights a week, giving it a lower programming cost than its current fare of cop dramas like the Law and Order franchise.
For the full article go to
www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/apr2009/db20090422_256972.htm
We know that the mothership will be back for a 20th season next year likely only if it structures a deal like the one cited in the article for Friday Night Lights.
CI is already setting records for repurposing due to its relative high cost per episode as measured against its ability to attract viewers in an original airing (minimally acceptable but not stellar.) And of course CI's move to USA network almost two years ago marked an historical shift in financial and distribution modeling for a property once exclusively aired on a broadcast network.
The entire piece is nicely concise; the full report is juicier. There is also a slide show on the Businessweek site featuring those shows with the most product integration. For those who are fascinated with such things.
In short, the better we understand the thinking about new TV business models the more likely we'll be able to guess whether CI will have a Season 9. So, dear members seeking enlightenment, read on.
Boldfaces mine.
AL
---------------------
How Network TV Will Reinvent Itself
By Ronald Grover and Tom Lowry
Businessweek
April 22, 2009
Excerpt:
"It's not easy being a network executive these days. Consider the challenges: While NBC (GE), ABC (DIS), CBS (CBS), and Fox (NWS) continue to siphon upwards of 60% of the television advertising dollars and to attract the biggest audiences, broadcast revenues are down an estimated 9% this year and may never be what they once were.
Competition, meanwhile, is everywhere. The cable guys are making some of the most popular shows on TV and are pressing for an increasing share of advertising dollars as companies target the kind of audience niches in which the likes of AMC, TNT, and Bravo specialize. And it goes without saying that the array of entertainment options—YouTube clips of improbable Scottish singers, online games, pirated movies and TV shows—is luring eyeballs away from destination television.
These forces have been gathering momentum for some time, of course. But some network bosses seem to understand they have reached an inflection point. "The business model has to change, and I think every network executive knows that," says BBC Worldwide Americas President Garth Ancier, a onetime top programming executive at Fox, NBC, and the WB. "I'm just glad I don't have to be the one to do it."
For decades network TV has been about reach. Programmers traditionally chose shows with broad appeal, the better to get millions of viewers and, in turn, persuade national advertisers to buy those eyeballs. That era is essentially over and the networks are scrambling to adapt to a fragmented landscape where even popular shows are lucky to pull in 10 million viewers. "They have to rethink what they put on the air, how many hours they'll do it, everything in their playbook," says a former top executive who now produces TV shows.
A Shorter Prime Time
Network executives are loath to reveal much about their plans. But it's fair to say that five years from now network television will look very different. The 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. prime-time period likely will be shorter, programs will be tailored to audiences, and increasingly advertisers will show up in the programs instead of just the commercials. Even more radical, say industry insiders: Networks may turn over programming to outsiders some nights or let local stations provide their own shows on, say, Saturday evenings.
NBC, currently the most challenged of the Big Four networks, has been the first to rethink its strategy. To save money, the Peacock network already shares its Friday Night Lights programming with satellite operator DirecTV (DTV), which jointly finances production of the football programming but airs it on DirecTV's own Channel 101 before it airs on NBC. And this fall, the General Electric-owned network will air late-night talk show host Jay Leno on prime time five nights a week, giving it a lower programming cost than its current fare of cop dramas like the Law and Order franchise.
For the full article go to
www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/apr2009/db20090422_256972.htm