First “American Idol” producers refused to do right by their long-suffering workers by going union, then they dumped Paula Abdul when she asked for like, a third of what Seacrest makes, and now, “Idol” producers have made the biggest mistake of all by hiring Ellen Degeneres as the fourth judge.

I mean, really? Ellen?! What was Tyra too busy running her media empire to take the gig? Jeez, what the hell does a self-absorbed union-busting scab like Ellen know about judging singing competitions? And if America thought Paula was too nice to the contestants, just imagine how much the “queen of nice” will pander to the worst singers in the bunch?

Urgh..if I wanted to see Ellen’s manufactured brand of “aw shucks folks” sweetness I’d watch her daytime show. The fact that she’ll be inflicted on my “Idol” viewing time each week might just be enough to break me of my “Idol” habit for good. On the upside, not watching “Idol” will free up a lot of Tivo time come January…so, hmmm…maybe I should be thanking Ellen.

Nah, I still hate her phony ass…

OK, normally, I am not the kind of person to gloat when bad things happen to jerky people (even if they totally deserve it!) but when I heard that NBC Universal’s much-maligned entertainment co-chairman, Ben Silverman was fired today, I gotta admit, I kinda cheered!

That’s right, amigos, the man who brought you such immortal classics as “My Own Worst Enemy”, “Kings”, “Crusoe”, “Kath & Kim”, the crazy-expensive (not to mention totally unnecessary!) remakes of “Bionic Woman” and “Knight Rider”, and Survival Sunday cheesefests like “Meteor” and “The Storm”, has finally been shown the door. Hooray!

In his defense, Silverman was a well-regarded producer of such hit shows as “Ugly Betty”, “The Office”, and “30 Days” before taking the reigns at NBC, so, when the network brass hired him to lead NBC out of the crapper in 2007, he seemed like an inspired pick.

But it was soon clear to everyone involved that Silverman was not the “rock star executive” he promised to be. Not only were many of his big ideas just plain lame — hello, “Rosie Live!” anyone? — but by making crass product placement a way of life at the network, greenlighting expensive duds left and right, and calling writers “the nerdiest, ugliest, meanest kids in the high school” during the dark days of the WGA strike, Silverman really was his “Own Worst Enemy”.

My old NBC strike squad actually made up Silverman-specific chants during the strike…of course, I’ve forgotten most of them, but, trust me, they made our Carson Daly chants look friendly!

In fact, at one point, there was talk of staging a Ben Silverman prom in honor of his statement about us “ugly writers” trying to “cancel the prom” when we threatened to bring down NBC’s telecast of that year’s Golden Globes. And though we never held the actual prom, we did get the Globes downgraded to a “news event”, and, as you can see, we crafted some pretty cool paraphernalia in preparation for it…so, suck it Silverman!

But prom or no prom, the good news today is that the cheesy-ass king of all things crappy at NBC is finally gone. Yay! Now, if we could just do something about those annoying “Jay Leno at 10PM” commercials…yikes…

She may have missed the Writer’s Strike of 2007-2008, but Greta got to stick it to the man anyway this week at her first official protest rally! That’s right, amigos, our little red-shirted cutie joined Mommy and Daddy at the “Hole in the Heart of Hollywood” rally in support of saving the beleaguered Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills.

For those of you who might be unaware of the situation, the MPTF Hospital has been a Hollywood institution since the 1940’s and a place where elderly actors, directors, writers and other film industry veterans can retire among their peers. Set on a sprawling campus in Woodland Hills, the home is now in danger of disappearing forever sometime very soon.

The bigwigs at the Motion Picture and Television Fund are crying poor and saying that in today’s economic climate, they just don’t have the money to keep the home open. But the problem with that claim is that when the families and supporters of keeping the home open approached the MPTF about starting up some possible fundraising efforts, the board declared that no amount of money could keep the home open. Huh?

If the problem is money and you won’t let anyone from arguably one of the most creative communities in the world help you raise it, then what is really going on here? My guess is that the MPTF has already sold the land — which they own outright, by the way! — to some developer and therefore has no real intest in keeping the home open.

But no matter what the back-all shenanigans are here, the situation for the folks still living in the home is dire to say the least. Of the dozens of residents who have already been “removed” from the home, 18 have died within a matter of weeks due to something called “transfer trauma”. WTF, man?!!

These people paid their dues, worked for years in “the biz”, prepaid for their care and are entitled to live out their golden years with their peers. I don’t pretend to know all the details on this one, but what I do know is that if there is a way to keep this place open then we need to do it! If for no other reason than because it is the right thing to do.

I mean, seriously, the motto on the sign out front says it all “Taking Care of Our Own”! So, come on, guys, let’s put the greed aside for a change and get back to the business of doing just that.

For more information on what you can do to help save the home, please visit SavingTheLivesOfOurOwn.org. And to see more pics from Greta’s first protest rally, including many more shots of the celebrity guest speakers, John “Dukes of Hazzard” Schneider and Frances “Titanic” Fisher, click here.

And in the meantime, que viva los viejos a la casa de MPTF!

Another Canadian show is headed down south to a bigger audience.

ABC has announced that it has picked up a new Canadian show entitled “Copper”. The new police drama will be co-produce with Canwest, which owns Canadian network Global TV.

Copper is an hour-long drama about five friends on the job in their first year out of the police academy. Production of the new series begins in June, and it is expected to be added to the fall or mid-season schedule.

This will be the fourth Canadian show that gets picked up by an American network since the 100-day Writers strike in 2007. Since then, Flashpoint has premiere on CTV and CBS. The Listener and The Bridge are scheduled to debut soon, and will be aired simultaneously in Canada and the U.S.

13 episodes of Copper will be produced and will air on both Global and ABC.

“Every place has a completely different personality, like, Sony is kinda angry, Fox is where all the really cool people hang out and [CBS] Radford gets started at, literally, 5 am…” Stephen Scaia said last Wednesday.

The Jericho writer was giving picketing pointers to Joshua Jackson (the dreamboat from Dawson’s Creek) and Ashley Scott (the hottie patoddie in Jericho). The group had just retired from striking at Universal Studios, where the star power of SAG along with WGA marchers made the studio hip for the day.

Today was “Below-the-Line Picket Day” and Fox had a high potential of being “uncool” for the day. Assistants and more assistants were out marching as well as a few teamsters.

Along with them were these folks, who rumor has it will give it up for only 8 cents.

“My boss had me get him water,” Kacey Arnold laughs.

The beverage gofer works as an assistant for writing partners Jeff Ventimilia and Josh Sternin of Touchstone T.V. Ventimilia joked to Arnold, “Are you gonna bring me my lunch?” on his way to the strike.

The writer’s assistant says she’s lucky that Disney has been kind enough to continue to pay half of her salary. Fox’s assistants got laid off the first week of the strike.

At Fox’s main gate at Pico and Motor, the strikers did not disappoint the “cool” status. The uppities were out to support the lowlies and Larry David (Seinfield), Eric Roth (Forest Gump), Steve Zalilian (Schindler’s List), James Brooks (As Good It Gets) and Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) were all spotted among marchers.

Absent to the march were more below-the-line employees, including make-up artists, camera crew and other production staff.

A WB assistant explained there’s a mixed response from other below-the-lines who are out of a job. Several are frustrated with the strike because of the halt of their paycheck, while others realize it’s the writer’s creation that’s responsible for their position.

Adam Dasilva, a writer’s assistant for K-Ville, said that his show is filmed in New Orleans and that the locals are feeling hurt by the stop of production. The strike is not as visible in “The Big Easy” and out of state staff do not fully understand the impact of the strike. Still, Dasilva hoped there would be more below-the-lines – he’s surprised there aren’t more people out.

One writer disagreed, “I’ll get trampled like a Who concert in there!” she shouted, leery of taking her first steps to join the march.

Today was Bring-Your-Kid-to-Picket Day at the WGA strike, and the three-foot-and-under marchers were in abundance proudly waving their signs. A favorite among strikers was a little cutie with a sign that read, “I’m little but I know how to share.” She looked so tired from all that marching in the sun I didn’t ask for her photo. But this guy was glowing with enthusiasm:

“Seeing the kids with their signs really raises the morale of the writers,” Melinda Corazon Foley, the diversity coordinator for WGA West, says.

Strikers’ spirits have also been boosted by the influx of goodies donated to the movement. While scoping out the action at the gates, I’ve been offered hot cocoa, McDonald’s cheeseburgers, bottled water and Girl Scout cookies — the WGA strike captains are generous.

Jay Leno has donated donuts, Ellen DeGeneres’ editors have offered In ‘N Out to picketers, the producers of Entourage have sent full meals to the marchers at CBS, and Jimmy Kimmel sent a burrito truck around. The list goes on.

“P.F. Chang’s brought lunches and French 75 brought lunches, Dakota’s brought tri-tip sandwiches. That was everybody’s favorite–they were like Holy Crap,” Foley says.

NBC marchers have been showered with caramel apples, rice crispy treats, chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, popcorn, bagels with cream cheese – and tuna fish sandwiches from a nearby neighbor.

One writer picketing at CBS was relieved that the food has gotten healthier this week. She said there’s been more fruit, Luna bars and string cheese — and a truck dropped off a massive amount of Glaceau VitaminWater. The health-conscious striker laughed at the irony that a conglomeration of corporations were donating food when that’s who the writers were up against. Still, she’s appreciative of the freebie grub.

Despite all the food donated to the strikers and the commotion they’re causing on the sidewalks, neighboring eateries of NBC say they haven’t seen business slow down.

“For us it’s no problem,” a cashier at Choza Mama says with a grin. The award-winning Peruvian dig is directly across from NBC, where honking by passers-by in support of strikers is so loud it can be heard several blocks away.

Neighboring Wienerschnitzel is also unbothered.

“We’ve been really, really busy … we can hardly hear it over here,” the wiener-toting cashier shrugs as a number of people wait in line.

Two frosted haired ladies walk stiffly through the ebbs and flows of sidewalk traffic on West Alameda Avenue in Burbank. The street is lined with WGA strikers circling the Disney, NBC and Warner Bros. studios. The ladies, residents of the O.C. are here to enjoy their recent retirement. Tops on their tourist to-do list is to join audiences at a few of their favorite NBC shows. Their plan nearly went awry yesterday when Ellen: The Ellen Degeneres Show was canceled along with Jay Leno’s Tonight Show – until the pair got a call today to come on down to see NBC’s funny woman. With all the strikers hitting the streets, the two are still unsure if the show is actually going to go on.

Brent Bradshaw, a writer for Last Call with Carson Daly confirms that the Ellen show is still happening. Tourists – gleaming in their I’m-gonna-be-on-TV outfits – line up behind the fence near Bradshaw and his fellow protestors. A number of the NBC-based strikers are disappointed that Ellen’s program is up and running. However, Bradshaw says the strikers have been able to convince some of the show’s attendees to join their side.

Friends Stacey Loera, Prince Villa and April Lopez from Sylmar have been marching with the WGA strikers for over six hours. The trio played hooky from school to see Chris Brown (the easy-on-the-eyes, 18-year-old, hip-hopper who sings that song that goes “she want that lovey-dovey, kiss-kiss”) on Ellen’s show. But after talking to a number of passionate members of the rally, the three decided to join forces with the writers.

“We understand. If we were in their position we would be out here too,” Loera says, looking older than her sixteen years and blinking behind her bangs.

They’re not the only non-WGA members supporting the strike. On Alameda Avenue, Bob Oedy, an electrician and Union member/supporter, enthusiastically waves his “W.G.A. STRIKE” sign. Alongside Oedy, Phil (bashful about giving his last name) joins the protest simply as a fan of NBC shows who wants to support the writers.

Richard Eagon, head-writer of Last Call with Carson Daly, wishes everyone in the union was as enthusiastic. He’s disappointed that Ellen DeGeneres, a WGA member, has “crossed their picket,” not joined in on the march, and continued to host and write for her weekday episodes.

“She has seven writers and all seven writers walk this line every morning. She will not drive through here either, she drives through an underground gate,” a disappointed Eagon says between honks in support of the struggling strikers.

Almost all the other show runners called in sick for the week including Carson Daily, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel and Steve Carrell – who said he was ill with an “enlarged testicle” Eagon explains. Nearby, a red-haired writer can’t help but taunt the Ellen-goers, “dancing, get ready for dancing.”

“Be sure to tell people,” a WGA colleague says with a Valleyspeak inflection, “that Ellen is guh-aay!”

For more coverage on Networks/Studios vs. Showrunners and the W.G.A. Strike go to Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily.

Protestors rally as the audience gets reigned in for Ellen DeGeneres’ show.

I have updated this blog with the unedited version of the WGA strike article I did for iMAGES, which can be found below.

Right click and “Save Target As” to download the unedited article’s PDF version:

http://www.freewebs.com/kamranjawaid/WGA.pdf

Alternately its published version can be found at:

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/images/archive/071216/images2.htm

Please do feel free to send feeback at:

kamran.jawaid@yahoo.com

Kamran Jawaid

“The alternative to striking now for a fair wage would be to accept the future prospect of simply not being paid, which no worker would accept” replied Bob Harris, in his e-mail back to yours truly.

Bob Harris

Mr. Harris is a screenwriter (with credits in the original CSI series) whose 12,000 member sodality – the Writers Guild of America – WGA – has been on strike since 5th November.

There is no hostile tension gnawing within their stomachs. No military or local police. Just a lot of picket signs in air backing a select committee of negotiators as they battle out AMPTP – Alliance of Motion Picture Television Producers – over residual demands.

Like every great historic war this is about justification. Like every recent war, it’s about financial gain.

Every three years the Writers Guilds (there are two, the East and the West), a labor union representing television and film writers, renegotiate its basic contract called the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA), with the AMPTP, the trade organization that employs the writers.

The MBA includes key issues of DVD residuals, union jurisdiction on reality show and animation writers and the core issue of ‘New Media’ compensation, which every media conglomerate acknowledges will bring in revenues in the billions.

‘New Media’ refers to content written for or distributed online and other emerging digital technologies, an area where the writers aren’t indemnified. The union’s current demand is of a percentage of the profits that the studios would receive.

“As things stand, we get paid nothing – zero, zip, nada – for internet streaming, downloads, etc.  Since that’s going to be a large and possibly dominant part of the future, all we’re asking for is to be paid more than nothing when other people profit from our work. Since we’re asking only for a percentage, the argument is nonsensical anyway. If they get paid for our work, we should, too” writes Mr. Harris.

Duane Adler

Duane Adler, screenwriter of Save the Last Dance and Step Up e-mails back: “We’re not trying to lock them into set fees – at least we weren’t at the start of this, negotiations may take us that way. We came with the belief that if the internet and New Media becomes what we all think – and becomes these billions of dollars in revenue that they are projecting to stock holders on Wall Street – then we, as creators, are entitled to a part of that revenue. If ‘New Media’ doesn’t become what we’re all thinking. If it all goes away, if they don’t make money, then we don’t”

Harris Tulchin

 Harris Tulchin, a veteran entertainment attorney, suggests through his e-mail that “the parties need to make a deal on a three year salary raise and go back to work and then designate a joint committee to come up with the solutions on downloads and streaming” Mr. Tulchin’s clients include major talent as well as studios.

Although ‘New Media’ does hold immense potential, it is still in uncharted waters.

“It’s a bit speculative” adds Mr. Tulchin. “A colleague of mine started CinemaNow which is one of the leading streaming and downloading sites for movies. The company has been in business 8 or 9 years and is still losing money. Its studio run direct competitor was also not making money and sold itself to Blockbuster”.

One of the major points of negotiation has been the issue of DVD residuals payable to the writers, which currently amounts to $0.04 per DVD sale.

“We only agreed to such a low figure twenty years ago as what was supposed to be a “temporary measure,” when the technology was new and more expensive.  This was a good-faith act by the writers.  Two decades later, the studios have never increased the “temporary” four cents. How much are we asking for now?  The gigantic sum of… eight cents” wrote Mr. Harris.

Craig Mazin

 “If the companies make very little, they will pay the writers very little.  If the companies reap large amounts, then the writers will be compensated in a small, but significant fashion” e-mailed Craig Mazin, whose resume as a screenwriter includes every Scary Movie 3 and 4, School for Scoundrels. His new movie, Superhero! is currently in post-production.

So far, the strike has severely crippled television production. Popular television programs have either been pulled off mid-season or put on the backburner until an agreement is reached. Feature film production is beginning to reflect the strike’s effects.

Mr. Mazin wrote “I think we’re starting to creep closer toward the zone where the 2009 feature film schedule will be seriously impacted. Independent films will be impacted more so than they would have been twenty years ago, because there are very few such “independent” films out there.”

“Many of the event movies use writers each day throughout shooting, often for months. If we’re on strike, there will be no writers working on these films. That means these films probably won’t happen”, commented Mr. Adler.

“The prequel to “The Da Vinci Code,” “Musical Nine,” by the director of “Chicago,” Oliver Stone’s next film, and Johnny Depp’s upcoming project “Shantaram” have already been delayed.  Many others will surely follow if there is no deal soon” surmised Mr. Harris.

However, if the issue isn’t resolved, and soon, the Writers Guild strike might also coincide with the collective bargaining of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Directors Guild of America (DGA) contracts, that share WGA’s basic points.

“SAG and DGA have the same major issue” wrote Mr. Tulchin. “The WGA solution, if any would help, but perhaps my idea of a joint committee to solve the problem would also work for SAG and DGA as well. Whatever the writers get the directors and the actors will want their piece. That way we keep labor peace.”

However Mr. Harris points out that “the studios respond to the Guild by saying they can’t predict what the future revenues will be – but that’s not what they’re telling their own shareholders. They’re not telling the truth to somebody”

“What the writers are asking for here isn’t of a form or quantity that can somehow cripple or damage the companies.  Therefore, the central question here is “How much money can we get a money-keeping machine to grant us?” wrote Mr. Mazin.

So far both sides have an unflinching attitude on the negotiation table. Historically, there have been two other strikes by the Guilds, one in 1960, the other in the 1988 – the latter had cost the industry some $500 million.

“The union has been much stronger than I think the studios realized we would be, and every opinion poll shows the public overwhelmingly supports the writers in the strike” wrote Mr. Harris.

“Every writer I talk to wants to be back at work, but no one wants to go back till we have a deal we all feel comfortable with and moves us forward” wrote Mr. Adler. “I feel it will go on long as long as the other side refuses to actually negotiate with us and come up with a fair deal”

“Many of my predictions have been off, so I’m hesitant to speak with any confidence here” said Mr. Mazin. “My gut tells me that this won’t be resolved before the end of this year.  There’s a decent chance that this will be the longest strike in our union’s history”

~ Special thanks to Mr. Craig Mazin, Mr. Duane Adler, Mr. Bob Harris, and Mr. Harris Tulchin for taking the time out to respond, and to Mr. Gregg Mitchell from the WGAW for helping us out with the piece.

Original URL:

iMAGES - Dawn Newspaper

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/images/archive/071216/images2.htm

Feedback:

Kamran Jawaid
kamran.jawaid@yahoo.com

Published:
December 16, 2007

iMAGES – Dawn Newspaper
images@dawn.com

Dan and Jessica discuss Tyler Perry’s interesting union practices. Other discussions include: Dan’s urban dictionary word, Steven Seagal desire to fight aliens, and the box office report.

Click this link to check it out:

The Radio Dan Show: Tyler Perry’s House of Shame

The upcoming third season of NBC’s Heroes is previewed in the July 14 Sci-Fi Preview issue of TV Guide magazine.

Drawn from that article and a few online sources, here are some details about the new season:

The 13-episode Volume Three is entitled ‘Villains’, but “it’s not as obvious as its title might sound,” Zachary Quinto (Sylar) teases. Might that have anything to do with the changes in storyline? According to E!Online’s KRISTIN DOS SANTOS early this year, the “plan” for Volume Three, which always was to be called ‘Villains,’ will be far different from what was originally conceived before the WGA strike this past winter, thanks in large part to criticisms of Volume Two.

Despite the rumored “reboot,” the show’s creative team won’t be discounting the Fall ‘07 ‘Generations’ story arc. September 22’s season premiere night will kick off with a one-hour “summary” special featuring previously unseen clips. The following episode #1, written by Tim Kring and directed by Allan Arkush, begins four years in the future, where we’ll meet a “mean, damaged and kinda nuts” Claire, revealed Hayden Panettiere, whose return apparently wasn’t delayed by her recent movie shoot. “Future Claire is a real bad ass.” The story then flashes back to pick up right after the Season Two “Powerless” cliffhangers.

“Because in every hero there could be a villain”
- May ‘08 Heroes promo

AMC is allowing that the beginning of season 2 in 1962 is officially leaked, and has posted a 1962 trivia quiz on their Mad Men blog. (I scored 11/15).

As mentioned in our reporting on the New York Times article, JWT will have a ten-second advertisement inside the new DVD release. Here’s an article about that, complete with cool picture, from Brandweek.

Media Bistro has an amusing take on George Lois and the Times Magazine article.

We confess that we watch each episode twice, once with the sound on and then again on mute, so as to better contemplate the stellar sets, vintage props, and bold-hued womenswear…

DVD Reviews abound! Why oh why didn’t we get a review copy? Sniff. Why oh why haven’t I got my contest prize yet? SNIFF! (I got a note from AMC on June 27 that my contest-prize DVD is in the mail. So yay. But sniff.)

Overwhelmingly positive reviews can be read at:

• TV Squad,
• DVD Talk,
• Red Orbit,
• The Star Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul,
• NewsOK.com from The Oklahoman,
• The Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio.com)

Hollywood Reporter did a roundtable (on June 3, but I didn’t see it until hullaballoo pointed it out) of showrunners on how they dealt with the WGA strike and other things. Matt Weiner is one such showrunner.

Movie Web is thrilled with “10 new photos” of season 2. They all seem to be the ones we had a month ago. But maybe I’m confused, because no matter what I click, I only see 3 photos.

AfterEllen.com has a juicy article on Mad Men’s women, including Carol, which mentions both the Times article and the DVD release.

Watching Peggy move from secretary to lead character Don Draper, to a woman with her own secretary at the end of the first series’ 13-episode run, was possibly one of the most satisfying arcs I have ever seen for a female character.

The article’s author doesn’t realize Joan was being snarky when she said Peggy would have a secretary. Nonetheless, the character arc is pretty damn amazing.

I live in suburban New York, but a Mad Men fan in LA reports seeing a Mad Men billboard. Yippee!

I’m not going to mention the gazillion articles that mention that Mad Men is officially on the Emmy shortlist, because it was enough weeding through them looking for real news. But it’s worth noting that the TV Decoder of the New York Times has a column thinking over each show’s chances.

A 16-page July Preview section of Entertainment Weekly mentions Mad Men’s ratings war with Burn Notice, but doesn’t give Mad Men its own page, which confuses me.

So who lost ‘Lost’…. and while we’re on the subject….Heroes…Prison Break….the Bionic Woman…Supernatural…. the list goes on!!… I’ll tell you who bloody lost them (or at least is partially responsible). The bloody Writers Guild of America and their fecking strike….!!!

The strike is over!!!….now give me back my TV shows… damn you!!!! Reducing the selection of what we watch to House… and er…. House… and ……………House!!!!!!!

Thank god Battlestar Galactica is back on the Air!!! David Eick has come thru and delivered… and from what I heard even BSG was at risk of being canned!!!!!!!

SOooooo the writer guild were striking….*sigh*… and it’s taken god knows how long to get sorted…. damn you WGA!!!… for the sake of a payrise lets put 1000s of peoples jobs on the line and destroy other peoples livlyhood…. what a crock of sh*t!!

At least there’s good news. Lost executive producer Carlton Cuse has said his team is “ready to make episodes quickly to try to fit in five more this season”.

So unlike Heroes and Prison Break we’re probably gonna get a reasonably sized season.

This week is finals week at UCLA, but fortunately I have no finals. Instead, I have to deal with writing a 20 page paper, and giving two presentations. I’m not sure which I’d rather deal with – papers, or presentations. Regardless, I think we can agree that both are an incredible pain.

 On the bright side, I FINISHED MY FIRST SCREENPLAY ON SCRIPPED! I am super, super excited about the work I put into this thing – I hope my screenwriting professor likes it. I talked about it before, but it’s basically about two middle-aged guys competing for leauge tennis glory. It’s almost like a “Dodgeball” for 40 year olds.

 Oh, and I also cleaned my kitchen, which I’m super proud of. It has been weeks since I’ve had any meaningful time to clean anything, so I’m happy about that. Userbase is growing, positive feedback is rolling in, and we’re really happy about the site!

DIGITAL HOLLYWOOD: MOONVES AND THE FUTURE OF CBS

Today at Digital Hollywood in NYC, Steve Adler (Business Week Editor-in-Chief) interviewed Leslie Moonves, CEO of CBS. Summing up Moonves, the man definitely speaks his mind. At times, this prompted laughter and at other times general anxiety.

Favorite quote from the keynote: (In regards to American Idol) “I wish someone would kill that show. I would greatly appreciate it.” Well, OK. But only if I can take Paula Abdul out first.

The Highlights:

Shift of Advertising Dollars

• 70% of CBS’ business is advertising
• Conventional wisdom says that internet will draw ad $$ away from TV –> CBS has not seen internet advertising to be competitive but instead additive to TV ad revenue
• In 2007, CBS saw online revenue of $200 million
• Instead of TV, the first to see the hit in ad revenue will be radio & print

Acquisitions

• In 2007, private equity was driving up the price of companies making acquisitions difficult. This year, the rules have changed leading to an open market for CBS to make some acquisitions.

• Univision represents a missed opportunity for CBS. Moonves described the company as a fit with CBS but overpriced at the time they had looked at it.

• When asked about Facebook, Moonves responded that the company is overpriced and not at their core business to be considered as an acquisition.

• Moonves is considering The Weather Channel as an acquisition. Sees it as a fit for CBS.

Digital Distribution

• CBS offers its content across multiple platforms. They chose not to participate in Hulu because Moonves prefers to control the content and ad sales à Believe that CBS can distribute on its own to generate increased revenue in relation to a Hulu partnership
• Moonves was careful to also say that CBS would continue to weigh the value of a partnership with Hulu (i.e. the wait and see game)

• March Madness on Demand (MMOD) offers all of the NCAA games online available to watch anytime.
• MMOD began as a subscription model in year 1 generating $250K in revenue –> year 2: a free ad-supported model generating $4 million in revenue –> year 3: same model generating $10 million in revenue –> this year: same model with estimated revenue of $25 million. Pretty impressive. Good bye productive workforce.

WGA Strike

• Moonves, while seemingly somewhat sensitive to the writers’ situation during the strike, commented that some of those writers will never make back the money lost during the strike. Seems a bit snarky no?
• As a result of the strike, CBS will not be developing full pilots but instead will develop half pilots to reduce front end cost.

Content

• When asked about his three favorite shows, Moonves responded several more than three. Here are the first three out of his mouth. Interesting that the top two compete with Showtime.

1.

2.

3.

Dexter on Showtime

• Dexter watched by 1.4 million people on Showtime. When syndicated to CBS, Dexter now affords a viewer base of 6 -7 million.

Radio

• CBS has sold several stations and changed the leadership at several others.
• Moonves still sees radio as a strong industry. All CBS stations are now able to stream online.

Last.fm

• Online should not represent regurgitated TV content.
• Last.fm wasn’t simply about putting the music online but about building a community around that music.

For the first 10 minutes of the keynote click the image below. You will find 2 more videos capturing the next 20 minutes here.

I’m saying the strike is really over for me today, since it’s the beginning of my first full week back at work.

I spent the weekend assessing how I deported myself during my 3 months of relative freedom.

What I didn’t do:

-Completely clean and reorganize my writing studio
-Learn to play the guitar
-Sign up for a yoga class
-Make as much progress as I would have liked on my novel
-Keep the whole house tidy
-Become perfect

What I did do:

-Wrote almost every day
-Explored L.A. and L.A. County
-Visited my brother in Texas
-Networked with other writers
-Started a new blog of service to writers
-Took a lot of photos
-Cleaned a few drawers and cupboards out
-Unclenched
-Substituted as a writing teacher and took a once-a-week job teaching writing at the same place
-Spent almost too much time online some days
-Did some research for myself
-Worked a little more to help my friend find an agent
-Appreciated my time and freedom

I very much enjoyed my extra free time, but I am also glad to be earning a full paycheck again, you bet! And some things were set in motion that will play out over the coming months.

Thanks to The American for the idea for this photo!

Watch it

I still haven’t been to Disneyland, Universal Studios, or the Hollywood sign, but I’ve survived the writer’s strike, an earthquake, and gang violence, not to mention six flags and a bunch of comedy shows.

Well, here’s an admission by CBS that the Writers Strike was a good thing.

Today CBS announced its 2007 4th Quarter and Full Year earnings.  Although profits dropped significantly, it wasn’t attributed to the strike.  In his statement, CEO Les Moonves said:

As we predicted CBS sustained itself very well during the strike.  In fact, in the short term, we were able to manage operating costs at the network very effectively.  This was primarily achieved by significantly reducing our programming expenses and the termination of costly writing and producing contracts.  Our financial picture was not affected negatively by the strike in any shape or form.  Perhaps most importantly, many of the economic benefits we were able to achieve during the strike have changed the way we do business and will allow us to operate more efficiently going forward.

How are they going to operate more efficiently going forward?  Moonves said, “We’re approaching the upcoming pilot season with an eye on building a faster, leaner development model with fewer expensive pilots and greater cost efficiencies across the board.”

Another interesting comment was about The Internet:

“The Internet business is (a) truly an extension of our existing network business and we’ve got the sales teams in place to get that job done, too….Online is our strategy to reach people wherever they are and bring our content to them.  That’s why we created the CBS Audience network which has more than 300 affiliated websites and is the number one provider of online television programming in the business.”

Here’s more info about the CBS Audience Network.

Well, it seems pretty clear that CBS had a plan regarding the Internet well over a year ago and was ready for (or even allowed) the strike to happen so that they could effect various cost-cutting measures and have reason to change the pilot development process.

So what can we expect after the strike regarding pilots?

• Fewer pilots
• Lower budget pilots
• Pilots year-round
• More Internet-only content
• Faster development process

What’s your take?

If you want to listen to the full earnings report conference call, go to this CBS Corp PR page.