LOS ANGELES — These are wild and scary times for the broadcast networks.
The fall 2008 TV season has been decimated by the writers strike. Audiences are shrinking. The most honored dramas are on cable. Some predict nearly half of all TV watching will be done on the Internet in five years.
“I feel a tremendous amount of anxiety in this business,” Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly told a gathering of critics here.
Reilly comforts himself with the idea that the industry is nimble.
“Hollywood is very adaptable, unlike Detroit,” he said. In the automotive industry, factories must be retooled to change a product that will roll off the line years from now. In television, change can happen today. Reilly hopes to have more years to reset than GM had when it was overtaken by Toyota.
ABC Entertainment boss Steve McPherson, invoking headlines about a national recession, said he is “rooting for broadcast television. It’s important to get the viewers back.” The American TV networks, once reliably bullish, are now begging not to be counted out.
While advertisers are still willing to pony up, the writers’ strike so seriously damaged production schedules that viewers won’t see much that’s new until January. The posture of the traditional TV industry is decidedly defensive. What can they do to save themselves?
The networks are experimenting.
Fox is asking writers to shoot their own YouTube videos rather than invest money in expensive pilots. Got an idea for a comedy? They’d rather see it than hear a pitch.
“During the strike we tried stuff for fun on YouTube,” Reilly said. That gave them cost-cutting ideas going forward: Don’t stand there and pitch; shoot something.
Why not cut the commercial clutter? Reilly realizes the overload of commercials is the single biggest deterrent to viewers, especially those without DVRs. ABC will try charging more for less: higher ad rates for fewer commercials. Both “Fringe” and “Dollhouse” will run 50 minutes instead of the usual 43. The network will get the same revenue for fewer minutes of advertising by charging a premium for those buzz-worthy shows.
While they’re at it, they may further blur the lines between programming and commercials to thwart our fast-forwarding habit. This is happening increasingly at ABC, generally considered the most ad-cluttered network. Study a visually distinctive show like “Ugly Betty,” and it’s apparent the ads within that hour share the production’s bright colors and slick interior designs. “Brothers & Sisters” is regularly interrupted by ads featuring good-looking upscale families sharing meals. The ads intentionally reflect the programs, appealing to the same audiences.
Another belt-tightening idea: Work with what you’ve got. Programmers are finding ways to patch up old shows rather than invest in new ones. To keep the current crop of shows afloat, ABC’s McPherson said, “There’s an economical way to make changes to hit shows.” Just as the pilot for “Grey’s Anatomy” was re-shot, saving that series, he thinks “Dirty Sexy Money” could be salvaged.
Remember, reality TV is cost-effective. ABC has only two new series for fall, one a reality show from Ashton Kutcher that could click during a recession. “Opportunity Knocks” is a trivia game challenging “average American families” to answer questions about loved ones in order to win prizes. A car! A refrigerator! Product-integration opportunities knock, too.
At the same time, McPherson warns against overdoing product integration in a way that blurs the line between programs and commercials too much. “We’re not setting out to bastardize shows to protect against the DVR.” He prefers shows that are “appointment viewing,” like “Lost,” to shows that can be TiVo’d and watched weeks later with no sense of urgency.
52-week programming
Year-round scheduling continues to be the most talked about innovation at the networks, even if it hasn’t quite been put into practice.
NBC has signaled its intention to revamp its development process and go to 52- week programming, rewriting the upfront presentation and highlighting the array of NBC Universal properties beyond the main broadcast network.
Is it posturing, or will it really happen?
“There’s been lots of blabber about (year-round programming). We’ll see who follows through,” Fox’s Reilly said.
Some say the networks should take a page from basic cable. FX’s “The Shield,” “Damages,” “Rescue Me” and “Nip/Tuck”; AMC’s “Mad Men”; TNT’s “The Closer”; and USA’s “Monk” demonstrated that it takes time to incubate superior scripted dramas. Reilly concedes cable has been better about giving shows time to grow.
Unlike the record industry, which clamped down on shared music downloads, the networks are embracing the Internet, making pilots available and streaming new material.
They’ve decided “webisodes,” installments that air first on the Internet rather than on conventional TV, make sense as promotional devices. Suddenly webisodes — short enough to sneak a peek at while at work — are everywhere.
Letting audiences have whole episodes for download is workable, too. “We know (viewers) will stream episodes, but there is no evidence that online viewing will cannibalize the airwaves,” Reilly said.
The trick of importing projects from overseas has been embraced with mixed results. In theory, a proven quantity like CBS’s upcoming “The Ex List,” previously a hit in Israel, has less chance of failure than an untried quantity. “The Office,” cloned from the British hit, clicked for NBC; the American version of Britain’s “Coupling,” not so much.
Brave new world
This is a time of wild experimentation. Two years ago, nobody thought consumers would sit still to watch long- form programs on the Internet. Now people are streaming entire shows. DVRs are increasingly popular and, while many predicted zapping of commercials would ruin the business, so far, that is not the case.
Change is coming at the networks fast, and they’re trying to adjust. “Hulu didn’t even exist six months ago,” Reilly noted. Now the online streaming site, in which NBC and Fox’s parent companies have a stake, is quite popular.
For now, business deals are taking precedence over creative decisions. “Scrubs” creator Bill Lawrence said vertical integration is the way to go. Lawrence believes he’s working in “a landscape that is not friendly to television production.” After seven seasons on NBC, his show is moving to ABC this fall. Lawrence is glad he’ll be on “a supportive network that also produces us, which I think is the best model for TV nowadays.”
It’s not about loyalty. It’s about business and sticking around for the future.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
