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Cynopsis: Weekender 02/15/07 Good afternoon. It's Thursday, February 15, 2007, and this is your Cynopsis: Weekender edition. Below are a handful of industry stories - with which you may agree or disagree. If you'd like to be heard - put together your own 350 word submission! Details below. Can Behind the Scenes lead viewers to the screen? CBS shows viewers how show comes together in an effort to build viewership By Larry Getlen In the age of the internet, YouTube, DVD extras and Entertainment Weekly, entertainment consumers often want a front row seat into the creation of their favorite content, including information on the personalities involved and a bird's eye view of the process. With that in mind, several shows are opening the backstage doors, with CBS leading the charge for their sitcom The Class. Starting in mid-January, CBS and producer Warner Bros. Television began streaming a full table read and run-through of the show on cbs.com for the episode of February 19. While not the only effort in bringing viewers backstage – Saturday Night Live has recently been webcasting backstage interviews with cast members on nbc.com, for example – CBS says this is the first time a network has shown the full process to viewers. For CBS, this strategy has several purposes. "The end game here is tune-in and ratings - to drive viewers to the network broadcast of The Class," says Jonathan Barzilay, SVP/Entertainment, CBS Interactive. "It's also to establish cbs.com as a place that offers deeper, unique, rich connections to viewers' favorite shows." While CBS is using a yet-to-be broadcast episode, Barzilay says that CBS sees no danger in giving away the store or ruining the episode's surprises, as they network feels that viewers will walk away with a greater affection for the show. "There's a unique blend of chemistry between writers, producers, and actors on the set, and the final on-air product," says Barzilay. "This is a way to let our viewers see some of that special mix." While Barzilay says the innovation itself is the success, there are no current plans for CBS to replicate this strategy with other shows. But with viewers clamoring for deeper connections to all their entertainment choices, it seems inevitable that similar strategies will arise. "It's not going to be the case where we can instantly trace an empirical connection between this and ratings," says Barzilay. "But we think that on a strategic basis, this is a way to deepen viewer connection to the show, and offer the users of CBS.com something unique." Diller And Murdoch At The Summit By Louis Chunovic When IAC/InterActiveCorp's Barry Diller and News Corporation's Rupert Murdoch appeared 24 hours apart on the same stage at last week's McGraw-Hill Media Summit in Manhattan, both moguls were projecting the same unlikely quality -- downright mellowness, with little of the legendary militancy for which they're both known. Sure, Murdoch was still flinty and Diller acerbic, but to someone who's observed their public demeanor over the years, they appeared remarkably good-natured, avuncular even, and not particularly guarded or adversarial. Of course, the two men, whose names are linked in broadcasting history as the driving forces behind the fourth broadcasting network, made headlines, too. Diller predicted YouTube's dominance of user-generated video would be short-lived: "Those tools are going to be everywhere," he said. "It's not going to be one place." Murdoch confirmed that a Fox Business Channel will launch later this year, saying it will be a "little more business-friendly than CNBC." He also took a swipe at YouTube, calling it "quite hypnotic, but hard to monetize." How mellow were they? They smiled, they laughed, they didn't take heated exception to, but instead seemed amused by, tough and sometimes personal questions from their well-prepared interlocutors (two senior BusinessWeek editors), and their body language perhaps reflected some new inner ease. Maybe it's because these days they're less press targets than they are media darlings. It's also tempting to suppose that age, experience and accomplishments have taken some of the edge off, but who really knows. Age did come up, however, in both appearances. When editor John Byrne noted that Diller had turned 65 the week before, Diller looked heavenward and exclaimed in mock horror, "Oh no! … Oh no! No, I'm not!" Byrne was making the point that "old guys" like 75-year-old Rupert Murdoch were deciding the fate of new media. But Diller defended his one-time Fox boss, saying that Murdoch was the only one to "take the plunge," buying MySpace, setting off today's new-media frenzy. The next day, when Murdoch faced the age question himself, he said simply, "I just wanna live forever. I'm enjoying myself too much." Both Media Summit appearances made multiple headlines. Diller also said he expected to spend a "couple hundred million" over the next few years on original Web video content, while Murdoch pronounced himself a big Borat fan, though Fox later stepped back from his pronouncement that a Borat sequel was a done deal. Murdoch also said that he'd like to "double-down" on his investments in India, that opportunities were "tremendous" in Eastern Europe, that he wasn't interested in acquiring the entire Tribune Company, that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg would make an able American president and that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich should make a presidential run, not so much to win as to "lift" the debate. LIME's Broadband Twist by Marshal M. Rosenthal Cable channels may have embraced the Internet, but none seem to be deserting the traditional cable linear space. So what could have persuaded the LIME channel, whose brand's core ideology is Healthy Living With A Twist, to shift its focus to all-digital on-demand platforms? The answer is consumer behavior. "We know that increasingly, consumer behavior is shifting to on-demand content on the web, on cable, on mobile and in portable media," says C.J. Kettler, Founder and CEO, LIME. "The consumer wants to control when and where they watch video content and are relying less and less on TV broadcast schedules." LIME's business model focuses on providing content across multiple media. The content is particularly well suited for a variety of on-demand platforms because it's "bite-sized" and produced to play across multiple media outlets, including portable media. Advertisers are also seeing a shift in consumer behavior toward on-demand media, according to Kettler. "They appreciate the fact that broadband video advertising can potentially be a more effective way to reach consumers than traditional ad models," she says, adding that with broadband video pre-rolls, for example, it is more likely the consumers will watch the spots. Advertiser confidence about broadband would seem borne out: Internet advertising revenues have reached an estimated new record of $4.2 billion for the third quarter/2006 (source: The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP), and a recent report issued by Nielsen Analytics affirms that as marketers continue to learn how to use the Internet to their advantage, broad-band video advertising can actually be a more effective way to reach consumers than traditional ad models. As part of the overall launch strategy to broaden the company's reach in online syndication, LIME has inked online video deals with Yahoo! Health as well as the newly announced Joost (formerly known as The Venice Project). Kettler notes that the response from the cable, broadband and advertising community has been overwhelmingly positive and incredibly supportive. "The emails we are getting say we are 'brave, bold and prescient' and that others will follow," she says. When News Meets Need By Circlewipe Daytime television, has become a freebie fest. Shows give away iPods, weddings, coffee-makers, and cruises. Sometimes the recipients are deserving souls who've sacrificed or lost parts of their lives. Oprah topped everyone, giving away Brand New Cars! to folks who needed something good to happen in their lives. $7 Million of Detroit hardware underwritten by Pontiac, jettisoned into the public awareness by Oprah. Despite grumbling in some quarters, there were no losers. "Shameless promotion" some claimed. Who cares? The recipients were deserving, the supplier willing, and the trade-off disclosed. It has become a standard part of TV programming. The power of broadcast makes it easy for shows to garner goods from advertisers simply for the exposure. Mention my paper towels, and we'll re-do a room in someone's house. Mention our resort, and we'll give away a free trip. Stand outside the Martha Stewart studios on any given day and you see every audience member departing with a shopping bag full of loot, just for showing up. It energizes and draws a studio audience, and residually, the home viewers. It's not a bad thing, but it has colored the expectations for more weighty matters. With the instant gratification of one form of programming comes an expectation for another. And the gratification isn't always immediate. A fellow writer recently questioned the ABC News special on the plight of Camden, New Jersey, a city plagued by poverty and violence that weighs most heavily on its youth. The profiles of the children and the city were compelling, moving, desperate. The writer asked why the program didn't take the story further to remedy the problems profiled, showing how to fix Camden. The argument is that news has different standards. It's not the job of journalists to solve the problem they cover. The job is to expose it. If journalists intervene, they falsify the story and change the landscape. When, whether, and how to get involved is not only a professional ethical decision, but a personal moral one. The good news is that if a story is well and accurately told, Americans respond in large numbers and with large numbers. As with Katrina coverage on all the networks, there are responses to stories well-told, from charitable organizations, corporations, and individuals (including news division employees). The Camden story has engaged the goodwill of viewers nationwide. Journalists don't necessarily leave the story once it's told. The aching hearts stay, and behind the scenes, the news divisions help organize the outpouring of response to vetted organizations. When news meets need, it's impossible to let go. * WEEK'S RECAP *
SUBMISSIONS / AD SALES/ SUBSCRIBE & UNSUBSCRIBE Cynopsis Ad Sales - Mark Bohn - 203-583-1224 / Article submissions for Cynopsis: Weekender are welcome, provided they are no longer than a maximum of 350 words. News articles used are paid at the rate of $1/word. Not all submissions are used. Editorials (also 350 word max) may be submitted but are not paid, and not all are used. Send submissions to Cynopsis at . The Weekender edition is published every Thursday and includes a few items to ponder over the weekend, as well as the highlights from the week. It is delivered to the entire Cynopsis subscriber list, unless you specifically request to be unsubscribed. To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your email subscription, go to the Cynopsis website, www.cynopsis.com and click on the subscribe tab. Emails to the Editor: subject E-Mails to the Editor Copyright Cynthia Turner 2006 Later -- Cyn 02/15/07 What's On This Weekend: Saturday: 8-11p, February 17, 2007 ABC: Movie: Cast Away CBS: CSI [r], Criminal Minds [r], 48 Hours Mystery FOX: Cops, Cops [r], America's Most Wanted ION: Bodog Fight USA v. Russia, Bodog Fight St. Petersburg MNT: Movie: The Shape of Things NBC: Dateline, Law & Order: SVU [r], Law & Order: CI [r] PBS: Local Programming, Austin City Limits TELE: Vas o No Vas [7], Seguro Y Urgente, Cinemundo del Sabado UNIV: Sabado Gigante Sunday: 7-11p, February 18, 2007 ABC: AFV, EM: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters CBS: 60 Minutes, Amazing Race 11 [p ], Cold Case, Without a Trace CW: Reba [series finale 1hr], 7th Heaven, Beauty and the Geek [r] FOX: King of the Hill, The Simpsons, The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy, American Dad ION: Movie: Stargate, Kojak NBC: Deal or No Deal, Grease: You're the One That I Want, The Apprentice, Crossing Jordan PBS: Nature, Masterpiece Theatre TELE: Cine En Familia, Cine Millonario/Estreno UNIV: La Hora Pico , Bailando por la Boda de mis Sueños |
