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A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM
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Tribune Entertainment, Sony Pictures TV, Warner Bros. Domestic Syndication, GroupM/Mindshare, NBC Universal TV Distribution, Fox Sports, Hallmark Channel, Rainbow Media, Sundance Channel, HBO, Court TV, Nielsen Media Research, NFL Network, among others! and our Sponsors: A&E, CABLEready/CableU, Retirement Living TV, Animal Planet/Discovery Channel Pre-Event Email Bidding now open - check out the latest at the Silent and Live Auction sites! www.cynopsisfoundation.org Cynopsis: Weekender 10/11/07 Good morning. It's Thursday, October 11 2007, and this is Cynopsis: Weekender. 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. It's the fall semester and you know what that means -- Cynopsis Weekender College Edition is coming back on November 15th! Here's how it works -- if you're currently a college student here or abroad, submit to Cynopsis your essay of 350 words or less on any topic relating to television. If your essay is one of four chosen as the most insightful, original, humorous and/or well-written, it will included in a special College Edition of Weekender. All four winning essay writers are awarded $350. Entries must be emailed no later than Friday, November 9th to me at , subject Weekender College Edition. Students - be sure to include your name, age, college, college year, and major (if you know it), and how you can be contacted. Good luck! Who's Better for the Threesome? by Daisy Whitney Are telephone companies better at marketing than cable operators? Maybe so. Each year for the last three years consumer interest in getting all three services - TV, Internet and phone - from the cable company has declined, while interest in getting the bundle from telephone companies has risen, according to a study from Marquest Media & Entertainment Research. Yes, consumers still say they prefer cable for the threesome, but cable's advantage is shrinking. Marquest has tracked consumer interest in bundled services in its regular studies on video-on-demand. The research firm found that between 2005 and 2007, the proportion of adults saying cable companies are their best bet for the bundle declined to 49 percent from 62 percent, while those picking telcos grew to 32 percent from 18 percent. Those surveys are limited to people in households with advanced services, such as broadband, digital cable and DVRs. That means the people responding are the very consumers who are most likely to spend money for newer entertainment and communications. Does this data mean cablers should fear? Not yet, said Paul Rule, president of Marquest. Telco PR may be running well ahead of actual accomplishments, he said. After all, telcos only offer TV services in a handful of markets. Nor do cablers appear concerned. Cox said its triple play customers are the most satisfied and the least likely to have, according to its internal research. Besides, survey numbers don't necessarily translate to intent to purchase. Also, Verizon and AT&T probably outspend the cablers in advertising, pointed out Mitch Oscar, executive VP of digital at media agency Carat. "All we hear about is pizza box covers from Verizon, Chinese delivery containers by AT&T. The telcos are spending heavily in local markets to launch, probably outspending their competitors heavily," he said. Even so, telcos still haven't gained a huge number of video customers. Nevertheless, perception could turn into reality, Rule said. "Telcos are beating the bushes all over the U.S. to secure franchises for IPTV offerings. The bundle a customer buys will depend mostly on the nature of the offer at the time, but these survey numbers say increasing numbers of consumers expect the attractive offer to come from a telco instead of a traditional cable operator…The telco video folks appear to be riding on a road that is being paved for them as they approach consumers." Cable companies are able to offer phone services to 90 million homes passed, while phone companies offer video to under 10 million homes passed, according to Leichtman Research Group. The Femirama By Meredith Hight When Glenn Close, Mary-Louise Parker and Kyra Sedgwick strode across the stage together to present at the 2007 Emmy Awards, they gave a nod to what television critics have been excitedly noting in recent months. These accomplished actresses were now stars of the small screen, thanks to their lead roles in the latest in television drama - the femirama. The femirama is an hour-long, primetime drama centered on a female character (see Damages, Saving Grace, The Closer), or characters (see Army Wives), which explore both personal and professional lives. Lifetime offers a sort of femirama lite menu with State of Mind and Side Order of Life, which star younger actresses. The shows Private Practice and Medium prove that the trend extends to the networks. It is entirely refreshing to see original programming depicting strong, capable women in the lead, aggressively solving crimes, defending the law, and saving lives, among other things. I long ago stopped watching Law and Order: Criminal Intent, exasperated at the constant, silent nodding of Vincent D'Onofrio's female partner as he brilliantly solved the crime. And though Lifetime's femiramas feature far too many women who talk to themselves or imaginary friends, a la Ally McBeal, I am grateful they are airing something other than a movie of the week starring that girl from Life Goes On. On cable or network, this trend reflects the shifting economic and technological realities of the television business. For baby boomers, television still serves as the primary screen. Not so for younger audiences, whose computers are their primary screen - for accessing the Internet, downloading music and watching television. Femiramas reach an aging television audience who want to see relatable and engaging characters.That television has always been a women's medium only reinforces the wisdom of this programming. Is this is an enduring new genre or a flash in the programming pan? Given the rapidly changing media landscape, it's difficult to predict. For now, I would be pleased to see actresses like Glenn Close, Mary-Louise Parker, or Kyra Sedgwick pick up an Emmy, or three, for their roles on femiramas. What Madison Avenue Is Watching This Fall by Louis Chunovic Arguably the most interesting debut of the new TV season is the one taking place behind the scenes. That is the hotly debated, anxiously anticipated premiere of "C3," which is not a new crime sleuths spin-off, but the new ratings currency, the first in decades, which measures commercials, not shows, on the basis of live viewing plus three days of DVR playback. Of course, broadcast ratings have been falling for years, while DVR penetration has risen to approximately 20 percent. C3, like live programming-plus-same-day, live programming-plus-three-days and live programming-plus-seven-days, is one of the new Nielsen measurements, intended to recapture viewers previously not counted because they time-shifted. And while C3 may have been transaction currency for the first time this upfront, some agency executives think the move was too much too soon, that negotiations should have been based instead on live-only (the former currency) or perhaps on live-plus-seven-days ratings. That Madison Avenue buyers' remorse was on display at the fall season's first International Radio and Television Society Newsmaker Breakfast, held last week in Manhattan. The change to C3 was "actually a very astute move by the broadcasters," said Lyle Schwartz, Managing Partner/Director of Research and Marketplace Analysis, Mediaedge:cia. If, as expected, C3 ratings result in fewer available gross rating points, prices in the scatter matter will soar, according to the conventional wisdom, benefiting the sellers, at least in the short term. C3 was not an astute move for the agencies, said Bill Koenigsberg, President/CEO, Horizon Media. C3 has "backfired," said Koenigsberg, because the new currency has caused an "artificial tightening and advertisers are paying a higher price." Far from being an astute move, "it was a pretty dumb move" by ad agencies who acquiesced in having C3 "forced upon them." C3 is transitional, according to Schwartz, who predicted that in five or six years, the "whole model" will change. Said Koenigsberg: Unfortunately, "I think it's here to stay." "Getting this industry to agree on anything is worse than herding cats," said Jon Mandel, CEO, NielsenConnect, of the various options and their champions. In his former position, as a buyer, he could be relied upon for pointed comments, but now that he represents Nielsen, the currency dispenser, he is, as he pronounced himself, "Switzerland." "Stop the warring," he counseled, "everybody's in this together." Getting Over Ourselves by Circlewipe OK, TV has been around for over 50 years now. In every city, in every home. At least two generations now have not known life without television. Millions of Americans are now equipped to make their own television with video cameras and computer editing. It's here, get used to it. But have we? Take your standard local news field shot. There behind your intrepid reporter are the friends and neighbors jumping and waving, sometimes even disrupting the coverage of the murder du jour. The somewhat-soused sports fans performing in the background of pre- and post-game stand-ups. Have these folks never been annoyed by these antics on their own TV's? And here, in their own neighborhood, covering a story of critical consequence to them, they choose to distract only to get their faces on the tube. Then let's go to the shows with audiences. Whether it's the Today Show, or GMA, or Letterman … audiences assume they will be totally invisible to the home folk unless they wave wildly, create signs, or have hats, matching t-shirts, or goofy props. In fact, the shows routinely encourage them to act up, to create the illusion of enthusiasm for the show. On cue. Sorry, I'm not convinced and it distracts from whatever it is the show wants us to know. Cell phones have added a new dimension to this Look-At-Me monster, and created a new job title: Cell Phone Director. The evidence grows as the political season progresses. Whether it's a candidate or a correspondent doing a remote interview, there's predictably some yahoo on a cell phone in the background. "Can you see me now?" With the callee serving as his director … "a little to the left ... no … back to the right". These are adults, in businesswear, who somehow believe their only validation is being seen on TV. Perhaps it's understandable that regular folks, kids and adults, still find novelty in getting their mug on screen. But when non-talent TV professionals, even executives, who are around cameras every day find it necessary to justify their existence with regular appearances, it's time to get over ourselves.
* WEEK'S RECAP *
Friday, October 5, 2007
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 10/11/07 What's On This Weekend: Saturday: 8-11p, October 13, 2007 ABC: NASCAR: Bank of America 500 CBS: Cold Case [r], CSI: Miami [r], 48 Hours Mystery FOX: Major League Baseball-ALCS Game 2 ION: Movie: Gambler V: Playing for Keeps [7p] MNT: NFL Total Access, IFL Battleground [r] NBC: Life [r], Chuck, Law and Order: SVU PBS: Austin City Limits [9p] TELE: Cine Nuestro/Estreno [7p], Cine de Impacto UNIV: Sabado Gigante Sunday: 7-11p, October 14, 2007 ABC: AFV, EM: Home Edition , Desperate Housewives , Brothers & Sisters CBS: 60 Minutes, Cold Case, Shark CW: CW Now, Online Nation, Life is Wild, America's Next Top Model FOX: King of the Hill [r], The Simpsons [r], The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy [r], American Dad ION: Movie: Killer Wave NBC: Football Night in America, Sunday Night Football: New Orleans at Seattle PBS: Nature [r], Mystery!, Antiques Roadshow [r] TELE: Cine en Casa/Estreno, Cine Millonario UNIV: La Hora Pico, Buscando a Timbiriche-La Nueva Banda Seminifinales |
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