Wednesday, January 30 - NATPE

THE OFFICIAL DAILY NEWSPAPER WEDNESDAY JANUARY 30 DAY TWO

THE OFFICIAL DAILY NEWSPAPER WEDNESDAY JANUARY 30 DAY TWOZucker: strike sparkspilot season meltdownThe WGA strike could actuallybe good for the industry inthe long term, NBC Universalpresident and CEO Jeff Zuckertold NATPE yesterday.“We are seeing profoundchanges in consumer behaviorand we need to re-engineer ourbusiness models,” he said. “Butchange often needs a catalyst.Last November we got one.”He said while the strike waspainful in the short-term, it hasallowed TV execs to stop andthink, and hopefully revitalizetheir businesses in the face ofassault from digital platformsand falling ratings.He likened the strike to aforest fire that cleared out all thedead wood, made the soil morefertile and allowed for renewedgrowth, saying: “There areABC Studios is making its firstforay into broadcast syndicationwith Wizard’s First Rule (22x60’),a first-run, live-action weeklyfantasy series launched at NATPEyesterday in time for fall 2008.The show was quickly clearedin 35% of the country and sevenof the top 10 markets, after adeal with Tribune Broadcastingstations including WPIX (NewYork), KTLA (Los Angeles), WGN(Chicago), WPHL (Philadelphia),KDAF (Dallas), KHCW (Houston),WDCW (Washington DC) andKCPQ and KMYQ (Seattle).Unveiled by Janice Marinelli,president, Disney-ABC DomesticTV, the show is based on TerryGoodkind’s bestselling epic bookZucker delivering NATPE opening keynote.incredible inefficiencies inHollywood, with $500m spent bythe five networks on around 80pilots last year. Only eight wentto second seasons.”Zucker questioned the needfor so many pilots, saying thatNBCU’s cable networks enjoyprogramming success withoutthem. “They don’t pilot shows inTribune onboard ABC Studios’ Wizardseries The Sword of Truth and isbeing executive produced bySam Raimi (Spider-Man).Also in the production teamare Robert Tapert, Ned Nalle andJoshua Donen, who have workedon Hercules: The LegendaryJourneys, Xena: Warrior Princess,and The Quick & the Dead,the U.K. and we keep importingtheir formats. U.S. networkexecutives need to have thecourage of their convictions andcommission series instead of somany pilots.”Further questioning TVorthodoxy, Zucker said pilotsdon’t improve the odds of theshow succeeding and often don’teven resemble the series they arepilots of. “They have becomemini-movies and one $10m pilotcould pay for a six-part series.”Though “there are vestedinterests in perpetuating thoseinefficiencies,” such rethinks arerequired since “content used tobe king but now consumers wearthe crown.” Failing to changeTV’s “wounded business model”would “destroy the businessonce and for all,” he warned.Marinelli said, adding: “The timeis right to introduce acaptivating new series from thiswell-established genre.”Marc Schacher, senior VP ofprogramming and developmentat Tribune, said picking up theshow (left) would “reunite uswith the creative forces thatbrought us so much success withHercules and Xena.”Marinelli went on to say theshow would “reinvigorate theweekly scripted, one-hourgenre.” The series will follow thetransformation of a humblewoodsman into a magical leader,locked in a fight between goodand evil. Production on the showis slated to begin this May.ABC’s reality chief John Saade hasbrought back several new formatsbut says the writers’ strike hasn’timpacted his development much.See page 13 for the full story orhear him in The Real Deal session inBallroom K this afternoon.Today at NATPEJanuary 30 DAY 2 3

THE OFFICIALDAILYNEWSAuction Networkbids for glorywith web/TV mixPam McKissick, former TV Guide chiefand now CEO and founder of AuctionNetwork, is here at NATPE working onsales of original programming fromthe fledgling channel, while alsoprepping its launch on cable andsatellite this Valentine’s Day.McKissick told NATPE Daily:“Auction Network’s soft launch inOctober heralds much bigger thingsto come. We are the official networkof the Association of Auctioneers, a6500-member body worldwide andhave a mission to mix original programmingwith live auction eventsfrom all over the world,” she said.“The programming is a very cool mixof Discoveryesque/Food Channel/Travel Channel-style fare with liveauction bidding online.”With the channel airing live on theweb for 60 days, users are reportedlyat 250,000 uniques per month, butthe channel hopes to hit one millioneyeballs by the end of April. It is alsobanking on the fact that the convergenceof television and internet willprovide the best conditions for itsbusiness model. “Television is nolonger that box in your living room,”added McKissick. “It is a screen whichcan be carried with you on your PDA,it’s on your mobile phone, it’s on theinternet, it’s wherever you are lookingat a screen.“There is a massive community ofpeople who visit auctions and agrowing number of people who areparticipating in auctions online. Weaim to create events from all over theworld and make programming thattakes people there.”Auction Network is the sponsor ofNATPE’s Digital Village, underlining itscross-platform approach to content.“Tomorrow’s networks will require aseamless synergy between the liveevent, television, internet and mobileplatforms to be successful,” saidMcKissick.“Auction Network marries highdefinitiondigital television and crossplatforminteractive services whileproviding enterprise-level security fortransactions, management of multiplecurrencies, and real-time tallying ofbids from around the world.”Mighty Oak growsWhacked Out franchiseTwo years after launching Mighty OakEntertainment at NATPE 2006 with aWhacked Out Sports pilot, president MarkO’Brien is back in town with 52 episodes ofspin-off Whacked Out Videos.There are now 104 episodes of clip showWhacked Out Sports in the bag (and clearedin 78% of the U.S. syndication market) withthe production company this week rollingout Whacked Out Videos, a more generictake on the clip genre.“MyNetworkTV made a large purchase of14 episodes right out of the blocks and is runningthem back-to-back on Wednesdaynights. The show is doing great and reachingwomen viewers as well as men,” saidO’Brien. Of the 104 episodes of Whacked OutSports 52 went to Spike, 52 to SuperstationWGN, and there are 28 episodes in the canthat have yet to air on any network.O’Brien added: “I left Warner Bros. after20 years because I wanted to invest in myown content. The Whacked Out franchisehas exceeded my expectations. We haveeight full-time clip hunters (and more than6000 clips) and a show format that, wrappedaround one central character who links themall together, provides more belly laughs thanmost primetime programming. The opportunityto build this out in the digital space isnow emerging and that’s what we’ll befocusing on in 2008.”Syndie players at loggerheadsover role of the webFollowing on from Warner Bros. and AOL’sTMZ.com, which is now a successfulsyndicated entertainment news magazinestrip in television, the web is increasinglybecoming a hot development tool for TVsyndie players.During a panel session at NATPE yesterday,entitled Back to Basics: It’s Still the TelevisionBusiness, Ken Werner, recently appointedpresident of domestic television distributionfor Warner Bros., said: “We are spending anenormous amount of time and energy tryingto understand the broadband space andexperience and take it to TV.”Meanwhile, Lionsgate-owned syndicatorDebmar Mercury has high hopes for TomGreen’s House Tonight, which is currentlybeing tested with a six-week run in fivemajor U.S. markets such as Las Vegas andHouston. It grew from a daily web show thatwas taped on a shoestring budget out ofeponymous comedian Green’s real-liferesidence. Online, Green amassed some 40million downloads per month, and that wasenough to convince Mort Marcus, jointpresident of Debmar Mercury, that the webWhacked Out: Mighty Oak’s Mark O’Brienshow would translate well on to television.“If you can develop a brand on theinternet, it’s great,” he said, adding thatalthough more money was put into tailoringthe production for TV, the property still has“an internet sort of budget.”Not everyone in the syndication business isscouring the web for new TV ideas, however.“TMZ is one needle in a haystack. Televisionis still television; the web is still the web. Youcan bring things across but if you don’t get itright on television, you don’t have a prayer,”said Tom Kane, president and CEO of CBSTelevision Stations, arguing that CBS’s modelof developing fresh concepts designedexclusively for TV “is going to work moreoften and bigger.”Terry Wood, CBS Television’s president ofcreative affairs and development, echoed hercolleague Kane’s remarks. “I use the internetas a sounding board, but I’m still not thereyet on creating something from the web thatturns into a TV show,“ she said, adding:“They’re different users. Television creates adifferent relationship with the viewer thanthe internet.”DAY 2 January 30 25