New season, new challenges & the L.A. Screenings.Just count the ways one can slice a new U.S. TV series: network broadcast sale (ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. , CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. , NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. , etc.), repurposing (repeats on a cable network shortly after a broadcast run), split-sale (showing on cable and second runs on broadcast in the same week), multiple broadcast, pre-sale, international sale and, ultimately, syndication. The strange thing about all these sales is that the sum doesn't add up, but subtracts! Instead of paying more, the commissioning U.S. networks are not only paying less per show, but are ordering fewer episodes. For this reason, expect to see more new faces asking for less money than established ones, in spite of the long recognized fact that in television, familiarity succeeds. This is because recently, the U.S. networks changed strategies: instead of being in the ratings game, they engaged in an unprecedented cost-cutting business. Willing to sacrifice ratings, the U.S. networks (and in many instances, other networks worldwide) are now reducing the orders of winning shows from the traditional 22 episodes to 18 or even 17 per year, thus programming more repeats within the year and the newly introduced daily and weekly "multiple broadcasts" just as premium services, like as HBO Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) A form of oxygen therapy in which the patient breathes oxygen in a pressurized chamber. Mentioned in: Ozone Therapy and Showtime do with their original programs. Up until last year, networks would initially order 13 new episodes and, if the show proved successful, later picked up the "back nine." As if all this wasn't enough to drive away viewers, networks are increasing the ad cluster. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the American Association of Advertising Agencies The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) is an American advertising trade association. Founded in 1917, their website states that AAAA membership "produces approximately 80 percent of the total advertising volume placed by agencies nationwide. and the Association of National Advertisers The Association of National Advertisers is a representative body for the marketing community in the United States of America. ANA’s membership includes 400 companies with 9,000 brands that collectively spend over one hundred billion dollars in marketing communications and , between 10 AM and 4 PM, nearly 21 minutes per hour go to ads and promos. On the other hand, during primetime, commercials average 16 minutes and 8 seconds per hour. In addition, there is a trend to have a single advertiser help create and pay for a TV series. But is the math correct? In the year 2000, the six broadcast networks took some $8 billion in primetime advertising revenues. Last year, without the previous year's Summer Olympics, the U.S. Presidential elections, a recession and the September 11th attacks On September 11, 2001, in the deadliest case of domestic Terrorism in the history of the United States, a group of 19 terrorists hijacked four U.S. airliners for use as missiles against targets in New York City and Washington, D.C. , the same networks managed to generate a comfortable $7 billion in primetime ad revenues. Plus, this year, the Winter Olympics alone brought NBC an estimated $75-million profit, proving that good, original programming generates ratings and ad sales. Good ratings also rewarded France's M6, which became one of Europe's few networks with increased profits in 2001. One way for studios' or networks' production divisions to get by with reduced license fees is to produce outside the U.S., as is the case with NBC'S Young Arthur, the pilot for which is being shot in the Czech Republic Czech Republic, Czech Česká Republika (2005 est. pop. 10,241,000), republic, 29,677 sq mi (78,864 sq km), central Europe. It is bordered by Slovakia on the east, Austria on the south, Germany on the west, and Poland on the north. , St. Georges's Island, to be shot in South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. , and Lost in Oz which is being filmed in Australia for The WB. These locations help the production company get by with a $500,000-per-episode license fee instead of the previous $1 million to $1.2 million fee for a one-hour episode that used to cost up to $2 million an hour to produce and now costs $1 million. In addition, these locations offer more opportunities for co-productions and/or pre-sales to local TV outlets. For the production company, repurposing can mean an additional $150,000 per episode, while for the network multiple broadcasts represent better program amortization. Meanwhile everyone in the programming business is coming to the 38th annual L.A. Screenings, an event which is not organized by anyone in particular, with each studio arranging for its own schedule with the buyers, programmers making their own hotel accommodations, the independents riding on the bandwagon by setting up suites at the Park Hyatt hotel in Century City, and VideoAge coordinating the whole enchilada with hotel information desks and guides. Last year, about 1,000 buyers from 65 countries attended the L.A. Screenings (850 of them registered with VideoAge). The event is now so popular that various international TV organizations are circling it to see if they can grab some of the action, while the studios are increasing their vigilance to ensure the Screenings anarchic tradition. The studios have begun to downplay the Screenings' importance, an example of Yogi yo·gi n. pl. yo·gis One who practices yoga. [Hindi yog Berra's adage about his favorite restaurant: "no one goes there anymore because it has gotten too crowded." Nowadays, when buyers openly complain about wasted time because of the poor quality of the crop, studio executives are quick to point out that there is no-need for them to be there, since they're more than happy to visit them in their offices. And when international buyers are reluctant to commit on the spot because they want to see more episodes, they are reminded that those shows are commissioned by the U.S. networks and therefore cannot be made to comply with their particular requests. It's known that U.S. networks often ask production companies to retool re·tool v. re·tooled, re·tool·ing, re·tools v.tr. 1. To fit out (a factory, for example) with a new set of machinery and tools for making a different product. 2. pilots and, at times, shows are completely overhauled. One form of retooling is called "trading up," when networks ask producers to make deals with talent from pilots that weren't picked-up. For the 2002-2003 U.S. TV season about 100 pilots received the green light, of which some 40 shows were picked up well before the networks' upfronts: the presentations of the new season's slate staged for advertisers, ad agencies and the press in May in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , just before the L.A. Screenings. New this year is the studios' desire to finish the Screenings in six days, with Fox pushing for a record five. The indies, on the other hand, will arrive at the Park Hyatt Hotel May 16 in order to be ready for business the next day, until the 21st. RELATED ARTICLE: Studios' Latin American Screenings: May 18: DreamWorks May 19: Universal May 20: WB May 21: Fox May 22: Columbia May 22: CBS Int'l May 22: Fox Brazil May 23: Disney May 23: MGM MGM in full Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. U.S. corporation and film studio. It was formed when the film distributor Marcus Loew, who bought Metro Pictures in 1920, merged it with the Goldwyn production company in 1924 and with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1925. May 24: Paramount L.A. Screenings Parties *: May 20: Universal May 21: Fox May 23: Columbia May 24: WB TBA TBA See: To be announced : Prime Time (Indies) TBA: CBS TBA: Alliance Atlantis * Dates to be confirmed Upfronts (New York): May 13: NBC May 14: The WB May 14: Telemundo May 15: CBS May 15: PAX May 16: FOX May 16: UPN UPN User Principal Name (Microsoft Windows 2000) UPN United Paramount Network UPN Unión del Pueblo Navarro (Navarrese People Union) UPN Umgekehrte Polnische Notation May 17: ABC |
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