PASADENA, CALIF.--CBS is bracing for a possible writers' strike later this year. Nancy Tellem, president of CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group, said if the Writers Guild of America stages a fall walkout, her network is prepared. Speaking Thursday at a CBS executive panel session at the Television Critics Association meeting, she said the net is confident it will fill out the schedule. "We are looking at a library of movies, we are looking at reality--at the shows we have," she said. A number of other networks and studios have been stockpiling scripts in an effort to thwart a possible shortage of prime-time material. CBS isn't adopting this strategy. "If you look at what happened with the last strike, all the networks' schedules were filled with movies, reality shows and magazines," said Tellem. "At the end of the day, it impacted the writers in a horrible way. What we hope is that we will get to the table. We haven't yet. The hope is that we will reach an agreement. We would be foolish to say we are not preparing." During the executive session at the TCA, CBS executives fielded questions about the different ways of scheduling new programming, such as the network's new serialized hit, "Jericho." It went off the air in November, but returns later this month. To fill the void, CBS has built out much of its Internet-related "Jericho" content to tide viewers over until new episodes are scheduled. But critics wondered if too much time has lapsed. "We looked at other networks, we read viewer mail, and we thought we were better to schedule it in essentially two blocks, two chunks," said Kelly Kahl, senior executive vice president of programming operations at CBS. "The online [content] was just a nice kicker." This tactic goes against CBS' typical strategy of re-airing its prime-time shows. Many CBS shows are self-contained crime-procedural dramas that the network has had success in re-airing. But re-airing episodes of serialized dramas makes it tougher for nets to bring in new viewers, since they aren't familiar with the background story or plot lines. "We are looking for a balance on the schedule," said Kahl. "If you have too many serials, then in the repeat cycle, you have no numbers at all." Regarding the new season of Fox's "American Idol"--and its major impact on ratings--CBS isn't running away from the still hot show. CBS fared well on Tuesday night, the show's debut. It did better than most networks with "NCIS" and "The Unit." "These shows are not "Idol"-proof, they are just "Idol"-resistant,'" said Kahl. He noted that "NCIS" did 95% of what it usually does, "where everyone else got vaporized." Concerning the viability of the "CSI" franchise, Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment, said there is no plan to roll out other series set in different cities. She also noted that "when you look at the growth of [CSI:] Miami' and [CSI:] New York, they have a long future."
Tribune gave a going-away party--and almost no one came. After a distinctly lukewarm auction marked by the absence of other major media companies, the Chandler family offered to buy the Tribune Company for $7.55 billion yesterday. The price is lower than the Tribune Company wanted, and it's unclear whether its board of directors will bite. The Chandler offer is laced with irony. That wasn't their stated goal when the auction began--at their request. The family, which owns about 20% of Tribune's stock, began beating the drums for a major shakeup at the company to buttress its sinking stock value in June 2006. After a bitter internecine power struggle, the Chandlers succeeded in forcing the board to put the company up for auction in October 2006, hoping to sell off peripheral properties, like its broadcast division. Several private-equity groups expressed interest, but no major newspaper owners joined the bidding process. In the end, no attractive offers were received for the company--in whole or in part. By December, the Chandlers' plan seemed to have backfired. In mid-December, the family suddenly adopted a different tack: recruiting private-equity investors to help them buy the whole company. The Chandlers' stated intention is to sell the Tribune's broadcast division--which they argue is not part of the core business and a financial liability. The deal would give the Chandlers 51% ownership of the smaller company, with the remaining 49% going to two private-equity firms allied with the family. The Chandlers' offer comes to $31.70 per share, just a 2.8% premium over the stock's trading value of $30.85 Thursday afternoon. The Tribune's board of directors has until Jan. 31 to accept or reject the Chandlers' bid. According to The Wall Street Journal, supermarket magnate Ron Burkle and real-estate investor Eli Broad joined together to submit a proposal for Tribune yesterday, although it wasn't a buyout offer, said people who were familiar with the situation.
American consumers continue to be pulled in more media directions as the number of options - including new, consumer-generated ones - continues to proliferate. That's the conclusion of the ninth edition of the Simultaneous Media Usage Study, released Thursday by syndicated research firm BIGresearch. The study, based on a poll of 15,000 consumers, finds that more than two-thirds use other media while watching TV (67.9%), reading newspapers (68.9%) and browsing online (70.7%). The radio still has the least amount of simultaneous media usage (56.4% of respondents), possibly because a significant amount of radio listening occurs in cars during drive time and in other mobile situations. The findings are consistent with those of other simultaneous media usage studies, including Ball State University's famed Middletown Studies, and Knowledge Networks/SRI's Multimedia Mentor research. Recently, the Nielsen-funded Council for Research Excellence commissioned Ball State to conduct a new study to understand how people consume media. The BIGresearch data also suggests shifts taking place in the role of media in terms of influencing consumer decisions, at least in terms of how the survey respondents perceive it. Asked which media most influence their purchase decisions for various product categories, the BIGresearch report says, "consumers' choices are rarely in line with advertisers' expenditures." In fact, the most influential form of media is 100% consumer-generated and one that marketers and agencies have little if any control over: word-of-mouth. While the term has become a catch-all for everything from online buzz, social networking, and even conventional public relations, and even has spawned new marketing services ranging from word-of-mouth monitoring services to viral campaigns, it is still far less manageable than conventional ad-supported media. Other new research backed by some major ad agencies, especially communications contact studies such as Kantar Research's Compose reports, indicated that word-of-mouth frequently is the single most influential source of consumer decision-making, but it can often simply mean recommendations from friends, families, business colleagues or professional services such as physicians. In the automotive purchase decisions, for example, BIGresearch found that word-of-mouth was the No. 1 most influential source among 30.4% of respondents, ahead of No. 2 medium broadcast TV (24.1%). Among electronics purchasers, word-of-mouth was cited by 42.6% of respondents vs. 34.1% for No. 2 ranked print journalism ("read an article").
Time Inc. outdid the most pessimistic industry predictions in its most recent round of layoffs, handing out pink slips to 289 staff members around the country on Thursday. Layoffs hit both the editorial and business sides of the company--but fell hardest on editorial, which lost 170 staffers, including many from the big-name titles that anchor the company's fame. People, the company's single biggest print property, lost 44 staffers and closed four city bureaus in Washington, Chicago, Miami and Austin. Time Inc. lost 50 staffers, including layoffs in its Washington bureau and the closure of Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta bureaus. In a memo to staff, Ann Moore, chairman and CEO of Time Inc., explained the layoffs: "While we continue to invest in our core magazines, we are also focused on transforming our work force and broadening our digital capabilities in order to become a truly multiplatform publisher." Although a spokesperson did not provide specific numbers for digital hires, she said the company has been steadily hiring to expand its multiplatform operations over the last year, and expects to continue hiring in 2007. In fact, some new hires were lost in the layoff report: People got seven new hires, although it wasn't clear what their roles will be. The spokesperson said new hires in both sales and editorial are expected to be flexible, moving smoothly between print and digital responsibilities. Meanwhile, a slew of Time Inc. business publications also picked up new staffers. Fortune hired Steven Koepp as executive editor, Jerry Useem as senior editor-at-large, Susan Z. Callaway as a columnist, David Whitford as an editor-at-large and Jennifer Reingold as a senior writer. Money magazine hired Marlys Harris as a senior editor, Jennifer Merritt as special projects editor, April Bell as associate art director, and Asa Fitch as a staff reporter. Finally, Business 2.0 hired Evelyn Nussbaum as a senior editor. This marks the third straight year of contraction at Time Inc. In 2006, Time Inc. laid off 577 employees, foreshadowing more shrinkage with the planned sale of special-interest titles in the Time4Media group, which employs about 500 people. In 2005, the company laid off 105 employees. Overall, Time Inc.'s titles suffered a 4.8% drop in ad pages in 2006, compared to 2005, with some of its most important properties stagnant or in decline. Eponymous flagship title Time was hanging tough at the end of 2006, with 0.8% growth in ad pages, compared to 2005--finishing up at 2,311. People sank 2.9% to 3,741, Sports Illustrated dropped 3.5% to 2031, Fortune was down 6.4% to 2,875, Entertainment Weekly slid 7.6%, and Money tumbled 9.6%. Time's special-interest magazines--including many Time4Media and Parenting titles for sale since September 2006--are faring worse. Golf magazine's ad pages declined 7.3%, Field & Stream pages dropped 13.3%, and Outdoor Life's were down 14.9%.
After snapping up the New York Times Co.'s collection of local TV stations, private-equity firm Oak Hill Capital wants to expand its portfolio. The $4.6 billion firm announced that it has formed a unit to operate the stations, noting that it intends to "build a broader media platform." The firm named two former radio executives to head Local TV, LLC: Randy Michaels is CEO and Robert Lawrence is president-COO. Michaels headed Clear Channel's radio stations from 1998 to 2002, working with Lawrence. Looking to focus on its print operations, the Times sold its nine stations after only four months on the block. They include four in top-50 markets, to Oak Hill for $575 million earlier this month. The group's four top-50 market stations are in Norfolk, Memphis and Oklahoma City, where it operates a duopoly. Other media companies have also unloaded their TV properties. NBC Universal sold four of its owned-and-operated stations last year. Emmis, Sinclair and Tribune have also shed stations recently, and Tribune may soon peddle the rest of the 23 stations in his stable, given shareholder upheaval. To many, the future of local TV stations is cloudy, since they derive so much of their revenue from local news, which is increasingly consumed via the Internet. Many investors, for example, would like the E.W. Scripps Co. to sell its stations, although the company says it's more focused on divesting its newspaper operations. But private equity firms--free of shareholder pressure--have become more interested in stations, which still draw healthy profit margins. Oak Hill is the latest in the game. "Oak Hill is a tremendous equity partner," Lawrence said. "They are committed to giving us the capital and flexibility we need to support this acquisition and our future expansion initiatives." Oak Hill has other investments in the media arena, mostly in cable operators, such as Atlantic Broadband and WideOpenWest.
Rainbow Media's Fuse network is close to a deal with the parent of online gambling site Bodog.com to air a band competition this April. Called "Bodog Battle of the Bands," the "American Idol"-style series, produced in part by Bodog, will feature 17 bands vying for a recording contract. The 11-episode talent contest fits Bodog's target--men ages 18 to 34--and allows it to extend into TV production and other arenas. At the same time, the series allows Fuse, the younger-targeted music network, to portray itself as more committed to music and edgier than MTV. Fuse also cultivates an image as a multiplatform brand appealing to tech-savvy 12- to-34-year-olds--a group that may be familiar with the Bodog.com operations, which include online poker and sports betting. Fuse is conducting a similar online-only "search for the next great" battle, called "Steven's Unsigned Band Search." ("Steven" hosts a show on the network.) Parent Bodog.com Entertainment Group, based in Antigua, is looking to spread its brand into new areas beyond the Web. It apparently has a show based on its BodogFight martial arts competition coming to a broadcast network. In addition, it extends its music connections with an in-house record label that will produce the "Battle of the Bands" winner's work, via a contract ostensibly valued at $1 million. Bodog was shopping shows this week at NATPE. Also in the works is a show called "Billion-ayre," which would follow the adventures of the company's wealthy founder Calvin Ayre. A second season of "Battle of the Bands" featuring international musicians is also being prepared. In addition to media, the company is exploring opportunities in retail, such as a clothing line. With Ayre at the top, the company aspires to build a multi-tentacled brand similar to what Richard Branson has done with Virgin.
Despite huge losses for MyNetworkTV in its troubled debut season, Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen predicts that News Corp.'s stock-price surge will continue. Before MNTV's launch, company president-COO Peter Chernin said the network "can be profitable from day one." But Cohen termed its ratings "extremely disappointing," and projected a $30 million loss. Yet News Corp. is committed to transforming the network's fortunes. Chernin recently suggested that he will become personally involved, and named Greg Meidel as president. He also announced a deal to carry a martial-arts competition series--a strong signal that MNTV's all-telenovela programming is on its way out. "Stopping the bleeding ... is a key focus area for upper management," Cohen wrote. Cohen also said Merrill Lynch believes the Fox network will deliver poor results in the near-term, due to ratings challenges, although that state is likely to improve as "American Idol" shows its continued strength. Last week, Chernin said the MNTV and Fox issues are leading to "probably our biggest concern as a company." The MNTV hurdles have hurt the company's 10 local stations that carry the network, he said. Still, the strength of the film unit--with impressive performances from "Night at the Museum" and other pictures, such as "Borat"--is likely to offset the television unit's struggles, Cohen wrote. And News Corp.'s cable networks, which include FX and Speed channel, should "continue to outperform the industry" with scatter pricing up in the high single-digits above the upfront," she wrote. Another long-term boon: MySpace.com. News Corp. stock has soared 46% in the last year and closed at nearly $24 a share yesterday. Cohen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $27-per-share projection.
"American Idol" is crushing the competition. It did to Wednesday what it started up on Tuesday night--performing a two-day blowout of network prime-time schedules, recording another day of record viewership. The show scored virtually identical numbers on Wednesdays--posting a 15.5 rating/36 share--to its numbers on Tuesday. Some 37 million tune in. This was down a tick from Tuesday's 15.8/36. But "Idol"'s second night was up about 18% or 5.5 million viewers versus its second night of a year ago. Fox's typically poor fourth-quarter start is being followed by its typical first-quarter drubbing of the other networks with "Idol" and "24," which on Sunday night had a two-hour debut ringing up a healthy--but not great--5.9/14. Other networks on Wednesday night continued to find ways to grab some viewers and possible ad revenues. For the second night in a row, CBS led the pack of the also-rans, posting a 3.1/7 for the evening. At 9 p.m., CBS with "Criminal Minds" had a 3.3/7 and, at 10 p.m., with "Idol" out of the way, "CSI: New York" earned a 4.1/11. Both shows won their time periods. ABC ran comedies, new episodes of "According to Jim," new series "The Knights of Prosperity," and "In Case of Emergency." The best numbers came with a 2.3 for an 8:30 p.m. showing of "Jim." The two new comedies could only muster a 1.5/3 for "Knights" and a 1.4/3 for "Emergency." ABC came in with a 2.1/5 average for the night. NBC did a smidge better with a rerun of "Friday Night Lights" and new episodes of "Deal or No Deal" and "Medium." NBC averaged a 2.2/5 for its prime-time lineup.
Reader's Digest Turns to Grad Students Who says journalism school is pointless? Over the last few months, Reader's Digest solicited advice from graduate magazine publishing students at Northwestern University's prestigious Medill School of Journalism to increase the audience for its digital edition. The graduate students were asked to analyze the magazine's print and online properties, then produced their own parallel Web site for the publication, as well as a 56-page prototype magazine. The students' youth and tech-savvy qualities were obvious selling points for the project, according to Bonnie Bachar, RDA's president of U.S. publishing. "We wanted some of the brightest and most promising journalistic minds to help us wrestle with what the future could look like for Reader's Digest magazine and rd.com. Medill's reputation and high-caliber students were a great match for us." Bachar and Jackie Leo, the editor in chief of Reader's Digest, originally approached Abe Peck, Medill's chair of journalism and cross-media storytelling, in August 2006. After students expressed interest, the study and prototype development were undertaken as part of Medill's Magazine Publishing Project. Medill grads conferred with Reader's Digest executives, performed their own research, and sat in on sales calls. Finally, they presented their prototypes to 30 executives at company headquarters in Pleasantville, NY. Samples of the prototype magazine are also being shipped to publishing industry players and Medill alums. Talk about extra credit. National Geographic Launches Mag for Little Kids There's a new member of the National Geographic family: National Geographic Little Kids--a sister title of National Geographic Kids--is set to launch this February, when its March-April issue hits the newsstands. There will be no advertising in the magazine, which will be published bimonthly with a subscription price of $15 a year. The 6.5 inch x 7 inch magazine will sell for $3.95 on newsstands. With content appropriate for preschool children ages 3-6, the magazine is positioned as a teaching tool for parents and older children who want to share the fun with their younger siblings. It aims to cultivate pre-reading and early reading skills, logical reasoning and counting, and an awareness of different cultures. The magazine will fall under the editorial oversight of National Geographic Kids' Vice President and Editor in Chief Melinda Bellows. To keep young children interested, the magazine will include a healthy helping of photographs and exciting stories about animals, as well as features on kids' favorite topics. For example, the first issue focuses on pandas and Chinese culture, and it's a safe guess that dinosaurs will make an appearance in the future. Kids will be able to collect "wild animal cards" dispensed at a rate of six per issue. The magazine is launching with a companion Web site that also offers content suitable for the age group. Stack's Rate Base Stacks UpStack, a magazine targeting teen athletes involved in high-school sports, is upping its rate base to 400,000 on its second anniversary--up from an original rate base of 300,000 at its launch in February 2005. To date, Stack's advertisers have included Nike, Gatorade, U.S. Marines, Adidas, Under Armour, Sony PlayStation, MGM Studios, New Balance and Old Spice. Inc. Hires Tim Callahan As Marketing HeadInc. magazine announced this week that Timothy Callahan is joining the publication as a marketing director. Callahan, formerly the business development director for The Wall Street Journal, will lead development of new sales and partnerships, including the creation of integrated packages combining the magazine's various assets.