Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

The AMPTP offered a new contract to the WGA containing clauses covering several areas of new media including streaming, content made for new media and programming delivered over digital broadcast channels. The AMPTP claims the entire value of the “New Economic Partnership” will deliver more than $130 million in additional compensation, though it’s unclear whether that’s per year or over the 3-year life of the contract. WGA is taking a close look at the proposal. Meanwhile, WGA also presented the justification for their economic proposal on Wednesday which could cost the industry $151 million over three years, representing what WGA says is a 3% increase. More on all this when the talks resume on Tuesday. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=acdLDwOe1AHI 11/30)

A tentative deal has been struck between the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and ABC concerning approximately 250 ABC news writing employees who have been working under an expired contract since January 31, 2005. The deal the WGAE/ABC negotiating committee came up with will be voted on by members during meetings in New York and Washington, D.C. December 13.

Conan O’Brien will pay the salaries of his nearly 80 non-writing staff members of his show for the immediate future out of his own bank account. David Letterman’s company Worldwide Pants likewise is paying the non-writing staffers of The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Staffers at NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, however, will be laid off as of today. NBC had agreed to pay Tonight Show non-writing production staff through the end of November. As to the production staff of Saturday Night Live were laid off in the third week of the strike.

CNN’s YouTube Republican debate delivered remarkable ratings for the network, drawing 4.49 million viewers Wednesday night, making it the most-watched primary scuffle in cable news history. The debate also notched the largest demo audience, averaging 1.54 million adults 25-54. (http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003679272 11/29)

MSNBC will close out November within firing distance of CNN, averaging 230,000 viewers in the key adults 25-54 demo versus CNN’s 232,000. In a memo to staffers, NBC News senior VP Phil Griffin notes that MSNBC actually snuck past CNN in so-called “sales prime.” (http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/cabletv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003678708 11/28)

Middle Eastern investors are looking to break into the U.S. media arena. Blumberg Capital Partners is planning to launch its first fund to invest in newspapers, movie studios, online outfits and other U.S. media, and its investor base will consist of Middle East-based entities. (http://www.thestreet.com/s/middle-easterners-eye-media-buys/newsanalysis/businessinsurance/10392306.html 11/30)

While many media companies depend on ads, the worst hit in a possible U.S. economic recession will likely be print media and broadcaster CBS, where advertising accounts for over 70% of revenue, says Goldman Sachs analyst Anthony Noto. Media ad revenue could drop 10% in 2008. (http://www.reuters.com/article/MediaandCommunications07/idUSN2921008520071130 11/30)

(Below) AMEN brother. How does a viewer successfully navigate over 8,000 hours of content on demand without search functionality akin to what is available online? Not only should this search functionality enable users to search across the on demand spectrum but simultaneously across linear TV programming as well. Hell, ideally, I would rather have a search function that allows me to search across all available platforms simultaneously including linear TV, on demand, mobile, online, and electronic sell-thru sites. Now THAT would be one kick ass search engine.

Disney CEO Bob Iger says that cable television companies need a Google-like search mechanism if video on demand is to reach its full potential. Type in “rat DVD” at Google and you’ll easily find “Ratatouille,” he says. But using a TV remote control to find video is: “Oh, my God!” (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/business/news/e3ida9c9ba3e6e83a93c42592270b3787dc 11/30)

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has no support for a proposed rule that would limit the growth of Comcast, the U.S. cable-television provider says. “The record in front of the FCC provides little support for a cable ownership cap,” Comcast says. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=abu2b7PLbC6Y 11/29)

Cablevision added HGTV HD and Food Network HD to its High-Def iO TV line up for no additional charge. The service now includes 44 HD channels.