Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker, speaking at Harvard Business School, says he is concerned about the anemic revenues from online video: “The economics are not yet fully formed.” Still, Hulu, NBC’s online video joint venture with News Corp., is described as “an early success.” (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117981552.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=2562  2/27)

(Below) I also attended yesterday’s media conference.  Here are my two highlighted quotes from Zucker yesterday:

• “We live in a blogosphere world.”  Good news for me.
• “The one thing that is certainly dead is the newspaper business.” Bad for my former colleagues from the LA Times.

NBC’s premiere of the Web series “quarterlife” marked the network’s worst time-period performance in the 10 p.m. hour in at least 17 years. “It never should have been a network show,” says co-creator Marshall Herskovitz. “It’s too specific. It will probably end up on cable.” (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3ie4fce632e9ac5150da54ab3f14a8730f  2/27)

[shaking head]  People.  Don’t act so SHOCKED.  It wasn’t an interesting show and the acting sucked.  Something can thrive online with the right amount of marketing finesse.  That same something, however, won’t thrive with the audience of broadcast networks unless it’s actually a good show.  This one example does not mean that we should scrap the idea of transitioning online content to TV and vice versa.  Scrapping that strategy because of one mistake would just be silly.  I continue to commend NBC for taking risks because as my grandmother always told me, you don’t win if you don’t play.  Rock on Zucker.

Viacom is expected to report that fourth-quarter profit rose on higher ratings at its MTV cable networks and DVD sales of the “Transformers” movie. The media giant has expanded its Internet revenue to $500 million annually through acquisitions and by exploiting its assets online. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=asythTQiLcyQ  2/28)

MSNBC attracted a record 7.78 million people Tuesday night with its coverage of the Democratic presidential debate between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. According to Nielsen, MSNBC delivered 3.24 million adults in the 25-to-54 demographic, also a record for the cable news channel. (Mediaweek 2/27)  

Three new projects for CBS:

• Ny-Lon is based on a UK series and from ABC Studios, about a clerk in a NY record store, and a London based stockbroker who happen to meet and begin a transAtlantic romance.
• Mythological X from 20th Century Fox TV, this one based on an Israeli series, is about a woman who is told by her psychic that she has already dated the man she will eventually marry. Desperate to know who he is, she begins to go back and seek out each of those past relationships.
• And the third project is Can Openers from Sony Pictures TV, about a woman doctor, several years into her medical residency, reaching a level where she finds the other doctors working in much more of an all-boys club than a coed hospital.

(Below) When will networks learn?  Closing off access to video/photos is not the way to deal with the spread of content across the net.  Two words: TRACK and MONETIZE.  Spend less time restricting and more time doing some of that and here’s what will happen: Better marketing of your content and more $$ for you. 

Following the NFL’s controversial 45-second online video limitation, Major League Baseball has followed suit restricting news organizations from airing or streaming more than 2 minutes of audio or video from league facilities, reports Sports Business Journal. New rules will also prohibit postings of more than 7 photos from any game online and require removal of any audio, photo or video coverage after 72 hours.

TBS is ready for the new baseball season as Sunday MLB on TBS begins April 6 at 1p with a match-up between the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays. Later in the season, TBS will exclusively televise the MLB All-Star Selection Show on July 6 in addition to the Division Series and the American League Championship Series in October.

TNT and TBS have acquired a showcase of Warner Bros. films, including the yet-to-be released “The Dark Knight,” “Speed Racer” and “Get Smart” as well as recent flicks such as “The Bucket List,” “I Am Legend” and “Fred Claus.” The films will first go to HBO in the pay-TV window and then on to TNT and TBS throughout 2010 and 2011. (Variety 2/27)

Twentieth Television made a multi-year licensing agreement with CMT for the network to air Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy and Nanny 911. Trading Spouses begins March 3 on CMT at noon and 1p and again at 6p and 7p, while Nanny 911 starts March 4 at noon and 1p with repeats at 6p and 7p.

Showtime and its licensing agency, 360ep signed with Bif Bang Pow! to manufacture collectibles for the drama series Dexter. Hitting stories this fall will be bobble heads and action figures based on the likable serial killer.

Starz Inside, the series of original specials about the movie industry hosted by Richard Roeper on Starz Entertainment returns April 22 at 10p. The series begins with Starz Inside: The Pixar Story  A Leslie Iwerks Film with a look at the animation company. Other specials will air over the summer, next fall and into January 2009. 

Pop Fiction, a new 30m series about the goings on in Hollywood begins March 9 at 1030p on E!. Produced by Katalyst Productions, Pop Fiction will air after the season two premiere of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

Ovation TV, the art-centric cable channel, will debut a video-on-demand service beginning Saturday. The free service will include original series, such as “Bathroom Divas” and “Art & the City,” as well as acquired programming. (Mediaweek 2/27) 

Strong financial performances by Cablevision’s cable channels and by its sports properties helped the company post significantly improved fourth-quarter earnings, including net income of $6.6 million, compared with a $23.9 million loss a year earlier. The cable company attracted 43,000 digital-video, 62,000 high-speed-Internet and 102,000 digital-phone subscribers during the quarter. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Associated Press 2/28 The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires 2/28)

Cable One added more than 3,400 basic-cable subscribers in the fourth quarter and more than 18,400 telephony customers to spur a robust period in which revenue increased 12%, to $165.3 million, and operating income climbed 26%, to $33.8 million. For the year, Cable One collected 9,119 basic-cable subscribers, and the company now serves a total of 58,640 phone customers. (OneTRAK 2/27)