Agencies See a Window to Alter the Business of Television
Author: From:http://www.buyfastgold.com/GuildWars/
Madison Avenue, assessing the aftermath of the writers¡¯ strike, is optimistic that there can be long-term benefits from the disruptions suffered during the 2007-8* broadcast TV season.
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That asterisk may be attached permanently to the truncated season, because of the damage caused during the three months the strike lasted.
¡°Unfortunately, there¡¯s no opportunity for a do-over,¡± said Rino Scanzoni, chief investment officer at GroupM, the division of the WPP Group that oversees media agencies like MindShare.
But there is plenty of opportunity to start fresh in the post-strike era, particularly in the areas where agency executives would most like to see change. For one, they would welcome the adoption of a year-round television season rather than the September-to-May schedule now followed by the broadcasters (ABC, CBS, CW, Fox and NBC).
By introducing all the new series each fall, ¡°there¡¯s a lot of hype in September,¡± said Charlie Rutman, chief executive for the North American operations of MPG, a media agency owned by Havas. ¡°And by November, half the shows aren¡¯t on anymore.¡±
Also high on the agencies¡¯ priority list is persuading the broadcast networks to change their venerable policy of selling commercial time ahead of the fall season, in what is called the upfront market, only in the spring. The executives hope that if year-round programming is possible, so, too, is a more flexible upfront.
¡°People still want to buy commercials on TV shows ahead of time,¡± said Wayne Friedman, the West Coast editor of MediaPost Communications, who has written extensively about the strike. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t necessarily have to be in May.¡±
During the strike, top network executives like Jeff Zucker of NBC Universal signaled that they were highly receptive to new ways of doing business. That open-mindedness has been met eagerly by the advertising community, which is hungry for innovation yet still sees television as the best way to reach audiences to sell products.
The settlement ¡°really could usher in the start of a new era,¡± said Aaron Cohen, executive vice president at Horizon Media.
¡°We¡¯ve had time to reflect, because of the strike, and open our minds, our frames of reference,¡± he added.
During the strike, ratings fell ¡ª not as much as had been feared, but enough to concern advertisers. The trade publication Mediaweek estimated the percentage declines in the ratings for the Big Three broadcasters ¡ª ABC, CBS and NBC ¡ª in the low double digits compared with the period a year ago.
The abrupt end to popular series like ¡°Desperate Housewives,¡± ¡°Grey¡¯s Anatomy¡± and ¡°Heroes,¡± which ran out of episodes produced before the strike, annoyed ¡ª and perhaps alienated ¡ª loyal viewers. And while reality series filled gaps in network schedules, some shows with provocative content dismayed sponsors that are particular about where their ads appear.
If the industry adopted the year-round model, which most cable networks use, there would be less of a feast-or-famine mentality in buying commercial time. The continuous model means that ¡°a successful show can be launched any time of the year,¡± Mr. Rutman said, because the promotional campaigns to encourage viewers to watch are staggered rather than simultaneous.
Gene DeWitt, chairman and chief executive at another media agency, DeWitt Media, agreed that ¡°there¡¯s no reason to premiere everything at once, like it was Christmas.¡±
Mr. DeWitt advocated that the broadcasters ¡°introduce new shows as they¡¯re ready, over time, to give each one some distinction.¡±
The shift would have the added benefit of saving the networks money, he said, because they would no longer need scores of pilot episodes of prospective series to be produced each spring in advance of the fall season. (NBC has announced that it intends to order far fewer pilots for the 2008-9 season.)
¡°The writers had a few things working for them¡± before the strike, Mr. DeWitt said, particularly ¡°their ability to command huge money during a compressed pilot-development season,¡± which increased demand for their services.
The staggering of pilot production and the ordering of fewer pilots could have the unintended consequence of lowering writers¡¯ incomes even as the strike settlement raises them, he added.
The additional time to develop potential series would benefit advertisers, said Steven J. Farella, president and chief executive at the TargetCast TCM agency, because ¡°this business isn¡¯t about G.R.P.¡¯s anymore,¡± a reference to buying commercial time based on gross ratings points, once a mainstay of media schedules.
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