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April 30, 2008
 
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HRTS: The Cable Chiefs 2008
Scripting Change



(l-r) Moderator: Cynthia Littleton, Panel: Robert Greenblatt, John Landgraf, Jeff Wachtel, Michael Wright, Charlie Collier, Susanne Daniels, Michael Lombardo

by Chris Davison, davison@intellcap.com
HRTS President Chris Silbermann opened the Cable Chiefs panel on April 23rd by pointing out that the cable industry has grown exponentially, with many diverse and unique cable brands across the television landscape. This being the case, the HRTS decided that this year’s panel will focus on scripted, series programming. Silbermann introduced panelists Robert Greenblatt, President of Entertainment at Showtime Networks, Inc., John Landgraf, President and General Manager of FX Networks, Jeff Wachtel, EVP of Original Programming at USA Networks, Michael Wright, SVP of Content Creation for the Turner Entertainment Networks, Charlie Collier, EVP and General Manager of AMC, Susanne Daniels, President of Entertainment at Lifetime Networks, and Michael Lombardo, President of the Programming Group & West Coast Operations, HBO. The panel was moderated by Cynthia Littleton, Deputy Editor at Variety.

Littleton began by asking the panel how they are all dealing with the effects of PSTSS, Post-Strike Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and how it has changed their season schedules. Lombardo said that all of their shows that were in the writing phase, pre-production or production came to a halt when the strike began and that as a result, series such as “Entourage” that were set to return in summer are now coming back in fall. Landgraf reported a similar outcome, saying that “Rescue Me” won’t be coming back until well after the summer.

Since ratings for broadcast shows are down for the season so far, Littleton wanted to know if there is a sense of concern about the ability of television to draw people, and particularly for new franchises. Wachtel said that a good show is a good show and the audience will find it across many different windows - people follow shows and as long as they are watching then the business will continue to grow and be profitable.

Was the strike a long-needed impetus for change in the television business? Wright pointed out that while broadcast has the burden of programming 22 hours per week, cable doesn’t have that problem and so they already make fewer pilots. Greenblatt concurred and expanded on the theme by saying that in general the cable business is economically better in the pilot-to-series process as compared to broadcast and so broadcast networks will need to continue to look at what cable does and try to catch up. In terms of efficiency, Collier illuminated a batting average that would have made Mickey Mantle proud: to date, AMC has had two pilots, resulting in two series. Collier said that unlike in broadcast, cable is not a bulk business that is just reduced down.

Littleton next asked Daniels how she’s dealing with the unprecedented success of “Army Wives”, how it influences development going forward. Daniels said that it’s a trap to think about development like ‘how can I build on it’ with “Navy Wives” or similar, she is always asking herself how to set about appealing to their core audience while also appealing to a broader audience at the same time.

In many ways, HBO has led the charge and set the standard for original scripted programming on a cable network, with pioneering shows such as “Sex And The City” and “The Sopranos”, so Littleton asked about the HBO brand, about their scripted efforts over the past year and how things look for the future. Lombardo responded by saying that “over the past year, I think that the piece we’ve missed a little bit is that our new shows haven’t been quite as entertaining, quite as emotionally gripping as our audience has become accustomed to” but there is great hope and enthusiasm for the future since “we have some unbelievably exciting shows coming up, well-written, well-executed, true to our distinctive voice”.  

Continuing with the theme of top-quality original shows, the #1 show on cable is “The Closer” and so Littleton asked Wright to talk about the momentum TNT has been able to have as a result of this and some other shows such as “Saving Grace”. Wright said that “The Closer” has been an unbelievable success, one for which he is grateful every single day of his life. He also added that TNT is looking to build on their momentum, to expand their originals brand in order to stay vital and continue to grow.

Going back to the beginning and swimming in the primeval soup, Littleton wanted to know about the development process, how do you know that you have a hit? Wachtel said he knew within the first 30 seconds of the “Monk” pilot that it was going to do well, with the investigator surveying a crime scene and then obsessing about having forgotten to turn off his stove before he left home. Landgraf added that the talent pool for cable is really growing and the most joyous part is discovering the new writer, the person with a clear and unique vision. Landgraf also related the story of how Rob McElhenney produced the pilot for “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia” for only $200: after the show was picked up, Business Affairs called Landgraf and worried that they owed McElhenney $200000, the President making their day by telling them to drop three zeros.


All photos courtesy of Stephen Shugerman, Getty Images.
 

 
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