Imagine, for a second, you’re Chris Licht. You’ve just taken over a network named CNN, which has been consistently trailing its chief competition in linear ratings, aborted a digital platform in less than a month and was plagued by scandals that cost it its 9 PM anchor and your predescessor just before you were put … Read more
Imagine if Amazon founder Jeff Bezos liked Broadway musicals. He probably would have bought the state of Oklahoma, if for no other reason that to restage it, Imagine if he liked procedural dramas. Murder, She Wrote would probably be making a comeback. (Hey, Angela Lansbury could do both). But he happens to like science fiction … Read more
About five years ago or so I noticed a marked increase in traffic in a gentrifying part of Venice Beach which had been a preferred meditation spot of mine for years. While I was griping that my little hideaway where I could always find free parking and a patch of sand and sun that would … Read more
You don’t see a lot of positive news about anything related to MTV these days. The network has officially entered middle age, having turned 40 last year, and today’s younger audiences are far more likely to eschew linear television completely. Their parents drove the network, and cable television adoption in general, by imploring “I Want … Read more
On many lazy Sundays around here, often the only traffic you see are the endless array of delivery vans dropping off packages for the many who are some combination of exhausted, petrified or lazy. This weekend my roommate noticed that one of the Amazon Prime vans was completely wrapped by an ad for Prime Video’s … Read more
I’ve spent most of my career as a client, advocate and yes, even friend of dozens of people in charge of running various incarnations of the Nielsen Company. I’ve been their guest at numerous conferences, helped give them nearly a billion dollars worth of business, including what was once the largest single corporate commitment in … Read more
When the Wall Street Journal broke the news yesterday of the reported discussion of NBC abandoning programming the 10 PM Eastern hour by next fall, my phone and LinkedIn were ablaze with alerts and shock. How could a network that is frequently quite successful in winning the hour–the most strategically beneficial to companies as it … Read more
The announcement from today’s Los Angeles Times that onetime local morning news standout Michaela Pereira unexpectedly announced her impending departure from the co-anchor role of FOX 11’s GOOD DAY LA immediately made me think of an impromptu focus group in a San Fernando Valley fire station several years ago that reinforced some disturbing truths about … Read more
So yes, I indeed did watch the premiere episode of HOUSE OF THE DRAGON. I thought it was at times riveting, at times overdone and I’m a far bigger fan of Matt Smith’s now than I was of his performance as Prince Philip in THE CROWN. And feel free to laugh, I had no idea … Read more
I’ve envied Rob McElhenney from the moment I met him, when he and a couple of other struggling comedians parlayed a $200 demo tape into a six-episode afterthought order for an FX sitcom that was originally destined to be the filler for a more anticipated series about a weight loss group. 17 years later, no … Read more