Disclaimer: I am fully vaccinated and own nearly 50 masks, none I wear prouder than my color-coordinated New York Mets triple-layer with deodorized filter resting on cap attachments that allow it to be worn without pulling on my ears. Reality: I currently live in Los Angeles, where masks have recently been reinstated for all adults … Read more
In the wake of the Allen and Company meetings in Sun Valley, Idaho last week reports began to surface this week that the media ownership landscape is about to change even more dramatically. Among the juicier ones was the revelation that two of the key mega-competitors, Comcast and ViacomCBS, are exploring ways to combine resources. … Read more
This week the 2021 Emmy Award nominations were announced, and if anybody had any questions that broadcast television–indeed, linear television, had crossed the threshold into irrelevance one only look at the breakdown of which networks–er, platforms–led the way. Of the 530 major nominations announced the other morning, more than 80% of them were from series running on services uniquely … Read more
The NBA Finals are here, traditionally a signpost of where TV sports popularity stands. Depending upon where the spin is coming from, this year’s numbers so far are either encouraging, devastating or inconclusive. From the positive side, viewership through the first two games was up approximately +18% vs. last year’s finals. From the negative side, … Read more
HULU: WHO KNEW? As the streaming service war of attrition begins to ramp up with the recent moves surrounding the now-Warner Discovery brands (HBO Max and Discovery Plus) and Amazon (MGM)’s arms race for content, there is increasing ambiguity and uncertainty among one of the more mature players in the space, Hulu. At first blush … Read more
One of the most laugh-out loud scenes of Animal House is when Dean Wormer hands out grades to students and Bluto Blutarsky proudly revels in his “zero point zero” GPA. On more than a few occasions last year many shows on the CW and on dozens of cable networks got the exact same overnight rating … Read more
This week’s media bombshell was clearly Amazon swallowing MGM—for perspective, the price was roughly two-thirds of what they paid for Whole Foods, meaning an iconic Hollywood brand is inferior to organic cranberry tuna salad. There’s a lot already written about how once again an arrogant tech company wants to impose its size and will on … Read more
Tonight marks the delayed fifth season premiere of the current iteration of THE $100,000 PYRAMID, my all-time favorite game show and one I had the pleasure of working on three different versions of, (I should have been involved with a fourth, but as a teenaged game show geek I was deemed “too good for TV” … Read more
The 2021-22 broadcast network schedule (save for the CW at this writing) is out, and yet again just when we thought there could be a bottoming out of playing it safe we have reached new nadirs of complacency. For fall 2021 there will be exactly four completely new series on the “Big 4”. that will be … Read more