Le Blog

Media Musings

The Numbers That REALLY Matter

I’m gonna preface this one by reaffirming that many of the current executives and staffers at The Nielsen Company are longtime professional and personal friends, whose talents and humanity are unparalleled.  None of what I’m about to write should be taken as judgement on those of you I already know. The company and those in

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Media Musings

Time To Break Up?

MEMO TO:  FRANCES BERWICK, CHAIRMAN, ENTERTAINMENT NETWORKS, NBCUNIVERSAL TELEVISION AND STREAMING FR: STEVE LEBLANG, MEDIA CONSULTANT RE: THE COURTSHIP — S1 E2 Dear Frances, These are the types of internal memos that are difficult for me to write, since I attempt to be creator friendly.  Months of research, development, casting and post-production goes into the

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Media Musings

Oh, Sheet

March Madness is back, with no crowd restrictions in multiple venues across the country and, for the first time, a women’s bracket fully endorsed by the NCAA with similar bloating (68 teams) and branding to the men’s field.   So if you’re a hardcore gambler , a casual fan or even a non0fN just someone trying

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Life Lessons

Driven Batty?

Caught The Batman this weekend (thanks for the treat, roomie) in an actual movie theatre, a momentary escape from the hellish week of still more rejection and impatience I endured.  Roomie’s first-take observation was “good, but very woke”.   Mine’s a bit more detailed and complex. Unlike most of the superhero franchises currently in vogue, the

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Media Musings

It was twenty years ago today….

…that the landscape of cable television, and arguably the world of streaming TV, changed forever.  For a change, I had a direct role in it. THE SHIELD, a one-hour drama centering around a morally ambiguous Los Angeles police detective, Vic Mackey, and his colleagues at the fictional Farmington precinct, premiered on FX on March 12,

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Media Musings

A Plea Not to Parrot

I’m watching the war of words and accusations between Nielsen and the Video Advertising Bureau from an uncomfortable distance, and I’m increasingly concerned that there seems to be more attention being paid to the argument than what is being argued about. To catch you up, the VAB, which is an organization representing the interests of

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Life Lessons

Me, Her and US

If you’re one of the blessed people who have indulged this space with frequent visits, you already know quite a lot about me.  LEBLANGUAGE, as I’ve frequently reminded, is the relentless pursuit of rigorous honesty through the conveyance of indisputable facts, passionate opinions and known truths.  It’s time you knew more about two particularly influences

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Life Lessons

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Deli

So, what did you do last night?   Me?  I decided I’d try to be a stand-up comedian. Truth is, I had thought about giving it a go for decades. I’ve always had a thing for comedy clubs and comedians.  For as much of a fan of game shows and sports as I am, stand-up isn’t

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Life Lessons

Don’t Hesitate To Call. Just Don’t Expect An Answer

I hesitated in observing this particular anniversary as I have some many others in this space, but a friend that I was actually making in-person lunch plans with yesterday made the fatal mistake of pointing out the milestone to me.  Plus, it was a relatively slow media news day, and I simply don’t have the

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