V I D E O • A G E JU N E 2 0 12 10 BY DOM SERAFINI It seems that all three international TV industry events centered around the L.A. Screenings — the Upfronts, the indie screenings and the studio screenings — left most people involved happy. At the Upfronts in New York City, which opened the bazaars, the five major U.S. TV broadcast networks were satisfied with the over $9 billion in ad revenue they secured for the 201213 season for the pre-sale of some 80 percent of their ad inventory. The networks also showed off something they’ve been longing for. For some years now, U.S. TV stations have wanted to make viewers laugh with comedies instead of cry with dramas — specifically since 1997 when NBC had 18 comedies on its schedule, and ABC and CBS had 12 each. For the 2012-13 season, the nets picked up 22 comedies. NBC now has seven new comedies. For the U.S. TV stations, comedies are less risky than one-hour dramas, because if a sitcom fails it affects only a half hour of the schedule. Plus, comedies are cheaper to produce. However, having too many comedies scheduled back-toback is considered risky. As for the age-old question of whether the Upfronts model is still current, Jack Myers, media economist and publisher of the Jack Myers Media Business Report, said, “10 years ago everyone was calling for the elimination of the Upfronts, but we see signs of them getting stronger, not weaker, and the proof is in the ‘Newfronts.’ In the last few weeks, we’ve seen the online video ‘Newfronts,’ and every cable network has held their Upfronts. There have been nearly 100 between February and May,” he explained. While Myers expected that some of the broadcast nets’ Upfront money went to online video instead, that’s a good thing for the broadcast nets, too. “A lot of the money that’s shifting to the online marketplace is shifting to the network’s own video assets — like ABC. com, CBS’s TV.com and Hulu. About 50 percent of the money spent on online video will go to the broadcast and cable networks, and the lion’s share of that goes to broadcast,” he said. At the L.A. Screenings — the event that follows the Upfronts and takes place in and around Hollywood — the studios (which produced and/or are distributing 44 of 50 new series) were largely content with the buyers’ reactions to the pilots and specials screened. International buyers, in turn, were happy with the still large number of dramas, since sitcoms usually don’t travel well, even though some acquisition execs showed interest in Sony Pictures’s new comedy Men at Work, and Lionsgate’s new comedy Anger Management, starring Charlie Sheen. According to Myers, “They’ve spent $3 billion in program development this year, and the broadcast networks remain the engine that leads the video train.” It’s no wonder, then, that with that kind of money thrown at them, the studios are content. Around 1,500 buyers from 66 countries attended the Screenings, basically the same number as last year. However, while all international TV outlets were present, the traditional ones sent fewer executives, while the number of IPTV buyers, such as Netflix and Hulu, increased. Some distributors make a distinction between IPTV and digital rights, with the latter considered the sub-channel of broadcast TV. Among the buyers, some buzzed about shows were: Chicago Fire (NBCUni for NBC), about life in a fire department; The Following (WB for FOX midseason), starring Kevin Bacon; Nashville (Lionsgate for ABC), dealing with politics and Nets Showy, Studios Content, Buyers Exhausted But Ecstatic L . A . S c r e e n i n g s R e v i e w (Continued on Page 12) Record TV’s Delmar Andrade A+E’s Mayra Bracer, Marielle Zuccarelli Power’s Susan Waddell, Pepe Echegaray ARTEAR’s Luciana Egurrola
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