(Continued on Page 8) (Continued from Page 4) Sheen Aftermath: Problematic Math U.S. broadcaster CBS and producer Warner Bros. Television’s decision to shut down production of Two and a Half Men for the remainder of the season will have a ripple effect throughout Hollywood. The show’s star Charlie Sheen’s $2 million per episode contract does not expire until May 2012, but after his substance-abuse driven behavior, CBS may choose not to order new episodes of the program. Regardless, Sheen has been fired. Not only does the decision put approximately 250 show staffers out of a job and cost CBS the anchor of its popular Monday night comedy lineup, but if production on Two and a Half Men remains suspended, Warner Bros. could lose tens of millions of dollars in syndication revenue. On average, local TV stations pay $1 million for each episode of the show, with cable channel FX reportedly paying $800,000 per episode, meaning that Warner Bros. could lose about $1.8million in lost reruns while the show is in limbo. CBS pays Warner Bros. $4 million dollars to produce each episode, and while much of that money goes into making the program, Warner Bros. pockets whatever is left over. However, if Two and a Half Men does not go back into production, Warner Bros. stands to lose its share of that money as well. Additionally, the near-term revenue loss for Warner Bros. is $200 million in CBS license fees and domestic and international rerun money, but that amount could add up to even more in the future. Turkey’s DYH TV Fire Sale Dogan Yayin Holding (DYH), Turkey’s largest media group, is selling its assets as a result of a slew of back taxes and fines being imposed on the company. Although the Turkish government has not confirmed suspicions, it is speculated that these back taxes and penalties were imposed last October due to 74-year-old owner Aydin Dogan’s criticisms of the country’s ruling AK party. The fees add up to a sum equivalent to U.S.$2.8 billion. The company appointed Goldman Sachs to advise on possible asset sales. Reportedly, at least six international bidders are biting at the bit to purchase assets from Dogan Yayin, the media arm of Dogan Holding. These include Europeanbroadcaster RTLand theU.S.’ Time Warner, as well as private equity firms KKR and Texas Pacific Group (TPG Capital). In addition, KKR and Turkish food maker Yildiz Holding’s unit Gozde Finansal Hismelter formed a consortium in early February to bid for Dogan Yayin assets. Dogan Yayin is fighting the government’s monetary demands, and according to Reuters, as of February 7, a top administrative court overturned tax court rulings worth 713.3 million lira ($451.5 million), deciding in favor of the Dogan TV unit. Greetings from the “Battlefront of Kabul” BY FARRELL MEISEL I’m now at the seven-month mark since I came to the “Switzerland of Central Asia.” I am hoping this greeting finds all of you well, and counting the days until springtime! The good news is we’ve made some enormous progress with the channel’s development. We’ve just concluded a rebranding exercise modernizing the look of the channel, enhancing the “1TV” symbol, and adding new acquired and original programs to the line-up. We also relaunched our news, developing a branded product for all of our daily news broadcasts. Below is a picture of the director of News & Current Affairs, Mostafa Mahmoud, and me as the news set was being installed in the studio. I’d also like to point out that all the creative work, design of the new News and Current Affairs studio and construction were done locally. Mostafa is a trained physician who couldn’t make ends meet in medicine, so he embarked on a career in journalism. Last December, we launched a series of programs entitled The Mask, which featured, for the first time in Afghanistan, victims of abuse telling V I D E O • A G E AP R I L 2 0 1 1 6
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