Cablers ready to make a statement
Nets vie for hits among 2012 scripted, reality slate
By Stuart Levine
With 2011 in the books, cablers are looking ahead. Mining the next "Falling Skies" or "Teen Mom 2" -- highly successful scripted and reality skeins, respectively, that premiered last year -- remains a No. 1 priority.
Here is a look at some of the key freshman series being offered by cable nets over the next 12 months:
A&E
With Westerns resurgent, A&E jumps aboard with "Longmire." Exec produced by, among others, "The Closer" team of Greer Shephard and Michael Robin and starring Robert Taylor, Katee Sackhoff and Lou Diamond Phillips, "Longmire" will look to become the net's third successful scripted series, following "The Glades" and "Breakout Kings."
AMC
AMC will be focusing much of its efforts on reality in the new year. Writer-director Kevin Smith will premiere his "Comic Book Men" in February, and "The Pitch" -- a real-life "Mad Men" in which agencies compete to sell and pitch their wares to media outlets -- will arrive sometime in the spring.
Bravo
Trying to keep hold of its "Top Chef" aud, Bravo premieres "Around the World in 80 Plates" -- the network's foodie version of "The Amazing Race." Chefs will test their skills in some of the most challenging restaurants around the globe.
Comedy Central
"The Nick Show Kroll"will focus on sketch material, with Kroll -- a regular on FX's "The League" and HBO's toon "The Life and Times of Tim" -- playing a variety of crass characters. Also coming from Comedy Central is an untitled two-man sketch show from "Mad TV" alums Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.
Discovery
Net brings a pair of reality shows to the fold: "Bering Sea Gold," where salty characters hunt for treasures, and "Frozen Planet," an in-depth look at Earth's polar regions. Seven-part series will be narrated by Alec Baldwin.
History
While History has a few new reality series arriving -- "Cajun Pawn Stars," "Full Metal Jousting" and "Mudcats" -- network topper Nancy Dubuc is making a bold move by shifting into scripted fare with miniseries "The Hatfields and McCoys." Starring Kevin Costner, Powers Boothe and Bill Paxton, "Hatfields" will be a big litmus test for the surging net.
FX
Feeling buoyed by the success of toon "Archer," FX returns to the animated fold with "Unsupervised." Series, about a pair of teenage boys trying to do what's right without any parental guidance, comes from the writers of the net's long-running comedy "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."
HBO
On the drama side, HBO has lined up a handful of high-powered writers, with David Milch penning horse-racing skein "Luck" and Aaron Sorkin examining the personalities who toil at a politically centric cabler in "The Newsroom." Half-hour laffers "Girls" -- from writer, director and actress Lena Dunham -- and Julia Louis-Dreyfus' "Veep" will look to fill the comedy void left by the recently canceled "Hung," "Bored to Death" and "How to Make It in America."
Lifetime
Telepic "The Client List" will serve as a backdoor pilot for a series, and the femme-focused net could really use a breakout hit. Net is hoping "Ghost Whisperer" star Jennifer Love Hewitt still has enough appeal to bring new, younger viewers to the struggling cabler.
MTV
Will auds who may be tiring on "Jersey Shore" antics tune in to spinoffs starring Pauly D, Snooki and JWoww? MTV is betting on it and is simultaneously hoping "I Just Want My Pants Back," which premiered after the "Video Music Awards," and U.K. import "The Inbetweeners" could raise the scripted bar for 2012.
Showtime
Having scored with 2011 freshman series "Homeland," the pay cabler would be happy to see new Don Cheadle laffer "House of Lies" generate some of that good will as well. Reality series "Inside Comedy," in which David Steinberg sits and chats with masters of the genre, looks to have great potential.
Starz
Starz made a big bet on "Boss," giving it a two-season order before it even launched, and now the Chris Albrecht-led net has high hopes for "Magic City" as well. Starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan as a hotel owner with ties to the mob, the series is produced by Starz -- unlike "Boss," which is from Lionsgate -- meaning "Magic's" success or failure will be amplified bigtime.
Sundance
The first wholly owned scripted series in the net's history, "Rectify" is from creator-writer Ray McKinnon (known for his roles on "Deadwood" and "Sons of Anarchy"). The six-episode series examines the life of a man released after serving 19 years on Georgia's death row, and his assimilation into society even as some still believe he is guilty.
TBS
No net may be in more need of a hit than struggling TBS, and it's hoping "The Wedding Band" may stem the viewer erosion. Skein, about a group of guys who look to escape the stress of life by picking up instruments, stars Brian Austin Green and "Lost" vet Harold Perrineau.
TLC
This year will be a busy one at TLC, which has a slew of programs on tap. A docuseries on Niecy Nash will generate some headlines, and there's also an U.S. adaptation of "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding," the Southwest Airlines skein "On the Fly" and "Randy to the Rescue," about bridal guru Randy Fenoli.
TNT
Nobody will be asking who shot J.R. this time around, but Larry Hagman will be co-starring in the Turner net's revamped and anticipated "Dallas," which will premiere in summer. Other scripted series newcomers are "Perception," in which Eric McCormack plays an eccentric neuroscientist, and "The Closer" spinoff "Major Crimes," starring Mary McConnell. It could be a big year for TNT, which is looking to expand on an already-strong scripted slate.
USA
The No. 1 entertainment cabler has high expectations for buddy cop dramedy "Common Law," which the net moved to summer from a planned debut in January. And a shift to comedy and reality is also in the works, with a Nathan Lane starrer from creator Doug McGrath and "Paging Dr. Freed" likely to debut later this year.
Programmers: It's Time To Go Big, or Go HomeBroadcast and cable pros to focus on brand-defining hits, answers to authentication and streaming mysteries in the year ahead
By Melissa Grego, Broadcasting & Cable
By Melissa Grego, Broadcasting & Cable
In an era when hits can generate $1 billion in revenue, as BOA/Merrill Lynch media analyst Jessica Reif Cohen noted last month at B&C’s OnScreen Media Summit, programming strategies are targeting brand-defining, monster hits more than ever.
It’s not just about the big paychecks popular programming draws from the multiple revenue streams now in play. Hits drive network value in the increasingly competitive affiliate and marketing communities; they reinforce brands’ relationships with the viewer; and perhaps most importantly, a giant success is what it takes to break through in the ever noisier landscape.
The proliferation of entertainment choices shows no signs of slowing. As FX Networks president and general manager John Landgraf points out, in 2002, the year his network launched its first original series hit with The Shield, the show was one of 35 series in basic and premium cable. In 2011, there were 135. Now Netflix is jumping in with originals, YouTube has new channels, Starz is ramping up, HBO and Showtime are as busy as ever, not to mention the Big Four, the CW, Univision, Telemundo, USA, Turner…you get the picture.
“You’re not going to grow your business or emissary beyond your core without a really, really big hit,” Landgraf said. “It’s the only thing that will rise to people’s consciousness and bubble up. And every programmer is aware of that.”
So here’s what to look for in 2012.
Fewer, Bigger Swings
Look for programming execs to focus resources on several big plays rather than large slates of seemingly safe plays—even if some recent ambitious efforts disappointed. While ABC is benching Sony Pictures TV’s bigticket drama Pan Am in midseason, Steve Mosko, president of SPT, said he is sticking to his strategy of doing fewer shows better: “If people are spending $5-10 million on pilots, if you go the cheap route, I can guarantee you that you spend $3 million in wasted money because when you put it against a $6 million pilot, you lose,” Mosko said at OnScreen.
The Fox network and Twentieth Century Fox TV studio, which collaborated on the expensive time-travel drama Terra Nova, which did not break out, are planning some big projects outside the traditional development season, including a reboot of The Flintstones in partnership with Warner Bros. TV.
More Comedy
From ABC’s Suburgatory and Fox’s New Girl to CBS’ Two Broke Girls and NBC’s Up All Night, the recent successes among primetime comedy launches no doubt already inspired increased efforts across the industry to launch more comedy. “We [the TV industry] tend to try to chase our successes,” 20th Century Fox TV chairman Dana Walden told B&C recently.
The comedy genre has proven to perform best in primetime when paired with others in a block. So now that they are all armed with something new to laugh about, expect all of the Big Four to keep on the comedy path. Even the CW, which has not been in the comedy business, is making moves into the genre, ordering comedy scripts.
As more cable networks also pursue original comedy, Walden said the challenge will be “building a financial scale which makes sense for those platforms.”
Keep Getting Real
Narrative nonfiction also will continue to be popular, especially on basic cable networks that can stack repeats leading into originals with relative financial ease and keep the ratings pumping. The genre has some of the same appeal of the ripped-from-the-headlines procedural dramas that were hot for so long, like Law & Order, FX’s Landgraf said. So expect more of that: “Literally there isn’t an odd, charismatic, quirky shopkeeper in America with a family-run business that is not being scouted out by an agent,” Landgraf said.
And There Will Always Be Drama
Landgraf added that the enthusiasm for comedy and reality does not mean folks have thrown in the towel on drama. Programming execs expect a moderate uptick in drama entries in 2012.
Also Looming in 2012
The Netflix Effect and The Streaming Situation: After finding a gigantic hit, the next biggest thing on programmers’ minds is “an orderly transition to the digital world,” as one exec puts it. From the threat of online piracy to the windowing of authenticated video streams and the big question of whether Netflix (or any other on-demand platform) can successfully launch new originals, consumer habits and how to measure and monetize them will be closely watched in 2012 and beyond.
Signs of Life At NBC: By many accounts, a turnaround at NBC is at least a five-year endeavor, even with a well-regarded executive team now in place. But there are some green shoots—or at least some launching pads, in The Voice, the Super Bowl and the Olympics—to help take some shots, like NBC’s internal favorite, Smash. All it takes is one success to get things going.
Death of the Daytime Soap: In a year, ABC’s All My Children and CBS’ Guiding Light were canceled, and in January, ABC’s One Life to Live ends. At this rate, 2012 may be the year the decades-old daytime soap genre officially becomes extinct.
It’s not just about the big paychecks popular programming draws from the multiple revenue streams now in play. Hits drive network value in the increasingly competitive affiliate and marketing communities; they reinforce brands’ relationships with the viewer; and perhaps most importantly, a giant success is what it takes to break through in the ever noisier landscape.
The proliferation of entertainment choices shows no signs of slowing. As FX Networks president and general manager John Landgraf points out, in 2002, the year his network launched its first original series hit with The Shield, the show was one of 35 series in basic and premium cable. In 2011, there were 135. Now Netflix is jumping in with originals, YouTube has new channels, Starz is ramping up, HBO and Showtime are as busy as ever, not to mention the Big Four, the CW, Univision, Telemundo, USA, Turner…you get the picture.
“You’re not going to grow your business or emissary beyond your core without a really, really big hit,” Landgraf said. “It’s the only thing that will rise to people’s consciousness and bubble up. And every programmer is aware of that.”
So here’s what to look for in 2012.
Fewer, Bigger Swings
Look for programming execs to focus resources on several big plays rather than large slates of seemingly safe plays—even if some recent ambitious efforts disappointed. While ABC is benching Sony Pictures TV’s bigticket drama Pan Am in midseason, Steve Mosko, president of SPT, said he is sticking to his strategy of doing fewer shows better: “If people are spending $5-10 million on pilots, if you go the cheap route, I can guarantee you that you spend $3 million in wasted money because when you put it against a $6 million pilot, you lose,” Mosko said at OnScreen.
The Fox network and Twentieth Century Fox TV studio, which collaborated on the expensive time-travel drama Terra Nova, which did not break out, are planning some big projects outside the traditional development season, including a reboot of The Flintstones in partnership with Warner Bros. TV.
More Comedy
From ABC’s Suburgatory and Fox’s New Girl to CBS’ Two Broke Girls and NBC’s Up All Night, the recent successes among primetime comedy launches no doubt already inspired increased efforts across the industry to launch more comedy. “We [the TV industry] tend to try to chase our successes,” 20th Century Fox TV chairman Dana Walden told B&C recently.
The comedy genre has proven to perform best in primetime when paired with others in a block. So now that they are all armed with something new to laugh about, expect all of the Big Four to keep on the comedy path. Even the CW, which has not been in the comedy business, is making moves into the genre, ordering comedy scripts.
As more cable networks also pursue original comedy, Walden said the challenge will be “building a financial scale which makes sense for those platforms.”
Keep Getting Real
Narrative nonfiction also will continue to be popular, especially on basic cable networks that can stack repeats leading into originals with relative financial ease and keep the ratings pumping. The genre has some of the same appeal of the ripped-from-the-headlines procedural dramas that were hot for so long, like Law & Order, FX’s Landgraf said. So expect more of that: “Literally there isn’t an odd, charismatic, quirky shopkeeper in America with a family-run business that is not being scouted out by an agent,” Landgraf said.
And There Will Always Be Drama
Landgraf added that the enthusiasm for comedy and reality does not mean folks have thrown in the towel on drama. Programming execs expect a moderate uptick in drama entries in 2012.
Also Looming in 2012
The Netflix Effect and The Streaming Situation: After finding a gigantic hit, the next biggest thing on programmers’ minds is “an orderly transition to the digital world,” as one exec puts it. From the threat of online piracy to the windowing of authenticated video streams and the big question of whether Netflix (or any other on-demand platform) can successfully launch new originals, consumer habits and how to measure and monetize them will be closely watched in 2012 and beyond.
Signs of Life At NBC: By many accounts, a turnaround at NBC is at least a five-year endeavor, even with a well-regarded executive team now in place. But there are some green shoots—or at least some launching pads, in The Voice, the Super Bowl and the Olympics—to help take some shots, like NBC’s internal favorite, Smash. All it takes is one success to get things going.
Death of the Daytime Soap: In a year, ABC’s All My Children and CBS’ Guiding Light were canceled, and in January, ABC’s One Life to Live ends. At this rate, 2012 may be the year the decades-old daytime soap genre officially becomes extinct.
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