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Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairman Michael Copps last week said the process for renewing station licenses should be radically altered. We couldn’t disagree more. There are stations on the ropes around the country, and tinkering with the renewal process right now could drive many of them...
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Until recently, the idea of a mass extinction in the media world was inconceivable. But now it’s hard times. And in hard times, media executives need to remember that the content they produce has value. How did the industry get here? A veritable asteroid fall of reasons. Along came the Internet, and...
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The advertisement for “Southland” that NBC placed on the front page of the Los Angeles Times last week is either brilliant or inept—or accidentally a little of both. Before we dissect this “Southland” ad—a print version of what would be considered a product-placement ad in the TV world—some caveats are...
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The silly rift that has chopped up the Emmy Awards between two groups may be set to heal, and we urge the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to accelerate that process. The two bodies split in 1977. Since then ATAS, based on the West Coast...
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Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes and his crew deserve credit for exploring the possibilities of putting more television on the Web—for people who are willing to pay for it. As reported in Advertising Age, Mr. Bewkes is floating a plan, dubbed “TV Everywhere,” that would make all cable programming available...
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Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you. Just ask Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg, who has been the leading hard-liner in the actors’ negotiations with media companies over a new labor contract. Mr. Rosenberg was pilloried for his antagonistic approach to talks...
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Difficult times spur the greatest innovations, and television stations are proving the point. The recession is choking off revenue for stations, their newscasts face ever more ratings challenges as young viewers drift to the Web, and local newspapers are challenging their in-market video supremacy. Some...
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“Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” —Franklin D. Roosevelt The words of the president who led the United States out of the Great Depression should be...
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Cheers to NBC for shaking up the business last week. Under the leadership of Jeff Zucker, NBC announced the stripping of a new talk/variety show with Jay Leno at the 10 p.m. hour, starting next fall. The reaction from many in the business is that it’s either going to succeed brilliantly or fail miserably...
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Once again, the gun is loaded, cocked and pointed straight at the television industry’s head. Will its leaders once again pull the trigger? Will a labor union and the media companies again fail to compromise, harming not only themselves but thousands of innocents? Let’s hope not. The Screen Actors Guild...