TV studio exex feeling fatalistic about strike
Work stoppage 'would be devastating,' WB topper sez
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While unanimous in their opinion that a shutdown would have disastrous consequences for the industry, the toppers also had only one answer when asked whether they believed there will be a strike.
"Unfortunately, yes," said 20th Century Fox Television prexy Dana Walden, speaking at a Television Critics Assn. winter press tour panel discussion sponsored by the Television Publicity Executives Committee.
One by one, the top production execs at Warner Bros. Television, Touchstone Television, Columbia TriStar Television, ATG, Studios USA and Regency Television went on to agree with Walden's assessment. Paramount Network Television was not represented on the panel.
Most toppers also agreed with Warner Bros. TV prexy Peter Roth, who denounced "lemmings-like behavior on both sides" and said a strike "would be devastating."
"The impact is not simply with the numbers of jobs that would be lost, which is incalculable, and the impact on the economy of Los Angeles, which is also devastating," he said.
"The real impact is on the viewer. In 1988, (network TV) lost 9% of our audience following that strike. That was at a time when there was a triopoly of three networks. There weren't nearly as many alternatives for the viewer," Roth said. "Imagine today, now almost 12 years later, with the proliferation of choice for the viewer: A strike drives viewers away from network television at a time when we can least afford it."
Studios USA programming chief David Kissinger said that with the ad market softening and network erosion continuing, the potential strikes "could not come at a worse time."
"It's as if the orchestra on the Titanic started drilling holes in the ship just as the iceberg appeared," he said. "It really is tremendously self-destructive."
Touchstone Television topper Steve McPherson said he sensed little hunger for a strike from either producers or writers.
"Most of the people, whether they be writers or crew or executives, want to keep making shows. They want to keep executing what they do; it's their passion," he said. "The sentiment about a strike is one of fear and very negative thoughts about it."
Regency Television prexy Peter Aronson, a member of the Writers' Guild, said his peers on both sides "are really conflicted" about a strike.
"They have mortgages, car payments; they want to send their kids to school. Nobody thinks it's a good idea," he said. "At the same time, more of my union is unemployed than employed. You have to ask yourself what's the impetus for them to vote against a strike."
Sliver of hope
Despite their unanimous pessimism regarding the likelihood of a strike, some execs tried to look for a sliver of hope. Columbia TriStar Television network production topper Tom Mazza, for one, said his view that a strike was unavoidable repped "a snapshot" based on where the situation stands right now.
"I'm hopeful that in the months ahead, that as we get closer to that (deadline), that people are going to start coming back to the table and work this out," he said. "I'd like to think something positive will come out over the next six months."The studio toppers said all aspects of the industry would suffer in the event of strikes, though ATG prexy Eric Tannenbaum conceded his nonaligned startup would face some particular difficulties.
"I don't have a bench and a library like a lot of these companies do -- 25 series in production, daytime shows, gameshows," he said. "We are a new company, and the core of our company is to produce scripted series for the primetime networks....We don't have five other series that have been on the air for three years like 'Whose Line,' where you can get an order of three or four years (in advance) to start making those."
While strike talk dominated Saturday's panel discussion, the studio chiefs also found themselves tackling the increasingly thorny issues related to vertical integration -- particularly the notion of a program supplier pulling a hit program from one network and selling it to its own sister web. Such a possibility has been in the news in recent days as talks between 20th Century Fox TV and the WB heat up over the future of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (Daily Variety, Jan. 8.)
Kissinger said he doubts "Buffy" will "end up going anywhere other than the WB because it's so clearly the place it belongs."
Should such a move take place, however, Kissinger said it would be "a wonderful thing" for nonaligned studios such as his.
"It would show that the game has gotten too rough and difficult between these vertically integrated companies," he said. "It would be a great advertisement for doing business with studios that aren't in the same company as a broadcast network."
Tannenbaum said independence was a mixed blessing in this era of mega-mergers such as AOL Time Warner.
Smaller and quicker
"The good news for us is, we're a choice. We're not a big conglomerate; we're a much smaller company that can move, I think, even quicker," he said. "On the other hand, the downside is, it's hard to compete against a hundred billion dollars worth of assets."
Walden reported no progress on the "Buffy" talks, saying simply that "there is a discrepancy" between what 20th is asking and what the Frog net is willing to pay. "It's really our hope that we are going to find a way to keep that show on the WB," she said.
On other topics:
n The studio toppers expressed no desire to jump on the reality bandwagon, even if the webs continued to be in love with the genre.
"If a great idea comes along, I really don't care where it comes from or what genre it's in," Roth said. "But I'll be damned if our studio is going to go running towards a form of television simply because it's the flavor of the month."
Kissinger said he believed the reality trend is "burning itself out a little bit," citing okay-but-not-spectacular ratings for the premiere of ABC's "The Mole" last week as proof that "blatant imitation doesn't get an audience."
Walden, however, said studios shouldn't dismiss the reality trend. "It's also all right to be nervous about it," she said. "It makes us try harder; it makes our writers look at the current climate and reach deeper into their souls for that inspiration that's going to cut through the clutter."
n Execs offered little regret for the abundance of huge overall writer and talent deals, despite complaints that such pacts often result in failed programming.
"Nobody ever got broke betting on the longest and the strongest," Roth said. "I think some of the biggest, best, most successful and most profitable shows have come out of some of the larger overall deals that have been made."
Tannenbaum said the TV biz isn't much different than pro basketball or other sports when it comes to the hunt for talent. "When there's someone great, most of us up here are going to try to go after them and try to get them," he said. "That's what we do."
n Asked his take on the just-completed AOL-TW merger, Kissinger was blunt: "I think it's mildly terrifying," he said. "The general theory behind it is somewhat frightening: It's vertical integration to the most complete degree. ...On the other hand, I genuinely believe that content is king, and that regardless of whatever blueprint exists for vertical integration, if you have programming that people want, it will find its outlet. So I'm not genuinely alarmed about it."
