Stewart makes a break for daytime
Burnett preps for show that bows Sept. 12
So it stands to reason that reality producer Mark Burnett -- who knows what it takes to be a survivor -- would venture into the syndie fray with a new daytime strip built around Martha Stewart.
Stewart is a proven personality in daytime syndication, hosting "Martha Stewart Living" for 13 years. Signing off in May 2004 with its host beginning her incarceration for securities fraud, "Living" was still earning respectable ratings for distributor King World.
For his part, Burnett was checking out old "Living" tapes while developing the Stewart-hosted edition of "The Apprentice" for NBC Universal when he noticed something.
"Having spent time with Martha, studying her old show and having seen her TV interviews with Larry King, David Letterman and others ... Martha is actually very funny, warm and engaging, and that didn't translate in the old show," Burnett explains.
Along with Burnett, distrib NBC Universal Domestic TV is hoping that "Martha," premiering Sept. 12, will only build on the sizable aud she already had. NBC Universal officials also hope the new strip makes its owned-and-operated stations, which will supply the bulk of "Martha's" clearance, forget all about "The Jane Pauley Show," which failed to live past a disappointing first season.
Besides Burnett, the production's behind-the-scenes roster includes co-exec VP Rob Dauber, who worked on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." The program also will benefit from the expertise of former ABC prexy Susan Lyne, now president and CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
With both NBC Universal and Stewart's media company behind it, Katz TV analyst Bill Carroll calls "Martha," "probably the best cross-platform launch in the history of television."
The publicity generated by Stewart's criminal case will be a factor. "Anybody available to a TV set on Sept. 12 will be watching, rooting for or against her," Carroll adds.
As for format, viewers can expect Stewart's trademark how-to perfectionism, but with a more humorous flair. One example cited by Carroll: an appearance by Sean Combs, in which the guest gives pointers to the host on rapping; then he learns how to properly "wrap" a gift.
"What we're good at is executing content," Burnett says of his production company's first-ever syndie gambit. "And right now, the syndication market is weak in content."
Certainly, with only three new first-run strips debuting this year, Fall 2005 marks a low point for syndie premieres.
The only other newcomers venturing into the daytime abyss this year are "The Tyra Banks Show," from Warner Bros. Domestic Television, and the Twentieth TV-distributed court strip "Judge Alex."
Coming off the successful launch of the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" -- one of the few new talkshows to establish a footing in the last five years -- Warners managed to clear "Tyra Banks" on the Fox O&Os, a tough trick to pull off for an outside distrib.
Having enhanced her cred as host of UPN's "America's Next Top Model," Carroll says former fashion model Banks is well suited for an edgier talk format that should play well on Fox stations, combining the right amount of hipness and relatability needed for daytime success.
"She has a great on-camera presence," he explains. "She's an extremely attractive woman, but the presentation tape showed she can handle the various segments of the show, too."
Joining Banks on these Fox stations Sept. 12 will be Alex Ferrer, a former Miami circuit court judge who will pick up the slack from Twentieth's retiring "Texas Justice." Twentieth officials think they've chosen the right personality at the right time for a reality court genre that just a few years ago was flooded with entries.
"The genre has continued to be the most stable of the various genres out there," notes Paul Franklin, exec VP and general sales manager for Twentieth. "There hasn't been a new court show in four years, and we feel all that's needed in order to jumpstart it is a fresh face."
