Less dancing at ABC! Viacom jumps gun in upfront ad race.
After the coffee. Before the CBS and TNT upfronts. Jealous yet?
The Skinny: It feels like I’ve been here a week. Oh wait, I have been here a week! By the time most of you read this, I’ll have already been to two upfront events and in desperate need of a nap. Well, that’s a luxury problem. Wednesday’s headlines include ABC’s brand new schedule and Viacom getting a jump on the upfront market. As always, if you are interested in receiving an email alert when the Morning Fix is live, please send me a note.
Daily Dose: Advertisers may have been surprised to learn at the ABC upfront that the network is No. 1 in late night. After all, NBC’s Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon have bigger audiences and better demographics than ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel and “Nightline.†So what gives? Well, when NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly,†which might as well be a morning show because it airs so late, is factored in, NBC’s ratings average goes down. ABC is playing with numbers, and most advertisers probably won’t be buying the spin.
Less dancing, more laughing. Walt Disney Co.’s ABC unveiled its new lineup to advertisers in a packed Lincoln Center on Tuesday and did its best to put a positive spin on what was mostly a disappointing 2012-13 season. One of the network’s biggest moves is cutting “Dancing with the Stars†from two nights a week to just one night. The network also has new sitcoms on Tuesday and Wednesday as well as the much-anticipated action hour “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.†based on Marvel’s superheroes and produced by Joss Whedon. ABC also announced some promising limited series (what the industry used to call miniseries) including “Resurrection†A look at ABC’s plans from the Los Angeles Times, USA Today and the Hollywood Reporter.
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Jumping the gun. Viacom, parent of cable networks MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, is already selling advertising for the 2013-14 TV season. Although the fall TV selling season -- known as the upfront market -- usually doesn’t begin until all the broadcast and cable networks finish making their presentations to advertisers, Viacom is moving early. Variety says the decision is motivated by ratings troubles at many of the company’s cable networks.
What, me worry? With Fox Sports launching not one but two new channels and powerful Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) wanting pay-TV distributors to start selling sports channels separately, you’d think ESPN President John Skipper would be worried about the future. You’d be wrong. Skipper predicts an early demise for McCain’s proposed legislation to force the pay-TV industry to offer channels to consumers on an individual, or a la carte, basis and says ESPN has more than enough in its arsenal to withstand new competition. More from the Los Angeles Times.
If you see something, report something. Business media giant Bloomberg is catching heat after revelations that its reporters had the power to see when clients of the company’s famed terminals, which provide oodles of Wall Street information, were using the machines. Although reporters couldn’t see what clients were doing on the machines (they could just see if clients were logged on), just the idea that they could tell how active some clients were or were not has raised eyebrows and has Bloomberg on the defensive. Analysis from the Wall Street Journal.
PHOTOS: Celebrities by The Times
Fond of Shonda. Shonda Rhimes, the creative force behind ABC’s “Scandal,†“Grey’s Anatomy†and “Private Practice,†is to drama what producer Chuck Lorre is to comedy -- a hit machine. The New York Times offers a lengthy profile of Rhimes, who manages to stay on top at a time when many in the industry are struggling to connect with viewers.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: If Sony decides to spin off its entertainment assets, CBS may be waiting in the wings to pounce. Dr. Dre and music producer Jimmy Iovine are donating $70 million to USC.
Follow me on Twitter and watch me collapse from exhaustion. @JBFlint.
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