EUROPEAN PRODUCTION GIANT BENEFITS FROM U.S. WRITERS STRIKE

 
The U.S. writers strike is likely to result in increased demand for reality television
programming from European production company Endemol, announced Endemol’s
CEO Aat Schouwenaar in November. “It gives us more opportunities because these timeslots are now available,” said Schouwenaar at the European Media Leaders Summit in London. “They are doing lots of reruns at the moment, but, at a certain time, they will finish. If the strike continues for a couple of months, it will definitely have a positive impact on our numbers because they will need more episodes of things like Deal or No Deal.” Less than a month after Schouwenaar’s speculation, American broadcaster ABC teamed up with Endemol to produce a pilot program called Wipeout, described as a less-gruesome version of the reality series Fear Factor. Wipeout is set to be a large production, with each episode featuring 50 contestants competing for $50,000. ABC confirmed the production of the pilot, but would not give further details. The Writers Guild of America (WGA), a union representing film, television, and radio writers in the United States, went on strike in early November against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over the terms of an employment contract, by which the AMPTP hires WGA writers. One of the major issues of contention between the two parties is how to compensate writers for new media content. The last WGA strike in 1988 lasted just over five months and cost the U.S. entertainment industry nearly half a billion dollars.

 
U.S. RELAXES MEDIA OWNERSHIP LAWS

A divided U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved two new media laws in December that are expected to be reviewed by federal appeals courts, as debate mounts on their effects on America’s media landscape. The first rule tightens regulations on cable television providers, putting a 30 percent limit on ownership of the pay TV market by any one company. Comcast Corp. is the only cable company near that level, with a market share of about 27 percent. The second and more contentious rule loosens cross-ownership of media, allowing newspaper owners to own more television and radio stations in the country’s biggest cities. This new ruling is meant to bolster the newspaper industry, as it suffers from falling advertising revenue. But it is seen as a success that will primarily benefit Rupert Muroch, who is likely to acquire more television and radio channels for his media conglomerate as a result. The New York Times quoted Michael J. Copps, a Democratic commissioner who has railed against the new rule, as saying: “the real winners today are businesses that are in many cases quite healthy, and the real losers are going to be all of us who depend on the news media to learn what’s happening in our communities – and to keep an eye on local government.”

“MINISODES” BRING VINTAGE TV PROGRAMS TO THE WEB

Viewers across the world can watch re-runs of America’s television classics on the
Internet, thanks to a new service by Sony Pictures Television. The catch? They’re “minisodes,’’ four- to six-minute versions of the original episode, put on the website by advertisers seeking to reach consumers in the new media landscape. The Minisode Network, as Sony calls it, includes 150 online episodes of 18 classic TV series, including Charlie’s Angels, Who’s the Boss? and Bewitched. The network first appeared on MySpace, but has been available since October on Crackle (www.crackle.com), a Sony website sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. Each minisode is preceded by a 15-second Pepsi ad, as part of a campaign showing off the retro redesign of the beverage’s packaging. Sony Pictures Television will make the Minisode Network available on two other websites – AOL and Joost – courtesy of Honda. The episodes were viewed more than three million times over the last five months.

ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY TV COMMERCIALS?

A London-based environmental engineering firm has created a software system it says will calculate “the exact carbon emissions generated by shooting a television commercial.” Environmental Resources Management (ERM) was commissioned by American ad agency Brooklyn Brothers, which used the software in the production of an ad campaign for Versus, a U.S. cable television network. Brooklyn Brothers says the project is the first of its kind. The software enables production companies to “balance out the environmental damage of a typical commercial shoot” by calculating carbon pollutants and investing in a carbon offsetting program. The average cost of carbonoffsetting is $20 per ton of carbon. Brooklyn Brothers co-founder Guy Barnett told Ad Age: “We can calculate a pretty exact figure for the tonnage of carbon we’re emitting through the production process.” Barnett said a production’s carbon footprint is tracked at every step in the process, accounting for carbon emissions from travel to the location, vehicles used in the production, generators, lighting, film processing, and computers. The Versus commercial campaign – which included 15 commercials shot in the lakes, forests, and hills of Texas – produced 8.9 tons of carbon, and will cost $180 to offset.
According to Brooklyn Brothers, the campaign has “set a precedent for environment-friendly shoots,” as the software can be used in productions of all sizes. Barnett said he hopes other companies will start to use the technology to offset carbon pollution, and in turn, global warming: “It would be nice to think we had such a large effect. We’re obviously a very small agency – a very small business – and if we can do it, we feel that everybody can do it.”

AVID SCRAPS NAB BOOTH, REWRITES CUSTOMER APPROACH

Avid Technology announced it will not be exhibiting at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show in Las Vegas this April, but will still have representatives there to meet with customers. The announcement paralleled Avid’s introduction of a “major shift in its approach to serving industry professionals,” according to a press release. The company is in the midst of a customer relations facelift, which it plans to launch this year with “a blitz of new user-community initiatives, technical support programs, highly-personalized events, and innovative product announcements.” Company representatives say Avid’s 2008 strategy “comes as a response to customer feedback” and what it calls “the industry trend towards user-focused activities.”
Avid Technology announced it will not be exhibiting at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show in Las Vegas this April, but will still have representatives there to meet with customers. The announcement paralleled Avid’s introduction of a “major shift in its approach to serving industry professionals,” according to a press release. The company is in the midst of a customer relations facelift, which it plans to launch this year with “a blitz of new user-community initiatives, technical support programs, highly-personalized events, and innovative product announcements.” Company representatives say Avid’s 2008 strategy “comes as a response to customer feedback” and what it calls “the industry trend towards user-focused activities.”

NBC UNIVERSAL GOES INTERNATIONAL

NBC Universal is opening a base in London for its multi-million dollar expansion into the international television business, a project with aims to double the company’s foreign revenue by 2010. NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker calls the venture a “huge priority” and wants to lift foreign revenues to $5 billion in the next two years, reports the International Herald Tribune. The company plans to open local TV production houses in countries to include India, Russia, Germany, Japan, and Britain. Its programs, such as the hit series Heroes, have been successfully sold overseas “at a time when American TV programs are in general decline abroad,” reports the Tribune. The program Law & Order, another American hit, is now said to be ready for production in Russian and French versions under license to NBC Universal.
The global expansion will also include a dozen new pay-TV channels, for a target of 62 international channels by the end of 2008. The network currently operates 50 channels. Still, the Tribune says NBC Universal is “late to join the party” of American television companies expanding into international markets.