Fox's Reilly: Straight-to-Series Idea a Flash in the Pan

At Hollywood Radio & Television Society luncheon in Los Angeles, talk of WGA strike impact and the way forward

By Ben Grossman -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/25/2008 3:24:00 PM MT

Fox entertainment chief Kevin Reilly predicts the idea of television networks skipping over the pilot or presentation phase and green-lighting more projects straight to series will be a short-lived one if there are several early failures.

“It’s much easier said than done,” Reilly said. “As soon as three of these fail—and they will—there’s going to be a panic.”

That said, Reilly reaffirmed his belief that a full pilot for every project is not necessary to sell ad buyers on a schedule.

“Advertisers don’t necessarily need a finished pilot by the May presentations,” he said, adding that advertisers are buying schedules based on returning shows and adjacencies in the upfront as much as anything.

Reilly’s comments came at a Hollywood Radio & Television Society luncheon in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Moderated by Generate CEO Jordan Levin, the panel also featured Greg Daniels of The Office, Sandra Stern of Lionsgate TV, Richard Weitz of Endeavor and Ken Ziffren of Ziffren Brittenham, LLP.

The discussion, entitled “Where Do We Go From Here?” focused on the current development environment in the wake of the writers’ strike.

While none of the panelists seemed too keen on rehashing the strike’s collateral damage, Weitz did note that losses from the strike include all the episodes of shows like NBC’s Chuck and ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money that may have aired this season but now will wait until next fall, when their networks plan to air them.

Reilly also said much of the money the networks are cutting back—as fewer pilots and holding deals are made in the wake of the strike—will probably just fall out of the marketplace and go down as cost savings.