Fox Affiliates Relieved Conan Not Coming
Local stations respond to O'Brien's deal with Turner
By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/12/2010 3:40:07 PM
Related
In the wake of what could be Conan O'Brien's departure from NBC, Fox is forced to make a decision: does it make sense to spend some $70 million to launch O'Brien in late night, or should Fox leave the Tonight Show host alone and stick with the syndicated programs and local news the Fox stations are currently airing? More.
Many Fox Affiliates Lukewarm on Conan
Amidst the speculation that Tonight Show frontman Conan O'Brien might shift to a similar role on Fox, multiple managers at Fox affiliates say they're lukewarm on the idea. More
Managers at Fox affiliates largely treated the news that Conan O'Brien is moving to TBS, and not their own late-night air, with a sigh of relief. As rumors of Fox installing an O'Brien-hosted late night show picked up, the affiliates were mostly pessimistic on the concept, as they're locked into syndication contracts in that time slot, or air local news, or both. Both news and syndicated shows offer a more lucrative revenue model than a network show.
"We're a local TV station," said KPTV-KPDX Portland VP/General Manager Patrick McCreery. "We would've hated to give [late local news] up, and leave the people who want that out in the wind."
The news of O'Brien's shift to TBS was the talk of the NAB-RTDNA show in Las Vegas (click here for complete coverage). Most broadcast leaders got the news after exiting the Las Vegas Hilton following NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith's opening address. One exec at a Fox affiliate uttered a hearty "Amen!" upon hearing the news.
There was substantial talk of Fox announcing an O'Brien show at the network's upfront presentation next month in New York, but the network would've had to do some considerable legwork to get affiliates on board. "I never thought it was a good fit on Fox," says Prime Cities Broadcasting President John Tupper, a former Fox affiliates board chairman. "It represented a lot of economic problems for affiliates who run syndication at that time, and do pretty well with it."
Fox affiliates chairman Brian Brady was not available for comment on short notice. The Fox affiliates board meets today in Vegas, and the affiliates body meets tomorrow.
Many in the local TV world view today's development as a win for local programming.
"It just didn't make financial sense for a lot of affiliates, especially the strong affiliates," says WGHP Greensboro President/General Manager Karen Adams. "Displacing heritage local news and high profile off-network programming--there wasn't anything about it that made financial sense for some stations."
When O'Brien was still in play, many Fox affiliate managers were doubtful the former Tonight Show host had the broad appeal to carry a late night talker, though several acknowledged that it may be some time before another A-list host hits the free agent market. The affiliate managers are curious how a new O'Brien show will affect their viewing at 11 p.m.; most seeming to think their syndicated shows and local news will hold up fine. "I don't think Conan is much threat to Fox on TBS," says Tupper.
Adams agrees. "The cable households just aren't anywhere near the broadcast households," she says.
If there's any disappointment among Fox affiliates with today's news, it's that another marquee broadcast brand has made the move to cable. NAB President Smith's address this morning brought up the issue of retransmission consent revenue, and urged networks and affiliates to work together on the issue. "There's never been a more important time for us to be together in this Association," he said.
Broadcasters say retrans is essential for them to continue to air big-draw programming that's increasingly shifting to cable and its subscription model. "There's no question that there's a continuation of program migration," says Tupper. "Programs will follow the money. More and more of this will continue to happen as long as there's a wide gap between cable and broadcast [in terms of subscription revenue.]"
The Conan rumors seemingly laid to rest, the Fox affiliates said they'll continue to concentrate on the programming matters within their control. "We'll continue to do what it is we do, which is offer viewers compelling programming," said LIN Executive V.P. Scott Blumenthal. "We wish Conan luck and we'll see what happens."
-
ChickaBOOMer: Conan's NBC Panda Diplomacy
chickaboomer.blogspot.com/2010/04/conans-nbc-panda-diplomacy.html
StewartIII - 4/13/2010 11:08:27 AM EDT -
Ron,
Sorry buddy, but Conan's show won't be a huge threat to FOX's sydicated shows in Late Fringe. It certainly won't "own" it.
Joe - 4/13/2010 10:33:53 AM EDT -
So Conan could'nt pull in ratings and got all upset when NBC pushed him out of the way for Jay Leno. Now that Lopez can't cut the ratings, TBS has pushed Lopez out of the way to make room for Conan. Hmmmm, I guess Conan DID learn something
EricPost - 4/13/2010 12:28:44 AM EDT -
It may be a relief for the Fox Affiliates, but their weak syndicated programming is gonna get OWNED by Conan in November and thereafter.
Ron Oldmiller - 4/12/2010 9:19:31 PM EDT -
"Lopez Tonight" is moving to Midnight ET/11 p.m. CT.
T Dog - 4/12/2010 5:05:39 PM EDT
No related content found.
-
No Top Articles
Featured Company
-
Digital Rapids
Digital Rapids provides market-leading software and hardware solutions, technology and expertise for transforming live and on-demand video to reach wider audiences on the latest viewing platforms more efficiently, more effectively and more profitably. Empowering applications from..more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
