Panel of TV Executives Debate at HRTS Panel
By Ben Grossman -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/17/2007 6:31:00 PM
A panel of industry executives debated the possibility of a work stoppage and the uncertain future of the current television model at the Hollywood Radio & Television Society’s Newsmaker Luncheon Tuesday afternoon in Beverly Hills.
Panel members seemed to agree that a work stoppage could be crippling to the television industry is a time where traditional networks are grasping to every viewer they can.
Former Fox Interactive Media president Ross Levinsohn noted that with anyone now able to get their projects noticed on the Internet, the timing is dangerous.
"If you open the window a little more, there may not be a need for hundreds of (television) shows," he said.
And while Discovery is home to a plethora of high-end documentary and unscripted programming, president and CEO David Zaslav sees no upside in the situation worsening.
"I don’t think a strike is good for anybody," he said.
B&C editor-in-chief Max Robins captured the morose undertones of the discussion by saying that while he expects a work stoppage, he is still hopeful.
"It’s summertime, hope springs eternal," he laughed.
The discussion then turned to the future of the television model, of which NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios co-chief Marc Graboff painted a blatant picture.
"The back end is in jeopardy," he said. "Repeats are in jeopardy. That’s where networks make their money."
The idea of product integrations helping to offset any possible drop in advertising revenues also came up for discussion.
"It’s a revenue stream but it isn’t any sort of panacea for the advertising problem," said 20th Century Fox Television co-president Gary Newman. "It isn’t changing our lives in terms of economics."
And producer Dick Wolf, who moderated the event, said he doubts the plausibility of integration as a long-term solution because of the difficulties of making them look organic.
"I never bought it, I don’t think it is a legitimate stream," he said.
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