'Reel Talk’ Set To Open Wide

WNBC show will go national in the fall

By Ben Grossman -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/28/2007

Sidebars:
Sweeps Watch

NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution is hoping to capitalize on this summer’s Spider-Man-and Shrek-fueled resurgence in the film industry by taking weekly movie-review series Reel Talk into national syndication.

The syndicator has sold the half-hour weekend show in more than 85% of the country, mostly morning time periods, for its national debut this fall. “This really happened organically,” says Sean O’Boyle, senior VP/general sales manager for NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution. “The next obvious evolution was just to take it national.” Clearance will be anchored by the 10 NBC Universal owned-and-operated stations, including WMAQ Chicago, KNBC Los Angeles and WNBC New York, where the show originates.

But since NBCU began selling it after January’s National Association of Television Program Executives confab, Reel Talk has been cleared on stations in other broadcast groups, including CBS, Gannett, Belo, Hearst-Argyle, Hubbard and Sinclair. Among other big-market sales are WBZ Boston, WFTS Tampa, Fla., and WRTV Indianapolis. The show is shot almost year-round, giving stations nearly 52 weeks of originals.

WNBC launched Reel Talk as a local movie series in October 2005. It is a regular time-period winner Saturday mornings at 10, where it will remain after the national roll-out.

Hosted by longtime WNBC film critic Jeffrey Lyons and Independent Film Channel personality Alison Bailes, Reel Talk features reviews of upcoming theatrical and DVD releases, as well as film-industry news and celebrity interviews.

Given its year and a half on the air, the show is a relatively safe national play for NBCU. The talent and production will remain largely unchanged, except for cosmetic changes to its WNBC or NBC branding to make the show appropriate for the non-NBC stations that will carry it.

As with most new shows these days, NBCU is preparing a new Reel Talk Website for multi-platform sponsorship opportunities.

And with only one other show in the genre, Buena Vista’s Ebert and Roeper, O’Boyle believes there is plenty of room in the TV landscape for another film-review show: “There are 19 court shows and a lot of talk shows but really only two movie-review shows.”

Sweeps Watch

Week 2 of May sweeps was one to forget for the syndication world. The drop in People Using Television (PUT) levels—a million viewers from the previous week—was typical for this time of year as the weather improves. But lackluster ratings for the week ended May 13 and weak year-over-year numbers didn’t help.

In the talk-show world, the top shows were all down year-over-year and not much better than the previous week. The Oprah Winfrey Show was off 2% on the week, to a 6.2; The Ellen DeGeneres Show fell 4%, to a 2.2; Maury dropped 9%, to a 2.0; and Rachael Ray was flat at a 2.0. However, Live With Regis and Kelly inched up 3%, to a 3.2, while Dr. Phil crept up 4%, to a 5.2.

The top five court shows were off or flat year-over-year, and only one saw week-over-week gains. Judge Judy was down 2% on the week, to a 4.4; Judge Joe Brown broke even, at a 2.7; The People’s Court was down 4%, to a 2.4; and Divorce Court was even, at a 1.4. Judge Mathis was the sole gainer, up 5%, to a 2.3.

All four game shows were off, on both the week and the year. Wheel of Fortune was off 1% on the week, to a 7.2; Jeopardy! was down 2%, to a 5.6; Who Wants To Be a Millionaire fell 3%, to a 3.0; and Family Feud sank 11%, to a 1.6.

Three of the five magazine shows were flat on the week: Entertainment Tonight (at a 5.1), Access Hollywood (2.6) and The Insider (2.5). Extra was up 5%, to a 2.1, while Inside Edition was off 6% on the week, at a 3.3.

As for off-net sitcoms, Seinfeld was up 8% on the week, to a 4.3, giving Everybody Loves Raymond (off 4%, to a 4.4) an unusually close race for the top spot. Seinfeld and Raymond continue to see plunging ratings year-over-year, dropping 16% and 23%, respectively.