BC Crawler

Monday, December 3, 2007
December 3, 2007

By Alex Weprin

[Big Broadcaster Buys Boffo Blocks] NBC will purchase programming blocks from outside producers in a cost cutting effort. Thom Beers, whose company produces shows such as Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel and Deadliest Catch on Discovery, will program at least two hours of programming on one night, with more possible. The shows produced by Beers and others are much cheaper than conventional broadcast shows, even conventional reality shows.

[Silverman Must be Having a Great Week] Speaking of programming at NBC, Ben Silverman, the peacock network’s co-head of programming, is still in hot water over accusations of favoritism levied at his former production company, Reveille. While the company is under negotiations to be sold to a UK based firm owned by Elisabeth Murdoch (Rupert’s daughter), controversy still surrounds the company. Silverman has resurrected shows his predecessor, Kevin Reilly rejected, including a remake of American Gladiators, produced by Reveille. The Apprentice, which had been dead in the water after its last season, was renewed for a celebrity edition. Shortly thereafter, Reveille and Donald Trump announced a new half hour mediation show.

[Jay Leno: Classy, After Some Pressure] Jay Leno, host of the Tonight Show, will pay his staffers out of pocket, at least for this week. The move comes after intense pressure was levied on the late night host. Leno had given his staffers their Christmas bonus checks early, but staff were disappointed to discover they were not getting at least another week of pay leading up to the holidays. David Letterman is paying the staffers on CBS’ two late night shows through his production company, and Conan O’Brien is paying his staffers out of pocket.

[The Web is Where Its At] As the writers strike marches on, the Web is looking more and more like a sure thing. A number of studies have shows that younger viewers are turning off the TV in favor of web based fare. As more and more shows run out of original programming, more and more viewers may be drawn to the web. TechCrunch predicts that the move could result in a more permanent shift to Web content.

[He’s Back! And Totally Sorry, He Swears] Don Imus returned to the airwaves in New York today. Presidential candidates Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) joined the I-man for his return. Other guests included Doris Kearns Goodwin and husband and wife/political tag team James Carville and Mary Matalin. Also joining Imus is a new co-host, Karith Foster, whom the NY Post so politely described as “A black Texas New York ‘Jew.’” Actually, Ms. Foster, though raised in Texas, was educated at Oxford (yes, THAT Oxford) and is also a stand up comedian. Oh, and what has changed since Imus left the airwaves? “Dick Cheney is still a war criminal, Hillary Clinton is still Satan and I'm back on the radio,” said Imus on the show.

Posted by BC Crawler on December 3, 2007 | Comments (0)