BC Crawler

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
December 4, 2007

By Alex Weprin

[Like Buying a Used Car, But Longer, and More Expensive] The WGA and AMPTP come back to the bargaining table today, with the WGA expected to give a counteroffer to last week’s AMPTP proposal. One of the sticking points has been digital rebroadcast residuals. The AMPTP offered $250 for a year, while the WGA wanted a percentage of profits. Nikke (24/7) Finke says that the WGA will present their own version with a flat rate as opposed to a percentage. Says Nikke: “I'm told by a WGA board member tonight that the writers' negotiating team have agreed they will accept the approach of the networks and studios and use a flat rate "with modifications" (with numbers that will be much much higher) while trying to come to terms with the producers on streaming. The flat rate could wind up being a good change-up in the long-term. As an AMPTP insider explained to me when I asked why they moved off a percentage, "The reason we went with a flat-rate for streaming is because they're always complaining about our funny accounting, so we thought rather than give them a percentage of a percentage of funny accounting, we'll give them a flat rate." (Point here is that even the studios know their accounting is bogus.)”

[Zucker, Unplugged] Speaking of the strike (as if you could do anything nowadays without relating it to the strike) NBC Universal chairman Jeff Zucker gave a lunchtime talk at the UBS Media Conference in New York yesterday. Among the more juicy tidbits: The strike may cause NBC to pull their upfront presentations. NBC had already said it would forgo the TCA, so losing the upfronts would follow in the same direction. When asked if streaming online would hurt local NBC stations, Zucker responded that because NBC is the largest owner of local stations, they understand the impact it could have. Perhaps most interesting, Zucker says that strike talks haven’t really begun in earnest. Hmm…

[The Tides Have Turned] In a strange twist of fate, the FCC is under investigation by the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Why the investigation? B&C’s John Eggerton explains: “Oversight Subcommittee chairman Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said he received complaints from the public and communications professionals about the ‘breakdowns,’ which, he added, ‘indicate possible abuse of power and an attempt to intentionally keep fellow commissioners in the dark.’ Dingell's letter came after Democratic and even Republican FCC commissioners complained last week about the lack of disclosure of items and sufficient public comment period for items proposed by the chairman.”

[The World Can Finally Rest Easy] Carson Daly is back. Everybody can calm down now. The first late night show made its return to the airwaves last night since the beginning of the writers strike. Last Call with Carson Daly featured supermodel Karolina Kurkova (who I doubt is a member of any union… unless there is some sort of supermodel union) and musical guest Plain White T’s. Daly ad libbed the show, though there were some clearly staged bits, such as a shot of his cue card person flipping through a magazine.

[So Ron Popeil Isn’t a Host on Today?] Morning News programs are beginning to look more like QVC than NBC (or CBS, or ABC), says Alessandra Stanley. Rather than focusing on news, the programs have been talking about diet tips, makeovers “and, of course, shopping.” Stanley says that the quality of the shows has declined as the number of hours they have on the air have gone up. Of more concern is the fact that the hosts, who are supposed to be respectable journalists, end up looking like shills. “The week the fourth hour was introduced on “Today,” the host Hoda Kotb spoke to the program’s nutrition expert, Joy Bauer, about frugal fast-food finds. While Ms. Bauer and Ms. Kotb emphasized the importance of buying generic and store brands, the camera panned a cornucopia of top-dollar items, including Thomas’s English muffins, Uncle Ben’s rice, Quaker Oats cereal, Lean Pockets, Campbell’s soup and Kraft cheese.”

[Where to Watch on the Web] Today’s viral link comes from LA2Day, am L.A. based lifestyle mag. The article that has been making the rounds online is from a WGA member (and husband of a SAG member) describing where you can find quality programming online. He says that generally when he wants to see something, he either Tivo’s it (legal) or downloads from a Usenet group (not legal). Still, the bulk of the article is spent explaining the legal Web sites that feature content. Among his observations: major network sites are discouraged, because none of the money goes to the writers. HBO.com and Comedycentral.com are decent sites, and he says they pass “promotional” muster. He also looks at Blip.tv and Joost, as well as Hulu, even though he doesn’t have access. 

If you have any articles you think should be included in BC Crawler, send them to BCFates@reedbusiness.com with “BC Crawler” in the title.

Posted by BC Crawler on December 4, 2007 | Comments (0)