Archive for March, 2010

The Return of Conan

Conan on Fox is the rumor that is gathering speed day by day. They initially began when he quit NBC in January and have since grown. Last month News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch said “We’re giving it a lot of thought and a lot of examination” with regards to the rumors that Conan would take the top slot in the late night segment.

While Fox seems to be the most likely place to go to, Conan’s representative Leslee Dart stated that it was not the only place they were looking at. Cable networks are one such place and even a syndicated show is being looked at. If the syndication gig works out, it would be the first foray out of the late night slot and into an early slot, namely the 4.30P.M to 7.30 P.M, for Conan.

Currently, Conan is preparing for a cross country comedy tour titled “The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour”. The title itself takes a swing at NBC and the provision in his severance agreement which prohibits him from appearing on air till the month of September. NBC was unhappy with Conan’s ratings on the “Tonight Show” and its suggestion that his show be moved a later slot caused the acrimonious split between the comic host and the network. Since then Jay Leno has been brought back to host the show and seems to have regained the lost ratings.
Meanwhile, negotiations between Conan and Fox will probably have a deadline of early May for the network’s upfront presentation.

Rosie’s Back!

The star of “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” is planning to a comeback to daytime TV and this time she’s bringing some friends. O’Donnell will team up with Dick Robertson and Scott Carlin who are syndication veterans for what is expected to be a talk show premiering in fall 2011.

That is “coincidentally” the time when “The Oprah Show” makes its final exit bringing about the question as to whether the new show will be the replacement. Insiders have refuted these claims and said that most ABC stations have already planned to replace the “Big O” void with local or news programming. They also pointed out that most of the stations were also not very comfortable with O’Donnell’s style of controversy.

O’Donnell started off “Rosie” as the “queen of nice” but later in its six-year run she became quite controversial and political. She carried this trait on into “The View” where it got her into more hot water. Robertson functioned as president of Warner Bros. Domestic TV Distribution (WBDTD) for seventeen years before moving into an advisory role in 2006. He was instrumental in the sales of “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” which won five consecutive awards at the Emmy’s for “best talk show”. Scott Carlin worked under Robertson for almost two decades at WBDTD and was part of the sales team of the “Rosie” show as well. His most recent role was as head of HBO Domestic Distribution.

The new show, which is expected to run on cable, will be produced by a company formed by O’Donnell, Robertson and Carlin. Given that the show will be produced outside the studio system, it is almost certain that the controversy will rage on when the show hits the small screen. As yet, the show remains unnamed.

UK Music Royalties Up, Downloads Grow

2009 was an encouraging year for songwriters, composers and music publishers in the UK as they received 623 million pounds in royalty fees. This shows a growth of 2.6 % compared to the previous year and marked the first time ever, where digital revenues overtook the drop in CD and DVD revenue. The overall boost for the British market is attributed to the increase in popularity of British music overseas which grew to almost 20 % in 2009.

The figures were compiled by PRS for Music, a group that collects royalty fees for over 65,000 of its members. However, the group pointed out that it was too early to speculate whether this marked a turning point in music industry. They said that it was the first time that digital downloads had covered the drop in sales experienced by traditional media and therefore they were not willing to confirm the switch in the trend. The drop in sales of CDs and DVDs is generally attributed to worldwide music piracy and to the emergence of digital media, as the preferred format of choice.

PRS were quite optimistic that the digital market would grow in the next decade. This is the expected trend as online services move more towards subscription packages that allow users to download music in packages and formats chosen by them. The growth experienced in the last year is encouraging, but it still is a small figure when you consider the whole market. The future of this method of music distribution solely rests on the types of DRM that are rolled out in the years to come.

Taio Cruz Breaks the Record

It stood for seven long years before Taio Cruz broke the record for the biggest jump to the number one slot on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. The British newcomer floated 52 places to the top with his collaboration with Ludacris titled “Break your heart” and is a record for the biggest jump by an act with their first chart single. Previously, the record was helped by the first American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, for her victory song “A moment like this” back in 2002 when it jumped 52 places.

Cruz knocked the Black Eyed Peas from the top slot after which the BEP single “Imma be” dropped down to the fifth slot after two weeks at the top. The act most disappointed by this turn of affairs would be country trio Lady Antebellum, who rose to the number two spot with “Need you now” by dislodging Young Money’s “Bedrock”, who in turn slipped to third. If not for Cruz they would be reigning in the top spot. But all is not lost; Lady Antebellum just might hit number one next week if the predicted drop in sales for Cruz does come about.

Waiting in the wings is also Rihanna’s “Rude boy”, currently in the number four slot. Rihanna’s track has been gathering momentum and could spoil the party for Cruz and Lady Antebellum. Ke$ha dropped two places to number six with “Tik tok” and Train dropped one slot to end at number seven with “Hey Soul Sister”. By climbing two places Jason Derulo claimed the number eight slot with “In my head” and the exhibitionist, Lady Gaga fell down to the ninth spot on the charts with “Bad romance”.

Trouble in Hulu-land

Free online TV shows could come to an end soon, if Hulu’s bosses do not figure out a way to keep the service alive. So far Hulu relies on online advertising to bring in the revenue. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be enough to guarantee its existence anymore as the ad revenue is simply too small.

The obvious alternative is the much talked about paid service for some or all of Hulu. The problem with that is acceptance by people. While watching shows on Hulu is great, it is not something exclusive. The shows on the site are shows that people already have access to. So if they don’t want to pay for Hulu, they will just catch the show on time, record it or use Video On Demand (VOD) if they want to watch it later. In fact VOD is seen as the biggest threat to Hulu if it does decide to charge for its services.

To compound matters further, two of the most popular shows have been yanked off Hulu. Comedy Central (CC) had problems with how revenue from ads was being shared and is therefore pulling “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” off Hulu by next week. Another six CC shows are also rumored to follow them. This will be a big hit for the service as CC fans will leave en masse for sites run by CC which feature these programs.

The biggest questions now for Hulu are, “how much do we charge?” and “What do we charge for?” The answers are coming soon.

Marriage Ref – Seinfeld is Back!

Just when you thought the quirky and complaining Jerry Seinfeld was gone for good from TV, he’s back! But this time it’s not a sitcom at least not in theory. What transpires in the “Marriage Ref” does seem sitcom-ish and potentially scripted, but it is not.

The show does not pretend to be anything other than its shallow self and is about squabbling couples who come forward to present their issues to three celebrity judges, who in turn give their verdict on who is right or wrong. Throw in lots of comments from the judges along the way and you’ve got a recipe for a funny show.

The sneak peek so far has revealed a potentially funny show with Seinfeld, Kelly Ripa and Alec Baldwin as the initial judges. However, the judges will change as the show goes along and Larry David, Ricky Gervais and Madonna are all slated to appear on the show. The mediator will be Tom Papa.

Do not expect this show to be anything as enlightening as the Oprah show, as it only intends to provide a comic look at squabbling couples. Like, for instance, in the sneak peek a wife has a problem with her husband who has installed a stripper pole in the bedroom and another does not want their not-so-favorite dog to be stuffed and placed in their home.

So, as you can see this is not very intellectual stuff but merely some reality TV that will bring you some laughs.

Leno Set to Reign Again?

The “Chin” is back! That is exactly how NBC ran a promotional spot officially signaling the return of Jay Leno to his old haunt, the late night slot.

Leno was considered the King of late night as he had a long and successful run up to last year when he handed over the reins to Conan O’Brien. Sadly that move ended in disaster as Conan failed to hold on to the ratings built up by Leno and the show entered a disastrous downward rating spiral which eventually saw the exit of Conan. The fact that NBC was willing to sacrifice the entire month of February so that Leno could prepare for a debut in March speaks volumes for his stock as well as damns Conan’s star power.

There are questions though, as to whether Leno will be able to re-capture the lost ratings. NBC seems to be confident of this as they point out that Leno’s faithful followers were not part of Conan’s demographics. They also point out that although The Jay Leno Show did not do well in the ratings, it did not do badly either. Leno averaged 5.2 million viewers for “The Tonight Show” in his last season and averaged 5.3 million in his new prime time slot. The only reason the new show was deemed a failure was that it was expected to bring in a lot more in terms of viewership.

Although the return of Leno to his old slot is not being the subject of hype as the prime time slot was, this appears to be a smart move. Experts say that by keeping a fairly low key approach, expectations will not be overly high thus helping the show to hit the ground running. All of the old gimmicks (the desk, chair and couch) will be back with a new color scheme. However, the new set is still under wraps so it could hold a few surprises when it opens next week!

“Growing Pains” Actor Dies

Known well for his role as Richard “Boner” Stabone in the 80s sitcom “Growing Pains”, Andrew Koenig was a talented actor. His father, Walter, played the unforgettable role of “Pavel Chekov” alongside William Shatner’s “Captain Kirk” in the iconic “Star Trek” TV series. Andrew also had a “trekkie” role in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” as well as other prominent roles in “InAlienable,” “My Two Dads,” “NonSeNse,” “G.I. Joe,” and “The Theory of Everything.”

Andrew had suffered from depression and was known to be on medication. But recently he had cleared out his L.A. apartment, given away all his belongings and announced to his friends that he was moving to Vancouver to “start over”. Most importantly at this point he had gone off his medication. The actor was last seen on February 14 in Vancouver where he was visiting friends. By the 18th, he was reported missing by his parents and they appealed to the public a few days later to help them find him.

Although Andrew was originally thought to be laying low and avoiding human contact, the family’s worst fears were realized when his body was found in a park in Vancouver a few days later. The actor had apparently taken his own life in an area of the park which was rarely visited. His father later stated that he did not suspect any foul play and that his son had indeed committed suicide.

The Koenig family has urged the public to not let this fate happen to anyone else and has appealed to them to persuade those who suffer from depression to seek help.