Why This Matters: Some aspects of broadcast and cable seem outmoded, but those execs say they may be attributes.
While it wasn't mentioned by name, Netflix was the target of TV network chiefs' barbs at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, California. Executives from both broadcast and cable took shots at the streaming services, saying traditional television offers more marketing might and heftier audiences than newer players might boast of.
Showtime entertainment president Gary Levine during the networks portion of the TCA summer press tour.
While Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy and Kenya Barris have inked massive production deals with Netflix, the network chiefs suggested the tide may just be turning back to traditional TV.
We think that actually coming back to broadcast television is kind of the cool place to be, CBS Entertainment senior executive VP of programming Thom Sherman said. We still get the biggest audiences. We will continue to get the biggest audiences. You end up reaching a much broader swath of people when you put your shows on the air, and you get to tell really great stories to the country.
To be sure, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime are the place to be for hot producers and performers. When Emmy nominations were revealed last month, HBO had 137, ahead of Netflix's 117. NBC had 58, Amazon Prime had 47, CBS picked up 44, FX had 32, ABC 26, Hulu 20 and Fox 18.
But the traditional TV executives said their shop can offer stronger marketing. We don't just dump a series, send an email and hope it connects, Gary Levine, Showtime entertainment president, said. We premiere each of our shows with our entire company focused on launching that series successfully and then let the conversation build over the months that we continue to roll out new episodes.
ABC entertainment president Karey Burke during the networks TCA summer press tour presentation.
Karey Burke, ABC entertainment president, noted the 15 seasons of Grey's Anatomy, which reaches 350 episodes this coming season. She said ABC's pitch to producers is to tell stories that appeal to lots of people and have the capacity to endure over time and be watched by generations. She mentioned her daughter's passion for Grey's.
Burke discussed the marketing of streaming series. Sometimes they get a billboard on Sunset, and sometimes they disappear into the sunset, she quipped.
The network chiefs also played up their channel's distinct identity in an era where Netflix offers everything to everyone. While an ever-increasing pool of streamers spends billions to try to create their brands, we have spent 30-plus years at Showtime carefully building ours, Levine said. Our brand is about the consistency of programming. People don't come to Showtime for one show or to graze and hope they find something. They come because several of their favorite series and many of their favorite characters are on Showtime.
Net Losses
The broadcasters and cablers may have been taking shots at Netflix because of its lukewarm earnings in mid July, when the company revealed that U.S. subscribers fell in the second quarter. Or perhaps it is because the streamers are canceling more shows, including Netflix spiking supernatural drama The OA after two seasons and Amazon nixing The Romanoffs after one.
But the streaming influence on the television world is undeniable. In his executive session, The CW president Mark Pedowitz spoke of Netflix bringing a wider audience to network shows such as In the Dark and All American. Streaming has meant shorter seasons for some broadcast and cable series, and cable networks at times stacking two new episodes or more in a nod to binge-watching.
At a press tour session for CBS All Access, producer Marc Cherry spoke of a richer kind of storytelling, different than what he was accustomed to in his broadcast days.
The notion of a weekly release may seem archaic in the Netflix age, but some broadcasters said it works better for a series. The conversation continues and continues and continues, Sherman said of a broadcast release. When you are on one of the other places, the conversation is very brief, and then people move on to other things until that show might come back.
Like Sherman, Showtime's Levine suggested savvy producers are turning back to traditional networks. It's interesting to watch as the pendulum is kind of swinging, he said, and the creative talent is once again, after being a little dazzled by the new big boys, now really kind of longing for the kind of attention and care that we take with our programming.
Why This Matters: Some aspects of broadcast and cable seem outmoded, but those execs say they may be attributes.
While it wasn't mentioned by name, Netflix was the target of TV network chiefs' barbs at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, California. Executives from both broadcast and cable took shots at the streaming services, saying traditional television offers more marketing might and heftier audiences than newer players might boast of.Subscribe for full article
Member Exclusive
Get Access to Our Exclusive Content
Learn MoreAlready subscribed? Log In
Most recent headlines
20/08/2019
19 08 2019 - Media release Acclaimed series The Heights commissioned for a second season
The Heights season two cast
Critically-acclaimed series The Heights ...
20/08/2019
20 08 2019 - Media release Applications open for scholarship to the American Film Institute Conservatory
The AFI Conservatory
Screen industry veteran and phi...
20/08/2019
-- Copenhagen, August 19, 2019 -- Earlier today Netflix announced its second Danish original series, The Chestnut Man, at Copenhagen TV Festival. The Chestnut M...
20/08/2019
Netflix has begun production on a new lifestyle series, featuring the influentia...
20/08/2019
Dan Stevens will star as Alexander Lemtov, a Russian contestant in the Eurovision song contest
He joins Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams, who are playing aspiri...
20/08/2019
Cheseaux, Switzerland and Phoenix, (AZ), USA - August 19, 2019 - At IBC 2019, NA...
20/08/2019
Light Iron Enlists Renowned Industry Colorist Scott Klein
LOS ANGELES (July 8, 2019) - Light Iron, a Panavision company, is excited to announce that award-win...
20/08/2019
HPA Announces 2019 Engineering Excellence Award Winners
July 11, 2019 (Burbank, CA) - The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) Awards Committee have annou...
20/08/2019
Joe Walker, ACE Set for Keynote Conversation at EditFest LA 2019
(Hollywood, CA) July 31, 2019 - EditFest LA, the day-long celebration of the art and craft of...
20/08/2019
HPA Honors Robert Legato with Lifetime Achievement Award
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced that Robert Legato, the legendary visual e...
20/08/2019
METLIFE'S RETIREMENT & INCOME SOLUTIONS CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER RECEIVES J.D...
19/08/2019
Published: Mon 19 Aug 2019
Casting announced on series 2 of ITV's hit drama The Bay from Tall Story Pictures
Casting for Series Two of The Bay, has today ...
19/08/2019
Grabyo 2019 Sports Video Trends Report: Sports Fans Want Games on TV But Are Rea...
19/08/2019
As In-Market Streaming Barriers Are Lifted, RSNs Look To Serve More Live Content...
19/08/2019
Gravity Media Acquires Chief Entertainment in Expanding Australia Presence The Sydney-based firm provides live studio and production services By Ken Kerschbaum...
19/08/2019
Sports OTT Forum: How Digital Entities Create and Cultivate a Sports-Betting Pla...
19/08/2019
The Way Out West festival in Sweden is about much more than music-it's a three-day celebration of several sustainability- and equality-focused efforts. The ...
19/08/2019
Robert Lindsay, James Murray, Susannah Fielding, Ellie Kendrick and Navin Chowdh...
19/08/2019
Filming has begun on the new series of hit detective drama, Endeavour starring Shaun Evans and Roger Allam Company News August 19, 2019
The latest series of ...
19/08/2019
Each summer, hundreds of students from all over the world come to Berklee for the annual Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive. This year's cohort i...
19/08/2019
Berklee has named Krystal Prime Banfield vice president for Educational Outreach...
19/08/2019
As part of Berklee's weeklong Guitar Sessions intensive, Leni Stern '80 gave a clinic and performance with pianist Leo Genovese and two other musicians....
19/08/2019
Posted: Monday, August 19, 2019
--...
19/08/2019
Radio Show to Feature New Edison Research Study on Maximizing Listenership --Session to include original research and strategies for engaging and retaining list...
19/08/2019
Fujifilm develops FUJINON UA107 8.4BESM AF - Brings innovation to video production with the worlds first 4K-compatible broadcast lens with AF function
- Achie...
19/08/2019
Fujifilm and NewTom Formalise New Partnership
19.08.2019
NewTom featured on Fujifilm's stand at UKIO 2019
In late 2018 Fujifilm became a UK distributor ...
19/08/2019
Grass Valley Enables Open-Standards IP Production for IBC TV
MONTREAL, August 19, 2019 IBC TV, the official television channel of IBC 2019 (September 13-18,...
19/08/2019
Comedian Olaf Falafel wins Daves Funniest Joke of The Fringe Award with belting vegetable joke
Jokes were shortlisted by a panel of UKs foremost comedy critic...
19/08/2019
45ft mural installed in Clerkenwell, East London took four artists from street art collective Global Street Art Agency 50 hours to create
19 August 2019
Gia...
19/08/2019
Heartcast Media is a dedicated full-service studio in Washington, D.C. that works with clients to create high quality, authentic podcast content that inspires, ...
19/08/2019
Carrie Underwood will host The 53rd Annual CMA Awards Nov. 13 on ABC. Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton, both members of the Country Music Hall of Fame, will be gu...
19/08/2019
VH1 has ordered new seasons for RuPaul's Drag Race and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. It will be season 12 of RuPaul's Drag Race. RuPaul's Drag R...
19/08/2019
MPC Film has teamed up once again with director Jon Favreau to push the boundaries of what entertainment can be - beyond what's ever been done before. The a...
19/08/2019
Foundry is now making Modo 13.1 available for purchase....
19/08/2019
LOS ANGELES - The Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry's global professional honorary society, announced the 2019 inductees into the VES Hall of Fame,...
19/08/2019
LOS ANGELES - 08/15/2019 - The Mill collaborated with Norwegian musician Cashmere Cat and renowned Director Jake Schreier on the groundbreaking music video Emo...
19/08/2019
British Airways has announced that it is introducing a trial run of its virtual reality entertainment system on select flights from London Heathrow to New York ...
19/08/2019
The DIGIS Group held its annual integration conference in July, with 100 delegates from 70 local integration companies represented at the event, offering traini...
19/08/2019
Adam Marsden has been appointed as Datapath's sales and account manager for the UK, Ireland, Nordics and Baltics.
Marsden, a former training manager for D...
19/08/2019
Blackmagic Design Live Production Workflow Captures Festival Beauregard posted: 19/08/2019
Blackmagic Design today announced that a multicamera SMPTE fibe...
19/08/2019
Downton Abbey, the movie based on the PBS TV series, hits theater screens Sept. 20. The film is set in 1927 and the Crawleys, and their servants, are preparing ...
19/08/2019
Grass Valley Enables Open-Standards IP Production for IBC TV posted: 19/08/2019
IBC TV, the official television channel of IBC2019 (September 13-18, Amste...
19/08/2019
Protec Dubai invests in Robe posted: 19/08/2019
Protec's Aaron Russ with Elie Battah from Robe Middle East
The Protec Group's Dubai branch, the l...
19/08/2019
Gravity Media further expands in Australia with Chief Entertainment acquisition posted: 19/08/2019
Deal creates premier provider of live and fast-turnarou...
19/08/2019
Dan Meier visits visualisation specialist disguise to see extended reality in action
Dan Meier 3 hours ago
Dan Meier visits visualisation specialist disg...
19/08/2019
Zeb Chadfield, owner of The Finish Line, explains why he decided to move to Blackmagic's DaVinci Resolve for finishing and delivery
Contributor 3 hours...
19/08/2019
DCMS said to be in discussions over limit of ads per hour on PSBs
Jenny Priestley 5 hours ago
DCMS said to be in discussions over limit of ads per hour o...
19/08/2019
MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon will be available via Twine4Car in Germany
Dan Meier 4 hours ago
MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon will be availabl...
19/08/2019
Initially available in Camden, Camberwell and Southwark
Dan Meier 4 hours ago
Initially available in Camden, Camberwell and Southwark
target=_blank tit...
Why This Matters: Some aspects of broadcast and cable seem outmoded, but those execs say they may be attributes.
