David wrote:
> from the new york times
>
> DirecTV Deal Will Subsidize ‘Friday Night Lights’
> By BRIAN STELTER
>
> For television networks, it is a common quandary: what do you do about
> a show that critics adore, that has a passionate base of fans, but
> that consistently gets mediocre ratings?
>
> NBC, for one, thinks it has a creative solution. Last week, it
> announced a deal with DirecTV, a subscription satellite television
> service, that would keep “Friday Night Lights” on the air for a third
> season. DirecTV will help defray NBC’s production costs and in
> exchange will receive the right to show “Friday Night Lights” first.
>
> Television executives say this model could help keep other sentimental
> favorites on the air. For instance, CBS Paramount Network Television
> has held talks with Comcast, the cable provider, about finding new
> life for “Jericho,” the low-rated drama canceled by CBS last month,
> according to two people briefed on the talks who requested anonymity.
>
> And Katherine Pope, the president of NBC’s production arm, Universal
> Media Studios, said that other television distributors had also shown
> interest in licensing the rights to specific shows.
>
> From NBC’s perspective, “Friday Night Lights” did not draw enough of a
> crowd to be continued. On average, about 6.1 million people tuned in
> to it this season, but fans were loyal enough to send thousands of
> mini-footballs to NBC to lobby for the show.
>
> NBC knew it needed a partner, and an op****tunity arose in January when
> Eric Shanks, the executive vice president for entertainment at
> DirecTV, struck up a conversation with his friend Ben Silverman, the
> co-chairman of NBC Entertainment. DirecTV licensed the rights to the
> “first window” of the show, meaning that DirecTV subscribers will see
> the new episodes four months before the broadcast audience.
>
> A past DirecTV-NBC deal, the purchase of exclusive rights to the soap
> opera “Passions,” fizzled after 12 months.
>
> Executives would not disclose the new deal’s value, except to call it
> “significant.” Each episode costs about $2 million to produce;
> Universal Media Studios will produce 13 episodes this year.
>
> Referring to the next season’s numbers, Mr. Silverman said: “If our
> rating was just 15 percent lower, we would be doing so much better
> through the way we structured this deal.”
>
> NBC, part of the NBC Universal unit of General Electric, had several
> cable channels seeking similar deals for “Friday Night Lights,” but
> Mr. Silverman said they would have “cannibalized 90 percent of our
> audience.” DirecTV, by contrast, is available in only 16.8 million
> households, about 15 percent of NBC’s reach.
>
> The show will have its debut on DirecTV on Oct. 1. It will move to NBC
> sometime after the Super Bowl in early 2009. Mr. Shanks said DirecTV
> hoped to sign up “tens of thousands of subscribers” through the
> partner****p.
>
> “If fans are passionate enough to ditch cable and come to DirecTV, we
> can help keep shows alive,” Mr. Shanks said.
I wish CBS would find a way to do that with Kid Nation. There has to be
room for Kid Nation on some satellite children's channel.
--
Steven L.
Email: sdlitvin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
the NOSPAM before replying to me.
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