The all-new Hollywood Reporter offers unprecedented access to the people, studios, networks and agencies that create the magic in Hollywood. Published weekly, the oversized format includes exceptional photography and rich features.
For a generation, the single largest factor in cable news has been Fox News’ dominance in virtually every time slot. Other news networks existed almost solely as an inverse proposition to Fox. But then Fox News was, suddenly, no longer Fox News. In less than a year, its founder and leader, Roger Ailes, gone; its rising star, Megyn Kelly, gone; its reigning star, Bill O’Reilly, gone; its replacement leader, Ailes protege Bill Shine, gone. Its second-most-important star, Sean Hannity, according to insiders, hanging by a thread. What’s more, 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch, now guiding the network’s fate, is openly contemptuous of Fox News’ politics and down-market cultural place. This is to cable news what the breakup of the Soviet Union was to politics. All bets are off. The…
Labor Next Up: Actors What SAG-AFTRA can learn from the writers deal p. 26 Digital NewFronts News 5 questions from the annual ad scrum p. 28 Jordan Levin The TV veteran and NFL Network exec leaves to run AwesomenessTV as it pushes into more premium original content. John Skipper The ESPN chief is forced to lay off about 200 staffers as revenue at Disney’s networks unit misses analyst targets amid declining subscribers. Bette Midler The Hello, Dolly! star scores one of the revival’s 10 Tony nominations, making her the favorite to win 53 years after she debuted on Broadway in Fiddler on the Roof. Bob Pittman The iHeartMedia CEO may not be able to save the radio-station operator from bankruptcy as revenue drops and a $20 billion debt burden looms…
Idol and ABC Idol’s ratings far outpaced ABC’s current numbers 3.0 RATING Idol 18-to-49 average 2015-16 1.7 RATING ABC’s primetime 18-to-49 average 2016-17 On the eve of the upfronts, American Idol is again the obsession in TV. Negotiations over Fox’s retired hit wrapped May 8 with ABC agreeing to revive it for the 2017-18 season — a deal insiders credit to the Disney network’s eleventh-hour push and the persistence of FremantleMedia CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz. “Six months ago, no one wanted it,” notes one agent. “If there was one person who made this happen, it’s Cecile. She was determined to get Idol back on TV.” The Idol owner’s motivation to reboot its crown jewel (shared with CORE Media Group’s 19 Entertainment) is clear. But the appeal to broadcast networks also makes…
The Sherman Oaks Galleria was all but deserted late on May 1, except for TV news trucks and the 80-plus negotiators inside the offices of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, improbably housed within that shopping mall. Then, at 10:30 p.m., there was a breakthrough. Two hours later, negotiators for the AMPTP and the WGA announced a deal. Now that one strike has been avoided, Hollywood is focusing on the 165,000-member SAG-AFTRA and its president Gabrielle Carteris. As talks get underway sometime after May 15 — a month and a half before the current contract expires June 30 — most believe the two sides will reach a deal amicably. The last Hollywood actors strike took place all the way back in 1980 — and it requires a 75…
• Wage increases: SAGAFTRA might get the same 3 percent annual increases as the DGA and WGA, but in reality that could mean 2.5 percent or even 2 percent a year because part of the increase could be diverted to the guild’s pension fund, which needs to be replenished. • Residuals enhancements: Like basic wage increases, residuals are considered “pattern items.” The actors probably will get the same improvement in SVOD payments as the DGA and WGA did before it. • Holds and exclusivity: Negotiators are expected to seek more flexibility in contracts that tie up actors for short-run series. • Pension plan: The union is expected to seek one or more 0.5 percent diversions from the basic wage increases in order to bolster the sagging pension fund. • Per…
On May 5, Vice Media treated ad buyers to a boxing match between executive Niall Cooney and celebrity chef/ Viceland host Eddie Huang at New York City’s Spring Studios. A gimmick? Sure, but it was a fitting end to a NewFronts week in which digital media executives landed some heavy blows to the TV business. With digital advertising revenue reaching $72.5 billion in 2016 (per the Interactive Advertising Bureau), for the first time topping the TV industry’s $71 billion in ad dollars, the big digital players are riding high — but smaller upstarts still are searching for ways to capture a larger share of the cash. “You’ve got these 800-pound gorillas talking about reach,” says Noah Mallin, head of social at media agency MEC, “and everybody else is scrambling to…
