Craig... Please see the KET web site.. http://www.ket.org/dtv William Craig Birkmaier wrote: > So Bert... > > If two huge media companies cannot launch successful broadcast > television networks, what make you think that local broadcasters can > attract viewers with local content and/or re-runs in the DTV > multiplex? > > Enquiring minds want to know... > > Regards > Craig > > P.S. And how do DTV broadcasts appeal to the next generation of TV > viewers, who - according to this story - "are increasingly tuning out > of television altogether." > > Can they view them on their Video iPODs? > > > http://www.forbes.com/2006/01/24/cbs-viacom-aol_cx_pak_0124network.html?partner=media_newsletter > > Media > Ready For Prime Time > Peter Kafka, 01.24.06, 6:30 PM ET > > NEW YORK - Can two mediocre broadcast networks make one decent one? > > That's the bet CBS and Time Warner are making by combining their UPN > and WB networks. The logic, according to the two media giants, is > that the combined network, to be called The CW, will be able to > attract the famously elusive youngsters who are increasingly tuning > out of television altogether. > > And while the broadcast business has big problems in general, and the > joint venture faces some particular stumbling blocks--for instance, > who's really going to steer the 50/50 operation, CBS's Les Moonves or > Warner Bros.' Barry Meyer?--there's actually a decent chance the > merger could work for both sides. > > The big picture is clear enough: Both networks, launched in 1995, > have gone after younger viewers, and both have failed. Both are also > money losers--The WB lost Time Warner $55 million last year, and CBS > lost about $20 million on UPN, Deutsche Bank analyst Dough Mitchelson > estimates--and neither has a show among Nielsen's top 20. But both > have had some success with shows targeted at young 'uns: UPN's > Everybody Hates Chris, for instance, and The WB's Gilmore Girls. > Combine the two, and you may be able to make a run at the big four of > CBS, News Corp.'s Fox, General Electric's NBC and The Walt Disney > Co.'s ABC. > > "The notion of a fifth network is absolutely viable," said Bruce > Rosenblum, president of Warner Bros.' Television Group. > > That would likely be true no matter who was behind the fifth network > in question. Just by reducing the number of broadcasters by one, the > merger shrinks the inventory of prime-time advertising slots, which > should boost prices across the board, notes Media Metrics analyst > Laura Martin. > > But there is additional appeal for the two partners. Both have strong > studios--Warner in particular--that benefit not only when they place > a show on their own networks, but also when they can resell the same > show in syndication, on DVD or on whatever digital format consumers > end up adopting down the road. Combing the networks gives both a > better chance of getting their shows on the air to begin with, and > the two sides have already worked out an agreement that lets them > split revenue from any show either studio places on The CW. > > And while media mergers and joint ventures are notoriously tough to > pull off--Time Warner's Richard Parsons is still trying to sort > through the wreckage of the Time Warner-AOL deal, while Sony Corp. > and Bertelsmann are in the midst of a very public squabble about > their combined music operation--here the two companies are a better > fit than most. For starters, both are coming from pretty equivalent > positions of power. And the four executives who will be overseeing > the whole operation have all spent time together without breaking > into public acrimony: Moonves, Rosenblum and CBS's Nancy Tellem all > worked at Lormiar Television together, and Meyer worked with all > three at Warner. > > It's also probably not a coincidence that the deal was put together > by two corporate parents under particular pressure to dazzle > shareholders. Moonves needs to show investors that Sumner Redstone's > move to split Viacom into two different stocks will pay off by > letting him strike inventive deals. And Parsons, in particular, needs > to convince his investors they're better off sticking with him and > tuning out to rabble rouser Carl Icahn, who wants to break up Time > Warner. A new network won't do that by itself. But it's a start. > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: > > - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at > FreeLists.org > > - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word > unsubscribe in the subject line. > > > -- ---- William B. Smith - Special Projects Engineer Email: wsmith@xxxxxxx Technology Division ---------------------- Kentucky Educational Television 600 Cooper Drive Lexington, Ky. 40502-2296 Ph. 859-258-7088 Fax 859-258-7399 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.