CBS and Showtime Have Very Different Executive Encounters at TCA

Ed Martin Live from TCA quotSpecial from Jack Myers Media Business ReportquotThe winter 2011 Television Critics Association tour will be remembered for its lack of stimulating press conferences with broadcast entertainment presidents which are historically among the most newsworthy events at these twiceannual gatheringsThe overall dullness of these sessions wasnamp8217t always the fault of the networks involved Take the press conference Friday morning with CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler Often one of the most engaging and quotable broadcast executives at any TCA tour Tassler gamely took the stage to field questions from the crowd Unfortunately the only subject of any concern to reporters that morning was the recent bad behavior of Charlie Sheen the star of CBSamp8217 longrunning hit Two and a Half Men Sheenamp8217s recent privatetime exploits in New York City and Las Vegas have been widely chronicled in the media hence the understandable interest in what concerns CBS and Tassler may have in his behaviorThe first question of Tassleramp8217s session was indeed all about Sheen amp8220Iamp8217m sorry I really didnamp8217t expect that question this morningamp8221 she joked evoking memories of Thursdayamp8217s session with Kara DioGuardi for her new Bravo series Platinum Hit during which it became abundantly clear that she hadnamp8217t properly prepared for questions about her departure last year from the series that made her a star American Idol amp8220Iamp8217m really taken by surpriseamp8221 Tassler added with a smileWhen the laughter died down Tassler spoke in the manner of a smart executive about her concerns for Sheen and his family Then she moved away from his personal life amp8220Charlie is a professionalamp8221 she said amp8220He comes to work He does his job extremely well We are taping tonight Fridayamp8221As the session continued it began to feel like a TCA executive conference of yesteryear Tassler was asked about the viability of running comedy shows at 10 pm something with which ABC and NBC are currently experimenting upcoming contract negotiations with NCIS star Mark Harmon upcoming scheduling moves Paula Abdulamp8217s dance competition series Live to Dance oddly absent from CBSamp8217 tour offerings cast changes at Criminal Minds and other good stuff like that All was wellAnd then all of a sudden and with no good reason the session prematurely flatlined An entire ballroom full of reporters suddenly went silent There were no more questions from anyone serious journalists an endangered species at TCA tours bitty bloggers and tittering tweeters alikeamp8220Are we doneamp8221 a surprised Tassler inquired The room remained still amp8220Thatamp8217s itamp8221 she asked Then she exited stage left with a polite amp8220Thank youamp8221 A few reporters dashed to the stage to question her further about Sheen and Abdul but that was itPress conferences with network entertainment presidents almost never end before their allotted time They have been known to drag especially if the executive on stage isnamp8217t on his or her game or isnamp8217t particularly quotable But this group likes Tassler and has always enjoyed asking her questionsSo what went wrong It may be that CBS presented its panels on the tenth day of a very busy tour and the morning after NBCamp8217s epic party arguably the busiest and most crowded event of the entire tour As a result many TCA members on Friday morning had all the energy of the walking dead though it should be noted that a latemorning QampampA with The Good Wife star Julianna Margulies and the creators of that series provided a much needed jolt of energy as had a panel for Community at the end of NBCamp8217s very long day The broadcasters really need to add more panels for critically acclaimed established series to their tour days They really do work wondersAnother problem was that Tassler didnamp8217t open her session with any announcements When executives break news about scheduling changes guest casting or pilot pickups they always generate all kinds of easy questions that get their press conferences rolling Tassler like ABCamp8217s Paul Lee and Foxamp8217s Peter Rice and Kevin Reilly before her largely took to the stage and jumped right into questions without effectively warming up the roomAs noted above in general it was a bad tour for executive sessions NBC and HBO didnamp8217t even put their executives on stage The CW Entertainment President Dawn Ostroff briefly appeared at the start of her networkamp8217s segment of the tour and she offered a few infobits about its programming and its online success But she left the stage without taking questions choosing instead to talk to reporters during a cocktail reception that followedThe best executive session of the tour was the TCA debut of new Showtime Entertainment President David Nevins who had obviously been well prepared Nevins began by breaking all kinds of programming news such as new season start dates for a number of established series production information about a new series titled Homeland with Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin that has just begun shooting in North Carolina casting for a new comedy pilot titled House of Lies and a new scheduling strategy that will find fresh episodes of two or three of Showtimeamp8217s amp8220Alevelamp8221 series running every week of the year He also made one of the most interesting announcements of the entire tour Showtime and Major League Baseball are producing an unscripted series that will chronicle the professional and personal lives of the 2010 World Series champions the San Francisco GiantsShowtime is available in a lot fewer homes than the broadcast networks but there was no shortage of interesting questions for Nevins throughout his press conference and there were no dead zones during the four programming panels that followed

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CBS and Showtime Have Very Different Executive Encounters at TCA

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