(Subscriber Report) Ed Martin Live from TCA - TCA Today: How Comic-Con Has Changed the Game

There39s something different about the annual Television Critics Association summer tour this year It begins today approximately three weeks later than usualThere are two significant reasons for this Digital technology and the media monster that is ComicConTo begin with the larger issue the TCA tour in recent years has been dramatically altered by technology resulting in huge changes in the quantity and characteristics of the content produced during it I attended my first TCA in January 1990 and for at least 15 years thereafter it was literally a two or three week marathon of press conferences at various hotels in the Los Angeles area broken up by offsite set visits dinners networking parties and other events Reporters dutifully attended sessions and gave panelists their undivided attention took copious notes and then raced off to put their own spin on the day39s information output and produce columns that would run in print via fax or later online usually the following morningYou are receiving this email as a corporate subscriber to Jack Myers Media Business Report Redistribution in any form except among approved individuals within your company is prohibitedBut during the last few years it has become increasingly clear that it isn39t enough to be a smart reporter and gifted writer if one is to survive TCA One must also be a talented stenographer Once wireless technology was installed in the hotels where TCA takes place the sight of reporters taking notes on paper became almost quaint Instead most TCA members now sit behind laptop screens multitasking their way through the day taking notes writing columns or blog entries answering emails and surfing the Web while television executives stars and producers take their questions Many are racing against each other to be the first to post quotes and news items The advent of liveblogging took this up a notch Now many TCA members must also take time to Twitter throughout panels This is expected of them by their editors even if many of their tweets prove to be somewhat mindlessDoes this make for a better TCA It depends on whom you ask Regardless it is what it is and it is only going to continue morphing along as technology advances TCA guidelines currently prohibit live radio or video coverage of any kind but I am certain the day will come when each panel is televised somewhere in some fashionIt is all of this liveblogging instant publishing and Twittering that prompted the TCA to move its summer tour to a later date somewhat closer to the start of the fall season That39s because the program information and interviews that appear online throughout the tour are of more use to everyone amp8211 newspapers magazines Web sites and especially the networks amp8211 if they are generated closer to the time that shows make their premieres Some shows will premiere within a month of the final day of TCA August 8The other big reason why TCA has been moved to a later time is that it has recently found itself in competition with the annual ComicCon in San Diego ComicCon is now the biggest media event of the year amp8211 a fourday period during which hundreds of television and movie executives and the casts of their series and films descend on the city to feel the love from approximately 150000 popculture loving attendees It39s a massive egostroke of unprecedented proportions but it is also enormously productive Rare is the sight of a ComicCon attendee who is not carrying a phone camera or video recorder of some kind eagerly documenting and publishing their experiences as they go Once a session for their favorite television show or movie or video game ends they pour out into the hallways and produce a mushroom cloud of promotional goodness to be collectively shared by millionsNetworks and studios have in recent years withheld from TCA members everything from news announcements to screeners of new shows choosing instead to maximize the power of ComicCon Two years ago ABC pissed off TCA by deciding not to reveal news about the upcoming fourth season of Lost until the Con which ran right after the tour This would have resulted in hundreds of reporters having to explain to their editors why they didn39t have said news in their TCA coverage had members not screamed at ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson during his session to spill He did but it was awkward all around Last year NBC made no mention during TCA of its troubled Heroes choosing instead to bring the cast to the Con and premiere the first hour of its upcoming twohour season premiere in front of six thousand rabid fans This may have backfired Heroes tanked last season despite the giant Con push Compelling TCA interviews might have done more to generate viewer interestNow that TCA runs after the Con reporters here can follow up on all the news announcements that came out of there and build on all of themThe panels and screenings get all the attention in the media but the brilliance of ComicCon lies in its ability to be all things to all fans at all times Smart network and studio executives know this The Con blurs the lines between television movies Web sites video games toy collecting and finally comic books The lines for autographs from popular comic book artists are often just as long as those for TV stars While the panels take place upstairs in the mammoth San Diego Convention Center a small city in itself thousands of exhibitors hawk their wares and promote their products in booths and at tables on the first floor It is possible to generate thousands of positive impressions every hour by simply being thereAll of this marketing spills out into the streets of San Diego as well It was impossible to walk around without seeing some kind of promotion for Syfy amp8211 from giant balloons and painted buses to the total reworking of the popular Hard Rock Hotel restaurant Mary Jane39s into Cafamp233 Diem a fictional eatery that immersed visitors into the world of the Syfy series Eureka Similarly there were eyecatching ads for Showtime39s Dexter everywhere one looked Same with AMC39s upcoming The Prisoner Who ever thought AMC would have a presence at ComicConIt isn39t just the fan boys and girls who soak it all in and turn it all back out with such unbridled gusto A record number of mainstream media reporters and more TCA members than ever attended the Con Entertainment Weekly had such a huge presence at the Con this year one might think the magazine was sponsoring itIt is a measure of the power of the Con that the networks now see it as a place to generate awareness of properties that are not genrespecific as is almost everything there Showtime for example had a panel for is funky comedy Weeds ABC introduced the new Patricia Heaton sitcom The Middle Fox filled a giant ballroom with the premiere of the second episode of its musical comedy Glee Some people fear that the inclusion of such unrelated entertainment will dilute the Con But there was no indication of that during my visit One can39t argue with the power of the fans My ears are still ringing from the thunderous applause for David Tennant of BBC America39s Doctor Who who seemed genuinely surprised by the size of his audience Tom Welling of The CW39s Smallville in his first visit to the Con and especially Zachary Levi of NBC39s ChuckThe big risk at the Con is that myopic television producers and writers could come away thinking that they can do no wrong with their shows As we saw last fall with Heroes it is easy to lose sight of the fact that they are preaching to the converted TCA members on the other hand aren39t at the tour to pump sunshine They aren39t afraid to challenge Hollywood heavyweights Showrunners and executives alike would be wise to listen to them even if they don39t like what they hear Their shows might be the better for it

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