Big 4 TV Execs Seething

[BillsNYC]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/conten...19e6d05b9a27e43

 

"By and large, they personally forked out for his campaign, they voted for him, and they know he is capable of boosting TV ratings just by making an appearance.

 

But executives at the Big Four broadcast networks are seething behind the scenes that President Obama has cost them about $30 million in cumulative ad revenue this year with his three primetime news conference pre-emptions.

 

Now top network execs quietly are hoping that Fox's well-publicized rejection of the president's April 29 presser will serve as precedent for denying future White House requests for prime airtime.

 

"We will continue to make our decisions on White House requests on a case-by-case basis, but the Fox decision gives us cover to reject a request if we feel that there is no urgent breaking news that is going to be discussed," said one network exec, who, like all, would not speak for attribution fearing repercussions from the administration.

 

"If the president wants to make it tough for your network, he can," the exec added.

 

Another network executive confided, "Nobody wants to take on the White House, so we'll have to tiptoe through this."

[KD in CA]

Maybe Obama can arrange a bailout for the networks in exchange for them continuing to never criticize him for anything.

 

Either that or we'll soon hear "this week's Presidential news conference brought to you by General Motors..."

[/dev/null]

If any of the Big 4 TV execs don't like giving up prime time space for a presidential dog and pony show, all they have to do is decide not to show it. That easy

[finknottle]

If any of the Big 4 TV execs don't like giving up prime time space for a presidential dog and pony show, all they have to do is decide not to show it. That easy

 

Sort of.

 

The reason they have a broadcasting license (ie spectrum) is because they have agreed to include 'public service' content. That's an undefined requirement traditionally met by broadcasting political speeches and debates, the occasional after school special, and pony'ing up to pay for C-SPAN.

 

I don't know what leverage the government has beyond the nuclear option of not renewing the license, but I do know that it resurfaces as an issue periodically and for some reason the broadcasters trip over themselves to show that they are doing good stuff.

[IDBillzFan]

If any of the Big 4 TV execs don't like giving up prime time space for a presidential dog and pony show, all they have to do is decide not to show it. That easy

But then who would ask the questions at the press conference? You need to air the press conference or the White House won't let you question the president.

 

Maybe the print media would ask the questions. That would be, at the very least, a bit enchanting.

[Max Fischer]

You guys are funny. Pathetic, but funny.

[Alaska Darin]

You guys are funny. Pathetic, but funny.

Finally, something you have actual expertise in.

[Wacka]

But then who would ask the questions at the press conference? You need to air the press conference or the White House won't let you question the president.

 

Maybe the print media would ask the questions. That would be, at the very least, a bit enchanting.

 

The White house writes most of the questions already.

[Max Fischer]

Finally, something you have actual expertise in.

 

Why thank you. So, who DID you vote for in 2008?

[Kelly the Dog]

This is just my opinion but looks rather obvious to me...

 

Obama probably won't do one for quite some time anyway unless there is a serious crisis. The administration is going to take advantage of any kind of publicity it can get. The first couple press conferences were watched by enormous numbers because people wanted to see who this guy was, as well as listen to him explain what he was doing to address the problems in the economy and elsewhere.

 

It worked so well, meaning they got so many people to watch, and the reaction was so favorable, that they decided to do it again and more frequently. The last time, however, their ratings were down 29% I believe. So they're not going to be so quick to do that again without a specific reason. Not to mention that he has said most of what he wanted to say about what the government is doing about the crisis.

 

As an analogy, think of it as a basketball player who was on a hot streak and pretty much everything he threw up went in. After awhile he just starts to take shots that he wouldn't normally take, just because he is so hot. After missing two, he settles down to his normal selection. They know they took it as far as they could for now and he won't do one for awhile (and we're talking only about ratings, not necessarily whether he is doing a good job as President or not). And it's not as though he isn't as popular, his favorable ratings have been inching up over that same time period.

 

It's also a little whining from the execs. They didnt actually lose all of that money from not getting ads during the hour broadcast. Most of those major companies that advertise on prime time have budgets allotted for how much they spend on prime time TV. If they get some back or don't spend it on the night of the press conference, they will spend it on another night.

 

They have a right to gripe about him doing it too much though.

[blzrul]

A lot of people complained that Bush didn't address the country often enough. So maybe these guys should just consider all the money they SAVED for 8 years and offset this against that.

 

And enough people watch "cable" stations anyway so if the networks say no he can go on those channels. And then post it after the fact on Youtube.

[GG]

It's also a little whining from the execs. They didnt actually lose all of that money from not getting ads during the hour broadcast. Most of those major companies that advertise on prime time have budgets allotted for how much they spend on prime time TV. If they get some back or don't spend it on the night of the press conference, they will spend it on another night.

 

They have a right to gripe about him doing it too much though.

 

That is flat out wrong, because you're talking about a limited inventory of prime time spots, during key watching parts of the season. Once that slot is gone, it's gone. Broadcasters usually offer make ups for advertisers if ratings don't hit promised levels, but that's usually done at a cost to the advertiser because they're offering that slot for free as a make up.

[Kelly the Dog]

That is flat out wrong, because you're talking about a limited inventory of prime time spots, during key watching parts of the season. Once that slot is gone, it's gone. Broadcasters usually offer make ups for advertisers if ratings don't hit promised levels, but that's usually done at a cost to the advertiser because they're offering that slot for free as a make up.

 

You're right about all of that. What I am saying is that if, say, NBC was scheduled to run a first run episode of something at 8pm on Tuesday, and it gets bumped by the press conference, they are going to run that first run episode on a different night (which previously would have been a rerun) and recoup some of those advertising dollars. It just pushes the schedule of that prime time show back a week on that night. And it will push it an extra week at the end.

 

Plus, if the advertiser has 30 million of buy time in their budget to spend, they are likely to spend all of that 30 million, even if that night they expected to spend it on gets bumped. They will spend it somewhere. The key watching parts of the season has been quite fluid the last few years, too, as first run shows seem to be coming out at seemingly random times. I am not sure what is up with that.

 

I'm not saying the networks don't lose anything. They do, and those press conferences don't do them much good (although perhaps as lead ins to the 9pm show). They don't just wash all of that money down the drain. Not to mention that it comes on at 5 PM pacific and 6 pm mountain.

[drnykterstein]

Ah the old bully pulpit.