Welcome to the show folks...
It's good to be back. It was an exhausting trip, but I'm home, and the old bed has never felt so comfortable, but enough about me, because I'm boring, let's talk business.
COMCAST WANTS THE "U" IN NBC-U, BUT NOT THE "NBC"
The word is that the deal is pretty much done for cable-giant Comcast to buy NBC-Universal, and that all that's left are the structural issues, and approval from the regulators.
What struck me was that while Comcast was keen to acquire the NBC cable holdings, and Universal studios, they are not all that keen on keeping the NBC Network itself.
That is an unbelievably hard kick in the corporate gonads for NBC, who used to be the home of "Must See TV" and housed some of the biggest hits in TV history.
Of course that's the key word, "history."
Which pretty much describes not only the network, but all the shows it airs.
Universal Pictures can be saved. It's just had a string of stinkers that a fresh attitude, the right filmmakers, a corporate shake-up, involving the reinstatement of Zombie Lew Wasserman and his feasting on the brains of the people who green-lit Land of the Lost can turn it around. NBC is a different story. It's more than just a company in trouble, it is a troubled company.
Now I'm no expert, and I'm no insider, so this is all speculation based on what I've heard, but I get an overall negative vibe from the NBC network. From what I've seen, read, and heard, there's an overall negative attitude that's sucked the life from the network, and could possibly sink it.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but my old Spidey-sense tells me that the key to getting ahead in the toxic corporate culture of NBC. At NBC you don't win promotion by making hit shows, or sleeping with your boss, you get the corner office by making everyone around you look bad. So instead of people working together to succeed, they're all running around stabbing and being stabbed in the back.
That's the feeling I get.
Now some are thinking that Comcast will jettison NBC and that Warner Bros. will pick it up to remake it in their own image. All I know, is that if NBC is going to be saved it will have to be torn down to the ground, in order to be rebuilt from the foundation up.
That's what I think, what do you think?
It's good to be back. It was an exhausting trip, but I'm home, and the old bed has never felt so comfortable, but enough about me, because I'm boring, let's talk business.
COMCAST WANTS THE "U" IN NBC-U, BUT NOT THE "NBC"
The word is that the deal is pretty much done for cable-giant Comcast to buy NBC-Universal, and that all that's left are the structural issues, and approval from the regulators.
What struck me was that while Comcast was keen to acquire the NBC cable holdings, and Universal studios, they are not all that keen on keeping the NBC Network itself.
That is an unbelievably hard kick in the corporate gonads for NBC, who used to be the home of "Must See TV" and housed some of the biggest hits in TV history.
Of course that's the key word, "history."
Which pretty much describes not only the network, but all the shows it airs.
Universal Pictures can be saved. It's just had a string of stinkers that a fresh attitude, the right filmmakers, a corporate shake-up, involving the reinstatement of Zombie Lew Wasserman and his feasting on the brains of the people who green-lit Land of the Lost can turn it around. NBC is a different story. It's more than just a company in trouble, it is a troubled company.
Now I'm no expert, and I'm no insider, so this is all speculation based on what I've heard, but I get an overall negative vibe from the NBC network. From what I've seen, read, and heard, there's an overall negative attitude that's sucked the life from the network, and could possibly sink it.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but my old Spidey-sense tells me that the key to getting ahead in the toxic corporate culture of NBC. At NBC you don't win promotion by making hit shows, or sleeping with your boss, you get the corner office by making everyone around you look bad. So instead of people working together to succeed, they're all running around stabbing and being stabbed in the back.
That's the feeling I get.
Now some are thinking that Comcast will jettison NBC and that Warner Bros. will pick it up to remake it in their own image. All I know, is that if NBC is going to be saved it will have to be torn down to the ground, in order to be rebuilt from the foundation up.
That's what I think, what do you think?
I dunno. It's been so long since I've watched any network television I couldn't even tell you who's showing what these days. If a show gets good buzz appears to be about something I might be interested in, I buy it by the season as it hits DVD. Otherwise....*shrug*
ReplyDeleteIt's probably my fault that Firefly got canceled.
Note: Evidently I now have a google account since it gave me that option as a signup identity. I prefer Fuloydo for my internet commenting needs but if you ever see a comment here from floydclark it means I forgot to change to the username option.
Can the Internet Save Hollywood?|13min
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pjtv.com/video/Poliwood/Can_the_Internet_Save_Hollywood%3F/2618/
I agree with you. NBC will have to go through a complete makeover. They seem more interested in making some kind of polical or social comment, or producing pablum than actually giving what the people want, which is entertainment. Don't get me wrong, quality programming with social commentary can be good and entertaining, but NBC just is not creating that type of programming. Lets face it, when 30 Rock is your best, you have trully fallen.
ReplyDeleteThey are more like HULU - turning our brains into goo for consumption by aliens. What a second, maybe thats their plan all along.
It would make sense that Warner Bros. would want NBC to itself, since Warner Bros. TV currently doesn't have a sister network (sorry, but their half of The CW doesn't count; other than its puny size, it's CBS that runs the day-to-day operations). Not to mention that, apparently, many if not most of the people and entities (including WBTV) who actually make TV shows have become loathe to do business with NBC because of its poisonous culture under Jeff Zucker. Also, WBTV has increasingly been left out by ABC and CBS (for some reason, Fox doesn't seem to factor in much) in favor of each network's own studio.
ReplyDeleteit is fox 60% remand of TV shows.
ReplyDeleteImprovements are not going to happen under either GE or Comcast, for one reason: Jeff Zucker will be with NBCU wherever it ends up:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUSN1051243320091110