Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Wednesday, September 6th, 2023

In case we didn't have enough to worry about...

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Wednesday, September 6th, 2023. 

IF NOTHING ELSE, DAVID ZASLAV IS CONSISTENT
Speaking at a Goldman Sachs conference on Wednesday, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO spoke in a lot of generalities about the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, insisting that the company wants to find a solution and takes the issue very seriously:

"We’re a content company. We’re storytelling company. We need to do everything we can to get people back to work. But more importantly, it’s true of creative people, but it’s true for all of us: People need to be compensated fairly, and they need to feel valued."

He didn't offer any specifics about what that settlement might look like, which is notable because according to press reports and sources I have spoken with familiar with the negotiations, Zaslav has been one of the leading voices on the studio side insisting the latest AMPTP offer was reasonable and that the unions were being unreasonable and uncooperative. 

But along with the strike-related comments, Zaslav once again brought up one of his favorite topics: the idea that the streaming video business would benefit from having some sort of "bundling" of services, although he's not very clear what that would look like either:

"You know, as we talk to consumers, they find it difficult, and so I think one of the things that we’re going to see as we look into the future is bundling. Some of this disruption and some of these moments of what’s going to happen may activate a quicker transition to things like some of us in the content business bundling together as a way to create more value and create a better consumer experience."

He didn't provide any examples of what this consumer-friendly bundling might look like, although he did provide the recent short-term deal to bring original programming from AMC to MAX as a positive move. Although cynics might note that the deal isn't any different than the content deals that brought Hallmark Channel programming to Peacock or the licensing deals that brought lots of outside programming to Discovery+.

His comments annoyed me because they are indicative of the "wouldn't this be nice" theorizing I hear from many streaming video industry executives. The problem isn't bad streaming app UIs or other content discovery issues. The world would be so much better if there was more bundling, more consolidation. You know, something that might magically provide the revenue-rich world of the linear television world of the 1990s.

IN CASE WE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees International (IATSE) President Matthew Loeb announced today that unless an agreement is reached, union members will begin a nationwide strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Monday, October 18th.

Loeb said in a press release announcing the move that the union will continue bargaining with the producers this week in the hopes of reaching an agreement that addresses core issues, such as reasonable rest periods, meal breaks, and a living wage for those on the bottom of the wage scale.

Last week, IATSE members who work in television and film production at 36 IATSE local unions across the country voted to authorize the union’s international president to call a strike if contract talks didn’t result in a new contract for 60,000 film and television workers. Voter turnout was 90 percent, with 98.6 percent of those voting in support of authorizing a strike.

A BIT MORE ABOUT RESIDUALS
Every day I learn more about the complicated issues of residuals and how they applied.

Today, I heard from a WGA Board candidate who brought up one of the problems on the actors side which might lead to confusion over the amount of residuals that is due the performer:

What happens with actors is agents negotiate residual pre-payments instead of above scale wages. When the residual checks never come the actors don’t realize this is why. This also lowers overall compensation because residuals get based on only the scale part of the initial wage.

It is a version of an "advance" on residuals, but it comes at a cost:

But it also comes at the expense of lowering the residual base for the job down to scale so when you finally catch up to the prepayment you get lower residuals than if you got paid “less” upfront but it was paid as genuine overscale wages vs a prepayment of residuals.

While I understood the concept of the pre-payments, it didn't occur to me that agents might negotiate them without letting their clients know what is happening. I suppose it's a way for the agent to be able to tell their client, "Look how much money I got for you," without letting them know about the possible downsides.

A WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY ZOMBIE CHANNEL UPDATE
Back in June, I wrote a piece about the impressive collection of WBD-owned "zombie" cable channels. These are networks which air little or no original programming, but instead exist primarily as a negotiating tool and a way to collect a small bit of carriage fees each month.

One of the channels I highlighted as being in the zombie-adjacent category was the Science Channel. WBD executives have described the network as being a "non-core" network for the company and the original programming has been cut back to some random specials ported over from Discovery's international channels.

While WBD won't shut down the Science Channel in the U.S. because of this country's unique carriage rules, which provide income no matter how pointless the network, the international versions of the network aren't so lucky.

According to news media in Romania, WBD is shutting down Discovery Science and DTX (Discovery Turbo Extra) at the end of 2023 in the following countries and territories:
Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

The equivalent of DTX in the U.S. is Motor Trend TV, which is the linear home for a lot of the programming that also airs on the SVOD Motor Trend+. And it doesn't appear that WBD is in any hurry to shut that network down as well. Although it's clear that Motor Trend isn't much of priority of the company either, given that WBD changed its guidance last year in order to the number of paid subscribers to Motor Trend+.

ODDS AND SODS
* Paramount+ has renewed Mayor Of Kingstown for a third season.

* Starz has moved up the premiere date of John Wick: Chapter 4 one week, and will now be premiering on the service September 15th.

* The HBO Original three-part docuseries Savior Complex from Emmy-winning filmmaker Jackie Jesko premieres on September 26th.

* Morris Chestnut hosts the six-part documentary Rebuilding Black Wall Street, which will trace the century-long impact of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and chronicle the resilient community rebuilding. It premieres Friday, September 29th on OWN.

* Warner Bros. Television Group has apparently suspended the overall production deals with a number of its high-profile producers, including Greg Berlanti, Chuck Lorre, Bill Lawrence, Mindy Kaling and Bad Robot. In this case, suspended means that the deals are still in effect, but the suspension just halts the deal until the strike is over. So this suspension stops the clock on the deal until it is resumed.

TWEET OF THE DAY

WHAT'S NEW TODAY AND TOMORROW:

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6TH, 2023:
Crime Scene Confidential Season Two Premiere (Investigation Discovery)
Infamy Series Premiere (Netflix)
Nightwatch Season Seven Premiere (A&E)
Predators (Netflix)
Reporting For Duty Series Premiere (Netflix)
Scout's Honor: The Secret Files Of The Boy Scouts Of America (Netflix)
6ixtynin9 The Series (Netflix)
Tahir's House Series Premiere (Netflix)
The Afterparty Season Two Finale (Apple TV+) 
The Little Mermaid (Disney+)
The Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City Season Premiere (Bravo)
Ultimate Cowboy Showdown Season Four Premiere (INSP)

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2023:
Dear Child Series Premiere (Netflix)
Gamera -Rebirth- (Netflix)
Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight Season Three Premiere (Netflix)
Search Party With Brandon Jordan Season Finale (Weather)
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season Premiere (Paramount+)
Top Boy Season Three Premiere (Netflix)
Virgin River Season Premiere (Netflix)
What If (Netflix)

Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.

SEE YOU THURSDAY!

If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.