Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Monday, October 30th, 2023
SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP may or may not be making progress
Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Monday, October 30th, 2023.
My apologies for the lateness of the newsletter and its slightly compacted length. I've spent a lot of time trying to parse out the various strike negotiation takes from sources and it is as complicated (and contradictory) as you might expect.
A QUICK STRIKE NEGOTIATION UPDATE
A just-released statement from SAG-AFTRA says that negotiations with AMPTP will resume tomorrow (Tuesday), but there isn't a lot of new reporting in the trade coverage of its release:
Dear SAG-AFTRA Members,
The committee worked independently today. We will be meeting with the AMPTP Tuesday. While talks over the past week have been productive, we remain far apart on key issues.
Please help us keep pressure on the AMPTP by showing up on the picket lines, raising your voices at rallies across the country and by posting messages of support and strength on social media.
In solidarity and gratitude,
Your TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee
It's notable that until today I was hearing a lot of optimism from the studio side and given the way the stories in the trades had been written over the weekend, those reporters seem to have heard the same things. I thought it was interesting that while my studio sources were sounding optimistic overall, I was frequently reminded that the AI issues still needed a great deal of work.
My sense is that the "remain far apart on key issues" phrase was in tonight's statement in an effort to tamp down some of the enthusiasm that has shown up in recent news coverage of the negotiations.
I've heard from a couple of union sources today that the studios were discussing the latest proposals from the union, which makes sense, given that I was told the CEOs participated directly in at least some of the discussions over the weekend.
I honestly can't tell where we are in the process right now. I have some sense of where the last studio and union proposals over money stand. But it's not clear to me if enough progress has been made to settle that issue. The studios seem to be offering something above the minimum pay bumps the DGA and WGA negotiated. And after talking with a number of people over the past couple of days, I'm still not sure where things stand on the proposed additional per subscriber payment Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has been referring to as a "levy." Several studio sources told me it was "dead," but I got a different take from a senior union source.
And I haven't talked to anyone that thinks the AI issues are close to being resolved.
I have heard from some studio sources that while Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has been standing firm on the core issues, he has apparently told company executives and negotiators that if he had his way, there would be some sort of even tentative settlement framework ahead of WBD's Q3 earnings report on Wednesday, November 8th. While earnings data is kept very tight ahead of the release, most people I have spoken with anticipate the best case scenario for the company is that the Q3 numbers will be "mixed."
So I find myself hopeful but still pragmatic.
We shall see.
A FORGOTTEN SIDE OF MATTHEW PERRY
It's easy to forget just how rich and powerful Microsoft was in the mid-1990s. So persuasive that when the company wanted to launch its new operating system Windows 95, it hired two actors from one of the most popular shows on television to appear in a "cyber sitcom" touting the release.
It's not clear how much money Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry made for their participation in this very 90s explainer, but some contemporary reporting I found suggests it could have been as much as a million dollars each.
Whatever they were paid, it's well worth it to see Perry excitedly deliver lines such as "you can type a filename that is longer than eight characters!"
Seriously, though. The video is also a reminder that Perry was so charming and likeable that he could make even the cringiest premise seem worth watching.
And speaking of watching, you can watch the entire video here.
THIS SOUNDS VAGUELY FAMILIAR
Ted Gioia's "The Honest Broker" Substack is a great one to read if you're interested in the behind-the-scenes business of the music industry. His latest newsletter takes a deep dive behind the recent slump in the value of song ownership funds. And while this description was written about the large music labels, it certainly fits a few media companies we all know:
These corporations don’t have much choice—they feel locked into the music business, but have zero confidence in their ability to launch new artists. So squeezing cash out of old intellectual property is the only poker hand they know how to play. I fully expect that they will continue to buy up old songs—because it’s a brain-dead strategy that can be run entirely by lawyers and accountants, without any need for innovation or vision. Which is good, because they don’t have any to spare.
ODDS AND SODS
* AMC Networks has picked up the U.S. and Canadian linear and streaming rights to Disney Entertainment’s Nautilus, inspired by Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
* One thing I learned today: in some parts of the world, The West Wing was known as Presidential Poker.
* A new report from Digital TV Research shows that the Asia Pacific SVOD market expanding even as many of the U.S. global streamers are retreating from the region.
* A "Fourth Wing" TV show based on Rebecca Yarros’ best-selling fantasy book series is in the works at Amazon MGM Studios.
WHAT'S NEW TODAY AND TOMORROW:
MONDAY, OCTOBER 30TH:
* Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor (Shudder)
* Mayflies (Acorn TV)
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31ST:
* Ralph Barbosa: Cowabunga (Netflix)
* The Boulet Brothers' Dragula Season Premiere (Shudder)
Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.
SEE YOU TUESDAY!
If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.