Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Thursday, August 24th, 2023

How helpful would it be for writers to have access to streaming viewer numbers?

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, August 24th, 2023. 

HOW HELPFUL WOULD IT BE FOR WRITERS TO HAVE ACCESS TO STREAMING VIEWING DATA?
As I have been writing about over the past few weeks, one of the score of issues being negotiated (or not negotiated) by the WGA and AMPTP is the question of more transparency around viewing numbers.

According to the press release sent out today by the WGA, the two sides still remain pretty far apart on the subject of viewing numbers:

• Finally, the companies say they have made a major concession by offering to allow six WGA staff to study limited streaming viewership data for the next three years, so we can return in 2026 to ask once again for a viewership-based residual. In the meantime, no writer can be told by the WGA about how well their project is doing, much less receive a residual based on that data.

This is a much more complex subject than you might suspect. Each service compiles viewing data a different way. Some are measuring the number of minutes viewed, some are measuring completion rates or the number of people who watched at least ten minutes of the program.

It's true that more data transparency would allow creatives to properly value their work. But it is just somewhat true. Because if the reason to obtain viewing numbers is to provide a framework for value and ultimately residuals, the raw viewing numbers are a lot less helpful to valuation than you might imagine.

In the old linear TV-only days, ratings numbers were a pretty good indicator of success. Generally, the more people that watched the show, the more value it provided to advertisers and the studio. Because at the end of the day, more eyeballs meant more advertising money. And more viewers kept the show around long enough to go into syndication, which is where the studios made the bulk of their money.

As I have written about before, the situation in the streaming world is very different. Yes, streamers want as many people as possible to watch a show. But raw viewing numbers are only part of the witches brew they use to determine value:

As an example, a primary Netflix metric is called the "adjusted view share," which is a combination of more than 30 factors that attempt to assign an overall "value" for any piece of content. An example I was given was that it's possible to track which content was most watched by brand new subscribers last month. That content would be considered more valuable because it presumably was one of the reasons why viewers subscribed. But if those viewers exit after a month or two, that lessens the value of the content. The assumption being that some percentage of the canceled subscriptions came from people who subscribed primarily for a specific show.

It depends on where people are watching. A show that is more popular in a region such as the U.S., where the ARPU (average revenue per user) is higher has a greater value than one that tracks more in regions where the ARPU is lower. Although that indicator is weighted less than some others and whether the content is attracting subscribers in a territory where subscriber retention costs are high also factors into the equation. Netflix also tracks how many people complete a TV show within a week, the percentage of people who rewatch a series (although if the number is too high, it's discounted as possible fan manipulation). And there are many more. Each of the factors is weighted differently and the weighting can apparently change as the company's strategy evolves.

All of which is to say that having more transparency about viewing numbers might be helpful in the abstract. But even if writers get the data, there is no mechanism in place right now to reward a popular show in a way that accurately represents value to the streamer.

There have been efforts to cobble together a solution, although I think everyone agrees it's still a work in progress. For instance, big streamers in France pay what is essentially a residual for programming that streams in that country to French creatives. Although the residual is limited to original content produced by France and the residual only reflects the viewing by French subscribers. And while the recipients of the residuals do receive a quarterly rundown of viewing numbers, they are required to sign an NDA before receiving the data and payment.

So there are ways to make this work. I have have this sinking suspicion that both sides are still struggling to define the solution, much less agree on the terms.

SOME BACKSTORY ON WBD HEAD DAVID ZASLAV
The New Yorker has a long, deep-dive into the career of Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav and although he wisely didn't agree to talk on the record, the piece does a nice job of recounting his rise through the ranks of Hollywood:

Zaslav considers Welch and Malone his fundamental influences. Welch was known for ferocious cost-cutting and constant attention to the bottom line—which often came with mass layoffs. Malone has a near-fetish for tax avoidance and is a master of strategizing complex transactions. “Jack was analytics and costs and ‘figure out how to manage people out and get the best people in,’ ” Zaslav said on a podcast last year. Malone “is really about long-term strategic thinking and driving toward free cash flow,” he went on. “Somehow, I think the conflation of those two is my brain.”

There is also some good insight into the type of executive Zaslav likes to work with, this description coming from his early years heading Discovery:

Zaslav laid off many of the company’s executives and a quarter of its staff. “There were some real turkey businesses there,” Malone said at the time. “David had to take them out behind the barn and shoot them.” Zaslav needed underlings who would help change the company. “People were coming in at nine, nine-thirty, heading out at six,” he told Time. He wanted those people gone. While some of his top executives are women, Zaslav is “swayed easily by a certain kind of person who talks a certain kind of way, and they all tend to be white men,” one former Discovery employee told me. “Very confident, big swagger. Having a bad reputation can actually be a good thing in his eyes, because it means you’re tough.” Being too nice could earn you a reproach.

In the end, the New Yorker piece includes some negatives, but the majority of the quotes included in the piece are supportive of Zaslav and come from people who support his efforts. Like this creampuff of a paragraph, courtesy of a longtime Zaslav friend the CEO brought into WBD to offer him strategic help:

Those sympathetic to Zaslav’s project of “rationalizing” the economics of streaming think that the anger at him is unfair. “We are all little boats navigating uncharted waters,” Alan Horn, the former Warner Bros. C.O.O., said. “The issues we’re having right now in the middle of a strike are exacerbated by the fact that no one quite knows exactly how to get to a ‘new normal.’ ” By this argument, Zaslav is being blamed for an agonizing but inevitable period of adjustment. “He said, ‘Look, this company needs restructuring so that it may be as healthy as possible in the long term. That requires some short-term actions that are painful,’ ” Horn said.

ODDS AND SODS
*More than eighty percent of the Netflix scripted originals premiering on the service in the U.S. next month were produced outside of America.

* Love & Marriage: Huntsville returns with new episodes beginning Saturday, September 16th on OWN.

* The new series Hot Dish with Franco premieres Saturday, September 30th on the Food Network.

WHAT'S NEW TODAY AND TOMORROW:

THURSDAY, AUGUST 24TH:
* Baki Hanma (Netflix)
* Caught Up Series Premiere (BET+)
* Christian Series Premiere (Topic)
* Explorer: Lost In The Arctic (NatGeo)
* Miley Cyrus: Endless Summer Vacation: Continued (Backyard Sessions) (ABC)
* Mountain Men Season Premiere (History)
* Ragnarok Season Three Premiere (Netflix)
* The First 48: Critical Minutes Season Premiere (A&E)
* The Hustle of @617MikeBiv (ALLBLK)
* TMZ Investigates: Britney Spears: Divorce & Despair (Fox)
* Toya And Reginae Series Premiere (WE tv)
* Who Is Erin Carter? Series Premiere (Netflix) 
* Zatima Season 2B Premiere (BET+)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 25TH:
* Inside No. 9 (BritBox)
* Killer Book Club (Netflix)
* NFL Draft: The Pick Is In (The Roku Channel)
* Wanted: The Escape Of Carlos Ghosn (Apple TV+)
* Vacation Friends 2 (Hulu)
* Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity (Prime Video)
* You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah (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.