May 30, 2006

Message From Michael                    
                                                  May 30, 2006                                                                                                         

• SWEEPS WRAPUP


• BURNED OUT, EXHAUSTED AND CYNICAL


• THE VIDEO MIGRATION CONTINUES


• I WANT MY BABY TV


• COCKTAIL CHATTER

• SWEEPS WRAPUP:  Every network, except one, was down year to year, and of course you know which network was not.  Fox with its hyperbole-deserving hit, American Idol, was up in households (8%), up in total viewers (9%), up in adults 18-49 (7%) and up in adults 25-54 (9%).  In fact, the finale of the Fox hit was up 6 Million viewers year to year, something that hardly ever occurs.  Even though CBS won the May sweeps in total households and total viewers, it was actually down in both categories year to year (8%).  According to Nielsen figures reported by The Programming Insider and Cynopsis, the eye network had 12.54 Million viewers, followed by Fox with 11.64 Million, ABC with 9.3 Million (-4%), and NBC with 9.2 Million (-1%).  The big ‘losers’ were the WB which was down 20% to 2.7 Million and UPN which was down 23% to 2.6 million, a fact which the programming insider’s Marc Berman rightfully notes, raises questions about the prospects for the merged CW.Berman also takes a look at the “traditional” season numbers, based on ratings from September 19, 2005 to May 24, 2006.  CBS wins the ‘total’ season in total viewers and in adults 25-54 for the 4th consecutive year while Fox wins the 18-49 demo for the 2nd year in a row and the adult 18-34 demo for the 7th time.  ABC pulled in a respectable number two in every category – total households, viewers, adults 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54.  NBC posted losses of as much as 10% while the WB and UPN both were down.  When the five demographic categories for the six networks are examined, there were 19 drops in ratings, 9 increases and 2 categories where there were no changes.On a related note, we can’t talk about the ratings without mentioning that Nielsen’s Amsterdam-based mother company, VNU, has been bought by a consortium of private equity firms for 7.4 Billion Euro, about $9.9 Billion U.S., despite a move by some shareholders to prevent the private equity bid.


• BURNED OUT, EXHAUSTED AND CYNICAL:  What’s that describe?  News producers, of course.  But what passes as black humor in news rooms is actually a serious fact of life, according to a survey by a graduate student at Texas Christian University.  Nearly one in eight producers say they feel burned out every day they go to work while more than a third (34%) report feeling burned out at least once a week.  Nearly half (42.9%) reported suffering from high exhaustion.  More than half (57.1%) scored high on cynicism.  Yet nearly half of them (46%) say they “couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”  The survey is the master’s thesis by former producer Angele Anderfruen and only had 51 respondents, all based in Texas.  She used a device called the Maslach Burnout Inventory which determines burnout or risk of burnout based on 16 questions.  Based on that, Ms. Anderfruen says more than a fifth of the producers are “in need of help.”  The survey also found that more than a quarter (26%) love their job while just under a quarter (22%) hate their job.  More than half (52%) said they were satisfied with their jobs although a little less than half (42.9%) said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their salaries. The study notes that most producers are not at risk of burning out, but the number who are at risk is significant.  And most of those are women and the younger producers.  The issues are manageable workloads, cynicism, and training opportunities.  In closing remarks Ms. Anderfruen says, “If TV stations successfully address problems producers face, like burnout, the longevity of a newscast producer could increase. With that would come much needed experience in handling ethical and situational problems inherent in television news.” She also notes most journalism schools focus on on-air positions.  Ms. Anderfruen has posted her study, along with her resume, on the web at:  http://homepage.mac.com/zanki/ProducerBurnout/Menu53.html.  


• THE VIDEO MIGRATION CONTINUES:  Yet more examples of video moving to the Internet.  NBC is offering first-run programming on iTunes.  ABC is offering ad supported news clips from the BBC on its abcnews.com website.  Google is testing video ads as part of its sales strategy.  A new service called Clipsyndicate.com is offering video clips to anybody who wants to offer video on their websites.  The service gets the video clips from various groups and then sells the connection for a fee.  Similarly, another website, virtue.com, has been created to “connect brands and consumers” by creating an on-line video platform for people to produce user generated content that marketers can buy.  On a semi-related note, wireless research firm Telephia reports there are 2 million mobile TV subscribers in the U.S., which represents a penetration of about 1.4%.  The average subscriber spends about $40 a month MORE for service than non-mobile TV subscribers.


• I WANT MY BABY TV:  Nearly half (43%) of the children under the age of two, let me repeat that – two, watch TV every day.  And more than four out of five (83%) of the children under the age of six spend time with TV or other screens (video and DVD) and most for nearly two hours a day.  A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that nearly one in five babies (19%) under the age of one have a TV in their bedroom and nearly a third (29%) of those aged two to three have a TV.  By the time they reach 4 to 6 years of age, 90% of them are “watching or looking at screen media.”  Parents say the TV watching helps avoid fights with siblings, allows the parents to get work done around the house and helps the children to fall asleep with more than half saying TV helped calm their children down.  On a very much related note, you may have heard that a group of entrepreneurs have created Baby TV specifically aimed at children under three, “promoting learning, development and fun.”  Produced in collaboration with child psychologists, the site (babytv.info) says it is “uniquely designed to encourage parent-baby interaction, fostering a positive experience in parenthood.”      


• COCKTAIL CHATTER:  A man interviewing for an IT job at the BBC in London ended up being interviewed on air as a tech expert.  The staff at the BBC confused him with a man who was editor of a technology magazine and who had been invited to comment about a complicated court case.   Watch his face as he is being introduced.  You can see the interview at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG61JO6MoUk&search=guy%20goma.  Also, on youtube.com, Stephen Colbert’s roast of President Bush at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was viewed 500,000 times, according to several reports.  The video was pulled off youtube by CSpan, but it is now available at:  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-869183917758574879.  And in case you hadn’t heard, former CNN anchor Aaron Brown will be teaching for a semester next Spring at Arizona State University.    


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