…And if so, how long will New Media’s freedom last?
Turner’s March 31 investment into Mashable was just the latest in a string of investments from traditional media giants into new media ventures. Over the last year, especially, digital upstarts have become increasingly entwined with the companies whose business models they are disrupting.
Ever why so many obvious non-writers (you know what we mean) keep trying to get into TV writing? Wonder no more:
Ten million Americans can recall where they were the night of September 29th, 2013. They were watching the series finale of Breaking Bad. And they were watching it on AMC, a cable channel that once cut its teeth airing reruns of black-and-white movies.
The suits at the network were prepared. Like Walter White, the show’s ruthlessly efficient meth dealer, they knew they had a quality product on their hands. And they charged their customers accordingly. AMC extended the runtime of the last two episodes from 44 to 54 minutes – 75 minutes apiece with commercials – and raised its advertising rates to as much as $400,000 per 30-second spot. The 21 minutes of commercial airtime in “Felina,” the show’s final episode, may have earned the network $7-8 million in advertising revenue.
Can anyone blame us for wanting to scream, “Told you so,k @#$!ers!”
Didn’t think so.
by Rob OwenFor the 2015-16 TV season, TV shows with familiar titles were the big bet by the major broadcast networks, but it’s one that didn’t pay off.
This just in from Reality Troy, whom you’ve already met many times here on TVWriter™, including in the post just below this one:
In an effort to boost pre-orders for the second edition of REALITY TV, which would make my publisher very happy, I’d like to offer a free PDF copy of my book AND ANOTHER THING: A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO THE TV NOTES PROCESS to anyone who orders the book online or through their local bookseller up until the release date, June 1. Simply order the book and then drop a line with “PREORDER OFFER” in the subject line to me at realitytvtroy[at]gmail.com so I can reply with the PDF attachment.
If you’d like a signed copy of REALITY TV, just order one through me at the full cover price of $24.95 and I’ll mail you one, shipping included, within a few days of the book’s official release. To do so, just drop an email (with your mailing address included) reading “SIGNED COPY” in the subject line and I’ll send a PayPal invoice your way.
As you may already know, the Second Edition of my book, Reality TV, is due for release on June 1.
Around that time, I’m sure to be slammed with consulting requests and loads of questions. Not that I’m complaining at all – it’s really thrilling to work with you one-on-one to develop your ideas into more commercially viable concepts, but it’s always a little disheartening when someone pays me good money for consulting, then wastes their time asking questions that are clearly answered in the book, which costs about ten percent of a single hour of consult time.
I value our time and your wallet more than that, so please – check out the book first! I promise you’ll like it, and if you don’t, you can always use it to shore up that wobbly coffee table.