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The 30 Rock diss of Ben Silverman is here.
Amazing that the “Advertising Hall of Achievement” is honoring Ben Silverman as one of its “Newest Stars”. Check out the full page ad in The New York Times on Page A11 today. It seems that just a few months into his new venture with Barry Diller, Silverman is already “significantly impacting the advertising industry”. Madison Avenue and IAC can only hope that he doesn’t “significantly impact” them the way he significantly impacted NBC. (Chimes, anyone?)
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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It’s pretty funny you would use “Silverman” and “addicted” in the same sentence.
Hummm…let’s see…who could that apply to?
Haha.. ZING!
I thought you meant Sarah.
Nikki:
I saw the ad today and immediately thought of you!
I wasn’t sure it was the same guy until I saw this post.
Wonder how he got himself honored by AAF. I’ve never heard of them, but their site says they’re 100 years old.
I’ve got one word for this: Ewww
Didn’t know you could share clips like that … thanks!
I saw the ad early this morning and thought I was hallucinating.
Nikki,
Ben does not need PR. He has you. you have single handedley kept him relevant.
MJ
Ben Silver IS The Biggest Loser. Named the show after himself.He is the Paris Hilton of TV execs and agents for that matter having done NOTHING significant career wise. But I bet he does have a few “must see” videos.
This we know, Fox and Kevin Reilly will not buy programming from Ben or any of the companies he acquires with the 9 figure line of credit IAC has given him to pursue a roll up. ABC and Steve McPherson will not buy from Ben. NBC is going to have to wait before they order anything from him, and that certainly will not happen until NBCU’s fate is resolved. CBS might buy something from Ben because of Diller’s relationship with Les Moonves. All in all, Ben’s going to be stuck in the land of cable and new media for a while. If you talk a lot of shit and don’t back it up then your going to get smacked.
Network is dying, so what does it matter, anyhow? The medium has been in a death spiral for some time.
Cable is where all the action is and will be. No Ben apologist, but FOX/CBS/ABC/NBC not buying from Ben won’t hurt him (and too bad for that because he deserves his comeuppance).
How exactly does landing a high-paying gig at IAC count as being smacked? Seems to me like he’s probably laughing all the way to the bank.
What is with all the hatred directed Ben’s way (led by you Nikki)?
Forget NBC, history was against turning around a failing broadcast network that Zucker had run into the ground. And Ben was never a suit…the job was not a fit.
But he did start a little company called Reveille from zero, and delivered more value to investors than anyone posting here will ever dream to do in their miserable lifetimes!
The acquisition by Liz Murdoch has transformed her company, just ask Chris Grant. It was a true win-win for both parties, and will go down as one of the most successful media acquisitions of the last 10 years when it’s all tallied.
And the networks won’t buy from him…boo f***ing hoo!! They’re irrelevant and getting moreso by the day.
Ben knows how to sell, Ben knows how to make money, Ben knows how to create value, and Ben knows how to be part of the conversation. And he doesn’t care what you think while he’s flying private.
Think about that when you’re driving home in that leased 3 Series you can’t afford hoping Ari doesn’t figure out how overpaid you are.
Well my first question would be: How did you manage to type that whole screed with your nose that far up Silverman’s ass?
This response epitomizes everything that is going wrong with the entertainment industry. So Silverman was the founder of Reveille, and (I guess) deserves some credit for poaching already produced shows from around the world, repackaging them, selling them to American broadcasters and calling himself the next Brandon Tartikoff? Pardon me if I remain unimpressed.
As to your assertion that the networks are “irrelevant”, I’d like for you to explain to everyone here (slowly, if you could, and using small words) how much money is being made right now in mobile distribution… Don’t worry, we’ll wait… The business model is changing, thats for sure, but let’s assume that both Barry and Ben would rather be sitting in the corner office at a major right now.
I’m sick and tired of these no-talent yuppies running around Bel Air like they’re the Christ reborn because they got themselves an MBA and damnit if they’re not gonna use it. There are a whole mess of people in this town who really don’t give a damn if you’re leasing your BMW or if you own your Civic. They just want to make, watch, and sell good projects.
Barry Diller actually has a pretty nice corner (maybe even half floor) office on the ninth floor of the Ticketmaster building.
Barry wants to work for “a major??”…what’s “a major?” Steve Ross is dead in case you haven’t noticed.
Is IAC “a major?” Will Ticketmaster / Live Nation be considered “a major?”
I agree w/ you though that Barry and Ben sure seem to run around w/ a lot of insecurity angst for all their unrealized career dreams.
I think there’s something in between broadcast and mobile…could it be cable?
Biggest Loser was actually an original production, and it made money in online, mobile…in every single window it prints cash.
So if “poaching already produced shows from around the world, repackaging them, selling them to American broadcasters” is so easy, how come every run of the mill indie produver doesn’t repeat the feat and also sell for 9 digits? Andrew Glassman anyone? Anyone???
Dave, it looks like the one’s who’s desperate for that proverbial corner office at a major is you. Anyone w/ a brain knows full well the days of the overhead that fed limitless corner offices at majors are long gone. And good riddance to endless layers of useless middle management.
That damn internet is screwing up all your career plans…
I’m actually a talented yuppie by the way. And I, like the rest of the town who will admit it, am thoroughly thrilled and impressed when I see a peer clear $100+ million through a combo of talent, hard work, and chutzpah.
Think of it this way Dave, how upset will you be when Ben repeats the Reveille grand slam w/ Electus?
I agree. Ben was saddled with some pretty lousy middle management at NBC in addition to the albatross that is Jeff Zucker. They couldn’t execute on his most basic, common-sense mandates. He roared in there with tons of enthusiasm and people felt thretened by that, not invigorated. As a producer he kicks ass, and will probably continue to do so.
He didn’t run NBC into the ground — if you look at what the “new” team (meaning the same folks that were there a year before he got there) is doing, it’s far worse.
maybe i’m slow, but i don’t understand the “dis” from 30 Rock. can anyone explain?
Let’s not cheer on the downward spiral of network tv, Bleed. Anyone with any sense of history knows all any net needs is one hit. Five years ago, ABC had three of them. Cheering on the unemployment of hundreds doesn’t benefit anyone. Cable can’t replace the abilities, deep pockets and reach of network tv.
Oh, and enough about Ben. I doubt he even cares about himself anymore.
Oh, I’m not cheering network TV’s death spiral. I worked in it too long for that. More like mourning it. I also think that network TV is too far gone for one hit to save any one of the legacy networks. One hit will only paper over and delay the inevitable.
There is nothing like the reach of network, but some of the cable nets come close. And are getting closer.