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HRTS: Broadcast Network Chiefs Reflect On ‘Crazy’ Pitch Season

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 6:01pm PDTTags: Hollywood Radio & Television Society, HRTS Luncheon, Jennifer Salke, Kevin Reilly, Mark Pedowitz, Nina Tassler, Paul Lee
Nellie Andreeva

We are at the tail end of a TV selling season that saw more bidding wars and production and put pilot commitments than I can remember, and that isn’t lost on the broadcast entertainment presidents. Survivor‘s Jeff Probst opened the discussion at the annual Hollywood Radio & Television Society network chiefs luncheon today by sharing that during his lunch with the executives before they took the stage, everyone was complaining about how crazy and out of whack this pitch season has been. Fox’s Kevin Reilly, who spoke his mind more than anyone else on the panel, quickly jumped in. “(NBC) got cash, (ABC) got competitive against that cash, and we took the bait,” is how Reilly summed up this year’s marketplace. “We all think we were played a little bit. Agents are doing very well this year as a result.” Reilly’s counterparts mostly agreed, though their responses were more measured. “It’s been very, very frantic this year,” CBS’ Nina Tassler said. She blamed media coverage for the increased intensity of the pitch season. “Every single thing that happens is now being reported, from a pitch to speculation on the terms of a deal, and that does absolutely impact the business.” Added NBC’s Jennifer Salke: “I get the email about a media inquiry while the producer is still in the parking lot. That adds to the frenzy.” But it wasn’t all bad this buying season, ABC’s Paul Lee said. “There was also a rush of new energy, with a lot of new people and new ideas; there was lot of ambition in the projects coming in,” he said. READ MORE »

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HRTS Cable Chiefs Panel: Serialized Dramas Face Uncertain Future On Basic Cable

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday February 23, 2011 @ 5:12pm PSTTags: Cable TV, Cable TV Ratings, FX John Landgraf, HRTS Luncheon, TV, USA Network Jeff Wachtel
Nellie Andreeva

No big headlines from today’s HRTS luncheon featuring several cable chiefs: FX’s John Landgraf, Showtime’s David Nevins, USA Network’s Jeff Wachtel and BET’s Loretha Jones.

Landgraf spoke candidly about the difficulty of making serialized dramas work on basic cable. He noted that viewers seem to watch only reality series and sports … Read More »

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HRTS Brings Back Broadcast Chiefs Lunch

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday September 13, 2010 @ 1:02pm PDTTags: Broadcast Networks, HRTS, HRTS Luncheon, HRTS Newsmaker Luncheon
Nellie Andreeva

An old tradition is coming back – HRTS said today that it will hold its first luncheon with the heads of the broadcast networks in 3 years. HRTS president Kevin Beggs said that he has an agreement in principle with the 5 broadcast nets for the October event. Once a … Read More »

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TCA: Peter Tolan On Steve McPherson, ‘Rescue Me’ Ending & His New Projects

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday August 3, 2010 @ 3:10pm PDTTags: HRTS Luncheon, Peter Tolan, Rescue Me, Sony TV, Steve McPherson, TCA
Nellie Andreeva

Peter Tolan’s 2005 line about Steve McPherson, “Steve, if you can hear me, fuck you,” has gone down in HRTS luncheon history as one of the most memorable panel moments ever. But five years later, Tolan was pretty subdued in his reaction to McPherson’s ouster at ABC. “Don’t speak ill of the dead,” is pretty much all he said at TCA today. But he also talked about how he and McPherson made up a month after the HRTS luncheon when they both happened to be lunching at the Palm. “We hugged at valet parking. That’s Hollywood right there.”

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