Building on last fall’s standing-room-only panel on “The Future of Filmmaking”, the Georgetown Entertainment & Media Alliance held the second of its speaker series events on February 18th to hash out “The State of Television.” TelevisionWeek sponsored the event, and the trade paper’s editor, Alex Ben Block, moderated the discussion by six GU alumni industry executives for the large turnout at the Museum of Television and Radio in Beverly Hills, California.

Ben Block opened the evening stating that this is a time of momentous change in the television industry, arguably the period of greatest change ever. Multiple upstarts, including dozens of cable networks buying original programming, have joined the original trio of broadcast networks that used to dictate the nation’s programming stream.

At the same time, consolidation has concentrated media ownership into the hands of fewer and larger conglomerates. And technological advances now allow viewers to create their own stream of programming—without commercials—through the use of Tivo and subscription on-demand services.

The six Hoyas on the panel confront these challenges from different perspectives—studio executive, writer/producer, agent, network executive and advertising executive. They all agree that even more change awaits the television industry in two key areas: The mass audience will keep getting tougher to capture, and content producers need new revenue streams to replace old, evaporating cash flows.

Nonetheless, the panel’s consensus is that some factors remain constant: The role of the studios as entertainment gatekeepers holds steady, agents remain in the thick of things and the best place for an industry hopeful to start is still the sorting the mail or answering for the phone for someone in the thick of things at an agency.

The more things change…

On the production side, the independent studio is becoming an endangered breed according to Justin Falvey (B’90), co-head of Dreamworks Television.

“It’s not possible to function as an independent studio anymore,” he said. Dreamworks Television, which began as an independent, has had to become affiliated with NBC in a “first look” deal that helps Dreamworks defray production costs.

“As a full-service unaffiliated studio, it became harder to compete. Under the best of circumstances, this business has always had a 95 percent failure rate… with media consolidation it became closer to 99 percent…. We decided that we had to get out of the deficit financing game,” he said.

On the talent side, both agencies and their clients are finding it tougher to get the creative and financial concessions that were once industry standard.

“The sorts of deals that used to be made just aren’t being made anymore,” said Steve Glick (B’80), senior vice president in the Television Department at the William Morris Agency.

“Seven or eight years ago, networks would make six to twelve major—meaning seven-figure—talent deals each season with writers and actors to develop comedy or drama programming. It’s much more difficult now. Maybe now there is one deal like that per network.” Instead, Glick said, networks are looking to make smaller deals aimed at capturing viewer niches. “Now it’s about finding more intimate voices, different voices,” Glick said.

Regina Stewart (C’84), co-executive producer of Still Standing, concurred that the clout of talent, particularly writing talent, isn’t what it once was in the “wonderfully collaborative medium” of television.

“Studios and networks know the success of a show hinges on execution, which means writers and producers. So they still show enormous respect. But the role of the showrunner has changed.”

With less ability to capture the mass audience, studio and network executives can’t afford to take the risks they once could, Stewart explained. So they have demanded more control over product and reined in the producer’s luxury of letting a show “grow into itself” over time.

“It’s a very different business in the last seven to ten years. Showrunners were formerly something like presidents of their own company… Now they’re more like middle managers in a corporation… Which leads to more ‘safe’ choices being made by writers.”

Another way that risks are being managed is by bringing advertisers into the creative—and financing—process at an earlier point, according to James Deutch (C’92), vice president of Programming Partnerships at Hearst Entertainment.

“ The tumultuous change in this industry is why I do what I do,” Deutch said. “Networks and studios do not want to deficit finance a show. A new model is to collaborate with advertising going in.” He pointed out that CBS’s Survivor is one successful example of this model.

“Survivor never would have happened if Mark Burnett hadn’t gotten commitments from advertisers and had their products woven into the show from the beginning,” he said.

Deutch addressed fears some raised by offering reassurance that the advertiser’s input is unlikely to turn prime-time shows into infomercials. “Advertisers know that viewers do not want infomercials. So everyone wants it to be a great show. A great show wins awards, gets big numbers and makes everyone happy.”

The more things stay, well… you know

Not everything in the world of television is unprecedented and novel, however. TV is, after all, the spiritual home of the rerun. According to the panelists, in some areas of the biz, change—needed or not—isn’t anywhere on the horizon.

The way pilots are selected appears to be here to stay, according to Stephanie Liefer (C’90), senior vice president of Comedy Development, ABC Entertainment.

“Development is the front line of the battle,” she said. Her studio hears about 400 pitches in the fall, buys 50 scripts in the winter, picks 12 or 13 to shoot a pilot for in the spring, and then begins internal screening in May for its fall lineup.

“Everyone agrees the system is archaic, but nobody is changing it right now,” she said.

Additionally, love it or loathe it… reality television is here to stay, at least in parts of the television world.

“An area of continued growth and opportunity is not scripted programming, or movies of the week.. it’s reality programming,” according to Colette Shelton (L’95), director of Reality Programming for Lifetime Television.

“This type of programming is not going by the wayside. That’s where the growth is because it’s getting ratings and is cheaper.” Shelton added that for Lifetime, the challenge is to select shows that speak to the concerns of women.

“Lifetime’s makeover shows are—at heart—really about relationships. Our show Head to Toe is about hair and nails, but it’s also about best friends. Our show Merge is a home makeover show, but it’s really about two people getting married and combining their two lives into one,” Shelton said.

William Morris Agent Steve Glick raised doubts regarding the growth potential for reality programming overall, drawing a distinction between reality-friendly camps in the industry.

“Reality television is always going to be big on cable networks like Home and Garden Television, Bravo and the Food Network… but in the network world, it’s on a downturn,” he said.

As always, aspiring television movers and shakers will find the best place to start is in a talent agency’s mailroom or other entry-level position.

“Take whatever job you can get and start meeting people,” urged ABC’s Stephanie Leifer. “A talent agency is still a great place to get an industry overview. There you can see how the industry works, and if you want to be a creative exec, a business exec or whatever.”

Lastly, no matter what form the industry takes, agents will continue to make lots of money.

“Regardless of what happens in one area, there is product being made… agencies are selling the talent, whether it is to network or cable or features,” the William Morris Agency’s Steve Glick reassured the audience.

Steve Schneider (F’95) has worked as a writer and editor in New York City, London, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Tulsa, Oklahoma. He currently lives and writes in Los Angeles. steveschneider37@yahoo.com

The Georgetown Entertainment & Media Alliance, GEMA, brings together Georgetown University alumni, students and parents involved in all aspects of the media and entertainment industry. For more information or to get involved in GEMA, please go to www.GEMA-Hoyas.org