Cable shows where the risks take place by Alex Strachan
Source : Calgary Herald
Specialty channels playing bigger role on TV taste
September 2, 2008
It's the $8-billion question -- literally. That's how much advertising money was committed to the U.S. specialty channels and cable networks earlier this year, despite talk of an economic recession and a production slowdown caused by the 100-day writers' strike that ended in February.
That figure was up nearly 10 per cent -- $770 million -- over the previous year, according to the industry trade magazine Multichannel News. Much of that advertising money came at the expense of the broadcast networks.
The networks are still home to TV's biggest hits -- everything from
American Idol to Grey's Anatomy, House and CSI. Increasingly, though, specialty channels such as Showcase, The Movie Network and Space are becoming the home of edgy, risk-taking fare that pushes the boundaries.
This year, for the first time, basic cable channels such as AMC, FX and TNT dominated the major drama categories at the Emmy nominations, thanks to challenging, adult fare like Mad Men, Damages, Dexter and The Closer.
The list doesn't stop there, either. Showcase alone is home to some of TV's most hard-hitting, risk-taking -- and risque -- dramas, from Weeds, Rescue Me, The Riches and Saving Grace to The Shield, the cable drama that started it all in 2001.
"The cable networks are producing some of the most exciting, talked about, highest quality series on television," Turner Entertainment vice-president Michael Wright told reporters recently at the semi-annual gathering of the Television Critics Association in Beverly Hills, Calif.
"The heart of any great show is personal drama," Wright added, "characters that, drawn properly, are relatable and recognizable, who evolve over time and are intrinsically human."
Turner plans to "dramatically increase" the amount of original drama it will make during the coming year, Wright said, from Raising the Bar, the aptly named new courtroom drama from NYPD Blue and Hill Street Blues creator Steven Bochco, to Trust Me, a new, advertising-themed ensemble drama to star Canadians Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh.
The reasons for cable channels' ascendancy boil down to a number of factors, including a slow but discernable shift in audience tastes and new technology that allows viewers to watch something they want to see when they want to see it. There are other factors.
- The audience wants to see unique, exclusive, original content that's different from what they can find on "regular TV," whether it's a slightly skewed, dark comedy about a pot-dealing soccer mom (Weeds), an off-kilter, dark comedy about a clan of grifters (The Riches) or a grisly, dark comedy about a serial killer with morals (Dexter).
- The specialty channels are getting smarter about identifying their core audience and tailoring their brand to fit that audience. Specialty channels are wooing writers to write for a specific audience, as opposed to the traditional network model of throwing everything against a wall to see what sticks.
- Viewers are increasingly demanding specialized fare. Sci-fi fans who watch Space appreciate a tough, hard-hitting ensemble drama like Battlestar
Galactica that makes no compromises. Similarly, devotees of more earthbound personal drama that focuses on affairs of the human heart are more likely to be drawn to Showcase and its upcoming drama The Starter Wife.
- The specialty channels rarely rush new programs onto the screen. Saving Grace and The Riches were both in development for three years before they finally made it onto TNT and FX respectively. Also, dramas on the specialty channels typically produce just 13 episodes a season, rather than the network model of 22. That gives the producers and actors more time to polish each episode.
- Cable is experiencing an unusual and unexpected convergence of talent both behind the camera and in front, as established film actors like Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, Anna Paquin and William Hurt are collaborating with writer-producers such as Six Feet Under's Alan Ball and The Sopranos' Todd Kessler and Matthew Weiner.
Success begets success, and quality inevitability leads to more quality. The ascendancy of cable has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. This fall's new and returning network series will grab most of the headlines and entertainment magazine coverage -- but it's the shows on the specialty channels that you may well find yourself talking about around the water cooler.
© Calgary Herald
That figure was up nearly 10 per cent -- $770 million -- over the previous year, according to the industry trade magazine Multichannel News. Much of that advertising money came at the expense of the broadcast networks.
The networks are still home to TV's biggest hits -- everything from
American Idol to Grey's Anatomy, House and CSI. Increasingly, though, specialty channels such as Showcase, The Movie Network and Space are becoming the home of edgy, risk-taking fare that pushes the boundaries.
This year, for the first time, basic cable channels such as AMC, FX and TNT dominated the major drama categories at the Emmy nominations, thanks to challenging, adult fare like Mad Men, Damages, Dexter and The Closer.
The list doesn't stop there, either. Showcase alone is home to some of TV's most hard-hitting, risk-taking -- and risque -- dramas, from Weeds, Rescue Me, The Riches and Saving Grace to The Shield, the cable drama that started it all in 2001.
"The cable networks are producing some of the most exciting, talked about, highest quality series on television," Turner Entertainment vice-president Michael Wright told reporters recently at the semi-annual gathering of the Television Critics Association in Beverly Hills, Calif.
"The heart of any great show is personal drama," Wright added, "characters that, drawn properly, are relatable and recognizable, who evolve over time and are intrinsically human."
Turner plans to "dramatically increase" the amount of original drama it will make during the coming year, Wright said, from Raising the Bar, the aptly named new courtroom drama from NYPD Blue and Hill Street Blues creator Steven Bochco, to Trust Me, a new, advertising-themed ensemble drama to star Canadians Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh.
The reasons for cable channels' ascendancy boil down to a number of factors, including a slow but discernable shift in audience tastes and new technology that allows viewers to watch something they want to see when they want to see it. There are other factors.
- The audience wants to see unique, exclusive, original content that's different from what they can find on "regular TV," whether it's a slightly skewed, dark comedy about a pot-dealing soccer mom (Weeds), an off-kilter, dark comedy about a clan of grifters (The Riches) or a grisly, dark comedy about a serial killer with morals (Dexter).
- The specialty channels are getting smarter about identifying their core audience and tailoring their brand to fit that audience. Specialty channels are wooing writers to write for a specific audience, as opposed to the traditional network model of throwing everything against a wall to see what sticks.
- Viewers are increasingly demanding specialized fare. Sci-fi fans who watch Space appreciate a tough, hard-hitting ensemble drama like Battlestar
Galactica that makes no compromises. Similarly, devotees of more earthbound personal drama that focuses on affairs of the human heart are more likely to be drawn to Showcase and its upcoming drama The Starter Wife.
- The specialty channels rarely rush new programs onto the screen. Saving Grace and The Riches were both in development for three years before they finally made it onto TNT and FX respectively. Also, dramas on the specialty channels typically produce just 13 episodes a season, rather than the network model of 22. That gives the producers and actors more time to polish each episode.
- Cable is experiencing an unusual and unexpected convergence of talent both behind the camera and in front, as established film actors like Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, Anna Paquin and William Hurt are collaborating with writer-producers such as Six Feet Under's Alan Ball and The Sopranos' Todd Kessler and Matthew Weiner.
Success begets success, and quality inevitability leads to more quality. The ascendancy of cable has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. This fall's new and returning network series will grab most of the headlines and entertainment magazine coverage -- but it's the shows on the specialty channels that you may well find yourself talking about around the water cooler.
© Calgary Herald
