TCA Winter Press Tour

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Michael Keaton is narrating a 50th anniversary tribute to the late Fred Rogers and his beloved children’s program, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” “Mister Rogers: It’s You I […]

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Benedict Cumberbatch had a ready answer when asked when he might star in another “Sherlock” on PBS. “Goodbye,” he said, pleasantly, as he darted out of […]

PBS President Paula Kerger told journalists Tuesday at the annual TV critics’ winter press tour that the network has tightened its policies for preventing and reporting sexual harassment. In addition, PBS announced a five-part series starting Feb. 2 that will consider changes that need to be made in every American workplace. Meanwhile, Kerger said, PBS will take a long look at possible programs to fill the time slots previously held by Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley. No deadline has been set for a decision, she said, but options include retaining Christiane Amanpour.

The Fox network will continue to carry scripted entertainment programming after the anticipated split of the 20th Century Fox studio from its Fox Broadcasting Co. sibling. That was the word from Fox Television Group CEOs Gary Newman and Dana Walden as they gamely fielded questions from reporters about the impact of Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets on the operations of the TV studio and network.

Ed Martin: “When critics look back on the most important programs of 2017 two that will undoubtedly rise to the top are ABC’s upcoming limited series When We Rise and the third season of the network’s outstanding franchise American Crime. Both of these programs are passion projects from writers who have been honored with Academy Awards.”

Throughout the first week of TCA, questions about Trump and national politics dominated — sometimes to the consternation of producers and executives fielding those questions, but sometimes not.

Fox executives are back in for a Winter TCA session. “We heard from many TCA members this week about how they value having an executive session twice a year,” the broadcaster said in a statement. “We were focused on presenting our mid-season programming and we underestimated the interest in this panel. We are happy to accommodate the TCA members and we have adjusted our schedule to include an executive session this January. We look forward to seeing you in Pasadena.”

January’s semi-annual Television Critics Association press tour will be without some of the industry’s biggest executives, as well as another streaming outlet. Amazon has opted to join Netflix and completely sit out the January TCA press tour. Additionally, NBC, ABC, Fox and CBS have all eliminated executive panels from their day-long sessions. Instead, insiders say, each of the Big Four networks want to focus on their midseason fare.

At the Television Critics Association’s semiannual gathering, shows were previewed, decisions reviewed and the industry itself examined.

NBC Research President Alan Wurtzel endorsed three alternatives to Nielsen on Wednesday, as the industry’s leading audience-measurement company has been considered antiquated and slow to adapt for quite a while — but it’s remained top dog thanks to no real competition. Wurtzel told critics and reporters in attendance to pay attention to the following options: Symphony Advance Media, TiVo/Reality Mine and Rentrak/ComScore.

NBC has claimed No. 1 status for four years now among key viewers — in part due to NFL programming. But now it says non-sports programs have made major headway. Speaking at the Television Critics Association meeting, Bob Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, says the network is now No. 1 in 18-49 viewers in non-sports programming for the first time since 2003, the last season that Friends was on the air. Greenblatt did not go into detail.

ABC had a mixed fall, with a fledgling hit in Quantico, as well as the season’s first canceled series in Wicked City. But ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee said Sunday that the best is yet to come this season for the network, touting, “four incredibly powerful shows” that are coming to the network in midseason.

After previously insisting that it was “far away” from developing a stand-alone service to reach viewers without a cable subscription, Starz has reversed course. The premium cable network is now following HBO and Showtime’s lead in preparing its own OTT app.

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — A roundup of news Wednesday from the Television Critics Association winter meeting, at which TV networks and streaming services are presenting details on upcoming programs: —- […]

Norman Lear dissed broadcast networks Tuesday, saying the broadcasters are too afraid to offend. “I don’t think the network point of view serves the American people well,” he said at the 2016 Television Critics Association winter press tour. “I don’t think the bumper sticker quality of news and discussion helps us understand.”

The Hollywood Reporter sat down with TV’s top executives at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour to get their honest assessments on everything from whom they’d swap jobs with for a day to the hardest show they’ve had to cancel.

At the upfronts in May, NBC’s Bob Greenblatt said the network was planning a Music Man production as its next live musical from The Sound of Music and Peter Pan executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. That project is still on track, but this morning at the TCA press tour Greenblatt said the network also has closed a rights deal for The Wizard Of Oz-themed The Wiz.

Bryant Gumbel took aim at sports journalism in general during a panel for HBO’s “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” at the Television Critics Association on Thursday, slamming much of sports coverage as “terribly sycophantic. We tend to not ask the same difficult questions of people in sports that we do of politicians or business people or even people in the entertainment industry.”

“People want to see the movie and we want to be able to deliver the movie,” Ted Sarandos, the streaming service’s chief content officer,  told reporters Wednesday. Sony declined to comment on the possibility of a Netflix airing, a spokesman said.

Netflix remains committed to not releasing data regarding the viewership of its shows “for as long as we can,” Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos told journalists at the kickoff of the semi-annual TV Critics Association press tour today. The streaming service has irritated reporters with its unwillingness to issue information regarding the metrics it uses to gauge the success of shows, and Sarandos held to that line, saying, “There’s no real business reason for us to report those numbers.”

Winter TV Press Tour 2015 begins today. The press tour — attended by TV critics, Reporters Who Cover Television and a boatload of locally based competitive tweeters — has long since ceased to be the place where journalists who covered this industry discuss the implications of sun-setting the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules. Which is not to say this winter tour is lacking in potential. It kicks off  with the always lively Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos, who bunches industry undies for sport. And there are 19 more days after that. Here’s the most up-t0-date schedule.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) —Select “Downton Abbey” fans are in for an early viewing treat and bragging rights.Apple said Monday that people in North America who hold iTunes season passes […]

With new ways to watch TV shows, CBS now says it isn’t always the oldest-skewing TV network when it comes to its programming. Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment, says the industry should expand the traditional TV ratings metric it sells to advertisers beyond the C3 metric — commercial ratings plus three days time-shifted viewing.

“We have the opportunity to make history here,” Kevin Spacey’s character from House of Cards said at the end of the sizzle reel that opened Netflix’s inaugural Television Critics Association press tour session Wednesday. The message was not lost on the crowd. In bringing a slate of shows to TCA, the netcaster that has up-ended the rules of the TV biz aims to take its place alongside traditional networks as a purveyor of original programming.

On Tuesday at the Television Critics Association press tour, Fox Entertainment Chairman Kevin Reilly was on the defensive when pressed by journalists on media violence questions that have become a hot topic in the wake of last month’s shooting rampage that left 26 people dead, 20 of them children, at a Connecticut elementary school.

“We’re just trying to find concepts that are more inclusive for a larger audience to come to,” NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt tells reporters.

As the major nets prepare to spin their stories at the winter Television Critics Association tour in Pasadena during the next two weeks, an ascending NBC is the 2012-13 campaign’s biggest story, riding top shows Sunday Night Football and The Voice to a surprising worst-to-first transformation among adults 18-49. Overall, the broadcasters are having a tough time without much in the way of buzzworthy new shows while cable continues to chip away.