Sony Pictures TV Goes All In With ‘Queen’

Sony Pictures Television has been holding down expectations the past few months for Queen Latifah, its highest-profile launch since Oprah spinoffs Dr. Oz in 2009 and the short-lived Nate Berkus a year later.

But behind the scenes the syndicator is giving the talk-variety show, which debuts on Sept. 16, every possible chance of success — high-profile producers, top-tier stations, a sparkling set and an extensive multimedia promotional campaign that is just now taking off.

“This is a big swing,” says Holly Jacobs, EVP of syndication and reality programming at Sony. “One of the things we are all aware of, with all of us being executive producers, is that this is a business. It’s a fantastic show, but it has to make financial sense.”

Queen Latifah  is a cash-plus-barter show (4 national minutes, 11 local minutes) that’s cleared in virtually all TV markets on stations owned by CBS, Belo, Hearst, Sinclair and others. Sony is producing the show in partnership with Latifah’s Flavor Unit Entertainment and Will Smith’s and Jada Pinkett-Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment.

Sony’s high hopes for the show are reflected in the pitch it’s making to media buyers.

According to those buyers, it’s selling Queen Latifah on a rating projection of about 1.8 among women 18-49, which would put it at the top of the daytime heap. CBS Television Distribution’s No. 2-ranked Dr. Phil had a 1.4 in that demo last season.

Moreover, Sony is asking for a CPM of about $30, buyers say, which is comparable to Dr. Oz.

Sony declined comment on the ratings and CPM.

“I think she will do really well,” says Melissa Shapiro, EVP and group client director at MediaVest, which bought the show. “She transcends sex and race. I think the show will tap into her talents. Advertisers are interested in the show; they know she’s not going to offend anybody.”

“It has a pretty reasonable chance for success,” says Brett Whelan, SVP-director of national broadcast at Initiative Media. “She has proven her ability, whether it’s music or acting. You just have to see if she has that gift to have conversations that are natural and interesting.”

Not everybody is buying — yet. Tricia Wolfer, associate director of broadcast at Empower MediaMarketing, says her agency is taking a wait-and-see approach, mostly because of the pricing. “We didn’t buy the show,” she says. “The initial numbers are very aggressive.”

Shari Anne Brill, principal analyst at Shari Anne Brill Media, a media research consulting firm, thinks Sony may have benefitted from ramping up promotion for the show sooner than it has.

“The advance buzz surrounding it has been negligible and Queen Latifah herself hasn’t done much pre-launch promotion that I am aware of,” she says.

But media analyst Bill Hague, SVP of research firm Frank N. Magid, says Sony has been smart to refrain from overhyping the show. “Sony has a lot at stake on the show,” he says. “They’re excited about it. But they’re approaching it with a healthy dose of reality. Syndication has horrible failure rates.”

Sony got the promotion rolling a few weeks ago with spots that play off the word “cue” as in “Q the Fun.” And as the debut approaches, the promotion is accelerating. Last week, Sony got a lot of press when it announced the show’s first-week guests, including Will Smith and John Travolta.

Over the next week and a half,  Queen Latifah is scheduled to appear on several TV shows, including CBS This Morning today, CBS’s  Late Show with David Letterman, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live and on three episodes of CBS Television Distribution’s newsmagazine Entertainment Tonight. She will also host the CBS primetime special Teach on Friday.

“From a paid media standpoint, we have outdoor, digital media (banners and search, social media), network and local radio, tune-in for premiere week and local cable, although not in every market,” says Sheraton Kalouria, EVP-chief marketing officer at Sony Pictures Television.

Sony has been going to key markets like New York and Atlanta to talk directly to  potential viewers about the show. People are handing out information cards on the street and showing  previews on mobile devices.

“We are not taking anything for granted,” Kalouria says. “We are making a personal invitation to view the show on their local station. We have distributed more than 500,000 of those cards.”

Latifah taped a few episodes of the show in August. Some of that content is showing up in new promos, such as Queen Latifah playing a game-show-style game with Will Smith and interviewing Bringing Down the House co-star Steve Martin.

“There’s a companion piece of creative, which is audience members who saw those shows,” says Kalouria. “They’re on screen lending their voice of encouragement, having just experienced what a fun show it is. It’s fun. There’s a party atmosphere.”

The most concrete evidence of Sony’s commitment to the show is the set on the Sony lot in Los Angeles. Conceived by rocker Lenny Kravitz’s design firm, the sleek, comtemporary set features a spiral staircase that Latifah and guests may use to make grand entrances.

Queen Latifah is taping one show Mondays through Wednesdays and two shows on Thursdays. The episodes are taped two days before they hit the airwaves.

For a big-budget show to have any chance of surviving, it needs strong station-partners and Latifah has them, notably in the CBS Television Stations. The group already has strong daytime programming to complement Latifah, including CBS Television Distribution’s Judge Judy and Dr. Phil in major markets.

For the most part, Latifah will air at 2 p.m. At KCBS Los Angeles and WBBM Chicago, that means that it will be leading out of the network show The Talk and into Dr. Phil.

But in New York, on WCBS, it will air at 9 a.m. and go head-to-head with NBC’s Today and Disney-ABC’s top-rated Live with Kelly and Michael.

The show itself will be similar to Ellen in format with celebrity guests and games plus music, including Latifah occasionally singing with guests. The show’s theme song was co-written by Adam Blackstone. Latifah will banter with a DJ.

“Queen Latifah is very clear about the vision for the show,” Jacobs says. “From the very beginning, she wanted to do a big, entertaining, optimistic, spirited show with comedy and heart that showcases her skills.”

There will also be field pieces in which Latifah mixes with people and tries to help out those in need.

“We’re surprising people in local towns who have stories that resonate across the country,” says executive producer Corin Nelson. “She’s going into the field because she’s not the type of host to watch from afar.”

Nelson says some of the field pieces are funny. “We really didn’t do that in the pilot, but she’s a wonderful comedic actress,” she says. “She loves to have a good time.”