The Extratextuals

For those wondering what that weird acronym stands for (National Association of Toilet Paper Enthusiasts? of Tyrannosaurus Pelvis Excavators? of Tent Pole Economics?), it’s the National Association of Television Production Executives. The NATPE Convention is one of the major American television industry conferences and buying festivals on the calendar. And no, I haven’t been drafted to the industry. I’m here because I got a NATPE Fellowship from their Educational Foundation, so am here on their dime. I’ll try to post more general reflections later, but for now, some reflections from the first morning.

It began with a bang. Jeff Zucker, President and CEO of NBC Universal gave the opening address. He’s quite an electrifying speaker – Hollywood Reporter’s Elizabeth Guilder (who did the Q&A after the speech) compared him to Obama, though he balked at the comparison (more of a Kucinich supporter himself?), as do I for other reasons (one of many being that I’m not sure MLK was dreaming of Zucker heading NBC). But he certainly didn’t disappoint, either in offering substance or in delivery. I saw shades of Ari Gold, Jeremy Pivens’s brilliant creation from Entourage, not in terms of sexist bravado, but in terms of complete confidence, energy, and a slice of imperial gravitas.

He began by joking that he came in boring times, but then threw down the gauntlet pretty quickly by stating that “traditional business models in Hollywood are under pressure, and their replacements are not yet ready for prime time,” a situation that “demands a re-engineering of our business, from top to bottom.” With CBS prominently deciding to sit this NATPE out in favor of a bigger presence at CEA (Consumer Electronics Association), and NBC’s head kicking things off this way, this would seem to be a clear indication that the old guard finally get that something’s up.  More after the fold…

Zucker then noted that as bad as the strike was for everyone (think about those poor Brazilian street children, for instance), sometimes change needs a catalyst, and he compared the strike to a forest fire that destroys yet that leaves behind the opportunity for robust growth. So who were the trees, and what needs burning? His suggestions:

1. The pilot development system; and
2. The upfronts

Citing the $500 million spent by the five big networks on development each year, on approximately 80 pilots this season, of which he estimates 8 will be back for a second season, and none of which are hits, he argued that networks need to make far fewer pilots and have the courage of their conviction. The strike has killed pilot season this year, and Zucker likes it dead. He insisted that this didn’t mean less scripted series on air, but simply less waffling around with pilots. And he pointed to cable’s success with few pilots, and the UK’s success without any (grrrr. Pet peeve: why do Americans always cite UK TV as some paragon of virtue when (a) they don’t really mean it, and (b) they never saw the oodles of crap on Brit TV that don’t make it across the Atlantic? Dinnerladies, anyone?). The money saved from producing less pilots, he suggested, could be put into buoying series for longer.

Hmmm. We’ll get to the upfronts in a second. But I’m torn. On one hand, he’s right that it’s an odd system. Sure, many cultural industries work by floating out lots of content to see what works, but at least it gets floated out to the public. And it strikes me that the current system could encourage reality elimination game-style thinking about one’s shows: this week, you’re allowed 20 “bachelorettes,” next week 10, then 5, and so on, as there’s always the need and urge to purge, rather than to support and nourish. But on the other hand, if we thought Hollywood worked in-house right now, how much more so if each network greenlights 5 shows a year. Abrams, Wells, Bruckheimer, and pals could be the only showrunners left. As crazy as the pitch-and-pilot system is, it serves a purpose of at least in theory allowing more people to play the lottery. Though not knowing personally how rigged that lottery is from the get-go, I’m not expert enough to state whether it’s better to just dump the myth of the open system and move onward.

Anyways, the second tree that Zucker the arsonist wanted to torch was the upfronts. For those readers unaware of these, it’s the massive, expensive party week that the networks have each Spring where they unveil their new shows (sometimes if only in concept, with a brief clip or three, sometimes with more substance) and prime time schedule, and open the floodgates to advertisers, selling much of their subsequent season’s ad time. For readers in television studies, get thee to Amanda Lotz’s articles in Media, Culture, and Society 29.4 and Television and New Media 8.3 if you wanna know more. As Amanda reports, many in the industry have long grumbled about the silliness of doing this all in one brief spurt. Well, Zucker said that NBC may not attend. He wasn’t willing to commit to not going (at which point I wish someone would’ve made a chicken noise, but it wasn’t going to be me!), but did his best to demand changes.

Guilder later tried to press him on whether his bold new suggestions came from a fourth place network desperately scrambling to do something new and difference. Certainly recent television history has suggested that fourth place is the cool place to be (that’s what gave us Lost, and that’s what gave us The Simpsons). Time will tell how much he, NBC, and others live up to it. But for the time being, it made for good buzz, and it’s refreshing to hear the CEO of the nation’s oldest network reflecting on change in the broadcasting industry (the rest of his speech talked about distribution platforms, etc., and so it wasn’t just about lighting matches), and challenging his counterparts to abandon their inertia. Inertia’s relative, of course, and I could list many ways they could change that Zucker may not honor … but it’s a start.

I’ll be back later with some general reflections on the conference and the day’s hoopla. But for now it’s time to sort through my swag. Yes, swag – free food, DVDs, mini-lava lamps, mobile phone couches, trade journals, flavored vodka bottles, plastic boomerangs, cocktail olives, and Howie Mandel sightings are all part of the week’s festivities. What’s not to love about television?

NATPE Jeff Zucker, NATPE, pilots, upfronts