Jay Leno
Here we go again. Jay Leno's contract with NBC's Tonight Show is up at the end of the 2013-14 season, leading to speculation that the network may put Late Night host Jimmy Fallon behind the desk at 11:35pm. Here are the hot topics bound to cause some network executives to lose sleep in the coming months...
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American Idol
With a new year comes a fresh set of challenges for some of TV's biggest names, shows and networks. Here are some developments we'll be watching closely.
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Kevin Bacon
The broadcast networks haven't been feeling the love from viewers this fall, and it won't be getting any easier. Here are some big challenges they face as they try to sway hearts, minds and remotes in the second half of the season.
Will high-flying NBC falter when Sunday Night Football ends and Revolution and The Voice take a break?
"It's going to be different," admits NBC's scheduling guru Jeff Bader. "But we have faith in The Biggest Loser on Monday." He also believes Deception, a serialized murder mystery that will replace Revolution starting Jan. 7 and follow Loser, will appeal to...
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Andrew Rannells and Justin Bartha
It's hard out there for a broadcast network. Basic cable shows like The Walking Dead and Sons of Anarchy are scoring big ratings, while Showtime's Homeland is the toast of the water-cooler crowd. "We seem to be coming to a point where there are enough series to watch without coming to broadcast television," says one network veteran. The networks are also competing with themselves, as viewers in nearly half the country now use DVRs — which has helped big hits such as Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory grow even bigger but made it tougher for new shows to get a foothold. As a result...
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Revolution
What if a new TV season launched and nobody came? Post-Olympics sneak peeks, video on demand and online previews have taken some of the excitement out of the traditional network premiere week, as none of the new shows has had breakout ratings (many CW series start this week). Also to blame: the fact that 45 percent of all TV households now have a DVR and that more viewers catch a show on their computer or iPad if they miss it on TV. "The immediacy and the excitement of seeing a show has gone away," confirms one network executive. But the season must go on. Here's what the numbers tell us.
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Gordon Ramsay; Savannah Guthrie
It was a summer that won't be remembered fondly, at least by the broadcast networks. Despite a flurry of new shows, from CBS' Dogs in the City to ABC's Glass House, there wasn't much to crow about — at least until NBC's Summer Olympics ratings juggernaut came along. Cable fared better, launching new hits like A&E's Longmire and TNT's Perception and opening events like History's Hatfields & McCoys to big numbers. Here are some of this summer's highs and lows.
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Mariah Carey; Matt Lauer
If Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard worked as a TV actress today, her famous line would be: "I am big. It's the paychecks that got small."
Networks and studios have continued to take a hard line on holding down salaries, based on TV Guide Magazine's annual survey drawn from conversations with agents, network executives and studio heads. Rare is the lead actor who can enter a new series earning more than $125,000 an episode. The exceptions are those with a ratings track record of having a major hit show (Matthew Perry) or a significant career in feature films (Kevin Bacon).
Premium cable networks such as...
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Kat Dennings, Simon Cowell
The 2011-2012 TV season ended with a whimper, as all five broadcast networks posted year-to-year drops in viewership during May sweeps. But the season as a whole wasn't too bad: Sure, some big swings (Pan Am, Terra Nova) missed, but a solid 15 freshman shows (out of 45) were renewed. Here's a roundup of this year's winners and losers.
Winners
Funny girls
CBS' 2 Broke Girls was the year's highest-rated new comedy, averaging a strong 5.6 million viewers with adults 18-49. The show has already been upgraded to a plum 9pm time slot for fall. "That shows enormous...
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Kevin Bacon
Get those season passes ready. The networks have announced 39 new series for 2012-2013, spanning virtually every kind of drama (procedurals, serials, thrillers) and comedy (family, workplace, romantic). And while new X Factor judges Britney Spears and Demi Lovato threaten to dominate the media's attention this fall, even they may be no match for Dr. Zaius, the monkey M.D. on NBC's Animal Practice, or the drippy aliens on ABC's The Neighbors. Here's a look at what viewers will encounter next season...
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Ashton Kutcher
A lot of people think TV is better than movies these days. For many actors, it certainly pays better. Unless you're able to play a superhero, it's tough to get super-rich from big-screen work, so more actors are moving to series TV. The expanded talent pool has given networks and studios extra leverage in negotiating salaries. "There are so few gigantic stars in features and the rest are not making any money," says one industry executive familiar with this year's deal-making. "That's helpful."
The general rule across the TV business is to keep lead performers on new network prime-time series to $125,000 an episode. (Cable networks are going as high as $150,000.) That's not Charlie Sheen money, but it's not bad. "Times that by 22, [and] you can maintain a pretty good lifestyle based on what you were making in features but now you're not," the executive says.
There are always exceptions
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