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CMT and programming reforms

Y2kTheNewOldies

Y2kTheNewOldies

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...elieves/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1f07dc654a88


NEW YORK — When executives at Country Music Television earlier this year began watching the first cuts of “Racing Wives,” their new show about the spouses of NASCAR stars, something felt off. Producers had taken women with complexity and depth and reduced them to extensions of their husbands.

“It just seemed residual,” said Chris McCarthy, the president of MTV, VH1 and Logo, who in the fall had CMT added to his portfolio. “Why isn’t the show about the women themselves?”

Though much of the season was already complete, McCarthy and Nina Diaz, the group’s programming president, told producers to recut what they had and shoot new footage.

“They wanted to highlight the strength of the women, to make the show more empowering by showing their individual aspirations,” said “Racing Wives” executive producer Jenny Daly. The series, which debuts Friday, now centers more on the inner lives of the women, which includes Ashley Busch, a world-class polo player and swimwear entrepreneur whose husband is NASCAR driver Kurt Busch. Producers also added a female driver, Amber Balcaen, who recently raced for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
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CMT has to deal with two fronts though a shifting demographic and also how to cater to CBS leadership once the Viacom/CBS deal is finalized.
 
RadioPatrol said:
CMT has to deal with two fronts though a shifting demographic and also how to cater to CBS leadership once the Viacom/CBS deal is finalized.
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Actually Viacom's Bob Bakish is reported to be the leader of the combined company, and Bakish has not been kind to CMT.

Two years ago, he cut their budget and removed them from the MTV group, putting them into a smaller, less important group with TV Land. Then last year, he fired Kevin Jays, the guy who was in charge of that group.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/n...-kevin-kays-global-entertainment-group-971007

So CMT is pretty much the outcast at Viacom. On the other hand, country music is a big priority at CBS. They've had a great partnership with the Academy of Country Music over the years. They also have a strong partnership with the Grammys. So this combination may be good for CMT, since Viacom apparently has no use for them.
 
Megatron said:
I wonder if CBS will cut some of the Viacom channels since they have 23 channels when the merger is final.
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They have lots of channels, but no direction. Some of their channels need a concept. Maybe CBS can help.

You don't just "cut" channels. Getting channel space on cable systems isn't easy. A lot of these are heritage channels.

So really what they need to do is re-energize some of their channels. One show can do that.
 
TheBigA said:
They have lots of channels, but no direction. Some of their channels need a concept. Maybe CBS can help.

You don't just "cut" channels. Getting channel space on cable systems isn't easy. A lot of these are heritage channels.

So really what they need to do is re-energize some of their channels. One show can do that.
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Viacom's problem is they spun off way to many music channels that all started to falter once the music video era dried up. VH1, who knows what the premise is anymore. MTV 2 was billed as still playing music when it launched. The only music channel they have left is MTV Live or as its was originally known, Palladia. CMT appears to have been created to fill a hole served by TNN. That is just another reality show channel now. How many does Viacom need.
 
Don CT said:
How many does Viacom need.
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As many as they have spots to sell. Cable channels are inventory for advertising. My sense is the CBS Sports brand is more valuable than the MTV brand. So if there is to be a reallocation of cable channels within the company, my bet is that sports will win.
 
TheBigA said:
As many as they have spots to sell. Cable channels are inventory for advertising. My sense is the CBS Sports brand is more valuable than the MTV brand. So if there is to be a reallocation of cable channels within the company, my bet is that sports will win.
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The problem is that everyone else's cable sports operation beat CBS to the rights to anything that a measurable audience cares about. Lots of So What Conference basketball and Who Cares League football of interest to no one but gamblers and scattered alums. No MLB, no NFL, no NBA, no NHL or MLS, for goodness sakes. CBSSN went all in with the Association of American Football, which lasted only eight weeks. I don't think advertisers are getting much bang for the buck there. Of course, My Pillow probably doesn't care.
 
CTListener said:
The problem is that everyone else's cable sports operation beat CBS to the rights to anything that a measurable audience cares about.
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As of now. If they put CBS Sports on a Viacom channel that has the reach of ESPN (and they have a couple that do) it might be a game changer in future negotiations. Spike was its most successful when it tied in with the WWE. That channel is now The Paramount Network. In my view, that channel would be better used with sports.
 
Megatron said:
I wonder if CBS will cut some of the Viacom channels since they have 23 channels when the merger is final.
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https://www.fiercevideo.com/video/pluto-tv-serves-up-another-batch-13-viacom-pop-up-channels

https://www.radiodiscussions.com/sh...up-another-batch-of-13-Viacom-pop-up-channels

Also Viacom as of this week is trying to promote PlutoTV but with more Viacom content on their platform though. However theres another issue to deal with is how will CBS handle PlutoTV once the Viacom deal is finalized. On One hand you have CBS at this time getting more people to All Access and in cities where CBS owns a CW/CBS Duopoly Cities like San Francisco and Sacramento are waiting for a local edition of CBSN to launch.
 
RadioPatrol said:
https://www.fiercevideo.com/video/pluto-tv-serves-up-another-batch-13-viacom-pop-up-channels

https://www.radiodiscussions.com/sh...up-another-batch-of-13-Viacom-pop-up-channels

Also Viacom as of this week is trying to promote PlutoTV but with more Viacom content on their platform though. However theres another issue to deal with is how will CBS handle PlutoTV once the Viacom deal is finalized. On One hand you have CBS at this time getting more people to All Access and in cities where CBS owns a CW/CBS Duopoly Cities like San Francisco and Sacramento are waiting for a local edition of CBSN to launch.
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Are people really craving a local CBSN?
 
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