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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
5/14: WXIA’s Clarence Reynolds leaves, CBS cancels “Moonlight,” “Shark,” saves “Old Christine,” “Rules of Engagement”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Clarence Reynolds, an anchor at WXIA-TV for three years, has left the building.
His last day was last Thursday. Reynolds was the morning news anchor with Jill Becker from October, 2005 until January 2008 but switched to weekends earlier this year while Karyn Greer took his morning spot. He said Karyn wanted more time with her kids on weekends and he had no problem not having to wake up at 2 a.m. anymore. But alas, after two and a half years as an anchor, Reynolds wasn’t really enjoying the job and decided to leave on his own. Though his contract isn’t up until October, he was able to get out of it.
At age 44, Reynolds said he has a new game plan for himself and has a choice of two unidentified jobs outside broadcast television to choose from. He eventually wants to start his own business again. (He ran a bakery earlier in his life.) He’ll update me on his future once he decides. In the past, Reynolds has hosted a Fox morning show in Indianapolis, done executive production work at BET and hosted public affairs programming at PBS affiliates in Indianapolis and Orlando before coming to Atlanta in 2005.
Since WXIA-TV added several more hours of news programming, mostly on weekends and on WATL-TV, without adding much staff, existing employees have expressed various levels of burnout. And some on-air and off-air staff have been leaving, with some positions being left unfilled. Among recent departures besides Reynolds: meteorologist Flip Spiceland (who briefly worked in PR at Facility Group) and reporters Blair Meeks (now in PR) and Elaine Reyes (still job hunting).
-Despite a rabid following, Friday night freshman vampire drama “Moonlight” has bitten the dust. And CBS also slayed James Woods’ “Shark.” Both were getting passable, if not spectacular, ratings in their respective time slots. (Those “Moonlight” fans might end up sending vials of blood to CBS in protest or perhaps big wooden stakes.)
But all the sitcoms that have aired on Monday nights will be back (“Big Bang Theory,” “Rules of Engagement, “Two & a Half Men,” “New Adventures of Old Christine” and “How I Met Your Mother.”)
-In other renewal news, ABC has given “Boston Legal” a final 13 episodes. David E. Kelley will write all of them.
-And surprisingly, Oprah decided not to do another “Oprah’s Big Give.” Ratings were borderline disappointing but ABC had been willing to give it another shot, according to Hollywood Reporter.
-Plus, MTV”s “The Real World” has passed on Atlanta again for its 21st incarnation, opting for Brooklyn. And instead of 26 half-hour episodes, they will instead do 13 one-hour episodes.
-And yes, that second appearance by Britney Spears Monday night on “How I Met Your Mother” felt a bit forced and while mildly amusing at points, felt glommed onto the rest of the plotlines. The ratings bump the second time was more modest, too, as the show hit 9 million viewers compared to 10.6 million the first time she showed up. Let’s just say that’s the end of that. Or we can only hope so.
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5/13: ABC’s fall schedule features only two new shows
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With the 100-day-old writers strike crimping development of new shows earlier this year, ABC has opted to keep it safe this fall with just two new shows. Typically, the network would introduce at least six but several shows that might not have made it otherwise got a break thanks to the strike i.e. “Boston Legal,” “Eli Stone” and “Dirty Sexy Money.”
The first and only scripted new series, “Life on Mars,” is a actually a remake of a BCC series. The second, “Opportunity Knocks,” is a reality show produced by Ashton Kutcher.
Otherwise, familiar names this fall are “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “Boston Legal,” “Brothers & Sisters,” “Dancing With the Stars,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Eli Stone,” “Extreme Makeover,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice,” “Pushing Daisies,” “Samantha Who?” “Supernanny,” “Ugly Betty,” “Wife Swap,” and “20/20.”
ABC is also picking up NBC’s “Scrubs” for midseason along with a show called “Goode Family” and another reality show that Kutcher and Tyra Banks are working on.
Midseason will also feature the return of “The Bachelor,” “Lost,” “Primetime: What Would You Do?” and inexplicably, “According to Jim,” the show that won’t die.
This fall, shows are sticking to their old time slots. “Eli Stone” is set to air at 10 p.m Tuesdays while “Opportunity Knocks” nabs Tuesday at 8 p.m. and “Life on Mars” at 10 p.m. Thursday after “Grey’s Anatomy.”
“Life on Mars” revolves around Sam Tyler, a modern-day detective, who lands in 1973 after a car crash.
“Opportunity Knocks” invades people’s homes and they will be quizzed on their lives for prizes.
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5/13: More TV production coming to Atlanta, Cumulus Media deal falls apart
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s a story I wrote for the print edition today about a new tax incentive package to encourage more TV, film and videogame production in the state of Georgia. This doesn’t directly impact the average TV viewer but Georgians might end up seeing more film crews floating around in the coming months:
By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Lights, camera, tax breaks!
Gov. Sonny Perdue signed a tax incentive bill that will give Georgia’s film, TV and videogame production companies as much as a 30 percent tax credit, matching or exceeding many other states trying to lure movies and TV shows.
To qualify, businesses need to spend at least $500,000 in Georgia. So a fictional company who expends $10 million in a given year and owes $3 million in taxes won’t pay a penny in Georgia taxes as long as they embed an animated, logo-bearing Georgia commercial within the project. If not, they would get a 20 percent break and owe $1 million. Here’s a copy of the bill if you want to read it in full.
The previous incentive plan, passed in 2005, provided a 9 percent break so this theoretical company will save $2.1 million under the new law. On the flip side, it means $2.1 million less in the tax coffers.
But Perdue said more production work equals more jobs and more potential tax money from other sources.
“It means hotel rooms are booked,” Perdue said at a press conference at Turner Studios Monday. “It means catering companies have work. It means money flowing to Georgia businesses big and small alike.”
Bill Thompson, deputy commissioner of Georgia’s Film, Music & Digital Entertainment office, said 30 to 40 projects were waiting in the wings for this bill to pass. Most of them, he said, would have gone elsewhere without the added incentives.
Anthony Morris and his partner John Gibson are working on a film version of their hugely successful local play “Peachtree Battle.” These incentives, Morris said, “will make the sale of Atlanta as a site for the film much easier.”
Dan Darling, Turner’s chief information officer, said Turner Studios has already doubled its studio space in Atlanta over five years, adding 40,000 to 50,000 square feet. “This will help continue our growth here in Georgia,” he said.
Georgia was a popular spot for films in the 1970s and 1980s, but projects began drying up in the 1990s when Canada and states such as Louisiana began offering financial incentives.
The 2005 tax incentive package helped revive some production in Georgia, including the Matthew McConaughey film “We Are Marshall” and the ABC TV drama “October Road.” But actor Ric Reitz, who helped design the latest bill, said states such as New Mexico, Louisiana and South Carolina upped the ante once again in 2006, causing business to slow again last year.
Reitz said if states continue to throw even more money to film and TV production companies, he doubts Georgia will go any further than this bill. “We do have to draw the line in the sand,” he said.
Some active production companies that already do plenty of business in Georgia, such as those run by Tyler Perry and Alton Brown, will benefit greatly from this bill.
-In another business-related move, efforts by Atlanta-based Cumulus Media, which owns Q100 and Rock 100.5, to go private fell through yesterday.
Its CEO Lew Dickey and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity could not complete the $1.3 billion deal, which was first announced last July. More details here.
Blame the credit crunch, which has helped hurt several leveraged buyouts. Cumulus has the second most radio stations in the country with about 344 stations in 67 markets.
“Our business remains fundamentally sound and we intend to continue to operate it aggressively and explore opportunities to create and deliver value for our shareholders,” Dickey said in a statement on Monday, without providing details.
-The winner of the Q100 “Who Do You Know?” contest in which the person who got a big name to call in to the Bert Show won $10,000 and the celebrity got $5,000 for the charity. The winning celebrity, after an extensive debate, was Justin Timberlake. He beat out Muhammad Ali, who was favored by Bert and Jeff Dauler, while the women favored Timberlake. The argument was that Justin is more of a current pop culture icon while Ali is more a legend. Others seriously considered were Sean Connery, Morgan Freeman and Jimmy Carter.
