Continue reading Tina Fey denies McDonald's product placement on '30 Rock'

Tina Fey denies McDonald's product placement on '30 Rock' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Winners of 2008. See all 20.

2008 was Tina Fey's year as the award-winning TV star, writer, and creator of 30 Rock, then completing her first hit movie Baby Mama, followed by a return as SNL's Sarah Palin. Fey is now one of the most sought after people in Hollywood.

Evidence of this can be found in the recent Barbara Walters interview listing her as one of the ten most interesting people of the year as well as the current issue of Vanity Fair.

Sarah Palin was a gold mine for political pundits, tabloids, and comedians alike during her run as the vice presidential sidekick of John McCain, but to none more than Tina Fey, the seven-time Emmy award-winning star and writer. Fey's satiric renditions of Palin brought more publicity to both women then either of them could have hoped for.

Continue reading Money winners of 2008: Tina Fey, writer, producer, actress, superstar

Money winners of 2008: Tina Fey, writer, producer, actress, superstar originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC is really feeling the heat of the recession. NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker thinks that reducing the number of primetime hours on the network should be considered a viable option for controlling costs and for adjusting to the current media landscape that seems to favor cable networks over traditional broadcasting entities like Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ABC and CBS (NYSE: CBS). He also speculates that reducing the actual number of days that the network programs may be necessary at some point.

I find all this very amusing. I think what Zucker is essentially saying is that NBC needs to think more like a cable network. I would agree, and have argued for this before. Let's face it, the broadcast networks are dinosaurs in many ways. They just can't compete in a world where cable channels are popular and are constantly repeating cheaply produced shows to keep costs at a sane level. Take Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) MTV as an example. How many times have there been marathons of The Real World? Likewise, if you come in late on an episode of Celebrity Rehab, you know you'll have other opportunities to catch the whole thing at another time. Not only is that time-shifting model convenient, it saves money, too.

This is how NBC should think. Sure, it'd be a culture shock, but what if hits like Heroes and 30 Rock were repeated a few times in a single week? That presents a problem, of course. The talent and production companies behind those shows would demand extra compensation. Well, that's where Zucker should come in. He needs to go to the Hollywood community and tell them that things just aren't working out these days for the network. Zucker has to be staunch and let everyone know what a bind NBC is in and that, for everyone's sake, license fees should better reflect the current reality. The networks have experimented with repeating shows during the week, but not to the extent I'd like to see. I mean, really, does Saturday Night Live only have to be seen on Saturday Night?

Continue reading Is NBC panicking?

Is NBC panicking? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.