Rickey Smiley to Hot 97?

Courtesy: Uptown Magazine

The New York Post sprinkled in a tidbit about the future of Hot 97 in an article which discussed why Angie Martinez made the move to Power 105 (SPOILER: her salary doubled).

Last week at a dinner for stand-up comedian Rickey Smiley thrown by Uptown magazine, guests were buzzing that Hot 97 may pick up Smiley’s radio show, which is syndicated in 70 markets. Smiley is considered a protégé of Steve Harvey.

Smiley and his morning show crew are already seen on "Dish Nation" on the local New York City Fox affiliate but having a daily spot puts his show on a different platform. Here a couple of observations:

• Smiley's show has a very Southern humor feel to it when it comes to the scenarios which are discussed on the show to even the host's accents. Will New Yorkers be able to relate to the show's hosts personally?

• Even if they're able to relate to New Yorkers, does Hot 97 really expect anyone they put on air to beat "The Breakfast Club"? The show has already solidified it's place as an authentic, vital destination for hip hop heads. Despite the RSMS cast's chemistry, I'm not sure their humor will be enough to stay competitive.

• I wonder if Hot 97 ceding their morning show slot to syndication would spark a website to start a local NYC hip hop morning show alternative to both Hot 97 and The Breakfast Club since TBC has lost a lot of its local flavor after going national.

• What happens to Ebro, Rosenberg and Cipha Sounds? Could they continue to work for Hot 97 exclusively online through their "Juan Epstein" podcast and fill-in on the radio whenever a staff member takes off? Could they be in line to replace and compete against Angie Martinez? If they happen to be let go, they could become very useful for TV networks seeking voices to define them like Revolt, Music Choice and Fuse.

• The two biggest winners in this potential move are Rickey Smiley and Radio One. 

• Smiley's family-friendly humor is proving to be triumphant and his success is being validated with the addition of a new affiliate in New York. Coming soon, he could make a full crossover to mainstream America in the same way Steve Harvey did (as the NYP mentions). 

• Radio One has struggled to get their personalities on-air in New York (the biggest radio market in the United States) for years but in the next couple of weeks, Radio One could have up to four of their hosts with affiliates in New York. This is all being done without having to spend millions of dollars trying to buy stations (Tom Joyner and D.L. Hughley just joined a new adult urban radio station owned by Cumulus Radio; Al Sharpton is already on-air in NYC).

Ahmad Rashad Gets His Own Television Show

Earlier this year, Ahmad Rashad's old television show "NBA Inside Stuff" returned to television. Now, the former Oregon running back is making a return of his own.

Rashad didn't leave television permanently after ABC cancelled his "NBA Inside Stuff" successor ("NBA Access") and Ernie Johnson replaced him on NBA TV Fan Night. He hosted a couple of interview specials over the years for NBA TV during All-Star Weekend as well as after the Finals were over.

But for the first time since 2009, Rashad will once again become a weekly fixture available on television sets all over America especially if you have DirecTV.

Rashad will be hosting and executive producing his own primetime interview show for a new golf lifestyle TV network launching in September on DirecTV known as Back9Network. The self-titled "Ahmad Rashad Show" will take a behind the scenes look at the world of golf with interviews featuring golfers, newsmakers and everything in between.

The 64-year-old Emmy Award-winning sportscaster, who is expected to continue his duties with NBA TV, had been working diligently before this announcement despite the lack of his own television platform. 

As late as January, he was hosting a "Where Are They Now?" sports podcast and also recently hosted a question and answer session featuring Kevin Durant live from the Newseum in Washington, DC on Nike's YouTube channel. He also did voice overs for "Sprint's The Crossover" segments which aired during ABC's coverage of the NBA Finals.

Rashad has established relationships with Tiger Woods, President Obama and many other celebrities and athletes. Don't be surprised if you see them as guests on the program which will look to be the golf version of "Oprah's Next Chapter."

UPDATE - Bill Murray will be the show's first guest.

Weinstein Company Buys Graham Norton Show, Selling It's TV Division

Not too long ago, Harvey Weinstein was shouting praise towards the ever-changing television industry and decided he wanted his company to become more intrinsically involved with the growing medium. Seven months later, according to the New York Times, he's changed his mind.

TWC is exploring spinning off it's television division into a public company or selling the company to a strategic partner who would own the company but keep Weinstein involved.

People who were briefed on the plan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it was still being developed, said Mr. Weinstein was seeking cash to finance a major expansion that could include one or more new television channels.

What an interesting development. I wonder how TWC would have the ability to start a new television network featuring their content when they just signed a new pay TV window agreement with Netflix which begins in 2016. Maybe Netflix isn't considered real television under the terms of their deal? There's also this little tidbit from Variety about the current television rightsholder of TWC movies:

Showtime said it will continue to carry The Weinstein Co.’s films “well into 2018.” Premium cabler has exclusive output deal with TWC for movies released in theaters through 2015, which means studio’s films will premiere in their premium window on Showtime and The Movie Channel (as well as multiplex channels) through 2017 and will air in their first windows on the networks into 2018.

Back to the NYT article:

At the same time, they said, Mr. Weinstein is considering selling the television unit to a digitally minded corporate giant like Yahoo, Amazon or Google, any of which might use its reach to bolster his company’s presence on the web and elsewhere. 

He is also said to believe that a digital buyer like Google or Amazon might become a partner in supporting his films. “Teaming with one of the giants could become a promotional tool for the movie side,” one person briefed on the proposition said. 

Amazon, Yahoo and Netflix are definitely top contenders for this type of partnership. Netflix already works with TWC as mentioned above while Yahoo has shown recently that it isn't bullish when it comes to spending money for television content. I'm not sure Google would be a viable player in this kind of partnership because they seem more focused on building and molding their own characters instead of relying on the establishment.

Amazon might be the favorite because they have an extensive business besides video which they could use to promote TWC's empire. They also have the most to gain since Prime is still considered second-class compared to Netflix by many observers. TWC's content together with the recent HBO deal they signed could be what it takes to get them over the hump.

Another intriguing portion of the story involved a BBC series:

Weinstein also is betting on dozens of development projects and a handful of foreign series. Recently, for instance, the company acquired North American rights to “The Graham Norton Show,” a BBC talk show, according to the people briefed on its plans.

The show currently airs on BBC America and is scheduled to air over the next two weeks on July 6th and July 12th. Because of BBC America's reach, Norton's show has had wider distribution across the United States than it's ITV rival, "The Jonathan Ross Show," which airs Saturday nights at 11pm on Cinemoi, a French movie channel which is only available on Verizon FiOS.

Norton could lose his reach depending on when and how TWC implements the rights they've acquired. If TWC sells it's television division and is able to begin it's own television network with the money it earns, the show could land there. The problem with that prospect is that it could become extremely difficult for the new network to gain carriage across major cable operators like Comcast (it might be smart for TWC to start a network with a cable operator as a minority owner to guarantee some sort of carriage).

It could also land on Ovation TV, which TWC owns 25% stake in, but that might be a problem for Norton's telecast as well because Ovation has had altercations with cable operators who are dissatisfied with their ratings and have threatened to drop the network. The other option? TWC may also keep the show running on BBC America.

Norton's American counterpart on NBC, Jimmy Fallon, hasn't faced the same ordeal because NBC keeps the show in it's empire through airings on CNBC Europe. There are no plans for NBC to sell the show to another company and there's no word as to why the BBC sold one of it's shows to another company.

Honda Stage Shouldn't Concern Cable Television

Japanese automaker Honda recently announced a new foray into the internet which is pretty monumental and has shocked many media observers. Here are the details from USA Today:

In a move sure to be closely watched, Honda said Wednesday it is committing millions of dollars to create its own YouTube music channel featuring recorded performances from dozens of live events and concerts.

Honda is teaming with concert promotors Live Nation, radio giant Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, Sean "Diddy" Combs Revolt, Vevo and YouTube in the initiative. 

Billboard describes why Honda made this move:

The automaker has found TV a challenging place to reach its biggest growth segment, 20-to-35-year-olds, who are increasingly on the go, on their phones (U.S. smartphone penetration reached a record 65.2% in 2013, per ComScore) and fast-forwarding through ads when they watch linear television at all (DVR penetration reached an all-time high of 49% of TV households in 2013, according to Nielsen). Honda is allocating its entire cable budget -- “and some more,” says the company -- into music this summer. 

According to reports, Honda and their partners will be teaming up together in the following ways:

• Live Nation events and artists will be featured prominently on the channel.
• Clear Channel will co-produce concerts featured on the channel once a month. The concerts will held at IHeartRadio Theatre in Los Angeles (whose stage is being renamed Honda Stage) and will be simulcasted on Clear Channel radio stations/IHeartRadio.
• Revolt's LA studios will also have their stage renamed Honda Stage and Revolt will co-produce concerts which'll be featured on the channel. 
• Vevo will be distributing all of Honda Stage's concerts throughout their platforms.

This venture is a major win for consumers. Millennials will have another option online to watch some of their favorite artists perform free of charge. It's also a win for the internet. In order for YouTube to eclipse television, they need advertisers to trust in their product and content creators to invest loads of money (they get the best of both worlds in this deal). Despite these benefits, I don't understand how this helps Honda, here's why:

• YouTube viewership is extremely sporadic. There is no guarantee who will tune in to watch a YouTube clip during a certain time period unlike in television where there is already a precedent set because of trends which have existed for years. Because of this factor, it may take longer for some videos to develop an audience which could make it harder to sell products in a timely manner. For example, a video promoting a 2014 model could pick up steam in 2015 or later.

• There doesn't seem to be any brand interaction between the products and the artists performing. Placing your brand name in connection with a concert isn't going to create brand affinity unless consumers actually see the product in action hence why commercials still exist. As much as everyone hates commercials, they're still a pretty effective way to get your message out there if produced correctly.

Cable networks shouldn't be concerned with this move because viewers still watch cable.......in the millions. There are many businesses and companies who still value the platform which cable provides which is why they'll never run out of advertisers. Here is a graph courtesy of TVNewser which proves that point. 

Independent cable networks such as Pivot or Fuse may be hurt by this move because it means there is one less established advertiser who is willing to take a risk on a network which doesn't garner high ratings compared to the ESPNs and USA Networks of the world. 

But the dearth in advertisers could help increase competition and creativity in the types of shows which get picked up by these independent networks. It's always great for television when a network owned by a non-media conglomerate is willing to take risks in an industry which has been known for being bland (blandness on TV has ironically helped the internet emerge).

Can Internet Sports Channels Rival ESPN? Part 1

For many years, ESPN has been the most dominant force in sports television. It's online, television and print offerings are high-quality and their throne has never been seriously challenged by anyone. Those who tried to challenge it usually fell short and ceased operations.

In this era where sports are bigger than they've ever been, there are more rivals for ESPN than ever before. Fox and Turner, who both started ESPN rivals in the 90s which failed to put a dent into ESPN's superiority, have come back with a vengeance in an attempt to accomplish this major feat. But, the most interesting rivals who've emerged come from the world wide web.

Internet sports channels have found a new way to connect with fans by providing an exclusive peek into the lifestyle of those who influence the games we watch. They've also provided viewers with videos featuring different stunts and tricks which will probably catch the attention of a younger audience more than two talking heads arguing about a topic. There is also a sense of uncensorship which the likes of ESPN couldn't commit to for various reasons.

The two big determinants to rivaling the likes of ESPN will be advertising and winning sports rights. As of now, none of these channels seem poised to acquire live games because of their dependence on YouTube which distributes their content. This conscious coupling forces the channels to split ad revenue with the video behemoth. If any of these entities were to ever become serious about competing for deals with television networks, they would need their own video player and their own infrastructure to pull it off in order to prevent having to split any profits with YouTube. The likelihood of splitting is slim to none because it's unlikely that any of these channels will be willing to leave the comfort of YouTube, the number one distributor of online video. It's hard to convince online viewers to leave YouTube for a different standalone video website no matter how good the content is. Previous attempts have been unsuccessful.

(On a sidenote - Online video distributor Google is considering a bid for Saturday night NBA games. If they win, it'll be interesting to see if Google produces those games in a traditional television style or if they end up as a free-flow internet style broadcast. I'm also curious as to whether they would import talent from Internet sports channels who aren't traditional journalists)

It's also hard for internet sports channels to garner television-style advertising deals because the Internet doesn't have an established ratings system like television. It is also more likely that advertisers will be exposed to a bigger mass audience on television than they would online because viewing habits and behaviors haven't transformed as much as we think they have....yet. Television still remains the dominant visual medium. 

"Blacktree TV," an entertainment program, recently moved from YouTube to actual television and they told StreamDaily that their profit from television overpowered their internet profit by far even though they're on a new television network (Soul of the South is currently available in 14 U.S. markets) which doesn't have as much reach as the internet.

“Eighty percent of our revenues came from YouTube 2 years ago, and now we’ve flipped it,” says BlackTree TV founder Jamaal Finkley. “We still appreciate what the YouTube ad sales revenue does for us, but traditional [TV] dollars are a better backbone for building a media business.”

This tells you that many traditional advertisers are still more comfortable investing in an obscure television show instead of a YouTube video even if the online video garners more views over time than the show does in it's scheduled timeslot. 

Advertisers want guarantees from television networks in terms of the number of viewers who'll tune in to a certain show during a certain time period. Online video can't provide that luxury to advertisers yet because viewership is so sporadic. Advertisers know what they're paying for with television networks but that same precedent doesn't exist with online channels.

Internet sports channels have a long way to go before they can seriously rival their traditional television counterparts but there's no question that if they continue to build up their fanbases and produce quality programming that they'll put a dent into ESPN and Fox Sports' profit margins sooner rather than later. Internet sports channels are focused on successfully producing something which has rarely translated successfully onto sports television: quality sports lifestyle and entertainment programming.

ESPN Getting Cozy With MSNBC?

When Dan Patrick began the second incarnation of his radio show, post-ESPN, he faced undeserved heat from the empire he most commonly refers to as "The Mothership." ESPN wouldn't let The DP Show include any of their employees as guests. It was a policy which reeked of bitterness and stupidity but it wasn't something which was mutually-exclusive to Keith Olbermann's better half.

ESPN didn't want to aide it's competition by allowing their employees to appear on non-ESPN shows or by allowing competitors on ESPN's shows either. Fortunately, things have changed over the years with ESPN's management. They've relaxed these policies and they're now sharing their wealth of talent with the entire media universe. Just over the past couple of weeks, Dan Patrick has featured Dan Le Batard, Sage Steele and Bomani Jones on his show.

The Connecticut-based sports empire has used unique ways to showcase their various faces for show and tell. ESPN has befriended national publications such as The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter and USA Today to promote their latest shows, products and personalities. The most intriguing move I've seen though is the proliferation of ESPN personalities on MSNBC.

Sports have played a role in the national conversation lately with all of the controversy surrounding Donald Sterling (which explains why MSNBC would need a guest/panelist from ESPN in the first place). But, it's still intriguing to me that MSNBC has relied on ESPN's personalities giving their perspectives when NBC has it's own sports department and their own personalities who're also capable of weighing in on issues (and need as much promotion as possible to have any chance at rivaling ESPN).

Over the last year, MSNBC has featured ESPN personalities such as:

• Jeremy Schaap
• Sage Steele
• Jemele Hill (6 appearances)
• Cari Champion 
• Jon Gruden
• Andy Katz
• Michael Smith (2 appearances)
• Matthew Berry

I personally love the idea of seeing cross-network appearances once in a while because you're seeing personalities interact with each other who wouldn't normally do so due to their places of employment. I'm just intrigued in the fact that it has happened so often in this scenario. 

Here's a list of the NBC Sports employees who've appeared on MSNBC during the same time period:

• Anita Marks
• Jimmy Roberts
• Bob Costas
• Jordan Schultz
• Rob Simmelkjaer

The most recent appearance happened recently on "All In With Chris Hayes". Jeremy Schaap was a guest on the show promoting an E:60 report he conducted about World Cup workers being taken advantage of in Qatar. This type of story is definitely interesting to MSNBC's prominently liberal audience due to the implications it has on worker's rights. 

It makes me wonder if ESPN would consider collaborating with MSNBC on these types of stories which delve into the intersection between sports and politics since they've seem to become so cozy.

It wouldn't be unprecedented considering ESPN almost collaborated with PBS on a documentary involving football player concussions, although I'm sure ABC News would reject any type of partnership between a major rival and their corporate cousin.

I also wonder whether these appearances are just another perk involved in the trade which ESPN and NBC agreed to earlier this year involving Michelle Beadle and Ryder Cup cable rights?

** It should be noted that other ESPN personalities have appeared on other cable news networks as well. Stephen A. Smith was on Anderson Cooper 360 on May 23rd and May 29th discussing the Donald Sterling situation.

ESPN spokesperson David Scott responded to this story with the following:

We have no problem allowing our talent on other networks and if there’s been an “increase” as you claim, it’s due to the recent news cycles that have caught the attention of news networks. When big sports stories break, ESPN’s experts are in high demand because of their insight and depth of knowledge they provide daily to fans of ESPN.

Source: MSNBC.com 

Quick Takes: Vice/Time Warner, Viacom/Defy, Ann Curry

- Vice/Time Warner

This deal poses a lot more questions than answers if it goes through:

1. How does Vice uphold it's place as being anti-establishment if it's owned by the establishment?

2. Vice shares a lot of ideals with HLN's new shows launching in the fall, but if Vice takes control of HLN, will it want to keep those shows or start anew with a fresh slate of its own branded shows?

3. Will Time Warner be willing to support two separate international news organizations or will FTVLive's rumors come to pass with CNN being sold. TW has shown in the past it is willing to let go of legacy brands (Aol, Time Warner Cable, Time).

4. How do CNN and Vice work together? Does an increase in Vice's international budget mean a decrease in CNN's? Can Shane Smith actually work with a network he has such disdain for (even though he partnered with them back in 2010)?

5. If HLN becomes Vice TV, will it be 100% news or will we see adequate representation from all of the branches of Vice i.e. Vice Sports, Creators Project, Noisey etc.

6. What happens to the CNN Center? Vice TV would presumably produce all programming in NYC since that is where Vice is located. This would leave CNN Center with only CNN's weekend shows and Turner Sports left as tenants. The control rooms for all of Turner's networks also exist in the building but those could just as easily transfer to NYC as well.

7. What happens to HLN's talent? Robin Meade beats CNN's morning show on many occasions but she surely doesn't fit Vice's strategy or demographic. Is she transferred to CNN or will she be a free agent? The same could be asked about Nancy Grace, Jane Velez-Mitchell and Dr. Drew; each of whom I don't believe would find it difficult to attain another television position if they were released.

8. Does online success transfer to 24 hour cable news television? Vice is successful online and is able to garner millions of views daily. Their HBO show is also critically acclaimed but is Time Warner sure that Vice has enough content and brand loyalty to fill in 24 hours a day and turn in a profit? Vice's content closely matches Current TV, which is now six feet under, buried and forgotten.

- Viacom/Defy Media

The crossing of brands in this deal is limitless which makes it such a great partnership. Viacom's number 1 network, Nickelodeon, has had problems with viewership recently due to the fact that it's chief rival Disney constantly finds a way to build up big franchises and stars to anchor it's ship to victory. The same can't be said for Nickelodeon, where there are no big major stars synonymous with the network other than Spongebob. Defy Media gives Nick some new stars with a built in audience to mold their network around including YouTube's #1 comedy duo known as Smosh. Nick has already started using this strategy with members of AwesomessnessTV and The Fine Bros. and with this deal, it'll be much easier to connect with some of the Internet's rising stars. Tosh.o and Ridiculousness from Comedy Central and MTV respectively also gain a plethora of video content to use from Break.com while TeenNick will be able to find its own identity with Clevver News, which reaches a similar teenage girl audience as the network which mostly airs Degrassi and reruns of Nick shows. These are just some of the crossings which are possible through this deal.

- Vector Management/Eric Ortner Media Group

Ann Curry's manager just landed a new joint venture deal with Live Nation which could signal the route which Curry's next chapter will take. Eric Ortner promises to create new opportunities for his journalist clients to expand their presence. Curry's teary exit from "Today" will leave many networks weary of giving her a traditional anchor/reporter position which is why I expect Curry to utilize her following (1 million+ followers on Twitter) and her passion for stories to become her own brand which re-engineers how consumers get their news. Distributing stories in the same way Live Nation distributes it's music could be an interesting experiment that Curry decides to delve into. Does this mean in Curry's next endeavor, we'll see her moderate her own town halls/live discussions on major international issues? Another idea would be to launch her own documentary series which can be expanded into different ventures in the same vein as Ortner's other client Soledad O'Brien and her Black in America series.