Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Wednesday, January 31st, 2024.
BYRON ALLEN MAKES A BID FOR PARAMOUNT GLOBAL
News broke late last night that media executive Byron Allen and his Allen Media Group have made a reported $30 billion debt and equity bid for Paramount Global.
A number of industry analysts spent much of today mocking Allen and his offer and while it's true that it's not clear that he can line up the financing he'll need to make a deal, I think it's foolish to rule out the idea.
Allen built a one-off self-produced TV series he sold on a barter basis to local TV stations for their overnight weekend schedules into a company that owns 27 small and medium market TV stations, the Weather Channel, The Grio, a couple of diginets he bought from MGM and some admittedly low-rent cable networks.
I think part of the mocking reaction from analysts is a result of the fact that for the most part, Allen has never focused on quality above all else. He sets a budget that will allow the company to make money and he figures out a way to produce programming at that price point. He knows linear TV as well as anyone in the business and if there is anyone who can figure out a way to make money with Paramount Global's collection of broadcast and cable TV networks, it's Allen.
I spoke with someone today at Allen Media Group mostly off-the-record about the proposal. I have more reporting to do before I want to say more. But I will pass along that I was impressed by the way the executive framed their thinking on both the value of the linear TV assets and the ways that Paramount Global's studio and production arm as well as its IP could be sold off at a profit.
I was also surprised to hear the executive refer to an upcoming event which would change the short-term value of some of Paramount's most valued IP. It's a pretty tightly-held secret and the fact this executive had heard about it illustrated the due diligence Allen had done on Paramount Global's various assets.
PARAMOUNT+ IS REMOVING SOME INTERNATIONAL SHOWS FROM SOME PLACES...SOME TIME...MAYBE
One side effect of spending inordinate amounts of your day covering certain topics is that you find yourself spotting the flaws in news stories. You read a piece that sounds fine at first glance. But because you already know a lot of the backstory, you realize the reporting is actually just a collection of random observations.
That was the reaction I had earlier today when I read what The Hollywood Reporter bills as an "exclusive" - Paramount+ To Remove Some International Originals:
Paramount Global‘s streaming service Paramount+ is removing some international original content across its markets and will not debut some planned programming sourced outside the U.S. as part of the entertainment giant’s goal of “managing costs” and “maximizing content with the biggest impact,” including a focus on big U.S. studio franchises and a reduction in local, international originals.
Which sounds bad...but it's also confusing, because I'm not sure what the "exclusive" part is, unless the headline refers to a couple of specific titles mentioned in the second paragraph:
On Wednesday, Paramount+ in foreign markets started removing such international original fare as the film At Midnight, starring Top Gun: Maverick breakout Monica Barbaro, Brazilian series Marcelo, Marmelo, Martelo, and U.K. drama No Escape.
And what does "foreign markets" mean in this context? All markets where Paramount+ has a presence? Just some of them?
The odd thing is that the Paramount+ pullback on originals in Latin America and Europe isn't exactly a secret. It's been the topic of a lot of controversy in recent weeks, as original productions have been licensed off instead of premiering on Paramount+. In fact, the story says as much a bit later:
Some of the international titles will be leaving Paramount+ in the U.S. as well, and some of the affected content is expected to be distributed by Paramount Global Distribution, sources said.
And there is this paragraph, which I suppose is supposed to show context for the move. Except that the reasons why these titles were removed have very little to do with why Paramount+ is cutting back on originals outside the U.S.
The move comes as Hollywood giants continue to prune their streaming platforms’ content portfolios to focus on the biggest hits and license programming to third parties. Among others, Warner Bros. Discovery more than a year ago canceled or pulled from its services such titles as Minx, Westworld and The Nevers, while in-development projects like Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 3 were axed. Later, the Walt Disney Co. took titles off Hulu and Disney+, including Y: The Last Man, Little Demon, Big Shot, The Mighty Ducks, Turner & Hooch, Willow and The World According to Jeff Goldblum.
There is an actual story here: the fact that Paramount+ has decided that it is going to cut spending on local originals. Despite plenty of evidence from competitors that the best way to grow internationally is to produce and/or license a slate of locally-produced titles. So is Paramount+ giving up on a lot of its global ambitions?
Maybe. But reading this "exclusive" bit of reporting won't help at all with that question.
SPEAKING OF BAD PARAMOUNT+ REPORTING
A number of sites today had a story that was obviously based on a press release. Which is fine, except for the fact that most reporters just lightly re-wrote the release and didn't provide the needed context. For example, this piece in The Hollywood Reporter:
Colin From Accounts will return. Paramount+ has handed out a second-season renewal for the Australian romantic-comedy starring and created by Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer.
That certainly makes it sound as if the show is getting a second season *because* it was picked up by Paramount+. Except that season two of the Australian series went into production in December. So while Paramount+ might want to frame this as "picking up season two," it's really just licensing a second season in the same way that shows are licensed without fanfare all of the time.
And I don't know what to make of this closing paragraph, which makes licensing an original series from Australia sound exotic, instead of something that networks have been doing for more than decade:
Colin is the latest example of an international series finding success domestically a la Netflix’s Squid Game, Elite and Sex Education, among many others. The co-production with an international partner also helps keep budgets down with global distribution rights affording larger companies like CBS Studios parent Paramount Global to sell the series into multiple territories.
TV TO KEEP ON YOUR RADAR
It's been a slow couple of weeks on the TV premiere front (and remember, you can keep track of every premiere on this comprehensive page). But things are finally picking up a bit. Reviews for the show are still under embargo until Thursday morning, but the Donald Glover reboot of Mr. & Mrs. Smith premieres Friday on Prime Video.
Tomorrow (Thursday), the MLK/X edition of NatGeo's Genius premieres, along with a food show starring longtime Food Network personality Carla Hall that Warner Bros. Discovery made a Max exclusive. And Peacock has Kings From Queens: The Run DMC Story, which will be a treat for fans, but it doesn't quite make it to the "must watch" level.
On Friday, along with the previously mentioned Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Paramount+ is premiering the delightful animated film The Tiger's Apprentice. I'll be posting a review of that film on AllYourScreens tomorrow.
And speaking of Paramount+, season two of Halo premieres next Thursday. This afternoon I spoke with Joseph Morgan, who joins the show this season as James Ackerson. It was an interesting conversation that focused a lot on his acting choices in the series and I'll post a link to that interview in next Wednesday's newsletter once the piece goes live.
TWEET OF THE DAY
ODDS AND SODS
* The group of people who care about this news is likely pretty small. But I was pleased to see in The Ankler that a group of investors led by Jason Reitman have apparently acquired the historic Westwood Village movie theater. It's been in economic trouble for at least a decade. But back in the dinosaur days, I was going to school at UCLA and living in what was then a thriving Westwood right around the corner from the original Rhino Records and the old Westwood Comedy Store (where I started my stand-up career). Westwood has had a long, difficult spell since then and it's good to see someone stepping up to save one of the last old-school Hollywood relics in the area.
* The new season of Spring Baking Championship premieres Monday, March 4th on the Food Network.
* A Florida judge dismissed Disney’s lawsuit against Gov. DeSantis over the dissolution of the former district the company maintained de facto control over, ruling that Disney lacked standing to bring the suit.
NO....MAYBE *THIS* IS THE TWEET OF THE DAY
WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND THIS WEEKEND
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31ST:
* Alexander: The Making Of A God (Netflix) - [photo gallery]
* Assembled: The Making Of Echo (Disney+)
* Baby Bandito Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Choir Series Premiere (Disney+)
* Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans (FX)
* Shattered Glass: A WNBPA Story (Tubi)
* The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights Of The Apocalypse Season Premiere (Netflix)
* The Unbreakable Tatiana Suarez (HBO)
* Will (Netflix)
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST:
* A Bloody Lucky Day Series Premiere (Paramount+)
* Africa Rising With Afua Hirsch (BritBox)
* Chasing Flavor With Carla Hall Series Premiere (Max)
* Clone High Season Two Premiere (Max)
* Erica Nicole Clark Stand Up Special (ALLBLK)
* Fame After Fame Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Farmer Wants A Wife Season Premiere (Fox)
*Genius: MLK/X (NatGeo)
* I Wasn't Expecting A Baby! Series Premiere (Lifetime) - [photo gallery]
* Kings From Queens: The Run DMC Story (Peacock)
* Lunar Lockdown (ALLBLK)
* Sabotaging The Squad (LMN)
* Three Little Birds Series Premiere (BritBox) - [first look video]
SEE YOU THURSDAY!