Posted by chicagomedia.org on February 06, 2008 at 10:02:28:
In Reply to: Sly "Fox" to Tribune posted by chicagomedia.org on February 05, 2008 at 10:47:11:
Exec may try to soup up superstation
Phil Rosenthal | Media
February 6, 2008
For those outside the immediate Chicago area, there was a time when the only place to get this city's news, sports and Bozo the Clown was through Superstation WGN.
But Bozo has thrown his last pie, you can get a report and video of any Chicago news story you want on the Internet, and sports is practically everywhere you look these days.
Which means the superstation must reinvent itself if it wants to be truly super again.
Tribune Co., owner of Superstation WGN and Chicago's WGN-Ch. 9, as well as the Chicago Tribune, this week named Fox Television Network's Ed Wilson the new president of Tribune Broadcasting with a mandate to shake things up.
"Our future now depends on this guy," Randy Michaels, Tribune's chief executive of broadcasting and interactive, said in a note to employees. "Tribune Co. has an impressive history. The history that counts is the one we are going to write together. We just snagged the best author of future history in broadcasting."
The superstation, which ranks No. 44 among U.S. cable networks despite availability in 72 million homes, is an obvious target of opportunity.
Wilson has said he envies what Time Warner has done with what once was its own superstation, WTBS, but now is the stand-alone network TBS.
Little wonder. Not only is TBS available in more than 90 million homes, Ted Turner and Time Warner used it as a veritable petri dish to develop what became TNT, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies and Turner Regional Sports.
Of course, it helped that Turner and Time Warner spent freely on key acquisitions such as the old MGM and Hanna-Barbera libraries to supply those new networks, as well as pricey rights to top-line reruns.
Tribune has hardly committed big resources to its superstation, as the quality of its offerings veered from what Channel 9 aired in Chicago. When viewers here are seeing the "WGN Morning News," for example, the superstation has reruns of "Matlock." Instead of the CW in prime time, the superstation runs shows such as "Funniest Pets & People."
Some of WGN's Cubs and White Sox baseball and Bulls basketball telecasts make it on the superstation, but not all.
"It's still all about content," said Bill Shaw, Superstation WGN's vice president and general manager. "It's just a very competitive market. There are now 75 cable networks monitored by Nielsen. It used to be one of four or one of 12. The whole universe has grown.
"If we could have some program like a 'Nip/Tuck' or a 'Monk,' that would have a real marquee position. It could be either original or something that people would be incredibly loyal to. That would be a driver. But obviously because of the failure rate in programming, that's tough to do."
Wilson looks to be ambitious, but his game plan isn't yet clear.
"What's interesting is TBS has obviously spent a great deal of money," Shaw said. "But when you look at what TBS is ... as far as what they were to what they are, it hasn't changed fundamentally. It's still a general entertainment network."
But it's a popular one.