Turner CEO says heavy Web exposure made company lose interest in reruns of 'Modern Family'

"Modern Family" co-creator and executive producer Steve Levitan has not been shy about voicing his concerns that the show's exposure on the Web would hurt its long-term value and ratings. Last year he complained publicly on Twitter and with reporters about the hit ABC sitcom being available for free both on the network's website and on Hulu.

Seems that Turner Broadcasting Chief Executive Phil Kent shares some of Levitan's concerns. Speaking Tuesday afternoon at Citigroup's Global Entertainment, Media & Telecommunications Conference, Kent said Turner, parent of the cable network TBS, which buys lots of sitcom reruns, pulled out of bidding for "Modern Family" for that very reason. 

Turner, Kent said, "thought it was a little too prevalent on the Internet."  NBC Universal's USA Network did not share those same concerns, shelling out about $1.4 million for reruns of the show. TBS was said to have bid just over $1 million per episode for "Modern Family."

One of the concerns of making shows available on multiple platforms is that the rerun value and appeal to viewers will be diminished.

So far, there are no signs of that happening, but down the road it is likely to become an issue or at least a negotiating ploy for buyers of reruns. Kent indicated that Turner is already negotiating terms in its deals for reruns that limit exposure on other platforms.

In a wide-ranging interview, Kent said he thinks there is a lot of media hysteria about consumers cutting the cord to their cable services in favor of trying to scavenge for content on the Web.

"We just don't see it," Kent said of all the stories about people starting to cut the cord to their cable service. He added that he didn't think cord-cutting would be a "big problem" anytime in the near future.

On the programming front, Kent expressed disappointment with the performance of the new CNN show "Parker Spitzer," which has not been setting the world on fire in terms of ratings. The political debate program features columnist Kathleen Parker and former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer discussing the news of the day.

"The show is not everything we want it to be at this point," Kent said, adding that the network is not happy with the execution of the program. Advertising revenue from CNN's prime-time lineup, Kent said, accounts for only 10% of all of CNN's revenues.

Kent also hinted to cable operators that he thinks Cartoon Network is underpriced and that Turner will be looking to increase the carriage fee.

"Honestly, I don't think we get fair value for that," Kent said. According to SNL Kagan, an industry research firm, Cartoon Network costs distributors about 18 cents per subscriber per month.

-- Joe Flint

 Photos: Top: "Modern Family." Credit: Mario Perez/ABC. Right: Phil Kent. Credit: Turner Broadcasting.

Comments

[Nina]

And yet, Seinfeld, Friends, Star Treks, etc rerun all over the place & someone is watching them.

[Brett]

What a dinosaur!

In the age of multi-platforming media and ubiquitous digital piracy, his company wants to negotiate exclusive deals for old - old! - content on television.

He's also shocked that Parker Spitzer, a generic political talk show in a line-up that's full of them, isn't doing as well. I'm shocked, but not because the show is failing.

[Fiamma]

This article on Paid Content bothers me more, again it's the Turner CEO:

"Addressing what he called “the elephant in the room,” Kent singled out Netflix as the fly in the ointment when it came to the syndicated acquisitions two of his biggest cable properties, TBS and TNT, count on as key to their businesses. He spoke of a dawning awareness throughout the TV industry “to the long-term effect to having top-tiered programming on SVOD services,” he said, referring specifically to Netlix. “We tell our suppliers, the studios we buy from: This is going to have a significant impact on what we’ll be willing to pay for programming or even bid at all.”

But if you thought Kent was being hard on the studios—Warner Bros. is actually a corporate sibling of Turner’s—that’s nothing compared to what he says the industry is doing to Netflix to effectively block Reed Hastings from getting his hands on premium TV series. The new and old broadcast sitcoms and dramas Turner pays billions for may never even get an opportunity to be on Netflix because Kent implied SVOD rights are being “frozen” in the latest rounds of dealmaking.

Kent also talked up what he positioned as “a fantastic consumer alternative to SVOD”: TV Everywhere. He spoke of the progress the cable operators’ authentication strategy was making, including an upcoming deal with Comcast that he indicated would set the standard for programming deals in that nascent area."

TVEverywhere requires that you be a paid cable customer, for those who don't know.

Sounds like restraint of trade to me.

[Dave Andrews]

I hate when box-minded execs say that a show is available "free" on the internet. Ad-supported is not the same as free. Does he have a problem with it airing for "free" on television?

It's shown on the internet via the same support method as broadcast television. that's not "free" and it's superior to TV for advertisers, because viewers can't bulldoze their way through commercials with a DVR.

Escape that box, guys! It's a new day for entertainment media. Producers and 'net execs will have to move with the flood of change or be swept away by it.

[Brian]

I bet he doesn't think DVD sales are a culprit.

[J]

ABC doesn't think Netflix is such a bad idea. I think you'll see the companies go for deals that don't freeze streaming and then add streaming revenue on top of it unless the freeze results in LOTS of money.

[Eric79]

This is like the United States Postal Service blaming FedEx and AT&T for the decline in package delivery and personal letter writing. Times change and business models change with them or they get left behind. Do you need a Poloroid Instamatic camera in the digital camera age? Of course not. Where is Poloroid today? Do you need fax machines in the age of email. Yes, for a few things but for the most part you can get along without a fax. Why are they even starting negotiations for a show that only has 30+ episodes and been on two years? It's way too soon. I realize there are only a few sitcoms left on TV but that is also a sign of the times. As my mother used to be fond of saying, "Get with the program."

[Dan greenblatt]

Hence the success of USA. If it really were a problem, FX would have it at a bargain rate and would be ecstatic. Why are Kent's comments not seen as nothing more than negotiating in the press? Rounding out Prime Schedules with first run ethnic comedies which have no subseqent value in syndication, is a failed strategy. "A" material is always worth the cost if succeeding /leading is the objective. Congratulations to USA, where parent co.(GE) stock grows while Turner parent (TWX) languishes .

[mac]

Memo to Kent:Your Cartoon Network sucks. From a cartoon fan.

[mac]

Memo to Eric79:Negotiations for MF should have started once the second season was green lit. Get with the real program.