Strike puts TV critics press tour in limbo
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Scott Collins/Channel Island Column
NEXT month, reporters and TV critics from all over the nation are supposed to converge on the Hilton Universal City to get the skinny on the latest shows. Top talent and executives are scheduled to turn up for press conferences and lavish parties hosted by some of the industry’s biggest guns.
How big? Folks, we’re talking HDNet, GSN and Starz.
Wait, not what you had in mind? Well, me neither. Not to cast aspersions on any of these fine programmers (hey, I actually watch HDNet), but second-tier cable networks don’t embody the hoo-ha one usually associates with the Television Critics Assn. Press Tour, where programmers would flog their wares every July and January, until the strike began.
Reporters cover TCA to nab some great quotes from Teri Hatcher or Mark Burnett, not to grab some clips from ‘Greatest Game Show Moments.’
Even if you’ve never heard of TCA, it has an impact on what you know about TV. Much of what Americans read and hear about the television business is generated during this event.