To quote the Bing Crosby classic, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”. Yep, there are toys in every store. Not to mention mail order catalogs, websites, and 70% of the mass emails in my inbox right now. There’s a tree in the Grand Hotel, although now it’s a Hilton or Marriott. As for [...]
About Dan Salerno
The Power of USA’s Growing “Characters Welcome” Brand
It’s upfront season again. The broadcast networks have put their schedules out there and the selling has begun. Cable is right behind them. Series, specials, events, renewals as far as the eye can see. For television junkies it’s one of our favorite times of the year. A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to [...]
Lessons from My Father
Every father wants the best for his son. Good health, a great family, a big house. And, a fantastic job. My dad was no different. Corporate executive, high powered banker, maybe a lawyer. Major league ballplayer, preferably for the New York Yankees would have been great. Naval officer with a degree from Annapolis was pretty [...]
Going “Postseason” On Viewing
It’s October and Fall is upon us. From New England to the Carolinas, crimson, orange, and yellow foliage is beginning to burst out all over. Light jackets and sweaters are the norm. And for baseball fans like me, the postseason and World Series are here.
Behind The Ratings
Ratings. They’re the universal figures by which we determine so many things in our business. Success. Failure. Ranking. Advertising. Renewal. Cancellation. For some it’s a daily report card. Others, it comes weekly or monthly. Some live and die by the numbers. Others isolate them as one slice of feedback amongst many. For some, they symbolize [...]
My Personal Experience With Walter Cronkite
One of the fringe benefits about working in our industry is the opportunity to meet and work with celebrities of all kinds. Rubbing elbows with the famous and almost famous from the worlds of music, science, sports, politics, history, pop culture, news, and of course, Hollywood. But, if you’re really lucky, you get to cross [...]
Back to the Future
When it comes to programming, networks have been consistently vocal about wanting something new, fresh, innovative, and a number of other adjectives that describe all of the above. That’s good. Television always needs new ideas and creative approaches in storytelling, character development, and content selection. OK, so that’s nothing new. The challenge is finding all [...]
The Other Side of the Table
MIP, MIPCOM, NATPE, Realscreen, London Screenings, Monte Carlo, Sharing Stories. Over the years I’ve probably been to more than a hundred television markets and conferences, all of them as a network programmer. Last month at Realscreen, for the first time, I attended as seller. What a difference. Experiencing what a producer/seller goes through at [...]
The State of Non-Fiction Today and Realscreen 2009
The Super Bowl is behind us. Credit card bills are piling up from Christmas purchases. Congress has returned to the Capitol. The winter cold snap is at its peak and a storm is predicted for midweek. It must be Realscreen time in Washington. It’s been just over a decade since the first Realscreen Summit in [...]
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Candid Confessions of a Programmer: “I time shift”
I’m writing this week’s column while watching the 2010 Emmys on NBC. Nothing unusual about that. I watch television all the time. Almost every night in fact. Actually, come to think of it, there is. No, not multitasking while watching television. That’s been around since I began watching television as a kid. And not because [...]