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Latest Post by Dan Salerno

Dan Salerno

Candid Confessions of a Programmer: “I time shift”

How watching the live broadcast of the Emmys made me evaluate how my viewing has changed

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 [...]

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June 7, 2010

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 [...]

November 6, 2009

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 [...]

October 19, 2009

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.

September 14, 2009

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 [...]

July 20, 2009

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 [...]

May 11, 2009

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 [...]

March 9, 2009

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 [...]

February 2, 2009

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 [...]

November 24, 2008

What I’ve Learned from CNBC

Greatest television story of the year was, of course, the seemingly endless Presidential election.  Hillary or Barack?  Barack or Hillary?  McCain comes back.  Iowa, New Hampshire Michigan, Florida.  The conventions, the balloons, more speeches, the debates, and polls.  Tons of polls.  Battleground states, Chuck Todd, Allen County, Indiana.  It was the best serial television out [...]

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