No, not multitasking while watching television.  That’s been around since I began watching television as a kid.  And not because I’m watching in a hotel room on yet another business trip.   Far more commonplace than I would like.  No, what makes watching this broadcast unusual is that I’m watching it live.  Not on my DVR.  Not online at NBC’s website or Hulu or Fancast.  Not on my Slingbox.  Not on a mobile phone.  Live.  As originally scheduled by the network, including all of the commercial breaks.

Recently, I spent a week out of the country on business.  Luckily, ABC, NBC, and CBS were imported to the hotel.  It allowed me to keep up with a couple of summer favorites, but all of my cable viewing was still out of reach.  TNT, USA, A&E, History, MTV, TBS, AMC and E! all have summer originals on my viewing list.  What to do?  Network websites, Hulu, and Fancast were inaccessible outside the US.  Slingbox continues to have issues and their $30/call tech support is no longer of interest to me.  Still, no worries.  My DVR was cranking away back home, ensuring that everything would be there on my return.

Lately it seems that all my viewing is time shifted.  Not quite true, but we’re getting close.  The aforementioned DVR dominates of course.  VOD is fast becoming a reliable alternative.  AMC’s Mad Men, Starz’ Pillars of the Earth, and most of USA’s series can be found within a week of their scheduled premiere.  Checked out Comcast’s Fancast service recently. Initially, some cable nets were slow to feature their current series, but more and more are jumping on board.  Came in handy for TBS’s My Boys and MTV’s RJ Berger.

I’ve spent a good portion of my time in this business creating schedules for networks.  Now I bring my work home with me.  Many nights, it’s me, not a network programmer in New York or LA or Washington, deciding what I’m going to watch and, most importantly, when I’m going to watch it.   Tuesday becomes Friday.  Monday is a mix of Friday and Sunday.  Prime Time is no longer 8-11pm.  Some nights it can be 7-11pm, some nights 9-Mid, some nights it’s a few hours with an intermission in the middle.  Some nights it’s not even at night.  Could be early morning, late afternoon.  My call, not the network’s.

To be clear, the need for a network program schedule is far from extinct.  Audience flow, lead-in, lead-out, building a night, event scheduling, and every other strategy in a scheduler’s playbook continues to be essential to a network’s success.  My 401K is thankful for that.  But times are changing.  And, like every creative and/or technical change before it, those that embrace it will thrive.

Emmys are now over.  I’m heading over to Youtube to catch tonight’s episode of Big Brother.  Should be posted by now.

That always means trouble for male-skewing cable nets, as ESPN, NBC, ABC and CBS team up to present big pro or NCAA games Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. What’s a programmer to do in the face of these gale-force winds?

The 50-50 or female-skewing nets (A&E, TLC, Bravo, Food, etc.) don’t have to worry so much. Football isn’t the same magnetic force for their audiences that it is for the likes of History, Discovery, Nat Geo and TruTV. For these programmers, football is just plain trouble. That’s one reason why Fourth Quarter isn’t very kind to the male-skewing channels’ ratings. The only worse time for them is May, when the combination of sweeps, season and series finales, and the NBA playoffs make reading the Nielsen overnights pretty miserable.

But adversity always creates opportunity; in this case, for producers. Looking at the ratings history, the producer who comes up with an on-brand series that happens to skew 50-50 or 60-40 female/male may be able to fill a slot or two on the ratings-hungry male-skewing nets. In the current environment, that probably means some sort of entertaining docu-reality series, real-life crime or a number of proven “dual-audience” genres. By “docu-reality” I mean something profiling real people doing something, not a reality game-show in the “Survivor” or “Bachelor” vein. These programs take a long time to format and “cast,” so it’s likely too late to cook something up for this fall. But it may be a great time to pitch something for next fall. As the typically-bleak Sun-Mon-Thu-Fri-Sat ratings come in the next few weeks (and months), programmers and development chiefs will be looking for something to keep pace with the competition next football season. And your series might be just the ticket.

So think like a programmer, feel their gridiron-induced pain, and help them avoid it next year. That not-so-male series could be very effective counter-programming, and make you some of those programmers’ very best friend.

This all came to me after finally getting around to watching Robert Kenner’s documentary FOOD INC . I’d delayed partly because I’d read Fast Food Nation and wasn’t sure I wanted to also see what the reality is behind what we often consume. But I’m glad I watched it. The DVD case said something like, “This is not only a good documentary, it’s an important one.” And this is true. It represents the best of what a documentary is capable of — affecting positive changed in the hearts and minds of viewers.

How does this apply to television networks? During my viewing of FOOD INC, most of the movie I was simmering over the greed of the large food conglomerates — always moving towards greater efficiency, indifferent to the integrity of the products they create and the health of the people who consume them. Then I thought, “Well it’s basic supply and demand and maybe we’re to blame for creating a demand for their hormone-infused, genetically modified mutant chickens!” I realized, same applies to television: networks are for-profit distribution platforms whose purpose is to maximize profit by giving consumers what they’re going to want to watch the most. So, maybe we’re to blame for, by way of our viewing preferences, voting for and a creating a demand for these “base, valueless” programs we love to loathe.

The good news is, with everything, things change. Networks have to constantly contemplate their brand and evaluate their current trajectory and plan for the future — the CABLEU.tv analysts write on this subject a good deal in their monthly research reports. But this “future of the network” is always based on a prediction of the future preferences of viewers. Part of FOOD INC’s brilliance was it’s evenness in showing how the oft-maligned Wal-Mart has recently increased the number of more expensive, organic products on its shelves. The Wal-Mart representative in the film was very clear that their sole rationale for stocking these items is when he said, “We’ve seen an increasing consumer demand for these products.” So, it wasn’t because Wal-Mart decided to take the moral high road and force us to eat healthier food; it was because of a positive lifestyle choice we’ve all been making. In keeping with this I have to think most network executives would concur, without hesitation, that they are constantly trying to grow the reach of their network by predicting and working to satisfy consumer demand in this same way.

So … we have the power. No complaints. Vote with your eyeballs.

All this said, it’s nice when network’s take a risk on airing “important” programs regardless of whether they’ll reach a maximum number of people.

In his capacity as President & Executive Producer of award-winning, NY-based Atlas Media Corp, Mr. Klein has created, written, produced and/or executive-produced series such as DR. G: MEDICAL EXAMINER (Discovery Health/TLC), MARY KNOWS BEST (SyFy), BEHIND THE BASH with Giada DeLaurentiis (Food Network), BREAKING VEGAS (History), IT COULD HAPPEN TOMORROW (Weather Channel), HUMANLY IMPOSSIBLE (National Geographic), numerous game shows, reality shows and docu-soaps as well as the forthcoming PHOWNED! (Spike TV), STALKED (Investigation Discovery), ULTIMATE ENCOUNTERS (Tru). and an UNTITLED REALITY PROJECT (History.)He recently directed the acclaimed feature documentary, MEAT LOAF: IN SEARCH OF PARADISE, which was an official selection of the Montreal World Film Festival prior to its theatrical release in 2008, and produced the controversial feature ROBERT BLECKER WANTS ME DEAD, which was released theatrically in 2009. Klein and his work have been featured and reviewed extensively in publications such as the New York Times, Variety, RealScreen, Broadcasting & Cable, Hollywood Reporter, Crain’s Business, Entertainment Weekly, and World Screen News. Klein is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the International Documentary Association, and he serves on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE).

USA Network hasn’t acquired a major sitcom in years, mainly because its strategy has been focused on one hour dramas. Then again, it wasn’t until recently when the focus has been on such a strong sitcom in years since the reality craze took over and a good percentage of the primetime programming audience. In walks MODERN FAMILY. A powerhouse comedic series that not only rose to the top of the ratings charts for ABC, but was a critical success as well. MODERN FAMILY hits the ideal Madison Avenue demographics of Adults 18-49 and is fresh off ABC with no other prior exposure. It’s a win-win for USA. Not only does USA acquire the exclusive syndication rights that enable the network to freshen its line-up with a new series they can strip, it also allows them to acquire a series with a built in audience in which they can launch a new half-hour original.

While reality fare is present and brings in big ratings, it lacks an afterlife. Sitcoms are evergreen, especially if they are classics; they can repeat over and over again and still achieve a solid rating. With a sitcom like MODERN FAMILY, not only does it make a statement in primetime, as time wears on the program can easily be used in other time periods for USA to fill programming hours. Another caveat to this deal is that USA takes away a major sitcom from its arch rival TNT/TBS. How grand is that? And just to add the cherry to the cake it absolutely fits in perfectly with USA’s brand of Characters Welcome. This series embodies great writing and an ensemble cast, that is right on target for USA at present. It does come with a hefty price tag, but what doesn’t nowadays? No doubt the series was purchased with initial exclusive rights on USA, but we wouldn’t be surprised if other sister nets like Oxygen, Bravo, etc. sometime down the line, get a crack at it as well. What a bargain!

As for sister network Oxygen, GLEE is the quintessential series for the Live Out Loud network catering to Women 18-34. GLEE makes a perfect platform for pairing up a new companion unscripted series, as well as bringing in its own built in audience. There is a lot of bang for your buck when you acquire such a popular show that has had critical and ratings success. Oxygen is about the here and now, and GLEE is a very relevant choice for the network and its viewers. In today’s marketplace it is rare to find two powerhouse shows under one distributor, and the ability for these two sister networks to make this deal happen in today’s changing marketplace is noteworthy.

Connection to the story: In any TV program, viewers look to somehow weave themselves and their experiences into the story being told on the screen. They look to see how they fit within the story — which character they’re most like and unlike, what they would do or not do in similar situations.

Internationally, soccer is an important part of the traditions of many countries, which makes the viewing audience feel as if they’re a part of the story. A triumph in the World Cup is more than just a win on the soccer field, it’s a happy ending to a long storied history of that particular country. The audience can’t help but feel personally connected to that, but since soccer was never a huge part of American history, there’s no story to tie Americans into the game.

Strong characters: Any TV person will tell you networks of all genres are looking for strong characters.. it’s said so often it’s almost a cliché. Characters who are both over the top and relatable to the audience are what work best on TV. They make even unlikely shows huge hits. This is true in sports as well. Personal rivalries and interesting personalities always bring out the largest crowds and engage the audience beyond the game being played.

When a team has a especially interesting player with a personal life filled with scandal and intrigue people want to see him play. American soccer just doesn’t have many characters with crazy stories off the field. Landon Donovan is not dating Paris Hilton, doesn’t have tattoos, a crazy hairdo or a criminal record and this is true for most of team USA players.

Plot twists and surprises: In an interesting story, there is always an unpredicted plot twist or surprise. The highly successful series 24 was pretty much one big plot twist after another and it kept the audience tuned in and engaged for the entire season.

This happens all the time in sports.. Grand slams, interceptions and slam dunks constantly keep things interesting in American sports. In soccer, although surprises are possible, many times the action never comes. Unlike other sports there are no “small victories”.. no layups, no base hits, no field goals. It makes it is pretty probable that you’ll watch the full 90 minutes and never see anything exciting at all.

A gratifying ending: Good stories need an ending. At the end of every episode there needs to be some sort of conclusion or the audience gets impatient.

Whether it’s a happy or sad ending, through over time or extra innings, major American sports almost always declare a winner. Conversely, in soccer, it’s not uncommon for games to end in ties. The USA and England match last Saturday ended in a 1-1 tie, leaving America’s new soccer fans confused, and maybe a little betrayed. You see, for this game the story had been set; it was a great, longstanding rivalry (on and off the field), the US were the underdogs searching for respect and honor on the international stage. That was enough to make more than 13 million Americans watch! (not counting the Spanish-language broadcast). For a game with this much build-up, a tie is hard to accept and may have discouraged some viewers.

So maybe soccer is a long way from trumping baseball, but it is getting bigger. MLS has been growing in the past few years and adding more star power (or at least some eye candy … hello David Beckham) and the international team is getting better. A tie with England is pretty good! It’s not too late for team USA to start their own story, build characters, add some plot twists and finish with a happy ending this World Cup … and I hope you’ll be watching!

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to attend LA Screenings, the major studios showcase for all of their recently picked up pilots for international buyers around the world. What a great event. A chance to screen almost every new fall series, months ahead of the public. In less than a week, we sit and watch more than 50 pilots nonstop, in darkened theatres, with nary a moment in between programs for a bio-break. They hand out pens with a light on the tip so you can write in the dark. Warner Bros screening alone is a 9 hour marathon.

But it was the NBC Universal screening that I found the most interesting. More than anything in recent memory, it reinforced the power of a network brand. No, not NBC’s brand. USA. Yes, USA. The general entertainment cable network, now part of NBC’s stable the last few years, and home of some of the freshest, funnest, and most successful dramas on television.

NBCU screened the full pilot for a half dozen series, two of which were destined for USA. I easily named both series without having to read the literature. COVERT AFFAIRS and FACING KATE. Hard to describe, but easy to see, the network’s tag line “Characters Welcome” just made sense when it came to both series. They felt like USA programs.

Up until a couple years ago my interest in USA was limited to watching US Open tennis every fall. Then along came BURN NOTICE. Loved it immediately. Last summer, ROYAL PAINS entered the picture. Thursdays were still must see television, but now it was a different network. Over the winter WHITE COLLAR debuted. An art thief and an FBI agent? Probably not for me. But if it was on USA it was worth checking out. Glad I did. Great series.

Recently, my mother visited Miami. Driving around the area, she commented that a certain neighborhood looked like the one that Michael’s mom lived in. Michael who? Mom had never been to South Florida. Confused, I asked who Michael was. Her reply? Michael Weston of course, the lead character on BURN NOTICE. (His mother is brilliantly played by Sharon Gless). The next three days, from South Beach to Downtown, from Ocean Drive to Biscayne Bay, her visit was one big studio tour for USA’s biggest series. Probably don’t have say that she’s a big fan of the network as well.

BURN NOTICE and ROYAL PAINS started their new seasons last week. When COVERT AFFAIRS premieres next month and FACING KATE hits later in the year, I’ll be there. How could I not? The network hasn’t let me down yet.

Characters Welcome. More and more, so am I.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, there is a clear sense of celebration about television here at the FEF, and it’s hard not to catch the buzz. It’s invigorating to see old time producers still going strong, and newbies not afraid to step in the door. Across the board, the network execs are making it clear that you don’t necessarily have to be a seasoned vet to make a great idea happen. You just have to know what to do with the information when you get it.

Plus, there seems to be an abundance of opportunities at the networks themselves. In 30 Minutes With with Discovery, producers were told that Discovery is absolutely looking for programming – and that they don’t have to be a big production company to make it on Discovery’s radar. While Bravo’s needs were similarly optimistic, they made it clear that established producers are best – but if you have a great idea, that matters a lot too. And, above all, it’s all about character.

The convention culminated last night with the first annual Factual Entertainment Awards. Surrounded by supportive colleagues and peers, the top programs of this year were honored and celebrated – a clearly inspiring event for everyone.

OK, so maybe my life isn’t exactly a Miley Cyrus song. But, as someone on the television industry, despite my roots in Connecticut, it’s hard to not feel the SoCal buzz as soon as you step off the plane. Heck, if you’re in entertainment, LA is the mecca. And kudos for Brunico and Realscreen for making factual entertainment a headline in this city.

The Factual Entertainment Forum kicked off on Wednesday afternoon with a jam-packed schedule of panels, sessions, networking opportunities, and of course, Realscreen’s exclusive 30 MInutes With panels with network executives. In attendance are independent producers, network execs, agents, and anyone who has a stake in factual entertainment.

Undeniably, there is a sense of celebration of factual programming the air. There’s a unique understanding that this kind of programming is good, and can do good, and that we can all, in a sense, change the world. On a panel called Reality TV Can Be Good For You, some of the top execs and programmers from across the industry shared the challenges – and the incredible outcomes – of what television programs like INTERVENTION and THE BIGGEST LOSER, have had. These shows have helped destigmatize addiction, and brought issues to the forefront of people’s minds, and have served to show people just how dangerous a path they might be on. If there was ever a reason to celebrate reality television, and the good it can do for the world, it was noted in this incredible panel.

And though this convention celebrates factual programming, it never ceases to truly be about passionate people telling stories about which they are passionate. Here in LA, that is most definitely the case. More tomorrow from the Factual Entertainment Forum!

Click above to watch the video interview

Eli Lehrer is Vice-President of Development and Production in New York, where he is responsible for the development of Bravo’s original programming on the East Coast and also oversees a number of series as an executive producer. Lehrer developed some of the network’s most buzzed about programming including “Flipping Out,” “The Real Housewives of New York City,” “The Rachel Zoe Project” and “Tabatha’s Salon Takeover”, “The Millionaire Matchmaker” and “Watch What Happens Live” – all three of which he also executive produces.

Lehrer joined Bravo from VH1 where he held the position of Manager, East Coast Development. He helped oversee the production of specials and series, including “Driven Presents: Stage Moms,” “I Married,” “True Spin,” “Totally Obsessed” and “Fortune Files.”

Prior to VH1, Lehrer held posts as the Executive Assistant to Michael Ovitz at Artists Management Group and as Executive Assistant to George Stephanopoulos at ABC News, during his coverage of the 2000 election and 9/11.

Lehrer has a B.A. in American History from Columbia University.