CW's poor ratings lead to dismissal of President... of MRC
David
MRC TV president resigns
Samples leaves company amid poor CW ratings
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER
Media Rights Capital TV president Keith Samples has ankled the
shingle.
According to insiders, MRC brass have been scouting for Samples'
replacement but haven't yet zeroed in on a candidate.
Samples' departure comes as MRC's Sunday-night block on the CW has
failed to attract an audience so far. The producer's primetime lineup
this past Sunday -- reality entry "In Harm's Way" and dramas
"Valentine" and "Easy Money" -- posted just a 0.2 rating/1 share among
adults 18-49 and just 692,000 viewers.
Even worse, "Easy Money" -- which scored decent reviews from critics
-- posted a 0 share in its most recent airing.
Former Lifetime and WB Entertainment prexy Susanne Daniels continues
as a consultant to MRC, where she's been working behind the scenes the
past several weeks. And Dawn Parouse remains as the shingle's
development topper.
Parouse was believed to have been offered the top MRC TV job, but
insiders said she wasn't interested.
Under Samples, MRC TV has had a busy year, landing countless broadcast
and cable projects. Beyond the CW fare, MRC recently launched the
Lifetime sitcom "Rita Rocks" and animated HBO comedy "The Life and
Times of Tim."
Production company is also behind ABC's upcoming animated laffer "The
Goode Family."
With such a hefty slate of freshman series in MRC's inaugural year,
some industry execs have wondered whether the company has bitten off
more than it can chew. (Some cite Artists Television Group, which
similarly sold several series in its first year, only to be hit hard
financially when none of those shows survived.)
MRC, however, notes that it's well funded (indeed, it just closed a
three-year, $350 million revolving credit facility with a syndicate of
banks led by JPMorgan Chase and Comerica last month).
MRC recently put "Valentine" and "Easy Money" on a production hiatus
-- a move the shingle said was pre-planned (Daily Variety, Oct. 14).
But with the shows not performing well, and eight segs of both already
in the can, MRC may have also wanted to wait to see if the shows
improve before spending more money -- an economically sound move.
According to others familiar with MRC, the company's bigger issue has
been ad sales, which it oversees as part of its CW Sunday-night time
buy. The nation's current economic turmoil has hit the TV advertising
market especially hard, and that, coupled with the ratings
disappointments, has hurt the economic prospects of the MRC block.
Meanwhile, Tribune -- which played a big part in bringing MRC and CW
together, and even trumpeted the benefits of bringing older-skewing
female fare to its stable of CW affiliates -- is distancing itself
from the venture, with execs maintaining that reports of their
involvement in the block were overblown.
Taylor
So The CW can crumble apart all together in late-May 2009, CBS/Warner
Bros. can scrap the whole brand, affiliates will revert back to the
independents for the first time since 1995 and they can cop a claim
that the "economic downturn" is the reason behind it instead, of the
reality-- mixing the "best" of The WB and the "best" of UPN didn't
work and created a shit wannabe 'netlet' [if The WB and UPN weren't
considered REAL networks; branded 'netlets'... well, The CW couldn't
even obtain THAT status of a 'netlet'!).
Bring back The WB, but *only* in the confides of the ex-"PTEN" ("Prime
Time Entertainment Network") way and give indy stations programming
blocks for them to program where they see fit. No rebirth of The WB as
a netlet. Just as a programming source.