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Growing Endangered List: Indie Nets
August 14, 2007
Independent networks are moving closer to extinction, part of the nation’s continuing consolidation craze, much to my chagrin.
It’s far from a done deal yet, but Oxygen may be the latest indie to be gobbled up by a monster media conglomerate, with Gerry Laybourne reportedly in talks with NBC Universal about selling her sassy female-targeted brainchild.
More than a year ago, Court TV was swallowed by Time Warner, put under the umbrella of its Turner Broadcasting System unit. Even though the justice channel [which will be “rebranded’ truTV, but that’s a whole other topic] had been owned 50-50 by Time Warner and Liberty Media, it was always a neglected stepchild.
In its negotiations with cable operators and DBS providers, Court TV had to fend for itself like any independent channel that didn’t have a programming or distribution giant behind it, as the network’s then-president, Henry Schleiff, often lamented.
GSN, although it’s co-owned by Liberty Media and Sony Pictures Entertainment, is like Court TV in that its parent companies have never been able to help it too much, in terms of leverage in carriage talks. So GSN, like Court TV, has essentially operated as an independent channel.
GSN president Rich Cronin had kind of reveled in that independence, making lemonade out of lemons. But now Cronin has left GSN, and been replaced by former investment banker David Goldhill. No offense intended, but I can’t imagine Goldhill being outspoken or taking a leading role in pleading the case for independent programmers. He’s already demonstrated a penchant for corporate-speak.
Independent networks have to try harder, and I like the idea of covering maverick programming services that have to think out of the box to get attention, since they don’t have a huge corporate marketing machine behind them.
And officials at indie nets are often more open and vocal about what’s really going on in the industry. It’s in their self interest, because they’re underdogs. And they don’t have to worry about offending a suit sitting in a corner executive office in Manhattan or LA.
There are still a few indies around. Hallmark Channel, headed by Schleiff, is one of them. But even it’s been on the block.
Time marches on, and I guess so has the heyday of entrepreneurs who want to fight an uphill battle gaining traction for their own networks.
Posted by Linda Moss on August 14, 2007 | Comments (0)
