Alphabet
Soup
~ As Jamie Tarses exits the hot pot that is corporate ABC, the
I question remains: Are too many cooks spoiling the net? by Joe
Flint
IT'S A GOOD THING HEATHER LOCKLEAR’s joining ABC's Spin City. With entertainment president Jamie Tarses bailing after a three-year run, the network may finally have more dramatic high jinks on screen than off. Tarses' exit was no shocker. Her troubled tenure was so riddled with tales of backstabbing and mismanagement, she might as well have added "embattled network exec" to her name. But July's merger of Disney's and ABC's TV divisions–a costcutting and synergistic maneuver instigated by Disneychairman Michael Eisner– resulted in a camel-breaking straw. On Aug. 26, just over a month after former Disney TV chief Lloyd Braun became cochairman, along with Stu Bloomberg, of ABC's entertainment division, Tarses resigned, apparently feeling that while Two Guys and a Girl is a fine name for a sitcom, it's no way to run a network. Asked if she would do it all over again, Tarses says, "If I knew there would be far more attention paid to the bulls--- than the work, I don't know.Though Tarses could never claim an excess of fans, many in the industry sympathizewith her apparent misgivings over ABC's multiplex approach to management. "I couldn't tell you who works for whom," says one studio exec with several shows on the net.Let's see if we can help:• There's Bloomberg and Braun, who are responsible for producing and greenlighting the prime-time shows.• They report to Pat FiliKrushel, the New York-based network president who also heads daytime development.• She in turn reports to exESPN topper Steve Bornstein, recently named president of ABC Inc.• And he's the guy directly under ABC Group chairman Robert Iger, who is the last word–if you don't count Eisner...
That amounts to five people overseeing a third-place network's entertainment division, versus just two (former entertainment president Ted Harbert and Iger) when ABC was in first place in 1994. CBS, No. 1 in total viewers, has two (TV CEO Les Moonves and entertainment prez Nancy Tellem). NBC, No. 1 with 18- to 49-year-olds, has two (West Coast prez Scott Sassa and entertainment prez Garth Ancier). The WB, the fastest-growing net, has two (CEO Jamie Kellner and president Susanne Daniels). Maybe there's a lesson in there somewhere?
Tarses' departure does thin the ranks a bit, but it probably won't solve ABC's ratings woes this fall. Unlike Bloomberg and Tarses, both primarily creative types, Braun is a lawyer (who once counted Tarses as a client) with more of a head for business. At Disney, he reenergized the TV division, significantly increasing production for the first time in years. Perhaps he will prove the perfect complement to the more casual Bloomberg, a man whose stock is currently sky-high thanks to the phenomenal success of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, a show he pushed hard for. "My guess," says Braun, "is the town's still somewhat confused as to who's doing what, but I think it will settle down quickly."
Of course, management turmoil is nothing new in the TV business. Just this past week, UPN and Paramount parent Viacom acquired CBS (see page 60), which will no doubt raise questions as to who has the final say there as well. And media buyers and industry execs view ABC more positively than you
might expect. The press tends to throw words like chaos and turbulence around, but the Alphabet is still better off in ratings and revenue than CBS was when it was mired in last place a scant few years ago. In truth, ABC has strong building blocks in such hits as The Practice, The Drew Carey Show, Dharma & Greg, and The Wonderful World of Disney. "It's getting a more balanced schedule than anybody else," says Steve Sternberg, senior partner at TN Media And, he adds, the power of Millionaire provides the net with a quick fix for any of its faltering sitcoms.
Savvy scheduling of those building blocks is where the trouble starts. With the newly rejiggered fall lineup, ABC is in danger of jeopardizing Wednesday, its strongest night. Drew Carey remains at 9 p.m., but I Dharma–which opened | the night–will move to | Tuesday, replaced by | a revamped Two Guys I and a Girl. "I don't know | why they're taking a show that's not that strong and trying to start the night with it," says TN's Sternberg.
Tuesday is vulnerable ~ too. ABC lost longtime •. ratings champ Home Improvement as its leadoff show, though the addition of Heather Locklear to the show's replacement, Spin City, should be enough to beat NBC's Just Shoot Me. Whether viewers stick with the ratings-challenged It's like, you know... to get to Dhar~na at 9, then remain for Sports Night at 9:30, is less of a sure thing.
Launching dramas is arguably the net's great
est weakness (and Tarses' particularly, her strength was comedy development). In the last two seasons, ABC failed to find successful homes for the critically acclaimed Nothing Sacred and Cupid; both were canceled. And it took two years for The Practice to find its current Sunday-night slot. This fall's question mark is Once and Again, a promising series from thirtysomething creators Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, which will ]ikely end up on Mondays at 9 p.m., after football season ends. Thing is, ABC's Monday-night viewers generally vanish with football.
Once and Again, incidentally, is ABC's only fall show From Disney's Touchstone 1 V–a meager showing con3idering ABC and Walt Disney have been corporate ~ousins for four years now. Phus Eisner's decision to force synergy with the recent onsolidation of the Disney [V studios (including Touch~tone TV) and ABC TV proluction arms. Producers are skeptically monitoring the new structure: "I don't believe it's a formula for suc~ess," says David Janollari, partner of Greenblatt~anollari Studio, which produces A^BC's The Hughleys and Oh, I Grow Up. "I still have to believe they'll buy and put on good shows."
Bloomberg and Braun are busy reassuring suppliers that quality will | continue to come first. They are reassuring em| ployees that stability will l prevail, despite the departure of Tarses and future merger-related firings (upwards of 50 execs | may be laid off to avoid job duplication and cut costs). And they are asI suring the ad community | that the network will finally drag itself out of third place thanks to a | partnership that will proI duce not only shows with broader appeal but a united vision for ABC.
For Tarses, it's a familfar song and dance–one she's happy to sit out. She claims to have no plans beyond relaxation: "I haven't been this anxi~ ety-free in ages," she I says, phoning from her car. Besides, unemployI ment has its perks; she's l hunting for a new house, and "I don't have to go to the Emmys!" ~