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Reuters
UPDATE - Ratings down for Disney's struggling ABC network
Tuesday March 2, 7:29 pm ET
By Ben Berkowitz
LOS ANGELES, March 2 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE
IS - News) struggling ABC television network said on Tuesday that its key audience ratings would fall 8 percent in the February sweeps season, adding pressure on Disney Chief Executive and Chairman Michael Eisner a day before he faces angry shareholders.
ABC's viewership among adults 18 to 49 years old will be off during the key "sweeps" month in which ratings are used to set local advertising rates, network executives told reporters in a conference call on Tuesday.
Disney holds its annual meeting in Philadelphia on Wednesday, and Eisner is under fire from dissident former directors and some investors who charge that he has mismanaged the company in recent years.
One concern often cited by Disney's critics has been the sluggish turnaround at ABC, which trails the other three major broadcast networks CBS, NBC and Fox.
Disney has rejected an unsolicited takeover from cable television operator Comcast Corp. (NasdaqNM:CMCSA - News), whose executives have said they can do a better job running ABC.
ABC executives declined to discuss how the network's performance would affect the debate about the company's future.
"It's really not something that I think we should be discussing at all right now," Lloyd Braun, chairman of the ABC Entertainment Television Group, said. "We feel very good about the direction in which we're heading."
Financial analysts were less optimistic.
"(We) remain skeptical that ABC will be able to develop compelling dramas and turn its ratings slide around in the short term," SG Cowen Securities analyst Lowell Singer said in a note Tuesday. "We believe Disney management could face difficult questions about ABC's strategy at the March 3 shareholder's meeting in Philadelphia."
NO 'SLEDGEHAMMERS' YET
ABC executives conceded that their new dramas of the last two years have simply not worked, and while a number of their new comedies seem to have found good homes and solid ratings, none of them are blockbusters like NBC's "Friends" or CBS' "Everybody Loves Raymond."
"Our core strength in both the sweep and the season has been our success in the comedy area," Braun said. "Our big problem is that none of them are sledgehammers yet."
Michael Lafavore, the editor in chief of TV Guide, said ABC faced the same problem with its dramas that other networks have confronted: the continued popularity of reality TV.
"You're not talking about what happened on a drama last night at the water cooler -- you're talking about reality," Lafavore said in an interview.
Even so, he said, ABC "made bad decisions.... That's the problem with the TV business -- there aren't enough really talented people to go around to begin with."
ABC executives said they were optimistic about some of their new shows, particularly a limited run series from horror writer Stephen King debuting this week "Kingdom Hospital."
"Not every show has to be blockbuster but we do need a hit. That's pretty clear," said Susan Lyne, president of ABC Entertainment.
ABC based its sweeps estimates on figures from Nielsen Media Research. The sweeps period does not end until Wednesday night, so the network projections include estimations of how their Tuesday and Wednesday programs will perform.
UPDATE - Ratings down for Disney's struggling ABC network
Tuesday March 2, 7:29 pm ET
By Ben Berkowitz
LOS ANGELES, March 2 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE
IS - News) struggling ABC television network said on Tuesday that its key audience ratings would fall 8 percent in the February sweeps season, adding pressure on Disney Chief Executive and Chairman Michael Eisner a day before he faces angry shareholders. ABC's viewership among adults 18 to 49 years old will be off during the key "sweeps" month in which ratings are used to set local advertising rates, network executives told reporters in a conference call on Tuesday.
Disney holds its annual meeting in Philadelphia on Wednesday, and Eisner is under fire from dissident former directors and some investors who charge that he has mismanaged the company in recent years.
One concern often cited by Disney's critics has been the sluggish turnaround at ABC, which trails the other three major broadcast networks CBS, NBC and Fox.
Disney has rejected an unsolicited takeover from cable television operator Comcast Corp. (NasdaqNM:CMCSA - News), whose executives have said they can do a better job running ABC.
ABC executives declined to discuss how the network's performance would affect the debate about the company's future.
"It's really not something that I think we should be discussing at all right now," Lloyd Braun, chairman of the ABC Entertainment Television Group, said. "We feel very good about the direction in which we're heading."
Financial analysts were less optimistic.
"(We) remain skeptical that ABC will be able to develop compelling dramas and turn its ratings slide around in the short term," SG Cowen Securities analyst Lowell Singer said in a note Tuesday. "We believe Disney management could face difficult questions about ABC's strategy at the March 3 shareholder's meeting in Philadelphia."
NO 'SLEDGEHAMMERS' YET
ABC executives conceded that their new dramas of the last two years have simply not worked, and while a number of their new comedies seem to have found good homes and solid ratings, none of them are blockbusters like NBC's "Friends" or CBS' "Everybody Loves Raymond."
"Our core strength in both the sweep and the season has been our success in the comedy area," Braun said. "Our big problem is that none of them are sledgehammers yet."
Michael Lafavore, the editor in chief of TV Guide, said ABC faced the same problem with its dramas that other networks have confronted: the continued popularity of reality TV.
"You're not talking about what happened on a drama last night at the water cooler -- you're talking about reality," Lafavore said in an interview.
Even so, he said, ABC "made bad decisions.... That's the problem with the TV business -- there aren't enough really talented people to go around to begin with."
ABC executives said they were optimistic about some of their new shows, particularly a limited run series from horror writer Stephen King debuting this week "Kingdom Hospital."
"Not every show has to be blockbuster but we do need a hit. That's pretty clear," said Susan Lyne, president of ABC Entertainment.
ABC based its sweeps estimates on figures from Nielsen Media Research. The sweeps period does not end until Wednesday night, so the network projections include estimations of how their Tuesday and Wednesday programs will perform.
