KCRW's Screengrab: Down From Its Former Glory, But 'The Walking Dead' Is Still a Hit

Every week, Joe Adalian and I talk TV on KCRW's "Screengrab," a weekly segment that airs on Tuesday mornings at 8:45 a.m. on KCRW during "Morning Edition."

On Tuesday's episode, we talked about the fact that "The Walking Dead" is still a huge enterprise for AMC, even though the show's ratings have declined:

Once delayed viewing is factored in, more than 10 million people will have watched the season 8 finale of 'The Walking Dead.' The show is an interesting case study in the world of Peak TV. It was a ratings juggernaut for many years, with devoted fans across the country. The numbers have slipped significantly in the past two seasons--about a third fewer people watch the show today than at its high point. But, it's still a huge, huge hit for AMC--in addition to still being the most popular show on TV for ages 18-49, it spawned the popular spin-off 'Fear the Walking Dead.' Also, a lot of fans left the show after some fan favorite characters were killed off in a particularly violent fashion, but the show aims to take a new creative, less violent direction now.

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KCRW's Screengrab: Broadcast TV's Roadmap to Survival

Every week, Joe Adalian and I talk TV on KCRW's "Screengrab," a weekly segment that airs on Tuesday mornings at 8:45 a.m. on KCRW during "Morning Edition."

On Tuesday's episode, we talked about how some recent ratings hits demonstrate that broadcast TV can have a future, even in a landscape dominated by streaming:

The Stormy Daniels interview on CBS' '60 Minutes,' the revival of 'Roseanne' on ABC, and the live performance of 'Jesus Christ Superstar' on NBC maybe not seem like they have anything in common. But the one thing they do share? They all aired on a broadcast network, and they all got people talking--not to mention some solid ratings. Whether it's important news, a nostalgia hit, or a live event, programming like this demonstrates that for broadcast, there is indeed, as Joe Adalian puts it, "a middle ground between dominance and death." Success doesn't come cheap, of course, and if the big networks want to survive in a world of Netflix, they need to be willing to put the resources towards their programming.

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KCRW's Screengrab: Why Were Dozens of Local News Anchors All Reading the Same Script?

Every week, Joe Adalian and I talk TV on KCRW's "Screengrab," a weekly segment that airs on Tuesday mornings at 8:45 a.m. on KCRW during "Morning Edition."

On Tuesday's episode, we talked about Sinclair, the right-wing broadcast group that has forced propaganda into its local newscasts over the years:

After Sinclair acquires Tribune Media, its newscasts will be accessible to more than 70% of homes in America, across all kinds of cities and markets. So while people are tuning in to their familiar local news hosts, they may not realize that those anchors are being told how and what to report, like pre-packaged segments on terrorism and the dangers of immigration. Sinclair is very conservative and pro-Trump, and reporters jobs are on the line if they don't comply with Sinclair's messaging. During the campaign, Sinclair actually cut a deal with Trump in exchange for better access to the then-candidate. It's a scary situation for those who believe in the importance of an strong independent media.

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KCRW's Screengrab: Knee-Deep In Midseason and Drowning In Premieres

Every week, Joe Adalian and I talk TV on KCRW's "Screengrab," a weekly segment that airs on Tuesday mornings at 8:45 a.m. on KCRW during "Morning Edition."

On Tuesday's episode, we talked about all the broadcast premieres in March and April, particularly on ABC:

We're used to Netflix dropping a bunch of new shows at once, but now it feels like the big broadcast networks are doing the same. But whereas Netflix can drop an entire season at once, the slow rollout that comes with a broadcast schedule can be brutal for shows that take time to find an audience. Part of the logjam this year comes from the Olympics--no one wanted to debut a show against the Games. The other factor is the Emmy cutoff date, which comes at the end of May, so some shows may be trying to make their debut later in order to be closer to that cutoff date. But all the new shows doesn't necessarily mean innovation: this week on ABC alone, you can see the rebooted version of 'Roseanne,' plus shows starring Jenna Fischer and Zach Braff--sitcom stars from shows ('The Office' and 'Scrubs,' respectively) that had their heyday more than a decade ago.

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KCRW's Screengrab: Trial Begins Over Proposed AT&T and Time Warner Merger

Every week, Joe Adalian and I talk TV on KCRW's "Screengrab," a weekly segment that airs on Tuesday mornings at 8:45 a.m. on KCRW during "Morning Edition."

On Tuesday's episode, we talked about the AT&T/Time Warner merger lawsuit:

Trump has spoken out against the merger, possibly because of his dislike of CNN, though that news network is only a tiny part of the deal. This would be more of a vertical merger--AT&T and Time Warner are not really competitors--and the deal resembles the previous merger of Comcast and NBC Universal, so it's unclear what would legally stop this one from going through. Regardless of the outcome of the trial, the decision will have huge implications on the industry, as more mergers are likely to follow, especially as companies strive to get big in an attempt to compete with the Netflix's and Apple's of the world.

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KCRW's Screengrab: The Case of the Disappearing 'Black-ish' Episode

Every week, Joe Adalian and I talk TV on KCRW's "Screengrab," a weekly segment that airs on Tuesday mornings at 8:45 a.m. on KCRW during "Morning Edition."

On Tuesday's episode, we talked about the mysterious case of a "Black-ish" episode:

The episode in question featured some discussion of NFL athletes kneeling in protest of police brutality during the National Anthem. Creator Kenya Barris said there were "creative differences" between him and ABC. Agreements between showrunners and networks are not uncommon, but they usually crop up in the script stage, it's rare that the network will allow show to be filmed first, and then pull it later. It sounds conspiracy theory-minded, but there could be something to the idea that ABC/Disney is now in the process of purchasing Fox, and they need Trump's approval for the deal to go through.

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KCRW's Screengrab: 'American Idol' Is Back! But Didn't We Just Say Goodbye?

Every week, Joe Adalian and I talk TV on KCRW's "Screengrab," a weekly segment that airs on Tuesday mornings at 8:45 a.m. on KCRW during "Morning Edition."

On Tuesday's episode, we talked about the return of "American Idol":

We've talked about it before--rebooting an old show is one of the only ways to cut through the clutter of the TV landscape. But was anyone really asking for a revival of 'American Idol'? We'll find out this weekend when the show returns to ABC. Also returning is host Ryan Seacrest, who is under the shadow of a sexual harassment allegation. An internal review has cleared him of any wrongdoing, but no one knows what that review actually looked like. But ABC is forging ahead with Seacrest as host, and has already shelled out a lot of money to get Katy Perry as a judge. Whether the show still holds up, especially in a world where we've now got 'The Voice' and 'America's Got Talent' remains to be seen.

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KCRW's Screengrab: Lots to Love About These Olympics, But No Ratings Gold Medal

Every week, Joe Adalian and I talk TV on KCRW's "Screengrab," a weekly segment that airs on Tuesday mornings at 8:45 a.m. on KCRW during "Morning Edition."

On Tuesday's episode, we talked about how the Winter Olympics has been performing:

The ratings dip is not surprising--almost all live events are down compared to years past, including the Superbowl. NBC is still counting these Olympics as win--lots of viewers checked out the games on streaming platforms, and NBC was also dealing with a new crop of hosts and reality show competition from ABC and CBS. Plus, Netflix and Hulu are always there as a potential source of distraction. Even if ratings continue to fall for these big live events, the networks still depend on them for the revenue from ad sales. That's true for the upcoming Oscars on ABC, where Jimmy Kimmel is hosting again, and ratings will almost surely be down, though some viewers might check in to see how Kimmel addresses last year's envelope snafu in his opening monologue.

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KCRW's Screengrab: What the F? Saltier Language Creeps Into Basic Cable

Every week, Joe Adalian and I talk TV on KCRW's "Screengrab," a weekly segment that airs on Tuesday mornings at 8:45 a.m. on KCRW during "Morning Edition."

On Tuesday's episode, we talked about how the f-bomb and other bad words are now OK on basic cable:

Cable is not regulated by FCC standards like the big broadcast networks, but still, basic cable shows used to hold off on the edgy language as a way to appease advertisers. But times are changing and F-bombs are flying. More and more, shows like the SyFy drama "The Magicians" are allowing a higher number of curse words per episode, and specifically the "f-word." In the past, the offending words were "dipped" when they aired on TV, but not when the episodes were streamed on Netflix. So people who discovered the show first on streaming, were confused when they started watching new episodes on the network.

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KCRW's Screengrab: NBC's Jennifer Salke will Run Amazon Studios

Every week, Joe Adalian and I talk TV on KCRW's "Screengrab," a weekly segment that airs on Tuesday mornings at 8:45 a.m. on KCRW during "Morning Edition."

On Tuesday's episode, we talked about Amazon Studios' new chief:

We finally have an answer to the long-awaited question of who will run Amazon Studios. Jennifer Salke, the entertainment president of NBC will take the reins. Salke is in old-school network executive who has experience working with producers and agents to make shows that have broad appeal--something Amazon has struggled with in the past. In addition to overseeing Amazon's new approach to television, she'll also be head of the film side of things. Amazon studios has had film success in the past with movies like 'The Big Sick,' but they didn't pick up anything at Sundance this year and they've also got a Woody Allen problem. Amazon's on the hook for 3 more movies with the director, but at the moment, no talent seems to want to work with him. We'll see how Salke deals with Allen and shapes Amazon's upcoming entertainment strategy when she takes over in a few weeks.

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KCRW's Screengrab: This Year, Post-Super Bowl Viewing Came With a Twist

Every week, Joe Adalian and I talk TV on KCRW's "Screengrab," a weekly segment that airs on Tuesday mornings at 8:45 a.m. on KCRW during "Morning Edition."

On Tuesday's episode, we talked about Netflix's Super Bowl surprise:

When Netflix announced--via an ad on NBC--that the movie 'Cloverfield Paradox' would be available to watch right after the Super Bowl, the internet lost its mind. In a move borrowed from Beyonce, Netflix did no other marketing for the film (other than the $5 million ad). The moment felt like a confluence of a lot of disruptive events: a streamer capitalizing on all the captive eyeballs of the most popular linear TV event of the year, to send viewers to watch a movie in a fashion that's already disrupting the film industry. But, as Ted Sarandos is fond of pointing out, there's enough viewing for everybody. 'This is Us' still got great ratings, even if the numbers for the game itself were down.

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KCRW's Screengrab: Riding the Wave of Gen X Reboots and Revivals

Every week, Joe Adalian and I talk TV on KCRW's "Screengrab," a weekly segment that airs on Tuesday mornings at 8:45 a.m. on KCRW during "Morning Edition."

On Tuesday's episode, we talked about the world of reboots and remakes:

If you're a fan of Gen X nostalgia, it's been a great couple of weeks for you. 1980's reboots and revivals continue to get the greenlight. Every time old shows are announced to be coming back, there's always a blowback of criticism about TV being out of new ideas. Years ago, it's true the reboots could take away oxygen from potential new shows, but in today's landscape, there's plenty of space for new ideas at cable and streaming networks, so perhaps a little comfortable nostalgia is what the broadcast networks are best at. Perhaps, however, there should be a time limit before something can come back. Joe votes 10 years, at least.

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Screengrab: Joe Adalian and I Talk TV, Every Tuesday Morning on KCRW

You may have noticed last year that Joe Adalian and I ended our KCRW podcast, "The Spin-Off," which we recorded at least once, or sometimes twice, a month. The show was always sporadic, and ultimately had sort of run its course. But out of the ashes of "The Spin-Off" came something more regular: "Screengrab," a weekly segment that airs on Tuesday mornings at 8:45 a.m. on KCRW during "Morning Edition." Not only does that give us an on-air slot for the first time, but podcast listeners can still subscribe (at iTunes, Stitcher or anywhere you download podcasts) and download the show each week to listen on their leisure.

It's still Joe and I talking TV, but in bite-size form, and focusing on one major topic per week. The frequency actually allows us to talk about news as it happens, and there's no shortage of things to talk about these days.

On last Tuesday's episode, we talked about the evolving nature of streaming comedy in light of recent cancellations:

Sorry, fans of 'Lady Dynamite' and 'One Mississippi.' Both shows were cancelled recently--the first on Netflix and the latter on Amazon. They join the likes of also recently cancelled comedies 'Difficult People' on Hulu and 'I Love Dick,' also from Amazon. Though these shows all had critical acclaim and niche fan bases, they clearly weren't getting enough eyeballs to keep their respective studios happy. In the old days of streaming, almost everything would get a second or third season, but now, as the streaming networks all have a massive amount of content, they don't need to hang on to dead weight.

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