MIKE ON KCRW: "Blurred Lines" and Brian Williams

On last Thursday's Hollywood Breakdown, Matt Belloni and I talked all about the Tom Rothman era at Sony:

The trial over the song "Blurred Lines" is moving towards closing arguments. The issue at hand is whether the biggest hit song of 2013, created by Robin Thicke, Pharell Williams and T.I., is a copyright infringement on the Marvin Gaye song "Got to Give It Up." One thing the trial has revealed is just how much of a financial success "Blurred Lines" was. The song made more than $16 million in profits, which was given to the song's creators and record companies. The overhead costs of creating the song were said to be $6.9 million. Gaye's family is also after money made from performing "Blurred Lines" on tour. The family's lawyer says the alleged total damages add up to about $40 million.

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On Monday's Press Play with Madeleine Brand, Buzzfeed's Kate Aurthur and I discussed the New York mag story about Brian Williams' fall from grace, and more:

New details came out today in New York Magazine about how the Brian Williams situation exploded at NBC. According to the magazine, when Williams’ stories about being shot down in Iraq were proven to be fabricated, they also exposed a news operation that was already in crisis mode. Plus, our critics’ first impressions of new network shows American Crime and CSI: Cyber in our weekly TV roundup.

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KTLA Adds 11 p.m. Newscast: Temporary or Permanent Move?

Now that "The Arsenio Hall Show" has been canceled, KTLA last month quietly introduced an 11 p.m. newscast -- at least for the time being -- going up against stalwarts KABC, KCBS and KNBC. Tribune seems to be constantly adding new newscasts to its stations but my question is always the same: is it investing in more staffers -- reporters, editors, etc. -- to fill that expanded time? 11 p.m. is hugely competitive and dominated by KABC/7. Most recently, Fox tried an 11 p.m. newscast here in Los Angeles on its KCOP duopoly but canceled it last year, deciding that syndicated fare made more sense there.

John Beard on How He Became "Arrested Development's" Unlikely Star

Even John Beard was surprised by the amount of face time he got in the new season of "Arrested Development." The former Los Angeles TV news anchor, now in Buffalo, spent a 12-hour day last year shooting all kinds of footage for the show's new Netflix run. Most of those scenes ended up spaced out throughout this season.

I last spoke with Beard back in March, before the show premiered. Now that we've seen this season, I asked him to talk about his experience -- read the story here.

An excerpt:

In the "Arrested" world, the newscaster has become the host of a "To Catch A Predator"-like show, quits his anchor job and defaults on his house. House of Lies' Ben Schwartz even plays his slacker son, John Beard, Jr.

Creator Mitchell Hurwitz says the story of Beard's career collapse on the show mirrors the Bluths' prospects. "I don't know why this guy isn't taking some of Brian Williams' jobs in comedy," Hurwitz says. "He's excellent. He plays it serious and also makes fun of himself, and also seems real. I just love him."

Beard says his character's career evolution in Season 4 also "mirrors that of every long-time TV news anchor, as the business transitions into a much leaner enterprise than it was when we started." He knows that situation first-hand, having left KTTV in 2007 when his contract wasn't renewed. "I think news viewers in every market have seen that change reflected in many local stations," Beard says. "Mitch managed to put that and the housing market collapse to good comedic use."

Did The Oscar Campaigns Get a Boost Last Night From Dorner Coverage?

Were the film studios the luckiest beneficiaries of yesterday's crazy Christopher Dorner manhunt coverage? On Tuesday, KABC, KCBS, KNBC and KTLA had all pre-sold half-hour spots to the studios for Oscar campaign informercials.

Why? It's simple. Viewing was expected to be tiny last night, as very little regular network programming was airing in primetime. Because of the time zone difference, the State of the Union Address took up most of primetime in the Eastern, Central and Mountain time zones last night. But out here, the address aired from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. After that, the local stations were free to air whatever they wanted.

Now, the State of the Union address isn't exactly hot fare for regular TV viewers, and isn't much of a lead-in for anything that should grab an audience. Perfect night to sell off some time to advertisers and make a few extra bucks. Hence, KTLA scheduled a "Silver Linings Playbook" infomercial at 7:30 p.m.; KCBS slated "Lincoln: An American Journey" at 8:30 p.m.; and KNBC and KABC were competing with rival informercials at 9:30 p.m.: KNBC had "Argo: Declassified" and KABC had "Lincoln: An American Journey."

All of these infomercials should have received tiny, tiny audiences. But along came all that wall-to-wall Dorner coverage. Suddenly, those 30-minute Oscar ads were given HUGE lead-ins, as viewers were glued to what was happening in Big Bear.

As a result, the feature studios should be thrilled. Here's how the infomercials fared:

"Silver Linings Playbook" (KTLA, 7:30) 254,000 viewers

"Lincoln: An American Journey" (KCBS, 8:30) 219,000 viewers

"Argo: Declassified" (KNBC, 9:30) 158,000 viewers

"Lincoln: An American Journey" (KABC, 9:30) 148,000

I can only imagine how annoyed the local stations' news divisions were, having to stick with airing those infomercials last night!

KCBS and KCAL Expand Their Weekend News Lineup

CBS' KCBS/KCAL duopoly is expanding its weekend news presence, adding three hours of news to its Saturday and Sunday schedules. Reporter Serene Branson (you may recall, she was the reporter who had a momentary speech problem while reporting outside the Grammy Awards last year) will anchor with weathercaster/reporter Kaj Goldberg.

Under the new schedule, on Saturdays KCBS 2 will air a one-hour newscast from 7-8 a.m., followed by a two-hour newscast from 8-10 a.m. on KCAL 9. On Sundays, CBS 2 will air an hour of news from 6-7 a.m. with KCAL 9’s two-hour newscast airing from 7-9 a.m.

Among KCBS/KCAL rivals, KABC 7 airs local news from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. and again from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays. KNBC airs a newscast from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.; and KTLA does one from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. On Sundays, KABC airs local news from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m., 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.; KNBC does 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.; and KTLA does 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. KTTV, which had briefly dabbled with weekend morning news, isn't in the game.

"We are pleased to kick off the New Year by giving our viewers even more coverage they can count on,” said Steve Mauldin, President and General Manager, CBS 2 and KCAL 9. "We view our expansion into weekend morning news as a tremendous growth opportunity for both stations, which now will produce 74 hours of regularly scheduled local news each week – more news than any other outlet in Southern California."

With KCAL now airing morning news on the weekends from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., that will likely lead to new speculation that the independent station might finally compete with KTLA and KTTV on the weekdays too. There are no plans right now, but "anything is possible," says one insider.

Fox 11 Gives Local News an Unconventional Twist

There's a strange trend going on in local TV: After the last few years of tremendous budget cuts and massive layoffs, stations are expanding their news footprint, adding new newscasts, particularly in the early evening.

Two reasons: With a dearth of primetime comedy hits in recent years, there are fewer half-hour sitcoms hitting the off-network syndication market these days. But even more likely, stations are eagerly looking at the 2012 political campaigns and the record amounts of cash that candidates are expected to spend on local ads.

But while they add more newscasts, they're doing so with their same reduced, stretched-to-the-limit staffs. How can they add more newscasts when their bare-bones teams are barely able to pull off the ones they already have?

That's a good question, and one that I thought about as I read L.A. Times columnist James Rainey's take on KTTV/Fox 11's new 5 p.m. newscast, "Studio 11 LA." Rainey says the show "vibrates with nervous energy, social-media feeds, pop culture stories, stilted newsroom vérité and heaps and heaps of opinion-making by the anchor-reporter hosts." More:

The conceit of "Studio 11 LA" seems to be that the news itself might not grab you but that people making a news show and gabbing about the news might. In its first two weeks, the hourlong "Studio" has offered up "War Room" shots of news planning meetings, lots of loosey-goosey on-set chatter, news "personalities" talking with off-camera producers and admonitions that we, the audience, should join the party via Twitter and Facebook.

Rainey doesn't have a problem with adding some flash to the news, but he is a big concerned about all of the off-the-cuff editorializing that comes with it. For example:

Did I really hear histrionic field reporter Ed Laskos compare the incident involving Fullerton cops and a homeless man to a "gang beating," one that was extra "arrogant" because they did it while wearing microphones that recorded the action?

I'm all for more local programming, and I gotta give credit to KTTV for doing something different with its 5 p.m. newscast (and, not actually calling it a "newscast"). But I also think the news department needs the manpower and resources to pull off such a grand idea.

And can someone please switch Ed Laskos to decaf?

Seriously, KTLA and KCBS/KCAL: Gross.

There may be a lot of crazy stuff going on in the world right now... but at the moment, both KTLA and KCBS/KCAL are leading their websites with news about a man convicted of ejaculating into his co-worker's water bottle.

Yes, gross. But really? Top news story?

Mike on KCRW's 'The Business': The Year That Was, and The Year That Will Be

As I teased last week, I got a chance to sit in with KCRW's "The Business" host Kim Masters and L.A. Times film reporter John Horn to help add my two cents on the year in TV and what's to come in 2011.

This week's show dealt with the issues to come this year, such as the impact of the NBC Universal/Comcast merger, the upcoming launch of this fall's Simon Cowell entry "The X Factor" and much more. Stream it here:



Meanwhile, here's the Dec. 27 show, looking back at the highs and (too many) lows in the biz:

Exit Interview: Former Los Angeles-based ABC News correspondent Brian Rooney

Longtime ABC News correspondent Brian Rooney found out late Monday that he was being let go as part of the news division's massive downsizing.

Since joining ABC News in 1988, Rooney has covered big events such as the Indian Ocean tsunami, the Southern California wildfires, the Oklahoma City bombing, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the 1989 student uprising in Tiananmen Square and the 1989 San Francisco earthquake.

He also covered the recent Late Night Wars -- and I spoke to him several times over those crazy days in January.

But with ABC News cutting as much as 25% of its workforce -- and half of its domestic correspondents -- I asked Rooney to talk a bit about his sadness in leaving ABC, and whether this has soured him on broadcast news:

Q: Did you see this coming? After 22 years at ABC News, how did you take this news?

ROONEY: In some ways I saw it coming. Once the word got out they were cutting as many as a quarter of the employees, I knew I was vulnerable. My contract expired in the middle of all this, and often in these situations they fire the people they are able to fire quickly, regardless of value or skill. I don’t take it personally. They know I’m good at what I do and no one had fun firing me. So when they told me I took it like a man, although in private moments I have not.

Q: What’s the mood in the bureau been like since the ABC News downsizing was announced?

ROONEY: The mood not just here in Los Angeles, but all over ABC News is dark. Friends are disappearing and few people know whether they will have a job or what their job might be at the end of this. Just as an observer, aside from my personal interest, I have never seen a corporate reorganization as drastic and immediate as this. It will have unintended consequences. They will and already have lost people they want to keep. But the amazing thing -- I just love journalists -- these people will do their jobs until they are told to leave the building.

But I want to say I do think, despite how hard this is for me, David Westin is trying to save ABC News from extinction. There are aspects to this that for him, must be devastating.

Check out the rest of this interview here, over at Variety's On the Air blog.