"Was 'Major Dad' Done In By Its Own Studio?"

[TMC]

http://earlpomerantz.blogspot.com/20...wn-studio.html

Here’s what you need to know as background. Major Dad ran for four seasons on CBS, amassing ninety-six produced episodes, which is close enough to the “Magic Number” of a hundred episodes to qualify the series for syndication (reruns on off-network stations.) Where the big money is.

As I mentioned not long ago, Major Dad’s fifth-year renewal negotiations were bungled by Universal executives, Universal being the studio (and my ostensible business partners) producing the series.

In truth, Major Dad’s chances for a lengthier run were seriously inhibited by CBS’s moving it from its longtime Monday night timeslot – Monday’s being the most watched night of the week because people spent all their money on the weekend so they have to stay home and watch television – to Fridays, where people are out partying on the first night of their weekend bacchanals.

This is admittedly conjecture, but here’s what I think happened. Wait, I’m not ready to say that. (The appropriate move here is to “Cut” that line and “Paste” it in where it appropriately belongs. But, knowing me, I will probably forget I “Cut” it and end up “Cutting” something else subsequently which, as you know, causes the first thing you “Cut” to go away. I am better off just leaving the line where it is and simply writing it again later. I am telling you this so that when you see that line repeated, you will know it’s deliberate, and not “brain damage.”)

When a show is on the verge of syndication, the “auspices” – whoever it is that owns that show, which in Major Dad’s case, as mentioned, was Universal – their “Sales Executives” send out feelers to potential buyers, in an effort to determine the market value of that series. From the final agreement – which I was told was the best deal they could get – it appeared that the overall market for the “‘Major Dad’ Syndication Package” was “soft.” (Major Dad was ultimately sold to USA Cable, which is a subsidiary of Universal Studios. This basically means that Universal Studios sold the Major Dad “Syndication Package” to itself. {Can anyone say “Conflict of Interest”?**

USA CABLE: “We are proposing this offer?”

UNIVERSAL: We’ll take it.”

USA CABLE: “You should probably wait till I say what it is first.”

UNIVERSAL: “Oops, sorry.” (TURNING “SERIOUS”) “What’s your offer? And it better be good.”

Good or bad, Universal’s selling its series to its own subsidiary is a telling indicator that the legions of buyers out there were not clamoring to have Major Dad rerunning on their stations. (Which turned out to be an astute business decision. Major Dad was ultimately an underperformer in syndication.)

This is admittedly conjecture, but here’s what I… No! Sorry! It’s still not time for that. (Though once again, I am leaving it where it is.)

As series runs get longer, their budgets inevitably get bigger, owing primarily to the show’s regulars either successfully renegotiating their contracts, or because their “extended run” contracts include built-in, often substantial, increases in their salaries.

This at a time, remember, when Major Dad’s disappointing Friday night performance increased CBS’s negotiating leverage, so that they can demand a reduction in their “licensing fee” payment (the percentage of the show’s budget bankrolled by the network, the rest of the series’ costs, called the “overage”, being shelled out for by the studio, which invariably goes what they call, “into deficit”, in hopes of a mother-lode recoupment in syndication.) And, of course, the less CBS chips in, the more the financial burden falls on Universal.

Now.

This is admittedly conjecture, but here’s what I think happened.

Let me put this in the form of a question, in case “‘Major Dad’ Business Negotiations” ever comes up as a category on Jeopardy.

If you are a studio, owning a series about to go into syndication, and you are aware that that series’ syndication value is low, and that, if the series is picked up, its budgetary burden is going to increase on the studio to the point that it may never earn a profit on the series and may, in fact, go into unrecoupable “deficit” on it…

How hard are you going to fight to get that series picked up for another season?

[tlc38tlc38]

The show should've went for at least one more season. And I wish it'd hurry up and come to DVD! I haven't seen this show in YEARS!

[MichaelKeith]

I watched this show during its original run and loved it. If I remember correctly, the first couple of seasons were better than the last one.