Things we may lose in the fire: The TCA press tour?

Things aren't looking good for the semiannual TV Critics Assn. press tour.

Nothing's decided yet, but a meeting between TCA officials and network PR execs concluded with the broadcast nets declaring they may need to kill their portions of the tour. Cable and PBS are still a go, and it's possible the broadcasters could fold their TCA events into the cable days.

The TCA is polling its membership about how to respond. And both sides will meet later this month to discuss the issues.

The bulk of TCA prexy Dave Walker's letters to members, emailed earlier today, follows.

--Josef Adalian

Sorry for the long e mail to follow, but there's a lot of ground to cover.  Please carefully consider its content and then respond as requested.

Summary: A TCA meeting with the networks about the WGA strike's impact on the January 2008 TV tour resulted in a discussion of a shortened event in lieu of possible cancellation. Cable and PBS are interested in substantial presentations, but commercial broadcast networks will have budget issues regardless of strike length. There are several questions to be answered before proceeding, one of which is likely TCA member attendance at a strike tour.

End of summary. Details below.

TCA Tour Coordinator Valerie Milano and I met with network PR staffers Monday morning at the Universal Hilton to assess the impact of the WGA strike on the January 2008 TV Tour. All the networks were represented, including cable (via CTAM) and PBS on speakerphone. Several TCA board members participated by phone as well.

Based on preliminary conversations with ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC during the several weeks leading up to the strike, I anticipated that those networks would make their first position at Monday's meeting wholesale cancellation of their portions of the tour, and that was the case.

Their justification was budgetary, based on the expected revenue shortfall they'll all experience during a strike of any significant duration. The purpose of the meeting wasn't to debate the networks'
reasoning or to gaze into their souls. Based on what I'd heard in earlier conversations, I was there to try to convince them of the high news value to TCA members of an all-network strike tour if it could be appropriately staged.

The purpose of this e mail is to gauge member interest in a potential strike tour, a possible template for which emerged from the meeting as an alternative to cancellation.

Cable and PBS were eager to proceed with full presentations strike or not, but I believe that a TV tour with just cable and PBS probably wouldn't work for most members.

The proposed strike tour as discussed Monday would appear about as it's currently scheduled through cable and PBS, although exact dates haven't been determined. Thereafter, the broadcast networks may merge each of their days with their affiliated cable networks. CW and Showtime would fold into CBS.

We've asked that each network present an executive session, have a news presence (for purposes of discussing election year coverage) and preview whatever replacement programming or second-season scripted fare they'll be programming. For networks whose cable networks either weren't planning to present at this tour or preferred to stay on a cable day, I suggested the option of the commercial broadcasters splitting a day with another network. It's not known how long the strike tour would be, though shorter is certain.

There was no resolution at the meeting, just a plan to explore several issues that need to be addressed before a strike tour could even be considered. One is the tour participation of other guilds. It's understood that for many members a tour without a considerable turnout of TV stars would have much less value. Also important, should the networks present panels of scripted shows, would be the presence of showrunners and executive producers. As of the 9 a.m. hour Monday, which is about when picketing started all over Los Angeles, the network representatives were unsure about both of those points, but I asked them to make every effort to determine what the situation would be with actors and hyphenates as quickly as possible.

Despite the value of a tour focused around strike issues, I know many editors would probably say that's not enough to justify the trip. I think it's reasonable to expect that the usual participants in a TV tour – including actors and exec producers -- would be anxious to have the forum of 100-plus TV journalists to amplify their thoughts on the strike and its impact. However, the issue of star and showrunner participation needs to be resolved before we move forward.

We concluded the meeting by agreeing to speak by conference call again on Monday, Nov. 12. Before that call, I need to determine what member interest would be in a strike tour, especially the members who would stay at the hotel.

A word about the hotel. Val and I met with Universal Hilton management after our network meeting. Faced with the possibility of full cancellation as the likely alternative, the hotel has tentatively agreed to cooperate in shrinking the footprint of the tour if needed, pending another round of negotiations next week. Without the hotel's cooperation, this emergency change would be impossible.

Even a slightly condensed tour represents a significant revenue loss for the hotel, as compared with the full tour as scheduled. We're grateful the Universal Hilton has agreed to work with us on salvaging the January TV tour. I know there have been a few room-reservation glitches already, but my visit allowed me to address those and I believe the process will proceed more smoothly now. Sorry for the early trouble. That said, I suggest everybody who hasn't made room reservations yet hold off until we know more about the tour composition.

The traditional culture of the tour is relentlessly and uniquely a la carte. Members make their own hotel and travel reservations, pick the sessions or days to attend or not, and basically come and go as they please. In fact, there's an infrastructure of expectations on the hotel's part regarding total program room nights and food-and-beverage purchases by the networks.

Our contract with the tour hotels not only stipulates room rate for members, but it also includes F&B minimums (network money spent on breakfasts, lunches, cocktails, evening events held at the hotel) for the entire event. Traditionally, the tour over-delivers on contracted minimums, which are boilerplate contract language for large groups like ours.

This time, to even consider proceeding with a potentially shortened or compressed strike tour, both the hotel and networks need a headcount.

Accordingly, I'm asking every member who attended either or both of the past two January tours and stayed in the hotel – or new members who intend to attend this coming January's tour and stay at the hotel
-- to respond to a  very brief e mail poll. Your answers are not binding, but I can't overstate how important it is that you respond.

If you're uncertain about if or how much of the tour you'll attend, give us your best guess. My earlier attempt to measure interest this way via message board posts and reply e mail didn't work. We need to hear from everybody who's a habitual January tour attendee. The first and best way to respond is by e mail, details below.

An accurate-as-possible head count is so important in this case that I've asked the TCA board to take the unusual step of hounding members via phone to get a thumbs up or thumbs down before the end of business Thursday. If you can't or don't reply by e mail and you've stayed in the hotel the past couple of January tours, expect a call. Sorry for the trouble, but we need a solid estimate of interest to justify going forward.

Before you respond, a few important points to consider:

One, if a condensed tour can be engineered in the next few days, we may be stuck with it even if the strike ends before the tour. Why? Two reasons. One, the broadcast networks say that their budget crunch remains even if the strike is of comparatively short duration. Two, contracting and then ballooning the tour back to its original footprint might not be acceptable to the hotel, which will scramble to independently recover revenue it would lose if a strike tour is staged.

If we free up ballroom space and guest rooms on one end or the other of the tour, it's incumbent on the TCA to allow the hotel to attempt to fill those spaces with other business. I believe the timetable for making this decision is fairly short – no more than another week or so. Our preference, of course, is a full tour as scheduled. But if that's not possible, I well understand that TCA members need to lock in new travel dates as early as possible to get favorable fares. Once we know there's interest (or not) in a shortened tour, this process will move very quickly, I promise.

Two, the networks' budgetary woes may mean less hospitality during the tour, including some daytime meals and evening events. I know the prospect of fewer and lesser network meals would be an issue to some members. Factor that possibility in your reply to the poll. For what it's worth, the hotel is within walking distance of restaurants, including Universal CityWalk, and stores with food options to fit any budget.

Also, I've already made the point, both in this e mail and to the networks,  about how important access to TV stars is to many members of the TCA, and that there would be an expectation of their presence throughout the tour, though perhaps not during full-blown stars parties, which are a considerable expense to the networks. I'm not sure what form replacement stars events would take, or if they'll even be possible. But I think it's appropriate to expect that there would not be nightly gala stars parties during a strike tour, at least during the broadcast network portion of the tour.

We're also considering organizing TCA Day panel programming, some of which would address strike issues and feature key players in the labor strife, some of which would be mostly unrelated but still topical stuff we've already been planning. That day, or those half days, would come at the beginning or end of the presentation days so they'd be skip-able.

If a strike is still on, it's doubtful that set visits would be practical, though Rick is checking on that. If the strike is solved before the tour and we're locked into a shortened tour, it's possible we could quickly organize a full day of set visits as the final day of tour programming.