NATAS Boss Steps Down at End of Year

Peter Price’s tumultuous and aggressive reign as president and CEO of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will come to an early conclusion at the end of the year.

He will continue to advise and to head up the NATAS Foundation, which raises money for scholarships, education and other initiatives, he said in an interview with TelevisionWeek. He’ll perform the NATAS Foundation duties without compensation—“church work,” as he called it.

The trustees of NATAS, which runs TV awards programs including the News & Documentary Emmys and the Daytime Creative Arts and Entertainment Emmys, are recommending that Chief Financial Officer Carolyn Grippi become executive VP and function as chief operating officer as well as CFO effective Jan. 1.

Mr. Price, 68, said he told the NATAS trustees last spring that he had made the decision to leave before his contract expires in September 2009 to focus on a number of ventures in which he is an investor, including a healthcare-related business that is aiming to go public.

“I’m going to get very busy around the first of the year,” he said.

He had hit the ground running at NATAS after he was chosen in 2002 to lead the group and mandated to shake up the then-fustier cousin of the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The search committee that hired Mr. Price wanted to make the organization more relevant, robust, diverse and youth-friendly. NATAS had been looking to put on more events and gain new revenue streams.

Dennis Swanson, president of station operations for the Fox Television Stations Group, was part of the search committee that chose Mr. Price, a media executive who never was part of the creative TV community. Mr. Swanson also served four years as NATAS chairman during Mr. Price’s terms.

Herb Granath, the current chairman, was unavailable for comment for this story.

Mr. Swanson gives Mr. Price good marks, saying the CEO has done well with his mandate to improve the academy’s events, participation and standing. Mr. Price has run his office with dignity, Mr. Swanson said.

Mr. Price’s first major initiative was to start a National Student Television Award for Excellence.

But what he will be remembered for are his more dramatic plans to launch a Spanish-language Emmy program and to make broadband content eligible for Emmys in a separate competition.

In the process, he drove a new wedge into the decades-old rift between New York-based NATAS and Los Angeles-based ATAS, which runs the more well-known and lucrative Primetime Emmys.

The two groups, which have a common ancestor, are trapped in a cycle of litigation and arbitration that has cost each nonprofit academy what some people say totals about $1 million each.

When Mr. Price announced the Spanish-language and broadband plans in 2002 and 2007, respectively, he did it without having first gotten agreement from ATAS. That notice was required by the 1977 treaty deeding ATAS control over the Primetime Emmys and giving NATAS the News, Sports and Daytime Emmys. NATAS also got 19 local chapters in the deal.

With regards to the Spanish-language Emmys, Mr. Price said a joint NATAS-ATAS committee “is pretty well along in defining categories and timetables and general structure of the show. We’ve been in touch with Univision and Telemundo as well as the other Spanish-language networks who are, let’s call it, more than enthusiastic to finally realize the result here.”

A decision is expected later this year from a five-judge appeals court panel in New York that may (or may not) finally clear the way for the “Emmys en Espanol,” as he refers to them.

A key issue in the development of the Spanish-language awards is the $900,000 that NATAS has been ordered to pay ATAS toward its legal fees.

“We are willing and able to move forward immediately on a joint Spanish-language Emmy contest and ceremony as soon as the judges rule on the NATAS appeal or they drop their appeal,” ATAS Chief Operating Officer Alan Perris said.

“In spite of all the sturm und drang of, you know, differences and arbitrations and all that, I think the net result of it is we’ve probably come closer together, rather than stay apart as we have in the past and just bicker,” Mr. Price said. “The hope is that collaboration will have been established through all this dialogue and some controversy, but I think the net result will have been positive.”

There are those who think the only way to end the friction between the East Coast and West Coast academies is for them to find a way to merge under one banner. There have been attempts to explore possibilities over the years. However, such talks founder on such issues as the groups’ distinctly different structures (NATAS is a federalist chapter-based group, while ATAS is centralized in Los Angeles), as well as long-standing feelings at NATAS that talks about a merger feel too much like talks about takeover.

“I don’t think it’s anybody’s fault. If you can’t put them together, you should find a way to make it work better,” Mr. Price said. “God knows we’ve tried, and sparring and arbitrating and litigating is not fun—it’s costly and debilitating and it just doesn’t solve any problems.”

It is unclear whether the exit of Mr. Price, who has ruffled some pretty big feathers in ATAS, would lead to détente.

“Sharing a brand is not a great idea. It’s not a great idea for Procter & Gamble and L’Oreal to do it. It’s not a great idea for Cheerios and Wheaties to do it. It’s not a great idea for ATAS and NATAS to do it. It complicates life. It complicates getting things done. It creates friction,” Mr. Price said. “Co-owning one brand is confusing to people inside and confusing to people outside.”

Mr. Price is aware that he comes across as “brusque” to many people, but he has a very clear vision of leadership. It involves taking command instead of taking things to committees, and being willing to take risks.

On Sept. 21, he had his first trapeze lesson (a birthday gift from his wife). He talked afterward about his sore muscles and how “it’s fascinating to put yourself at risk like that and discover you can actually defy gravity.”

Mr. Price said his chief frustration was “herding the cats and getting everybody on the same page and agreeing to do that on some timely basis and some sensible way.” Contrasting his acrobatics on the trapeze to the slower pace of some in the business, Mr. Price said he prefers to leap.

Mr. Price said he’s particularly proud of his efforts to bring broadband content into the world of the Emmys and moving his academy “from the old television business to the new television business.”

“While ATAS didn’t agree with our approach, they had their own approach, and the arbitrators gave us a kind of, ‘OK, you guys can move forward on this basis: If it’s not platform-specific, you can engage these new media in your awards.’ So we accommodated the result.”

Mr. Price compared what he’s done at NATAS with what executives like Jeff Zucker, Les Moonves and Bob Iger have done at their media companies.

“You must transform or you wake up dead one morning, not just for commercial companies who are our patrons but we who live by their good graces,” Mr. Price said. “So we must be a mirror of them and we must deal with the future.”

Broadband Video Viewers Double in a Year

The number of people watching Web video has doubled over the past year—growing from 32% of all Internet users a year ago, to 63% today—according to a survey conducted by ABI Research. into online viewing habits.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6599757.html

WEHT Legend Fighting Lou Gehrig's Disease

If, like me, you grew up watching Peggy Mitchell each weekday morning on WEHT, you might have taken note of Shelley Kirk's story yesterday.

Peggy is 72 now, and was diagnosed in February with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

http://jakesdtvblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/sad-note.html

Ohio Political Blogosphere Featured on PBS Show

Hey, Ohio political blogosphere, are your ears burning? Somebody’s been talking about you behind your back. A couple of blogs/bloggers were even singled out by name. Ohio’s PBS stations broadcast a half-hour-long weekend show (schedules vary, so check your local PBS or Ohio Channel listings) called “The State of Ohio,” hosted by Karen Kasler.

http://buckeyerino.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/ohio-political-blogosphere-featured-on-pbs-show/

Best Job Posting Ever...From WHIO

I have a job, I don't need a job, in spite of this tough economy, thankfully. So, why do I religiously read Graeme Newell's Marketing Ideanet Jobs email every week?? .. because it includes postings like this one:

http://aoprep.blogspot.com/2008/09/overnights-delivered-in-song-got-me.html

Stealth Marketing Gone Wild in the Ohio Valley?

One of my favorite critiques of our ad-saturated modern world is in "Infinite Jest," the epic novel by recently-departed author and essayist David Foster Wallace. In the novel's not-too-distant future, time itself has become a corporate marketing opportunity. There's the Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar and the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment. That's not to mention the Year of the Yushityu 2007 Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge-View-Motherboard-Easy-To-Install-Upgrade For Infernatron/InterLace TP Systems For Home, Office, Or Mobile, which is often abbreviated.

http://www.prwatch.org/node/7772

ABN and WOSU Announce Partnership

WOSU Public Media has announced a new partnership with ABN Radio, the largest farm radio network in Ohio. ABN will relocate their headquarters to WOSU facilities on the Ohio State campus in Columbus in early 2009.

http://ofbf.org/page/DTOD-7JLH7U/

WLKY Doing the Anchor Shuffle to Showcase Rising Stars

They’re playing some musical chairs at WLKY-TV, shifting anchoring responsibilities around in order to promote a couple of its on-air talents that G.M. Glenn Haygood calls “rising stars.”

http://thevillevoice.com/2008/09/12/wlky-personnel-changes-designed-to-showcase-future-stars/

Where's Abby at WLKY?

Abby Miller, the ex-anchor of the WLKY-TV morning show, has yet to return to work after being demoted to weekend duties. According to our sources, Miller was scheduled to work this week but hasn’t been seen on Mellwood Avenue.

http://thevillevoice.com/2008/09/24/wheres-abby-at-wlky/

WOUB.org Woes

Do public broadcasters need to invest in their websites?

That is the question. At the moment many of them use Public Interactive, which provides a template allowing NPR affiliates to easily update content from the mothership in D.C. But why would I go to my local station's website for news from NPR when I could to npr.org? It's great for NPR to have it's site linked to an affiliate but what good does it do the affiliate?


http://radioanngal.blogspot.com/2008/09/wouborg-woes.html

New WHAS-TV Strategy on Streaming

After we pointed out the copyright violation earlier this week, when WHAS-TV was streaming its entire programming schedule online, the station has wisely come up with a new strategy.


http://thevillevoice.com/2008/09/19/new-whas-tv-strategy-on-streaming/

Sean McDowell- Bright House Sports Network Anchor

“What I enjoy most is telling great stories,” says Central Florida News 13 Sports Director Sean McDowell, “Anyone can give you highlights from a ballgame. I can certainly do that, but I also enjoy the challenge of doing something more memorable.” Sean comes to Central Florida News 13 from the Sports Anchor desk at WOWK TV, the CBS affiliate, in Charleston-Huntington, West Virginia where he also produced award-winning sports features and sports specials for a statewide news network.


http://www.baynews9.com/content/66/2008/9/19/383833.html

Guardian sells station, loses cable coverage

The Guardian Television Network, a Christian broadcaster based in Columbus, might soon find itself without a cable home.


http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2008/09/19/2_WSFJ_GTN.ART_ART_09-19-08_D7_GOBC786.html?sid=101

TV crew topples power line

Police dispatchers in Butler County reported this morning that a WKRC-TV van knocked over a power line in Ross Township.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080918/NEWS01/309180068

UE, WNIN partnering for cinema series

The University of Evansville and WNIN are launching a new Community Cinema Series.

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/sep/18/ue-wnin-partnering-cinema-series/

WDTN-TV, owner pressing Time Warner Cable for deal

DAYTON — WDTN-TV, Channel 2, is urging its viewers to call Time Warner Cable and press the company to reach a deal to keep WDTN's signal on the Time Warner network after Oct. 2, when the current agreement expires.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/b/content/oh/story/business/2008/09/17/ddn091708ch2web.html

Think/TV to air documentary on Dayton flood

A new production exploring the 1913 Dayton flood will premiere as a simulcast at 8 p.m. Thursday on Think/TV WPTD-TV (Channel 16) and WPTO/TV (Channel 14).

Goodbye, the Levee Has Broken, the Story of the Great Dayton Flood tells about one of the most important events in the city's history. It was produced by ThinkTV in partnership with the Montgomery County Historical Society.


http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-11936695.html

WDPR loses power, postpones fund drive

DAYTON — There's never a good time for a radio station to be knocked off the air, but it's especially bad during the annual fund-raising campaign.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/09/16/ddn091608radioweb.html

Crisis? Radio not much help

When deadly hurricane-force winds blew through the region Sunday, most radio stations relied on their listeners to provide news reports.



Why? Because most stations don’t have reporters to cover events.'



http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080916/NEWS01/309160097

ABN Radio To Relocate to WOSU Facility

It seemed like the ABN Show midday here at the Farm Science Review. The BARN has a nice barn. Here’s Andy and Lindsay just before their big announcement today.


http://agwired.com/2008/09/16/abn-radio-to-relocate-to-wosu-facility/