Who will carry the SW live-action series?

Geesh!!Lets be serious in 3 years we will be so hungry for the galaxy far far away we would take it on vh1 or nick.LOL.

 

HBO seems to do a good job of promoting their tv shows (i.e. "The Sopranos", "Rome", "Band of Brothers", etc.) I would say LFL should try and sell their live-action "darker, grittier" tv series to them. HBO also seems to do well promoting DVDs too, which would be good for those who don't get HBO.

I would be hesitant to go with something like FOX or CBS, because they are dictated by the ratings-- and ratings are unpredictable. I'd hate to see the series flop, which would be all over the news. I think they should stay away from the Sci-Fi Channel as well, because that's too "star treky"...

Regardless of what they do, I expect fan anticipation to be 80-90% of what it was for the prequels. I'm sure we'll have spoiler reports and everything else once the ball gets rolling on the series.

 

I agree. I really do hope HBO or some responsible channel like it gets the show. One which isn't afraid of ratings. And I know what you mean with sci-foi chanel, with all of that low-quality shows they air nowadays (excepts Battlestar Galactica).

I'm looking forward to the year or so right before, which is always the most enjoyable, where every few days TFN comes up with the old spy reports like they use to.

 

Yes on HBO it would probabaly get great ratings compared to their other shows.

 

Only problem with HBO is that for a lot of people getting HBO channels cost extra, in addition to regular fees for cable or satellite. As good as the show will hopefully be, and as big a following exists for Star Wars, most of your average Joe fans and whatnot aren't going to shell out extra money for a channel that they may only watch for 1 hour or so a week, and may not watch at all for a few months between one season ending and the next beginning.

 

I agree. If this show is to be successful then it must be accessible to the greatest possible number of viewers/fans. And that means mainstream television. I know, I posted before that Sci-Fi Channel would seem the perfect fit (and many of us seem to agree), but this show needs also to be marketable, and that means commercial t.v.

 

I wouldn't put money on that (no pun intended). In the UK, many new series (albeit US imports) debut on the pay-for digital channels and air on the 'terrestrial' channels at a later date.
SW would be the ideal 'lets-see-if-people-will-pay-for-it' experiment for the US market.
It's entirely feasible that HBO would buy SW as a means for pushing sales while it would be shown on free-to-air channels a few months later. That way they get to sell it twice and DVD sales are more or less assured anyway.

Just a thought

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Actually if it was on HBO I think it get the best ratings HBO has evr gotten for a show.

 

It won't be on the Sci Fi channel for one reason: The profits that Lucas could make from a live action Star Wars series are much,much, greater on Broadcast TV or a Premium Channel then from a basic Cable channel.
An fairly low budget Animated series ("CLone Wars") is one thing, a Big Budget Live action show is another.

 

But Lucas claims he's not in it for the money, and I was under the impression that he was financing it with his own money. And I'd like to think that Lucas wouldn't give it to HBO, either first or only, but given how he looooves to pump the fans for cash, I don't know...

Also, I don't think that it'd be the highest-ranking show ever on HBO. Maybe the first few episodes, but there've been enough widespread appeal, extremely good shows on HBO that I doubt it could make number one of all time.

 

Well, I've just ate my comments, which I never seriously thoguht would happen, ever, about Spike TV showing any Star Wars-related program on TV, as now the main TFN page says they now hold the rights to show all the films. Un-frickin-believable!!! SPIKE-TV?!? STAR WARS?!? That's just wrong.

 

Does this mean that SpikeTV also has first crack at pending series? Here's hoping not.

 

With the news of SpikeTV buying the rights to all six SW films,I've wondered if they get first crack at the live-action series also. I don't see why not,they have the rights to all the Star Trek series and movies,so they're practically a second Sci-Fi channel.

 

It's just the general tone of that channel that bugs me. It... just... isn't... the channel... for Star Wars. I mean, maybe sci-fi, but, not spike. I seriously hope they don't get the TV series also. I also find it humorous that they now have the rights to show both star wars and star trek shows.

 

the thing is with HBO does everyone have that channel? sure alot of people have cable but do they have that premium channel?

 

You'd almost have to consider Spike TV at least a player for the live-action series, now. Original series airing on basic cable is nothing new, as the USA Network has had original programming in the past. However, given the big budget that a live-action Star Wars show will require, I would still consider the "Big Four" networks to have the inside track (with Fox having the rail because everyone knows they distributed the movies).

 

Well it's Star Wars so if the show is really good it should keep the great ratings I'm assuming it's going to get in the first few weeks.

 

I think it says they paid 65 to 70 million dollars per movie. They paid 65-70 million dollars for one of them that isn't even out on video yet.

I guess whoever airs the tv show may depend on who is willing to shell out the most cash.

 

Spike TV takes the cake. Pisses me off, since we most definitely won't get that down here. Stupid LFL.

 

What surprises me is that there still remains a rather lucrative market for broadcasting movies on commercial televison. For some reason, SpikeTV shelled out between $65 and $70 million for the right to broadcast the Star Wars saga when very few of us would choose to watch these films with commercial interruptions. With that said, both proposed television series are suited to the format; whether we like it or not, they're meant to be told with regular commerical breaks. Television revenue is determined by airtime sold during such breaks, and Star Wars, being the property it is, should present valuable airtime to whomever acquires the rights to broadcast each (or both).

 

Please understand that I am a bit of a newbie to these boards, but I am very familiar with how media works. The Star Wars live action TV will quite likely wind up on Network Television (Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC). I would be shocked if it winds up on a subscriber based platform like HBO. HBO does have cutting edge programming which is it's niche. The problem is that since it doesn't sell ads, its revenue is based soley from subscribers. You will notice that their successful shows are for the most part low budget affairs (Sopranos, Sex and the City, Deadwood, Six Feet Under). This is because they need to keep production costs as low as possible. This is why the Sopranos salary wars were so drawn out. They just can't raise their ad rates (no ad) and cable providers are subject to same regulations that power and water companies are so they just can't jack up the cost to subscribe. There is very little way to gain revenue once the budget gets established. This clearly won't do for Mr. Lucas.

Ratings mean nothing to HBO. All ratings do is indicate how many people are watching so the ad rates can be set. Since no ads are sold, ratings are a moot point. Star Wars needs ad revenue which means that it will be on a)Cable outlet that sells ads or b) Network Television.

Network TV is dying for programming. Look at all the crap that is out there. Star Wars has a couple of things that make sense here. Ready made fan base and a fan base that despite what one might think, is pretty broad, but is certainly concentrated in male 18 to 35 demographic which is coveted by advertisers.

The one drawback to Network TV might be that Lucas would have to deal with the FCC (Damn Janet Jackson). He would have more leway on cable, but the dollars for production would be no where near what they would be on a network.

Just some thoughts, but look for Star Wars on a network when it happens.

 

Smitty -- great insight! Thanks.

While the movies went to Spike, the highest bidder, your point that GL wants/needs the advertising bucks is spot-on. But GL is thinking global with this series, and HD! So it will be interesting to see if a broadcast network or a cable channel will win the day. I agree that if it is cable, it will have to have commercial vice subscription revenue.

 

"Please understand that I am a bit of a newbie to these boards, but I am very familiar with how media works. The Star Wars live action TV will quite likely wind up on Network Television (Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC). I would be shocked if it winds up on a subscriber based platform like HBO. HBO does have cutting edge programming which is it's niche. The problem is that since it doesn't sell ads, its revenue is based soley from subscribers. You will notice that their successful shows are for the most part low budget affairs (Sopranos, Sex and the City, Deadwood, Six Feet Under). This is because they need to keep production costs as low as possible. This is why the Sopranos salary wars were so drawn out. They just can't raise their ad rates (no ad) and cable providers are subject to same regulations that power and water companies are so they just can't jack up the cost to subscribe. There is very little way to gain revenue once the budget gets established. This clearly won't do for Mr. Lucas.

Ratings mean nothing to HBO. All ratings do is indicate how many people are watching so the ad rates can be set. Since no ads are sold, ratings are a moot point. Star Wars needs ad revenue which means that it will be on a)Cable outlet that sells ads or b) Network Television.

Network TV is dying for programming. Look at all the crap that is out there. Star Wars has a couple of things that make sense here. Ready made fan base and a fan base that despite what one might think, is pretty broad, but is certainly concentrated in male 18 to 35 demographic which is coveted by advertisers.

The one drawback to Network TV might be that Lucas would have to deal with the FCC (Damn Janet Jackson). He would have more leway on cable, but the dollars for production would be no where near what they would be on a network.

Just some thoughts, but look for Star Wars on a network when it happens. "

I almost totally agree. I disagree about ratings for HBO...they do use them as a measure of how popular a show is, since they feel that popularity is a sign of how many people are willing to subscribe but they are not the end all and be all that they are for Broadcast TV and Basic cable networks.
If the 1.8 Million per episode budget figure is correct, it is going to be on one of the big four...NBC,CBS,ABC, or FOX. I am not sure how much of an edge Fox has. Lucas will go with who gives him the best deal. Fox has no legal hold on "Star Wars", Lucas owns the franchise and his deal with Fox was strictly for the release of the films. If he goes with Fox it is because they Gave Him the Best deal.
The only other possiblity is if Lucas syndicates the show a la "Star Trek, The Next Generation" originally was, but that has problems of it's own.

 

I know it is probably not going to be on HBO but if it was on HBO it would probabaly not be cancelled like it could be on a network channel.

 

HBO cancelled Carnivale didn't they? BTW Love Deadwood and Rome.