I've Heard of Cheap Deals, but this is Ridiculous

In spite of how pathetic Michigan's economy has become, it still raised my eyebrow when I heard that a house was being sold for $1. I honestly thought I had seen it all in the world of transactions until I opened up my Mediabistro ezine today.

Bistro reports: "Yesterday, after hearing about OpenGate Capital's purchase of TV Guide we wondered why the company would buy the struggling pub, writing, 'Honestly, it's a little hard to understand what OpenGate sees in the magazine, even if the purchase was for an absolutely rock bottom price.'"

"Well, it turns out that was 100 percent the case. Advertising Age's Nat Ives found out that the investment company bought the mag for a grand total of $1. Furthermore, Macrovision — which owned TV Guide — will give OpenGate a $9.5 million loan at three percent interest, a great deal in these uncertain times."

"But still, the magazine lost $20.3 million in 2007. What is OpenGate thinking? Its managing partner Andrew Nikou told Ives his company's thought process: 'The reason we acquired this business is simple. It needed additional investment. We're investing in this company to take it to the next stage.' Good luck with that, guys"

Essentially, TV Guide has devolved into a venture capital deal. It is clearly more than an idea, since it has decades of history behind it. But it has such a terrible track record to stand on and is back to square one in making a case for its continued existence. TV Guide has all the elements of a free rag, but they are still trying to "sell it" as a viable subscription publication. Thanks to the large number of cable and satellite services, it is very difficult for a print publication to provide thorough information on specific programming. That leaves the Internet. Meanwhile, all of the companies that provide programming (like cable companies) gladly tell you what is on their systems. Better than a magazine or a website, they do it through the remotes they provide. It is simply too simple to use any other means.

I don't see how there is a market for a TV Guide and don't think there has been a need for such in years. But old business models die hard. Just ask the US automobile industry.

Kevin Price articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Ellen DeGeneres and the Writers Strike

The Writers Guild of America (East) is mad and they are taking the usually likable Ellen DeGeneres to task. In a recent press release, the organization is taking the TV personality head on and in no uncertain terms. The following are excerpts from the press release and some of my thoughts.

Ellen DeGeneres went back on the air this week after honoring only one day of the writers strike. In anticipation of her plans to tape shows in New York City on November 19th and 20th, the Writers Guild of America, East is extremely disappointed to see that Ellen has chosen not to stand with writers during the strike. Ellen's peers who host comedy/variety shows have chosen to support the writers and help them get a fair contract, Ellen has not. On her first show back, Ellen said she loves and supports her writers, but her actions prove otherwise.

It appears that Ellen loves her audience more than her writers. This is a healthy, free market attitude, in a business culture that often disregards such. The customer is boss and Ellen knows who that is.

Ellen has also been performing comedy on her show. Even if Ellen is writing those segments herself, since those segments would normally be written by the writers on strike, she's performing "struck work". Ellen is violating the strike rules that were clearly explained to all of the comedy/variety shows.

In other words, Ellen is a scab! Harsh, but that is what expressions such as "struck work" means. A scab is described as a person who crosses the lines of a strike to make income. I call it a person attempting to take care of him or her self and their responsibilites.

We certainly intend to let Ellen know our dissatisfaction in person if she decides to proceed with the shows she has scheduled in New York on November 19th and 20th. We will also make our voices heard the preceding week if she tries to pre-tape comedy segments on location.

I'm sure Ellen intends to have the highest rated TV shows during the day, during this strike. Of course, this is usually case any way, but will be all the more so during this strike.

We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a dog that she gave away, yet she couldn't even stand by writers for more than one day - writers who have helped make her extremely successful.

WAAAAAAAAAAAIT a minute. Is the Writers Guild saying that dogs aren't as important as people? This isn't a very Hollywood attitude.

The writers did not cause this strike. The companies' greed caused this strike and it could end tomorrow if they were finally willing to negotiate a fair deal. We ask Ellen to cease doing shows immediately. She should stand by all writers and help us bring this strike to a quick conclusion. We owe that to the thousands of people who are caught in the middle.

Those poor writers. According to the TV Guide, writers seem to do pretty well. The typical childrens' show writer makes over $200,000 a year and the typical day time soap opera writer makes over $3,000 a script (with many writing two or more scripts a week). These writers are considered on the "low end" of the writing profession, writers of hour long weekly shows make over $30,000 per episode.

In the end, I give two thumbs up for Ellen when it comes to the writer's strike. You won't find that kind of endorsement very often in this blog.

I apologize for the subtitles. This was the only video I could find with Ellen's explanation.