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September 15, 2002
'West Wing' watching campaign on expenses
By Scott Collins
The Hollywood Reporter
LOS ANGELES --- Is NBC willing to fork over a 525% raise to keep President Bartlet's administration in office?
As the fall TV season gets under way, a battle is brewing over "The West Wing ( news - web sites)," Aaron Sorkin's Emmy-winning drama about behind-the-scenes doings in a liberal White House. Beyond its status as a Top 15 hit, the John Wells Prods./Warner Bros. TV series draws far and away the most upscale audience in primetime, which in turn helps NBC pitch itself to advertisers as a haven for the affluent.
But there's tension in the Oval Office. NBC's contract for "West Wing," now entering its fourth season, is up for renewal at the end of this season, and one knowledgeable source says that the studio will push the network for a license fee of more than $10 million per episode -- a more than sixfold increase over the current license fee of about $1.6 million an episode.
Representatives for NBC and Warner Bros. declined to comment for this story.
With its large ensemble cast and elaborate settings, industry sources peg the production cost on "West Wing" at about $3 million-$3.5 million per episode, making it one of the most expensive on television. Warner Bros. sold the rerun rights to "West Wing" last year to the Bravo cable network for about $1.1 million per episode -- a healthy price in a depressed syndication market but shy of the $1.5 million-$1.6 million fees commanded around the same time by CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ( news - Y! TV)" and NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
While Warners may not get its $10 million asking price from NBC, expected rival bids from ABC (which could sorely use a ready-made hit) and CBS likely will drive the price far above its current level.
ABC faced a similar situation two years ago when it renegotiated its deal for the Emmy-winning David E. Kelley drama "The Practice," from 20th Century Fox Television. The price tag for ABC more than doubled to an estimated $5 million-$7 million per episode.
Negotiations on "The West Wing" deal won't begin in earnest until early next year, and one exec at a rival network predicted that NBC, fearing protracted talks that could run up the price, may move to settle the matter quickly. With the peacock poised to part with "Friends" after this season, the conventional wisdom in TV circles is that the network can't afford to lose "West Wing" as well.
But NBC is already mapping its battle plan. Sources say peacock execs are vowing to avoid a repeat of the scenario that unfolded in 1998, when the clock was ticking on its "ER" contract. NBC wound up shelling out a record-setting $13 million per episode to hang on to its Thursday night anchor.
"The days of networks giving back all the profits they made in years one through four (of a series' run) are over," a network insider said. "It just doesn't make sense."
Indeed, "West Wing" may offer the last big renewal drama between a network and outside studio for some time to come. Over the past few seasons -- partly because of the "ER" deal -- networks and studios have hammered out extended license fee agreements designed to shield networks from triple-digit cost increases on successful shows. Moreover, the wave of vertical integration that seized the media business in the mid- to late-1990s has made it the rule that the major broadcast networks own or co-own most of the primetime entertainment series they carry, which theoretically reduces the chance of a blistering renewal fight between sibling divisions.
In the case of "The West Wing," industry veterans note that history between NBC and Warner Bros. TV is repeating itself. One source said the studio approached the previous regime at NBC Entertainment about an early renegotiation after the show's first season, but NBC passed, just as a different regime a few years earlier passed on an early renegotiation of "ER" after it became an instant smash in its 1994 debut.
"The thinking among the business types (on the 'West Wing' offer) was, if we renegotiate now, we're renegotiating at the worst possible time," the source said.
For the 2001-02 season, the series ranked 15th among all primetime series in the key adults 18-49 demographic, averaging a 6.3 rating/16 share, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. Among dramas, only "ER," CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and NBC's "Law & Order" drew higher ratings.
Rival network executives and agents not involved with the series characterized Warners' $10 million target price as quite high but not outside the realm of possibility. "West Wing's" upscale audience and critical acclaim add prestige and, presumably, value -- points that studio negotiators will almost certainly drive home.
Warners is likely to push for a lengthy renewal term -- three or four more seasons, sources say. But the network may resist, on the grounds that the show's ratings will probably erode over that period.
A bigger question mark is Sorkin himself, who writes virtually all of the "West Wing" scripts. NBC would probably consider his continued involvement highly desirable but not necessarily essential, two well-placed sources said. That way, if Sorkin decided to leave, NBC could press Warners to back off from its highest demands, while entrusting executive producer John Wells to keep the show humming along.
A spokeswoman for Sorkin said he has no plans to leave the show but declined to comment further.
Posted by MorganG at September 15, 2002 11:57 AM