Marinelli Sees 'Katie' As Can't-Miss Talker

As well as anybody, Disney-ABC Domestic Television President Janice Marinelli knows the long odds of producing a successful first-run talk show in broadcast syndication. But she expresses nothing but confidence that Disney-ABC's entry in the crowded fielded, Katie with former Today host and CBS News anchor Katie Couric, will not only survive, but thrive this fall.

"We are projecting profitability in year one," she says. "If we just take the clearances that we have secured — we’re on dominant TV stations, virtually all afternoon time periods — we show profitability on the show. We are very bullish about the rating and CPM. And our license fees are very strong."

In this interview with TVNewsCheck Contributing Editor Kevin Downey, Marinelli talks about the source of all that confidence, what the show will be like and Couric's commitment to making it a rare, first-run winner.

An edited transcript:

Disney-ABC hasn’t a launched a first-run daytime talk show in several years. Why now?

It is our first strip in quite some time. We are really a company that focuses on quality more than quantity. If there’s an opportunity in the marketplace, married with a great talent or concept, then you’ll see us aggressively pursuing it. But we’re not going to be in the market just to have a new first-run show every year.

We view ourselves as distributors of content. It could be off-net content, it could be first-run content or it could be movies. It could be on multiple platforms — VOD, basic cable, pay network or broadcast syndication. We have a lot of product and a lot of responsibility in North America, so we’re opportunistic. If it’s the right product and right opportunity, we’ll jump in.

Katie is the first Monday-Friday strip you’re debuting in many years. Was your team prepared to launch it?

Yes, because we’ve had a lot of product on the off-net side. I’d say that ABC Studios has been one of the most successful production entities over the last five years or so. We’ve had Castle, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Ugly Betty, Private Practice. On the non-scripted side, we’ve had Wipeout and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The list goes on and on.

So, we have a full sales force because we’re already handling a lot of product in the marketplace. We’re also renewing Live! with Kelly. We have Millionaire and movie packages. We’ve always had the team in place.

Have you been surprised by the resurgence of first-run talk shows since Oprah Winfrey ended her long-running show in 2011?

There’s a great opportunity in the marketplace. I don’t think anyone thinks they’re going to fill Oprah’s shoes; Oprah is in a class all her own. But with Oprah leaving the syndication marketplace, it created not only wonderful time periods on terrific stations, it also created a need. Now, there’s a void.

Every season, we see a plethora of new products coming out. But Oprah had a unique place in the market; it was smart talk. That’s the opportunity. That is what we have gravitated toward. It’s the business that our own TV stations and many of the top affiliates across the country are in. They’re looking for news compatibility. They’re looking for a strong news lead-in because news is their franchise.

Katie is one of four high-profile talk shows debuting in broadcast syndication in 2012. Did that make it challenging for Disney to gain the clearances that it has?

There was a lot of competition in the marketplace, but I don’t necessarily think we were competing with the new shows. We led the marketplace. To be very honest, TV stations waited for us to come in and for our deal to fall in place. The other distributors followed behind. We’re sort of the lead dog this year. We have the highest profile talent, the most experienced talent and the biggest name. We have the best clearances. So, Katie has led the charge.

Our competition is the more established talk show arena — Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Ellen. Those are the shows we’re being compared to, not the other upcoming talk shows.

Is there enough advertising in the market to support four new daytime talk shows?

We have had conversations with advertisers. We have been out in the marketplace. Our feeling is that Katie will lead the charge and set the market. Given the strength of our lineups and our markets, we’re going to be competing for dollars with the established shows.

When it comes to securing ad dollars and station clearances, what is the main selling point of Katie?

Katie is a brand. She’s a household name. That certainly gives you a leg up in this marketplace. She’s credible and relatable. She’s respected and smart. When you say the name Katie Couric, it commands respect. So, we have a tremendous advantage. How often do you get a talent of this caliber to enter the syndication marketplace?