It's not that I don't have enough to do. There is plenty of work. It's not that the weather has been so weird in Chicago, either, although it has. I've been taking advantage of these cool summer days and enjoying a good share of music fests and long walks along the lake. But the lure of the TV this season has been pretty strong.
Have you been watching the great new shows on cable?
I have. Although my teammates haven't been, necessarily (a few of them don't have cable TV and one of them lives in Canada), the ratings indicate a lot of other people have, too. And nowhere are the ratings stronger than on cable TV's USA network. Under the leadership of 33-year TV veteran and CEO, Bonnie Hammer, the USA network is experiencing unprecedented success. The hit parade of new shows over the past few years includes: In Plain Sight. Psyche. Monk. Burn Notice. And the brand new Royal Pains. I'll admit to having recorded and/or watched at least a half dozen episodes of every one of those series except one.
And all this from the network that, up until a few years ago, was best known as the home of "professional" wrestling, reruns, and castoffs.
How did this turnaround happen?
Some commentators are giving the credit to Bonnie Hammer. She's been listed among Crain's 100 "Most Influential Women." Fast Company included her on this year's list of 100 "Most Creative People." And this month she's featured in Newsweek as
The Woman Behind USA Network's Hit Machine.There's no question that Hammer is smarter than the average bear. And throughout her career she's been willing to outwork everybody. But Hammer herself has another explanation. According to Newsweek writer, Johnnie Roberts:
...Hammer's team abandoned the usual Hollywood drill for picking shows. Typically, TV networks use an informal process to decide the scripts that should be turned into pilots, then subject those would-be scripts to extensive focus-group testing. When Hammer and her lieutenants consider scripts, they spend up to two days in their own conference room, using charts to map out exactly how a proposed show matches the "blue sky," "aspirational," "fun," and "character-centric" values...
These four values - a "character-centric" plot that revolves around a person or group of people, a "blue sky" hopeful tone, characters that have "aspirations" that emerge from a moral and ethical center, and who have a good sense of humor and are "fun" - were articulated by the team after a process Hammer led early on in her tenure at the network. They asked purposeful questions like: What matters to our viewers? What does it mean to be the USA network? What do people love about the United States of America and how should that inform who we are and what we do? They spent time listening. And, once they agreed on those four values, the team started using them to shape every decision they made. If a show gets pitched to them that doesn't have those four values, no matter how intriguing or potentially profitable it is, it doesn't make the cut.
Hammer and her team, in other words, used purposeful questions to articulate their purpose & principles. And that's what has been shaping everything they do ever since.
Are you and your team that clear about who you are and what you're about? What questions should you be asking yourselves?
- Kelly
Comments