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As she prepares to step into the retiring Kathleen Finch’s shoes, Warner Bros. Television Group boss Channing Dungey used today’s MIPCOM session to say the TV industry is still “grappling” with “fundamental changes” brought on by the turmoil of the past few years.
Dungey will soon take Finch’s place as Chairman and CEO of U.S. networks while retaining her role overseeing the TV studio and she will have plenty on her plate. Today at Cannes, she spoke about the unpredictability of the new era following economic challenges, Covid-19 and last year’s dual labor strikes.
“This business started and was built around broadcast which had a specific cycle,” she said. “You would do 22 episodes then have a vacation, there was a consistency. Even if your show wrapped there was another round the corner. It has been hard going from 22 episodes to eight-to-10 per season, which doesn’t even necessarily mean [working for] a year.”
Dungey said these shifts remain “challenge points,” which the sector is still “grappling with.” “Everyone understands we’re not going back so the question is, how do we think about where we are and improve things going forwards,” she added.
One way in which the industry is adapting is by returning to procedurals, she explained, as she flagged Warner’s Brilliant Minds for NBC, while pointing to the acquisitions of shows like Suits on streamers.
“What is nice is there was this disdain for procedurals and now people are saying, ‘You know what, the audience enjoys them and we should make new procedurals’,” she added.
These procedurals have a discipline to their creation, something that Dungey said has to some extent been lost in an era where numerous shows don’t have ad breaks. “There was a discipline in ad breaks and it forced showrunners to make choices,” she added. “Now without these forcing functions, things have sometimes gotten a little bloated I will say.”
A number of Deadline’s MIPCOM Hot Ones were procedurals this year and we have also spoken with the creators of the latest NCIS spin-off, NCIS: Origins, in the past few days.
Harry Potter an “unbelievable dream”
Dungey was questioned on big upcoming tentpoles and, while giving little away on Max’s Harry Potter TV series, said the small screen adaptation gifts an opportunity for Warners to explore the stories in more depth. Casting calls are open in the UK and Ireland and there is a “fantastic writing strategy in place,” according to Dungey.
“It’s an unbelievable dream,” she added. “As a huge fan of the books the opportunity to explore them in a maybe a little bit more depth than a two-hour film, well, that is the whole reason we are on this journey.”
On her new gig, Dungey said she is looking forward to making shows “across the divide” of the Warner networks. She flagged, for example, how cable nets TNT and TBS could work together, and said having production and networks falling under one person could “hopefully avoid some of the complicated stuff” and improve collaboration.
Dungey was speaking on the same day as All3Media boss Jane Turton and outgoing Sony Pictures Entertainment Chair Tony Vinciquerra.
