TNT well on way to programming shift

ATLANTA — Turner Entertainment Network President Steve Koonin's dream came true on a recent Saturday night.

The late-night comedy sketch show "Saturday Night Live" did a parody of TNT's "We know drama" theme and centered it around a show called "The Looker," poking fun at the network's hit show "The Closer."

"Years ago, we dreamed if we were ever able to be made fun of, then people understood us," Koonin said last week.

TNT turns 20 on Friday . Last year the network was the No. 1 ad-supported cable network for two key demographic groups: adults ages 18-to-49 and 25-to-54 for the fifth year in a row, according to Nielsen Media Research data supplied by the network.

Koonin is bullish on continuing that streak — to the point that he rolled out a flashy, 90-minute preview of Turner Entertainment's cable shows in New York in April during a week typically reserved for the broadcast channels. He contends that the shows on TNT and TBS are an excellent substitute for what's showing on the broadcast networks.

One of those shows is "Wedding Day," a reality show scheduled to start in the summer of 2009 where the network helps provide a dream wedding for couples that can't have one for financial or other reasons.

As the supervisor of five networks, Koonin has had many other things on his plate, including the makeover of "Court TV" into reality channel "TruTv," and the launch of the local channel "Peachtree TV" a year ago Wednesday.

Q: When we last spoke, you were looking forward to "crashing the party" at the broadcast preview week. How did that go?

A: It went extraordinarily well. More importantly, the advertising community validated the belief that we are a substitute for broadcast. And they did it in the best way they could — buying at record levels. The revolution has begun, and we're at the forefront of it.

Q: Are you on track to shift to a mostly original prime time lineup by 2010?

A: We're well on our way: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Thursday we're in 'live male drama,' which is basketball. And then Friday, Saturday, Sunday, we're in the No. 1 leisure activity of the weekend, which is movies.

Q: But "Law and Order" (rerun) fans will still be able to get their fix?

A: Absolutely. That's one thing they can count on, just as the sun will shine, we will have "Law and Order" for them.

Q: What's next? Tell me about "Wedding Day" and how that fits into your overall strategy for TNT.

A: To get to our aspiration for 2010, we will be doing predominantly scripted (shows) but we will be doing some unscripted drama. In studying people's lives, we've found the one of the most dramatic events is a wedding, whether that's caused by family, whether that's caused by economics, whether that's caused by an act of God or something else.

When we say "drama," that's code for heart and mind. ...They pluck your heart, and they engage your mind. ... We're finding people who deserve a great wedding but for some circumstances aren't able to have it. ... That will start next summer. The first couple is from Atlanta.

Q: I found an old quote from you – referring to the makeover of TNT – "You can grow by shrinking your focus." Do you still follow that mantra?

A: I use that almost everyday. We are going to grow our audience and be the first and only network dedicated to drama. ...People have a small number of channels in their mind and those channels have to have personal relevance. ... 'Grow by shrinking' is 100 percent about being dedicated to something, which is drama.

Q: What is your biggest challenge moving forward?

A: I think short term it's technology — how the DVR is really changing viewing habits for people. It's really changing my demography. Our show "My Boys" —which had good numbers— when you add in the DVR numbers, they are spectacular – 90 percent growth. "The Closer" goes up 30 percent. ...Programming and technology, we're in a dance, and the consumer is leading that dance right now. It's the first time in TV that that is happening. It used to be, "Here's what's on TV, now watch it." Now the viewer is saying, "I want to watch whenever I want to watch," and they have more control, so we have to continue to up our game.

Q: Is TNT your most important focus?

A: This isn't like your kids where you lavish the same on both. This is more of a triage situation. You spend a tremendous amount of time on TNT and TBS. Turner Classic Movies is self sustaining because it doesn't have the ad component of it. TruTV is run by a great team of people in New York. The lion's share of my time is on TNT and TBS by far.

Q: The idea of running original movies has worked well for TNT but not for TBS, which stopped producing its own movies four years ago. Why did it work for one network and not the other?

A: In fairness, we've reduced what we've done in TNT also. 'Movies of the week' are a terrific medium, but the truth is they are short terms in their stature. You invest a lot of time and resources and bring them on for a night, and then they go away. A series is the gift that keeps on giving.

On TNT and TBS, we converted the dollars we were spending on movies to (spending it on more) series. ...Next year, I think we'll have nine series and the following year, 12. But we'll have only a couple of movies.

Q: Was the first season of "The Closer" (in 2005) a turning point for TNT?

A: Unequivocally. It was a seminal moment not only for TNT but for cable. ...It proved to us what we can do. It created a big piece of real estate for that time block and a bigger piece of real estate after that, which we launched "Raising the Bar" and "Saving Grace" from.

The stories written about this revolution in cable —"The Closer" has to be a part of that. It's definitely the signature show for our network.

Q: How is the TruTV makeover going?

A: It's been 9 months, 25 days, 7 hours and 49 minutes, but who's counting? It's challenging to go from something that for 17 years has been ID'd as Court TV.

On TNT and TBS we launched a new brand but with the same call letters. Here, we changed everything: the look, the lineup, everything. ...We're up 9 percent in 18- to- 34 year-old males, which are huge numbers. The best barometer for us is advertisers, and we've added dozens of advertisers. We have a long way to go, but we're definitely on the right path.

Kristi Swartz writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.