Tag Archives: Richard Plepler

The 10 Most Ridiculous Things Network Presidents Said in 2014

10 most ridiculous

I had so much fun pulling together this story for Adweek, on the most outrageous statements that network presidents made in 2014. As I wrote,

The network presidents spent much of 2014 bragging about, and defending, their various programming and scheduling decisions, no matter how foolish some of them turned out.

But some of those proclamations were so outrageous that they earned a well-deserved spot on this list of the 10 most ridiculous statements network presidents made this year. (I wanted to call this their “10 Biggest Lies of 2014,” but they actually believed at least some of these things to be true at the time they said them.)

From “Mulaney is the next Seinfeld!” to “We love Bill Cosby, and his troubles will sort themselves out,” see how many of your favorites made the list. And if you think Kevin Reilly, who stepped down as Fox entertainment chairman in May, is going to figure prominently … you would be correct.

The 10 Most Ridiculous Things Network Presidents Said in 2014

 

HBO Plots the Future of ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘True Detective’ and Maybe Even ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’

hbo plots the future

There’s nothing like earning 99 Emmy nominations to put a bounce in your step, and HBO was indeed in high spirits at TCA summer press tour. As I wrote at Quartz,

But the network is more concerned about keeping its subscribers happy, not Emmy voters. Speaking to reporters today at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour, chairman and CEO Richard Plepler and HBO programming president Michael Lombardo unveiled their strategy to keep the premium network’s most popular shows rolling along—and their subscribers (114 million worldwide, which generated $4.9 billion in revenue last year, plus countless others who watch HBO Go via shared passwords)—eagerly coming back for more.

At the top of their list: making a plan for Game of Thrones, plotting Season 2 of True Detective, hoping out hope for more Curb Your Enthusiasm and giving closure to True Blood, Boardwalk Empire and The Newsroom.

HBO plots the future of ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘True Detective’ and maybe even ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’