L.A. Screenings Buyer Feedback: RTE

LOS ANGELES: Buyers from around the world spent the past week screening the new shows that will be premiering on the U.S. networks next fall. Dermot Horan, the director of broadcast and acquisitions at the Irish public broadcaster RTE, was impressed by the quality of the comedies and dramas he saw, but didn’t notice any break out hits that all buyers were coveting.

In comparison to last year’s L.A. Screenings, which were strongly impacted by the Writers Strike and the consequent lack of pilots ready in time for buyers to view them, this year, Horan describes the mood as, “very workmanlike this year. With most countries in recession, less people traveled, leaving most companies with just their buyers attending. The days were long, particularly at Warner Bros., Fox and CBS.”

Among the shows Horan liked were medical dramas. “The news this year is that medical series are back in huge volume, both on the networks, with Three Rivers, Trauma, Miami Trauma and Mercy; and on cable, with Hawthorne (produced by Sony Pictures Television for TNT) and Nurse Jackie (produced by Lionsgate for Showtime). “This is because the removal of ER from the NBC schedule offers all the networks the opportunity to fill the medical gap.”

Horan also notes that The CW is back to resembling The WB with teenage female-skewing shows like The Beautiful Life, Vampire Diaries and Melrose Place.

He will be following closely the performance of the drama Flash Forward and the comedy Cougar Town. “We have plenty of slots for acquired programming, more on RTE 2 than RTE 1,” says Horan. “Many of our acquired slots are filled with U.S. programming and we’ll be looking this year to replace axed shows such as ER and Prison Break.”