TV Takes a Hard Line With Talent

If those ruffled feathers protruding from David Letterman, Ted Koppel, Barbara Walters and Regis Philbin are any indication, the relationship between today’s studio-owned television networks and their stars is clearly changing.

ABC’s pursuit of Letterman to move his late-night talk show to that network from CBS--news that came as a surprise to longtime “Nightline” host Ted Koppel, who, if a deal is reached, would be displaced--is only the latest maneuver underscoring that today’s media companies will do what they deem best for their bottom lines, an approach that leaves little room for sacred cows.

That includes Koppel, who may have misread his corporate bosses at the Walt Disney Co. by trimming his commitment to the 22-year-old late-night franchise to three nights a week, and Letterman, whose camp has accused CBS of arrogance in its negotiations with the host.

Insiders at CBS dispute that characterization, suggesting that Letterman may be one of those stars who feels trifled with, in essence, no matter how much money and praise the network lavishes upon him. As it stands, the parties privately present different versions of events, such as whether one of Letterman’s demands was control over what fills the hour his show currently occupies for several years once he gives up hosting it.

Whatever the facts or resolution of this latest late-night tremor (the decision ultimately rests with Letterman, who is on vacation this week), it seems clear that networks are taking a harder line in their dealings with high-profile talent.

Granted, the six stars of “Friends” and “Frasier’s” Kelsey Grammer have each received $1-million-per-episode deals, demonstrating that the bank is still open for proven hits.

At the same time, however, Disney, CBS parent Viacom, AOL Time Warner and Fox parent News Corp.--huge companies that derive revenue from a wide assortment of sources--have demonstrated that the contributions of talent are currently measured not in terms of rewarding past service but on a “What have you done for me lately?” basis.

ABC, in particular, has repeatedly made clear the network will take whatever actions are deemed necessary and endure the consequences. In just the last few months, that included temporarily yanking “20/20” from the Friday slot, where Walters reigned for a dozen years, in a failed attempt to showcase “Once and Again,” a Disney-produced drama; and casting doubt on the future of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” irking host Philbin, whose popular morning show is also produced by Disney.

In similar fashion, Fox has struck a series of deals in which the studio sold programs to its FX cable network that left talent feeling shortchanged of a fair share of profits, leading to lawsuits filed by “MASH’s” Alan Alda and Larry Gelbart, “NYPD Blue” co-creator Steven Bochco (the studio distributes reruns of the program) and “The X-Files” star David Duchovny.

The sense that the major studios/networks--made larger by deregulation that fueled a series of major mergers in the 1990s--are willing to bulldoze talent fed the fear of strikes last year by the guilds representing writers and actors, and although new eleventh-hour agreements were reached, it remains a burning source of concern within that community.

The Writers Guild of America, in fact, recently urged the government to hold hearings examining the effects of deregulating the entertainment industry. At the guild’s annual awards dinner Saturday, WGA West President Victoria Riskin summed up what is perceived to be at stake, citing “the shrinking number of employers [and] the pressure to serve commerce ever more and art, rarely.”

Of course, the challenges facing most rank-and-file actors, writers or news correspondents don’t necessarily apply to marquee names such as Letterman, Koppel or Philbin. In fact, a two-tiered system has gradually come into existence under which the salaries paid to top stars ballooned while networks and studios held to a hard line vis-a-vis lower-profile employees.

Still, if media giants become increasingly willing to risk the wrath of their biggest stars--whose size may be reduced only because they are swimming in a much larger pond--one can argue that that bodes even worse for those lower on the talent food chain.

It doesn’t help, in this particular case, that Letterman and Koppel are known to be especially prickly. Koppel has criticized all the broadcast networks for a reduced commitment to news and has confronted Disney Chairman Michael Eisner about sparing ABC News from layoffs, citing staff members who lost their lives while serving the network.

Letterman, for his part, has bristled at a lack of support from CBS but doesn’t always embrace “synergy” as willingly as his principal rival, “The Tonight Show’s” Jay Leno. So while Leno ties in with network promotional opportunities such as his recent Olympic-themed shows, Letterman balks at some synergistic arrangements--treating guests from the network’s prime-time hit “Survivor,” for example, as if their appearances were a nuisance, having the ousted contestants stand awkwardly in the wings rather than sit next to him.

As powerful as consolidated media companies are, they do remain vulnerable in such disputes, at least in the war of public relations and perception. After the slight to Walters, her cohorts on ABC’s daytime show “The View” criticized the network. On his morning program, meanwhile, Philbin--quoting a character from “The Godfather, Part II,” describing life in organized crime--said that indignities while dealing with network executives were, in essence, part of the business he had chosen.

The networks may hold the purse strings, but stars, after all, still command the spotlight.