Star Time

A Question of Proof

Birthright

Deeds

Hawks

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  
In the hope that my perceptions would be accurate and insightful, many people in the television industry gave liberally of their time and experience while I was engaged in doing the research for this book. Because I promised anonymity to many and might compromise others, I have chosen not to name anyone individually. Yet, each and every one of you who helped me with this book has my deepest gratitude.

  
I wish to offer particular thanks to a present and a recent senior executive with major networks who have both seen so much during their illustrious careers and generously imparted their wisdom to me, both in interviews and by reviewing the entire manuscript's first draft for errors. To the extent that there are any, the faults are solely mine, as of course are the viewpoints.

  
Special thanks should also go to those strangers—now friends—in news who kindly allowed me to observe their operations and to interview them despite their pressured schedules. Watching them in action deepened my respect for their profession.

I
NTRODUCTION

 
Star Time
is about television and about the ambitions and passions of the people who create what the rest of us see at the click of a remote-control button.  The news, entertainment, and information that television provides is imprinted early and deeply in us and, in some ways, becomes inseparable from who we are and the communal history we all share.  Since
Star Time
was first published, the television experience has become even more central to our lives as it has morphed into and become deliverable by an expanded range of media technologies, many forms of which we ourselves now utilize to display what we want others to know and view.  I, for one, had great fun creating the comedy-mystery series
Ain't
That Life,
which is available for viewing on the Internet
.

  
Upon re-reading
Star Time
, I found that although events affecting our nation have moved on and the television industry has changed in many ways, the
characters, their motivations, and their aspirations seemed as relevant to me as when I first shaped them.  The sharply-etched
humor with which the book seeks to depict the single-minded striving of so many who ride
the television merry-go-round also seemed as funny and relevant.  As a result I decided that I could add to the pleasure of new readers if I made the book more immediate by re-writing to ground it in the present and depicting television as it is today.  I've done that, but make no mistake: The passions and ambitions that propel the book's characters have not changed; they are as true today as they ever were.

  
And I hope the pleasure the story provides is as abundant.

             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
J
oseph
Amiel
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
New York, NY 

Greg
Lyall
lay in bed later than usual, reflecting on the turn of events that, yesterday, had placed him in command of the Federal Broadcasting System—its television network, its stations, everything—the prize that finally made his marriage and his other regrets worthwhile.

As if sensing that his thoughts touched on her, his wife stirred and opened her eyes, smiling at him for an instant, before turning over and returning to sleep. He slipped out of bed and padded softly into his dressing room. Quietly closing the door behind him, he moved into his black and gray marble bathroom at the far end and stepped into the shower.

At thirty-seven Greg's tall, trim body still suggested an athletic youthfulness. His good looks and appealing manner imparted a charm that concealed how hard he had worked to master the amiability that precluded dislike, to suppress contrary impulses and desires in pursuit of his aspirations. Greg was sure that the consensus within FBS, probably within the entire television industry, was that he would quickly drown in his new post, leaving widening ripples in the shape of his trademark winning smile to mark the spot. Those seeking some advantage from him or to displace him at the top would count on it.

He dried himself, and while he shaved he flipped on the small TV set sunk into the wall beside the mirror. FBS's early-morning program came on. He considered it a dull, ill-produced offering. A fashion expert was discussing with the program's vapid, but cheery hosts the current fall fashions being modeled by anorexic females swiveling by them. Greg frowned at the inappropriate booking. At this hour men dressing for work made up a large part of the audience; they would switch channels instantly. He did.

And his breath caught! Christine
Paskins's
blue eyes were staring at him. She was a strikingly beautiful blond with a lively on-screen personality that reflected the quick mind behind it. For the last two years, she had co-hosted her network's early-morning smorgasbord of entertainment, chit-chat, human interest, and snatches of news that was
now challenging "Today" and "Good Morning, America" for the lead in ratings. Rumors were flying that despite being offered an annual salary several million dollars more than she had ever earned, she was balking at renewing her contract and wanted to return to hard news.

That was very much in character, Greg mused. Broadcast executives tended to capitalize on her fresh good looks and popularity with viewers and to ignore the astute, committed newswoman behind them. Broadcast journalism had been Chris
Paskins's
passion since childhood, he knew, and she was very good at it.

Suddenly, his admiration was quickened by an idea.

Although in a hurry now to get to his office, he stopped a moment at the end of the bed. The cover had fallen away, and his wife's sleeping figure was curled into protective serenity. She looked pretty asleep, he admitted, with her hair spread into a careless aureole on her pillow. He had no doubt that she inwardly believed herself responsible for his promotion. She might well be right.

Walking south on Fifth Avenue toward the FBS Building, Greg's thoughts turned to the problems facing him as the new chief of the tottering broadcast empire. FBS was in a dire condition, and little time remained to save it. Ratings of its prime-time entertainment shows were scraping bottom, putting it far behind the other major networks. That translated into dismal advertising revenues and the prospect of heavy losses. Unless he developed some hit shows by next season, eleven months from now, FBS might sink beyond saving and might even be seized by a corporate raider seeking its valuable stations.

FBS's second problem was excessive costs. He intended to prune away deadwood in the executive ranks and overstaffing everywhere, restructuring the operation to make it lean and aggressive again.

Greg believed, though, that the third problem, the foundering news division’s miserable ratings and quality, could be attacked immediately.

What differentiates a network’s flagship nightly news program most visibly from competitors is its news anchorperson, the man or woman who presents the news each night and is the focus of live coverage during important events. Viewers could pick from Brian Williams, Diane Sawyer, and Scott
Pelley
and, in an earlier era, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and Peter Jennings and, earlier still, Walter Cronkite and the duo of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. The news anchor was the network's readily identifiable emblem, its herald to attract beneath its banner the largest audience for its news broadcast. Much of that audience would funnel into the network's prime-time shows and generate the largest amount of advertising revenue for the broadcast.

Greg was convinced that the way to lift FBS News out of the cellar was to hire Christine
Paskins
as its permanent news anchor.

The floor director on the rim of the brightly-lit set called out, "In five, four," marked the last three seconds silently with the appropriate number of fingers, and then pointed at Christine
Paskins
and her male co-host to indicate that the commercial break had ended and they were on.

"Welcome back to 'Starting the Day' on this crisp autumn morning," the male co-host read from the teleprompter glass in front of the camera lens. "All over the Northeast the trees are turning gold and red, and in our final half hour, we'll show you how fall looks in several beautiful old New England towns this time of year."

Chris
Paskins
, beside him, dressed in a blue silk dress, remarked pleasantly, "We should have worn-fall colors today."

She shifted her attention from her co-host to the camera. "But first, the President's recently unveiled stimulus plans have met with a good deal of opposition from House Republicans. The Senate's majority and minority leaders will be with us from Washington to give us their differing views. That's after the latest news from Charles
Hartnet
. Charles?"

Everyone on the set relaxed. The news segment would take three minutes.

Chris began to leaf through her notes for the joint interview she would conduct with the senators via satellite. A voice in her earpiece stopped her.

"There's been a change, Chris." The speaker was the show's producer, Ron Skelly. "Kathy Trowbridge will do the interview right from Washington."

Chris's gaze shot between cameras toward the control-room window in the rear of the studio. She could just about make out Skelly's form in the darkened booth. He was standing up, but bent forward to speak into the intercom mike. Her lapel mike would carry her angry voice to him.

"Are you trying to tell me a couple of minutes before an interview I personally arranged and prepared questions for that you've shifted it to someone else?"