Hot off of its 108 Emmy nominations, HBO CEO Richard Plepler and programming president Michael Lombardo took the stage at Thursday’s Television Critics Association summer press tour to a barrage of questions.
Among the afternoon’s hot topics: Game of Thrones' shelf-life (“We’re taking it as far as there stories are to tell,” Lombardo told reporters of the genre hit), The Newroom’s future (“The odds are excellent [that it will be renewed],” he added of a show for which his team is “very happy”) and next steps for limited series Criminal Justice in the wake of star James Gandolfini's tragic passing.
But no issue got more airtime during the half-hour TCA panel than the rise of rival Netflix, to which the two execs suggested they had no real concerns. “We live very comfortably amidst competition,” said Plepler, who also noted: “We have been engaged in competition for the whole history of our network. First it was the broadcast networks, than it was premium, then basic and now it’s digital.”
Pushed again later in the session about the digital upstart's decision not only to stay mum on its series’ ratings but also to declare such shows “hits,” Lombardo said it was curious. “We never considered having that response to you. It’s curious. But I guess the press is fine with the answer,” he added, a subtle jab at the heaps of praise that the media showers on the Netflix’s series push despite a lack of metrics.
It is worth noting that the Netflix comparisons to HBO are often overstated. HBO earns more than $1.6 billion annually in profit, for instance, compared with the $17 million Netflix posted in net profit. And in addition to a far larger international footprint, HBO owns the vast majority of its programming, which includes docs, films, specials and sports as well as original series, while Netflix has remained strictly a distributor.
Here’s a look at some of the issues that the duo addressed in their time before the assembled press:
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News on Newsroom
The odds are “excellent” that Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom will continue, said Lombardo, who noted that HBO is “enormously happy” with the show and its second season growth. The latter opened 4 percent higher than its first season premiere. The hold-up on a season three renewal, according to the HBO exec, is Sorkin’s schedule, which includes a Steve Jobs biopic and a recently revived Chicago 7 film. Still, Lombardo added that he’d be “shocked” if a pickup wasn’t announced in the coming weeks.
A Post-Gandolfini Criminal Justice?
In the wake of star James Gandolfini’s tragic death, HBO has been forced to address what will come next for one of his outstanding projects, a seven-episode limited series titled Criminal Justice. Lombardo acknowledged that he and his team are now having conversations about reshooting parts of the pilot, and the potential for how to proceed with the project. “We would never air the pilot with James in it … That was just the beginning of a journey and there's no reason to air it. We're having conversations about reshooting the portion that Jim had already performed in and recasting going forward," he added, noting that while Gandolfini's passing "took the wind out of our sails quite a bit at HBO" Richard Price and Steven Zaillian are still writing away.
Enlightened’s Demise
While Lombardo is proud of both the series and the recent Emmy attention star Laura Dern received, he and his team decided it made sense creatively to end Enlightened after its second season. “The story had come to a natural resting place,” he noted. Factoring in to a lesser extent was the fact that the ratings were not as “robust” as HBO had hoped for, and those numbers fell in the show’s second season.
Family Tree’s Future
HBO has yet to make a decision about the future of the Christopher Guest comedy, a co-production with the BBC. While the “show that didn’t find as a robust audience as [the network] had hoped,” said Lombardo, he also noted that the BBC is interested in doing another season.
More From David Milch
Following the short-lived run of his HBO drama Luck, the network is readying another drama currently titled Money from creator David Milch. The network is near a pilot order and is exploring casting on a new drama from Milch and exec producers Art and John Linson described as a look at a dynastic New York media family. "It's a look at power, the complexity of power and modern and urban life in a classic Milchian voice," said Plepler.
