Symonds Says…

Last week I offered the first half of my early line holiday wish list for some of my favorite cable people. Below is part two. Brian Roberts: Status for The Golf Channel. People spend billions on a game most of them can’t play a lick. The PGA has, in Tiger Woods, one of the world’s only international superstars. And golf telecasts draw the most affluent demo in television. So why has this network not yet secured rights to cover the early rounds of even one prime PGA tournament, much less full coverage? John Rigas: Peace. Rupert Murdoch: Eyes in the back of his head and a full-time financial private eye to track the maneuverings of an apparently still-hungry Dr John Malone. Carole Black: A thank-you for the positive influence she’s had on the lives of so many women, and a promise that we’ll not let the ball drop after she’s gone. Judy McGrath: A gentle caution that the higher up a ladder you climb, the further removed from the street – and the music of MTV’s core audience – you get. Chris Albrecht: A new Sunday night hit – along with the realization that after ambitious near-misses like The Wire, Deadwood, Carnivale and Entourage, people and critics are starting to whisper. Commissioners David Stern, Bud Selig and Gary Bettman: The realization that because so many of your contests take place on weekday nights, unlike NASCAR and the NFL, your respective leagues need cable way more than cable needs your respective leagues. Jon Stewart: For instilling integrity in fake news, a real Pulitzer. Bill Bresnan: An opportunity to pass on half of what he knows to younger cable operators. Mark Greenberg: The ability to leverage VOD and SVOD and get audiences to revisit Showtime to see for themselves the kind of first-rate original content the network now offers. Michael Eisner: A day to lie in bed and read all the press clippings about the "Monday Night Football/Desperate Housewives" fiasco, as well as ruminate about such things as the ill-conceived hiring of Rush Limbaugh by ESPN. And then to realize that in his never-ending quest to wring the last drop of synergy out of his assets, he is threatening the credibility of many of the most revered brands under the Disney banner. Or to put it another way, that Santa brings him the enlightenment to treat his TV brands with the respect and protection he gives Mickey Mouse. Benita Fitzgerald Moseley: A banner year for WICT – as well as the guts to honor someone in 2005 more for their accomplishments than their ability to generate revenue. And if no one can be found – then I wish for Benita the courage to announce that fact to the press and use the occasion to demand more opportunities for women in this industry. Jimmy Dolan and Bob Johnson: The sense to know that loving basketball and building a winning NBA team are two separate and entirely differing things; as well as a note from Ted Turner reminding them that Ted’s Braves never got any good until he backed off, hired good baseball people, and let them do their jobs. Jonathan Rodgers: Someone to believe him when he says ‘TV One is not designed to compete with BET,’ along with the realization in this industry that there should be more to black television than brothers rapping and sisters shaking their booties. The African American marketplace is a broad, complex and severely underserved place, and Symonds says maybe for Christmas this industry will wake up and realize it. Curtis Symonds can be reached at [email protected].