Y&R/DAYS: Steve Kent is repordedly OUT from Sony Pictures Television

[Contessa Donatella]

Anne Sweeney, Frons's boss out also! What is one more than a trifecta? A superfecta!

Edited April 20, 2024 by Contessa Donatella
more

[NothinButAttitude]

From your mouth to God's ears. I am still peeved over how they treated Victoria Rowell back in 2007. Get rid of his bummy ass. 

[Vee]

When you put it all that way, if someone had told us any of this around New Year's I doubt any of us would've believed it lol.

Great news. I do hope it means more change at Sony/CBS.

[Liberty City]

If someone told us all this a week ago, I don't think any of us would've believed it. Haha.

[soapfan770]

Thank God, a shake up at the top of Sony has been longgggg overdue. Also longgg overdue is cutting ties with Josh Griffith. 

[DaytimeFan]

While the ouster of Steve Kent is likely a good thing, I am not convinced that Sony and a private equity firm purchasing Paramount Global (and therefore CBS itself) is a positive. It would, however, make Y&R an 'in house' production for CBS.

Private Equity is good at one thing: maximizing profits and then breaking assets apart to sell for a great return. 

The consolidation of Hollywood studios has been going on for some time now and it will be interesting to see how it all ends up. 

[Khan]

I know I wouldn't have believed it, lol!  Going into 2024, I was so sure that this would be the year when soaps were done.  But, the sun also rises, lol!

Yeah, I'm concerned about that as well.  You're right, @DaytimeFan, in that "consolidation fever" has been going on for awhile, but it seems like the recent SAG/AFTRA/WGA strike has triggered the entertainment industry in a big way.  Hollywood is definitely living in some interesting times at the moment.

[Vee]

I suspected during the strikes we might be in for better news - GH doesn't have any flags around it for cancellation that I know of and hasn't in some time, and previously-dismissed 'old TV' like soaps, long-running sitcoms, etc. had begun to be seen as more reliable programming in the wake of the strikes and the larger streaming crash. I thought all these factors might trigger a reexamination of the genre business-wise. Did I think it would happen quite like this or this fast? Nope.

[BetterForgotten]

Josh Griffith is getting dragged and his firing is being manifested on Twitter, lol. Many claiming it was Kent who hired him 3 separate times at Y&R (despite failing each time), and forcing Griffith’s failed Co-HW stint at DAYS.

It was interference from the Bell’s that got Griffith fired the first time, and JFP the second time (also rumors of him having emotional breakdowns). But what did Kent do as soon as he saw a chance? Hire this failure again, and this time with no objective opposition. That should end now - unless Sony and CBS do not care (like P&G did at the end when they eliminated the Executive In Charge of Production role when MADD retired). 

[Khan]

Not to get too political or anything, but I think you also could look at real-life events from the last eight years or so and argue that this is a reaction to all the social and political upheavals that have been going on, both in this country and abroad.  For many, the world might be changing too fast, so now they want to retreat to what is tried-and-true and familiar - which, in this case, means network soaps.

[DRW50]

I had the same thought - wondering if this is just more shutting up shop. Still, even in today's depleted times, you'd think CBS/Sony would have more care for Y&R, especially with a new soap on the way to attempt to build a lineup for the network.

[Vee]

I can't see why with another soap on the way. Unless Sony has zero interest in what CBS does with the daypart.

I think there's part of that re: stuff that is familiar and comforting, like the popularity of long-running sitcoms on streaming. But I think it's also just been an overwhelming glut of 'Content' that burns fast and flickers out on streaming. People want some stability. I don't think a return to soaps, sitcoms, whatever is about conservatism so much as possibly a steadying force in turbulent times vs. chasing trends and pop culture quick hits.

[BetterForgotten]

A thriving Y&R would be in the best interest of CBS with their own in-house production hitting the daytime lineup in less than a year. With Y&R’s recent 4 year renewal, a rumored move to a new studio, and Steven Kent’s firing, now is the perfect time for CBC to force some changes on this ailing show. Whether they work out remains to be seen, but I have to think something will change. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Has this been confirmed? 
 

It seems as though there has been a lot of um, movement at Sony these days. Here’s another, in tangentially related news-

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/other/norman-lear-s-producing-partner-brent-miller-launches-new-company-at-sony-pictures-tv-exclusive/ar-AA1njykt

Miller has already got a strike against him, imo for that dreadful animated version of Good Times that his company is a part of.

[Khan]

As if the original, live-action GT wasn't cartoonish enough, lol.