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Guiding Light Discussion Group
There are three people to contact at TeleNext Media:
Jeannie Tharrington, who is the Director of Communications for TeleNext.
Alan Locher, Sr., who is the TeleNext Publicist for GL.
And the big one, Brian T. Cahill, who is the Senior Vice President and Managing Director of TeleNext Media.
I suggest contacting all three because the more people at TeleNext to know that we want this, the better our chances. I truly believe that.
I don't know if Mr. Locher is still employed as the publicist for GL, but he is still listed at TeleNext Media's website as such.
I have e-mail addresses for Mr. Locher and Ms. Harrington, and a snail mail address for Mr. Cahill. I'll get to Mr. Cahill and why, exactly, he's so important shortly.
The e-mail addresses are as follows:
tharrington.jm@telenextmedia.com for Jeannie Tharrington.
alan.locher@telenextmedia.com for Alan Locher, Sr.
As with Hulu, when e-mailing them, be polite, firm, and specific. Let them know who you are, how old you are (especially if you fall within that all-important 18-49 demographic), and when you would like to start. I highly recommend using Leprechaun's e-mail to Hulu as a guideline for the TeleNext e-mails, and mentioning that you're thrilled about and appreciative of the classic Another World episodes, and the 2007-2008 Guiding Light episodes (you can also go 3-for-3 and mention As the World Turns if you're so inclined), but that as a GL fan, especially in light of the show's recent cancellation and its status as the longest-running program in television history, you would love to be able to go back and relive some of GL's greatest earlier times at Hulu.com.
Brian T. Cahill was the man that we flooded with postcards about Another World, and it was from him that the assurance came that TeleNext was looking for a way to bring the show back to us after SoapNet ripped it away. He was also the one quoted in the press release (which I posted under the Hulu topic) when TeleNext DID give Another World back to us, along with 2007-2008 Guiding Light and As the World Turns. According to his bio at TeleNext Media's website, his focus is, and I quote "both internal--managing the day-to-day operation of the organization--and external--positioning the company for future growth." CBS canceled Guiding Light, but it lives on at Hulu and YouTube, and there are considerably fewer commercials per commercial break in an episode that you may watch at either Hulu or YouTube, but there ARE still commercials, so someone is making money there. In other words, though I know very little about business, I do know that the fact that there are commercials means that there is money to be made by selling the ad time, which means that classic episodes of Guiding Light can still bring in money because of the commercials. This is already happening with the early '90s episodes of Another World, because they have commercials too. TeleNext's website also says that the company "is responsible for managing Procter & Gamble Productions-owned Guiding Light and As the World Turns." Finally, Mr. Cahill has experience with both: he started his career at TeleNext as Production Manager of Another World in 1998 (it was canceled in 1999), and he has also served as Manager, Production Services for both Guiding Light and ATWT, a position in which he also oversaw the company's emerging digital strategies. Now, I can't be certain, but "emerging digital strategies..." That sounds like it might possibly be something that putting episodes online would fall under, don't you think?
Mr. Cahill really came through for us Another World fans, but we came out in large numbers and kept up a steady postcard campaign for a good 6 months. The way I see it, us Guiding Light fans have nothing to lose by lobbying him, his colleagues at TeleNext Media, and Hulu for classic GL episodes, and so much to gain. They won't know how many of us want to see this until and unless we tell them. Postcards are, by necessity, brief, and they're also fairly inexpensive (I believe that blank postcards at your local post office cost 28 cents), and they must be handled. Someone has to physically handle them and account for them and read them.
Brian T. Cahill TeleNext Media, Inc. 825 Eighth Avenue, 25th Floor New York, NY 10019
That's the place to send those postcards, which, again, like the e-mails, should be polite, firm, and specific...at least as much as you can be on a postcard.
Finally, if you have a YouTube account--and you don't have to actually post anything there to have an account; you can have an account and just use it to watch videos, or to save them to your favorites, and it's free--you can send messages to TeleNext Media through YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TeleNextMedia
This is TeleNext Media's YouTube page. To send a message, you have to be logged in to your YouTube account and then, from TeleNext Media's YouTube page, click on Send Message, and then the box comes up for you to compose your message. Tell them who you are and what you want to see, and thank them for the episodes they've already posted. If you don't want to send them a message, again, you can be logged in and leave a Channel Comment at the bottom of their page. There are a few people asking for GL episodes in the Channel Comments already, but there isn't a lot in the way of specifics. One person asks for more 2008 episodes; someone just says "more GL." The more specific you can get, the better. That was one of the keys of the Another World campaign. We told them that we wanted them to please pick up where SoapNet left off, and that's what they did, so it's very important to be as specific as you can about where you want the classic episodes to start from.
It will take time and effort, but I hope that since they came through with Another World, and they do already have Guiding Light episodes online, even though it's just from the last two years so far, I hope that if we can make them see how great the demand is for classic GL, and how large the audience is for it, that they will eventually give us classic Guiding Light as well.
E-mails and postcards to Hulu and TeleNext Media. I have to believe that's our best chance for making this happen, because that's what made it happen with Another World.
One thing that I'm hoping is in our favor is that Guiding Light already has an online presence at both Hulu and YouTube.
The final episode of Another World that SoapNet aired was on Friday, April 6, 2007. Hulu was founded in March 2007, and TeleNext Media ultimately went with them as the online distributor of Another World from 1991-92, and GL and ATWT from 2007-08. The channels for each P&G soap at Hulu.com have been in existence for 15 months now (since July 2008), and TeleNext Media started posting the episodes at YouTube on February 18 of this year.
I'll be working on tracking down addresses for the New York, L.A., and Chicago branches of Hulu this week, and as soon as I find addresses, if I do find them (and believe me, I'll be looking for them until I DO find them), I'll post them here.
Postcards comprised the total snail-mail part of the Another World campaign. We flooded TeleNext Media with postcards for a good 6-7 months, an average of 2-3 postcards a week. Our goal was to get our message--respectfully requesting that they find a way to give us back Another World from where SoapNet left off--out there, and then keep it in front of them. If they're hearing about it a few times a week every week for half a year from as many people as possible, that's getting the point across and continuing to hammer home that there IS an audience, and that we that audience are dedicated. Respectful, but dedicated, because they're the ones who have the episodes, so they're the only ones who can give us uninterrupted classic episodes in full. Since Hulu and YouTube are already in place as outlets for the distribution of classic episodes of Another World, and for recent episodes of Guiding Light (and As the World Turns), lobbying both Hulu and the TeleNext Media site at YouTube with Channel Comments at Hulu's GL channel and TeleNext Media's YouTube GL channel, and with e-mails to Hulu (and YouTube messages to TeleNext Media if you are so inclined), gives us two definite places to ask for the episodes to be uploaded for our viewing, both of which already have whole channels devoted to full episodes of GL. We're just wanting them to go back a good 27-30 years from where they are, if at all possible.
As I recall, we e-mailed pretty much every day and sent postcards 2-3 times a week for 6-7 months, and after those 6-7 months--it was probably about 6 1/2 months, so it was in between 6 and 7 months--we did get a response, from Brian T. Cahill, the senior V.P. and Managing Director of TeleNext Media, letting us know that they had heard us and they were working on finding a way to bring Another World back to us. We didn't know anything about Hulu until we got the word another 6 months later that the 1991 episodes of Another World were going to be posted there starting at the end of July 2008. But Mr. Cahill came through for us and kept his word: he said that TeleNext (P&G) was looking for an outlet for classic AW, and they found it in Hulu. They branched out to YouTube 8 months ago. Because of his visibility and the results he got for the AW fans, I feel that it's very important to let Mr. Cahill know that we GL fans want classic episodes of our show too.
As much as possible, since the AW campaign was centered specifically on May 1991 (we didn't know until the episodes came to Hulu exactly which day in May SoapNet left off with; TeleNext told us it was May 10, and indeed, I and almost all the AW fans of my acquaintance recognized the first episode Hulu loaded as the last one we had seen on SoapNet 13 months before), we need to specifically center on a certain time frame for classic GL. Everything from 1978 to 1983 has been suggested here. I don't know exactly how far back the episodes go without any missing, but that is part of it: one reason they were able to start with May 10, 1991 at Hulu (and then at YouTube earlier this year) for AW is because they had everything from that point on, with no episodes missing or lost. If you feel particularly strongly about 1978, lobby for it. Or you could say something like, "I would love to be able to go as far back as you have episodes saved with none missing. 1978 was a crucial year for Guiding Light, and if you have episodes saved from that time onward, it would be great if you could start there. But if it isn't possible to go back to the late '70s, then as early in the 1980s as you can start with no episodes missing would be wonderful--say, January 1980, or maybe January 1981 if 1980 isn't possible." That way you cover all your bases, and you still manage to get in there your preferred start dates in terms of at least a calendar year. And even if they couldn't start until 1980 for whatever reason, that would still give everybody four years of the entire second- and third-generation Bauer family presence (Bert, Mike, Ed, and Hillary) as well as Roger falling to his presumed death in Santo Domingo, the Floyd/Nola/Kelly/Morgan story, and then in 1981, Quint and Nola's first meeting, Peter Simon's arrival as Ed, and Robert Newman's arrival as Josh. (I think I have that right.)
Hulu is updated with 1 to 3 new episodes every week, with the exception of the week of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's because of the holidays. It's usually 3 new episodes a week. That's a pretty good rate. Since joining the ranks of YouTube, TeleNext Media updates every other week, from what I've gathered.
We have to get the message out there to Hulu and TeleNext Media that this is what we want, be specific about what we want--and don't forget to mention it if you fall into the 18-49 demographic, because all the modern-day "Mad Men" ad execs are obsessed with selling their products and services to people in that age group, and there are commercials, though there are far fewer commercials at Hulu and YouTube than there were in the televised episodes; basically you have four commercial breaks with 1-2 commercials each, and each of those commercials lasts 15-60 seconds--and thank them. After all, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, as the old saying goes. They brought Another World back because we let them know there was a devoted audience out there that wanted it, and we're still getting new episodes every week. Now is the time for all Guiding Light fans to take this chance and let TeleNext Media and Hulu know that there is a devoted audience out there that wants classic Guiding Light episodes too, and that if they give it to us, we'll be there watching at Hulu, or at YouTube.
Did you give the mailing address for Hulu? I emailed them, and can do postcards, too, but I didn't see that address. How should we do this? Send them another postcard every so often? and if so, how often? And if you think we should do a different amount of time between additional Hulu postcards and additional Telenext postcards, how long for each?
Thanks!!!
TeleNext Media, Inc.
Worldwide Plaza
825 Eighth Avenue, 35th Floor
New York, NY 10019
I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.