Book Log 2006 #38: Desperate Networks by Bill Carter

The TV critic for The New York Times, Carter's book The Late Shift is the definitive story of the battle to succeed Johnny Carson. I don't know if Desperate Networks will turn out to be the definitive history of the changing TV landscape of the early 21st century - especially as it doesn't really address the way networks are reacting and interacting with new media to distribute content - but it does capture the way the network TV landscape has changed over the last 5 years.

The books is blend of show development stories and network politics. Both are interesting, and seeing the interplay is instructive for those of us who enjoy TV but don't really delve too deeply into the business end of it (outside of making mocking comments on fourth-rate TV blogs). I now have a begrudging admiration for Les Moonves, awe at Jeff Zucker's rise at NBC even as the network went into the toilet, and confusion over ABC canning Lloyd Braun even though he pretty much gave them Lost, not to mention sadness over the end of useful network news as we know it.

On top of being informative, the book was pretty well written, outside of some clunky transitions between chapters (which would be hard to avoid, trying to cover four networks). Highly recommended if you're interested in how TV is made.