Can Discovery and A&E don new duds in the pursuit of youth without leaving their older fans behind?
By Shirley Brady
Shari Ann Brill, VP of programming for media-buying firm Carat USA, had one thought when she walked into A&E's upfront presentation in New York last month.
"I felt like I needed to get a tattoo," she says.
This isn't your mother's A&E. In fact, president and CEO Abbe Raven kicked off the event by declaring: "The reinvention of A&E as a leading entertainment destination for young adults is well under way."
At the upfront, Brill saw the rowdy cast of Knievel's Wild Ride, with daredevil Robbie Knievel and his leather-clad posse looking like extras in a Bon Jovi video. She watched hunky illusionist Criss Angel (star of A&E's reality series, Criss Angel Mind-freak) doff his shirt and be hoisted by his feet in an ode to Houdini. She checked out other tables with A&E talent: the cast of Dog the Bounty Hunter (also in leather and tattoos), Victoria Gotti and her sons, some actors from The Sopranos at one table and series producer David Chase at another, showing what paying a reported $2.5 million per episode can buy.
As Raven exited, Brill thought: "I just didn't get this sense of what they stand for now. And the reason I went was so I could get that."
Self-reinvention is not easy, especially for a network that's been firmly entrenched in viewers' hearts and …
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