Bill Carroll, a consistently amiable and helpful presence at "rep firm" Katz Media for three decades, has died at the age of 70.

Carroll's passing was first reported by former colleague Stacey Schulman on social media Tuesday. She didn't disclose cause or manner. 

Carroll was a former Rochester, N.Y. TV station manager who moved in 1985 to the role of consulting station programmers for the erstwhile Katz Television. 

The New York native was a popular and highly knowledgable presence in the broadcast syndication industry, not only to programmers looking for advice on what shows to produce and license for their stations, but also TV business reporters seeking insight and knowledge on the industry they covered. 

Carroll departed Katz in 2017 and had served since then as an independent consultant. ■

While a handful of high-profile rebooted shows have helped anchor the broadcast schedule this season, including NBC comedy Will & Grace, CBS cop drama SWAT and The CW’s soapy Dynasty, a couple more major rethinkings of beloved series are on tap to debut in the coming weeks. American Idol makes its premiere on ABC March 11, and comedy Roseanne debuts on that network March 27.

Related: Something Borrowed, Something New

Many believe the reboot trend is simply a function of it being harder and harder for a show to stand out among the many offerings on broadcast, cable and streaming, with a familiar title having a better chance to make itself known among distracted viewers. Others feel TV watchers are simply missing the simpler days of television viewing in a previous era. “Folks are looking to kinder and gentler times, a sense of nostalgia,” media consultant Bill Carroll said. “There’s so much controversy these days; there seems to be a division in the culture.”

TV pundits such as Carroll are quick to point out there are two types of rebooted shows. One, which includes Will & Grace and Roseanne, reassembles the cast and key writers and producers. Another, as is the case with SWAT, which originally ran on ABC in 1975 and ’76, brings back the title and concept, but with a new cast and behind-the-scenes team.

The rookie reboots are a mixed bag. Will & Grace, which first aired on NBC from 1998-2006, has averaged 9.8 million viewers this season, and a 3.1 live-plus-7 rating in viewers 18-49, earning a renewal. SWAT has averaged 9.9 million viewers and a 1.8 rating in 18-49. Dynasty is averaging 1.1 million viewers and a 0.3 in adults 18-49 on a live-plus-7 basis.

American Idol, which had its farewell season on Fox in 2016, looks to be a mix of old and new elements. Carroll says its success is reliant on two dynamics: how the judges, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, connect with viewers, and if the show can unearth a batch of talented and charismatic contestants for Idol fans to feel passionate for. “Lightning has to strike in two ways,” he said.

Trish Kinane, president of entertainment programming at Idol producer FremantleMedia North America, believes the judges will connect with viewers. “They bring a completely different vibe to the show,” Kinane said. “They very much bring their own style to it.”

Preston Beckman, former Fox executive vice president of strategic program planning and research and chairman of The Beckman Group consultancy, said an Idol that sticks pretty close to what worked on Fox will yield the best ratings. “I don’t think it will come back significantly higher than where it left off,” he said. “But it will do better than whatever ABC would put on in that time period if they didn’t have American Idol.”

Sampling for the new Idol should be sky high. The return of host Ryan Seacrest helps it stick close to its original formula, though the sexual harassment allegations aimed at him by a former stylist may turn some viewers away.

Beckman said ABC is also well-positioned for a strong debut for Roseanne, which comes from Carsey-Werner Television. The network is up for nine episodes, with the original cast, including Roseanne Barr, John Goodman, Sara Gilbert and Laurie Metcalf, back in the mix.

“I think it will open to a pretty good number,” Beckman said. “ABC has good middle-America comedies.”

Bergen Back as Brown
Also in the works in terms of remade shows is a redo of Murphy Brown, with CBS saying yes to 13 episodes for the 2018-19 season. Murphy Brown starred Candice Bergen as an investigative journalist and hard-nosed host of a newsmag, originally airing on CBS from 1988-98.

CBS has also ordered pilots for Cagney & Lacey, about a pair of female detectives in Los Angeles, and Magnum P.I., from Peter Lenkov, who helped bring Hawaii Five-0 back to CBS in 2010. Other reincarnated series include The X-Files and The Exorcist on Fox, MacGyver on CBS, and Battle of the Network Stars and The Gong Show on ABC.

Beckman said reboots are hardly new, though the trend perhaps stands out more in a TV landscape where so many networks must fill countless hours with original stuff. “It’s always been part of television’s tradition,” he said.

Christmas is less than a week away, but television viewers have been celebrating the holiday season since Halloween, watching holiday-themed programming that has delivered a ratings gift to networks.

Holiday movies and specials from cable networks like Hallmark Channel, UP TV and Freeform have benefited from viewers’ seeming desire to see uplifting, comfort programming after a difficult 2016 marked by an unnerving presidential campaign and troubling economic conditions in the country.

“This year the environment overall admittedly has helped us,” Crown Media Family Networks president and CEO Bill Abbott said. “People are looking for that safe destination that they can feel good when they get to it, and that’s played a big role in our success.”

Hallmark, which launched its lineup of 19 original holiday films before Halloween, has consistently finished among the top three most watched networks in primetime during the month of December. The network’s sixth annual "Countdown to Christmas" programming stunt is up by double digits among all key demos compared with last year’s edition, including a 22% jump among total viewers, according to Hallmark officials.

Sister service Hallmark Movies and Mysteries is also performing well with viewers. The network set a ratings record among adults 25-54 with its Dec. 11 original movie Sound Of Christmas.

UP’s “We Get Christmas” lineup has remained hot after launching over the first weekend of November with 5.5 million viewers, led by the premiere of its original holiday movie Married by Christmas, the network said.

Freeform’s annual “25 Days of Christmas,” which launched during the Thanksgiving weekend, has catapulted the network into the top five most watched cable networks over the past two weeks. The network is averaging 1.4 million viewers in primetime during the month, well above the 893,000 viewers the network averaged in November.

Holiday programming has always appealed to viewers during the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve: 85% of all U.S. TV households, or more than 217 million viewers, watched at least one minute of holiday content last year. But the turmoil and consternation revolving around the election and other events in 2016 has made holiday content even more relevant this season.

“We’ve had such a tumultuous year that folks are looking for upbeat, positive programming, and certainly the main thrust of holiday programming is positive, uplifting and fun,” Bill Carroll, senior vice president and director of content strategy for Katz Television Group, said. “We spent so much time over the last year on both sides dealing with the election that I think viewers are looking for that end-of-the-year push for a more positive mood.”