The head of Showtime's sports division says that after some early miscommunication with the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants, the club "likes what they are seeing so far" of a new show documenting the team's 2011 season.
The authoritative trade publication The Sports Business Journal reported Thursday that after Showtime and MLB Production announced plans for a series on the team's upcoming season with "unprecedented team access," the news "quickly generated concern" with the club as "some team members were not informed of the project before Showtime and MLB Productions announced their plans."
But Ken
Hershman, executive vice president and general manager of sports and event programming for Showtime, told B&C in a phone interview that
well-regarded entertainment president David Nevins, who spearheaded the
project, got the sides back together and now everything is on track.
"I don't think they really understood exactly what it was and there was some miscommunication about what we were up to and our goals were," Hershman says.
So in the wake of the questions raised by both players and execs, everyone reconnected and Hershman says, "We told them exactly what we are doing and that changed the whole dynamic in a positive way. We said, ‘You'll see as we roll out what we'll be doing, we're just here to document,' and they like what they are seeing so far."
Hershman says now with everyone on board for the project, he's excited to see what comes of it.
"There wasn't any great drama involved. MLB has done a great job in walking them through what they should expect," he says. "It's in production and the more we get into the characters, the more interesting the show sounds and will be. We couldn't have picked a better team."
And the Giants seem to be okay with what came of the meetings, with a caveat.
"Unfettered access into the clubhouse isn't going to happen," Giants President & COO Larry Baer told The Sports Business Journal. "But this is MLB Productions doing this. These are the people who did our World Series DVD. These are people we know and trust."
Hershman also hopes that this will be the beginning of a regular series.
"We're hoping to have other teams knocking at our door to be next," he says.
