Alexandra Waring
Page 42
REGARDING: Lord Gregory Hargrave
Cassy,
That’s okay—you can leave me notes like that all the time. What I like is how you can shout through your handwriting.
Lord Gregory Hargrave, better known as Old Hardhead, is contemplating forming a global broadcast news network in the same way we formed DBS. His visit yesterday was entirely informal, however, only to view our facilities and get a sense of our operations.
So, to answer your question: on the record, he was not here. Off the record, yes, he was; I’m hoping to offer DBS News the resources of a global network within a year. Please act surprised if and when it happens.
In the meantime, please rip up this memo and know that you and yours have done a brilliant job. I’m very proud of you and you know what? I just decided we should have a party. More later.
Jackson
*
5-31-88
Cassy,
Here are the overnights from Nielsen.
Chi Chi
*
May 31, 1988
Memorandum from Langley W. Peterson
Jack,
Here are the overnights. Better than we expected!
*
31 May 1988
MEMORANDUM TO: All DBS Employees
FROM: Jackson Andrew Darenbrook
REGARDING: A Party
Dear Everybody,
I’m very, very proud of you and so I’m going to give a party in your honor. (So you all better come or there won’t be anyone there to honor yourself with.)
The idea of the moment is a dinner dance while sailing around Manhattan. You will be allowed to bring one person with you. Past that point, all I know is that it will be Saturday night, June 25, so please block it off on your calendar. (It has to be that Saturday so the miniseries folks can join us before going to England.)
Thank you, everybody, for all of your hard work. You are wonderful.
Jackson
*
6-1-88
Jackson,
Thank you for the flowers. They’re beautiful. And I wasn’t really angry about my friend Lord Greg—it’s just that I can’t stand not knowing everything. Call it my obsession with control—which, come to think of it, isn’t a bad thing to have in a producer.
Thanks again. (But please don’t let me feed him pizza next time.)
Cassy
*
6/3/88
Dear Belinda,
I don’t suppose one often writes thank you notes for thnk you notes, but in this case I think one is in order..
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’d like to say you are too kind in your praise, but with the shape my self-esteem has been in lately, I will merely take it all and say thank you.
I hope I see you again soon.
With warm regards,
Jessica Wright
*
June 3, 1988
Mrs. Belinda Darenbrook Peterson
18 Old Woods Hill Road
Greenwich, Connecticut 06830
Dear Belinda,
Thank you for your note, though I hasten to assure you there is no reason to apologize—except, that is, for neglecting to write the one thing I wanted to read in your letter, that you would be coming to visit us all at West End again soon.
Thank you for coming on Memorial Day. Your presence meant a great deal to me and to all, especially Jessica. Television is a very demanding and often difficult—physically, mentally, emotionally—field of work, so the interest and support of someone like you go a long way toward revitalizing our energies.
Please come again soon.
With my very best wishes,
Cassy Cochran
*
June 6
Langley,
The first week’s ratings. Alexandra’s doing beautifully—Jessica is a hit.
Cassy
*
June 6, 1988
Memo to Cassy from Derek
DBS NEWS AMERICA TONIGHT reviews
Hey, lady, look here. The complete set of reviews. Raves are of course on top. It looks like a clean sweep through flyover land, with a few shots to the head and gut from the East (but then, what would the East be without shots to the head and gut?) and one or two from out West.
*
June 6, 1988
Memo to Cassy from Derek
DBS THE JESSICA WRIGHT SHOW reviews
What more is there to say? She is a smash across the board. (Did I tell you Letterman’s guy called? They want her as a guest.)
*
6-7-88
Cassy,
Here’s my favorite review:
Okay, shoot me for sacrilege, but I can’t watch “DBS News America Tonight” without thinking that maybe Alexandra Waring should play Hope on “thirtysomething.” One gets the sense she wouldn’t let Hope be such a pill.
Alexandra
P.S. I also liked our friendly critic in Washington’s comment:
What more appropriate time to launch the Star Wars of TV News than during the Moscow summit? There are enough technical credits on this newscast to scare the Soviets into signing anything.
*
June 8
Alexandra,
Here’s my favorite:
Executive Producer Catherine Cochran has created a hodgepodge Americana hour of long hard-news stories and short fluff, anchored by a glamorous yuppie, supplemented by a rainbow coalition of specialty editors, highlighted by reporters yakking—live, mind you—in forty different dialects, drawls and accents from around the country, and packaged in graphics ranging from trendy glitz to Hallmark schmaltz. The amazing thing is, it works, and Cochran may have won herself the distinction of producing the first newscast that genuinely reflects the nature of the country that it’s supposed to be about.
Your hodgepodge producer signing off, my glamorous yuppie friend—
Cassy
*
June 8
Jackson,
Thank you for the beautiful flowers, but there is no need to thank me. I meant every word I wrote Belinda. But I’ll take the flowers anyway—they make me smile every time I look at them. Thank you.
Cassy
*
***PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL***
8 June 1988
MEMORANDUM TO: Jessica Wright
FROM: Jackson Andrew Darenbrook
REGARDING: The Plaza Hotel
Jessica honey,
I know you’re making a fortune for us but, sweetie pie, the suite you’re living in is a part of the guest suite for Darenbrook Communications and this crazy family of mine coming to town on July 1 and some of them are expecting to stay in that suite.
Which means you better audition for Ivana’s Eloise Suite or you’re going to personally find out the shocking truth regarding how much it costs to house mischievous young ladies in the Plaza.
Sweetie pie, please try and figure out what you’re doing by July 1
As Cassy, I think, told you (like six weeks ago), if you’d only call this nice lady, Mrs. Heidelson, she will help you find an apartment and arrange everything.
Your pal and fan and employer,
Jackie
*
***PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL***
6/8/88
So, Jackie,
You think you can get away with sending me an eviction notice hidden in a basket of flowers, eh? Well, just wait and see what happens to you. (I hear Ivana and Donald baby don’t want the Atlantic City crowd here, so they’ll be trying to evict you for sure—I mean, if this network isn’t a crapshoot, what is?)
Also, did it ever occur to you that I might want to stay in the suite when your crazy family arrives because one filthy rich scoundrel like one of your brothers might be worth more than some poor, mass-murdering crack dealer pervert, which is just about all that there is left to date in this town?
Love and kisses,
Jessica, the crown jewel of your network
*
6/9
***PERSONAL
AND CONFIDENTIAL***
by hand
Here’s a crown, Jessica. Now please find a new palace by July 1.
Love,
Jackie
*
Dear Jackie
Thanks for the crown. I’m wearing it on the show today. As for the palace, I hear that Harry and Leona aren’t entertaining much anymore.
Love,
Jessica
*
6/9/88
Langley,
Attached is our revised schedule for London. We will stay for the boat party and leave the following day, Sunday, June 26, and begin work at Hargrave Studios on the 27th.
Gordon
*
Thursday afternoon, 9 June 1988
Dear Jackson,
How can I ever thank you? For such a lovely luncheon at Café des Artistes, for such a wonderful place to work, and for, literally, changing my life.
But what I wish most of all to thank you for is your friendship. I can’t tell you how much it means to me to have your support personally, as well as professionally. I’ll miss sharing the tabloids with you (though I’m sure my marriage won’t faze them in the least). For myself, and for Gordon too, I thank you. And I love you.
Alexandra
*
***CONFIDENTIAL***
June 10, 1988
TO: Langley W. Peterson, Derek Deitz
FROM: Cassy Cochran
RE: Alexandra Waring’s Engagement to Gordon Strenn
This is to confirm that Alexandra and Gordon will announce their engagement at the boat party on Saturday, June 25.
This is also to confirm that you, Derek, may release this information to the columnists of your choice on Wednesday, June 22.
cc: Jackson Darenbrook,
Gordon Strenn,
Alexandra Waring
*
6/10/88
MEMO TO: Cassy Cochran
FROM: Deeter Page
RE: DBS AFFILIATES
Cass,
Thanks for the PR package, We’re sending them out immediately.
As I said on the phone, the affiliates couldn’t be more pleased with the performance of both shows. And from what I’ve gotten back thus far, they are uniformly crazy over the idea of Alexandra’s tour this summer.
*
June 10
Please, Deeter! Stop calling “DBS News America Tonight” a show!
Cassy
*
June 10, 1988
For: Langley W. Peterson
From: Cassy Cochran
Re: DBS Across America Tour
Langley,
This is to confirm our intention to kick off the DBS Across America tour on July 4. Our tenative schedule has Alexandra anchoring the news from 40 different affiliate newsrooms in 60 days, starting in Portland, Maine, and ending in Honolulu. Will Rafferty and his team will travel with her. Dash Tomlinson may go too, we haven’t decided.
It is a killer schedule, but Alexandra is determined (and able) to do it. Kyle and Dr. Kessler concur. Deeter says initial feedback is good from the affiliates, and Rookie says the sponsors are lining up. (It looks like United Airlines and Ford might pick up travel.)
More later—but I would consider this a done deed. We have our bases covered, everyone is in agreement, and the publicity, I think, can only help our case at the July board meeting.
Let me know if there’s a problem.
*
June 14, 1988
For: Alexandra Waring
From: Celia B. Smith, Public Relations
Miss Waring,
Enclosed herewith is the copy we received from your mother. Please check it over and return to me. You will of course see the final announcement before it is released. Thank you.
The engagement of Alexandra Bonner Waring and Gordon Cannondale Strenn, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Bradden Strenn of Locust Valley, L.I., has been announced by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Allen Waring of Haven Wells, Kansas.
Miss Waring graduated cum laude from Stanford University and is Anchor and Managing Editor of “DBS News America Tonight,” the nightly newscast of the DBS Television Network. Her father is a practicing attorney and served nine terms as a United States congressman. Her mother is general manager of Waring Farm and chairperson for the Great Plains Foundation for the Arts.
The future bride is the granddaughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Alexander Waring of Haven Wells, the fifth generation of farmers on the Waring homestead, and of Mrs. Hayston Lee Bonner of Lawrence, Kansas, and the late Dr. Bonner. She is also the great-great-granddaughter of Peter S. Bonner, founder of the First Bank of Kansas-Missouri.
Mr. Strenn, who graduated from the Hill School and the UCLA Film School, is a television producer whose most recent miniseries, This Side of Paradise, an adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, won Mr. Strenn an Emmy Award. He is currently Executive Producer of DBS International Films. His father, who is retired, was the president of Cannondale Clothing.
The future bridegroom is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Drew Strenn of Boca Raton, Florida. He is also the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. Percival Scott Cannondale III of New York City.
An April wedding is planned.
*
15 June 1988
MEMORANDUM TO:
All Board Members of Darenbrook Communications
FROM: Jackson Andrew Darenbrook, Chairman
REGARDING: DBS Television Network
Dear Gang,
Enclosed please find the excellent report regarding the ratings for the first two weeks of DBS programming. It is an excerpt from a report to Langley, written by the president of DBS News and Information, Catherine Cochran.
As you know, Langley and I will be making a complete report on the DBS Television Network at our July board meeting. Until then, may I say that it is turning out to be a most exciting and profitable and prestigious venture for Darenbrook Communications.
Jack
*
6/14/88
—Memo to Peterson from Cochran—DBS (cont’d) —6—
RATINGS
To fully appreciate the ratings performance of the DBS programming in the past two weeks, it is helpful to view DBS in comparison to the major commercial broadcasting networks, ABC, CBS and NBC, henceforth referred to as The Big Three:
**The Big Three each has approximately 207 affiliates to our 71, a ratio of roughly 3: 1.
**CBS and NBC have been household names as broadcasting networks for 50 years; ABC for over 25; whereas we are virtually unknown, offering largely unknown programming, part time, over independent stations often considered to be the “less-than” station against the Big Three affiliates in town.
**In the A. C. Nielsen ratings system, each point represents 880,000 viewers. The Big Three run their half-hour newscasts in the evening hours and, in season (end of September—May), generally tie at around a 9.5 rating. In the summer, with lower viewership, this number drops by at least a third.
**For prime-time programming, in season, a Big Three program needs at least a 12 rating to survive, an 18 to be strong, and in the 20s to be a hit. In the summer quarter, these numbers drop by a third as well.
DBS NEWS AMERICA TONIGHT
WITH ALEXANDRA WARING
If we carried the comparison through, then, in Big Three terms, a summer newscast should have a rating of about 6.3. When we apply the ratio of a 207—affiliate network to our 71 affiliate network of 3:1, the rating would be 2.1 for an established network anchor on an established network newscast on an established network.
***Our anticipated rating on “DBS News America Tonight with Alexandra Waring” was 1.5 and has averaged, for the past two weeks, 2.2. In other words, “NAT” is already “pulling” like Big Three news (2.2 X 3), and in prime time—where The Big Three wouldn’t dare run their newscasts.
THE JESSICA WRIGHT SHOW
For regular prime-time programming, in the regular season (end of September—May), a new program would have to achieve a rating of a
t least 12 to survive. When we apply the ratio of The Big Three to DBS, 3:1, the necessary rating would be 4.
—Our anticipated rating on “The Jessica Wright Show” was 2.5 and has averaged, for the past two weeks, 5.3. In other words, if we apply the ratio in reverse, Jessica would be pulling a 15.9 on The Big Three, which means that, on DBS or anywhere, “The Jessica Wright Show” has made an extremely healthy start. And if we take into consideration the third lower viewership in the summer, then her reverse-ratio rating in Big Three terms would be 21:1—an unqualified hit.
NOTES:
—Of course, we expect our ratings to rise as the number of our affiliates increase.
—Of course, we expect our ratings to rise as word gets around.
—Of course, we’re all deliriously happy here because, unlike The Big Three, we here at DBS do not carry the kind of overhead they do, and so we are well on our way to becoming an extraordinarily profitable venture.
*
17 June 1988
MEMORANDUM TO: All DBS Employees
FROM: Jackson Andrew Darenbrook
REGARDING: The Boat Party
Dear Everybody,
This is a reminder that you don’t have to come but are absolutely expected to come to my boat party that is in honor of all of you.
SATURDAY, JUNE 25TH
6 PM—?
THE 79TH STREET BOAT BASIN
HUDSON RIVER, MANHATTAN
DINNER AND DANCING
You are allowed to bring one person with you: spouse, friend, other half, better half, half and half, roommate, cellmate, whatever. Or come on your own, please. (I am.)
Please come because I’ve worked very hard to plan this. Honest. Ask Ethel, Randy and Claire—who almost quit in the process.
Jackson
32
The Boat Party
“Good Lord,” Cassy said, standing at the top of the gangplank leading down to the docks of the 79th Street boat basin.
“I don’t believe it,” Kyle said, standing beside her, blinking.
“Better get those smiles in order,” a photographer said, standing by the security guards, raising his camera to take their picture. “Mr. Darenbrook says anybody who doesn’t look happy goes overboard.”
Cassy and Kyle looked at each other.
Kyle was in a white dinner jacket; Cassy was in a floral Chanel number that she had decided she didn’t have the courage to wear and had been about to change when Kyle arrived to pick her up. She had opened the front door and Kyle had at first smiled at her, but then his eyes had dropped and come back up and then dropped again and then come back up again—having him utterly miss the time for any polite hello—his expression one of blatant awe. “Is this you?” he had finally said, eyebrows crashing together.