TelevisionWeek articles from August 2006

TelevisionWeek archives from August 2006

31ST ANNUAL NABJ CONVENTION & CAREER FAIR.(Newspro)
August 14, 2006... What: The annual conference of the National Association of Black Journalists Where: Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis When: Aug. 16-20 Details: NABJ.org CAPTION(S): Indiana Convention Center

Google's Go-Getter Moves Are Visionary.(Press Room)(Editorial)
August 14, 2006... Google once again rang the television industry's bell last week, and executives who are scratching their heads to figure out where the business is going should take notice. It's difficult to determine which Google transaction last week was...

News Briefs: DirecTV Offers Sunday Ticket Interactive Features.(TV Currents)
August 14, 2006... DirecTV is adding new interactive features that will alert NFL Sunday Ticket viewers when their favorite players make big plays. Player Tracker allows viewers to select up to nine players in Sunday Ticket games. When one of the players scores a...

The Sincerest Form of Flattery, er, Right?(Blink)(TVMonthDaily.com)(Brief article)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Melissa Grego We admit it. When the editors of TelevisionWeek first received e-mails early last week directing our attention to the Web site TVMonthDaily.com-featuring a tag line of "Up to the minute weekly news''-yes, we were a...

The Insider: THE GOOD SPORTS OF CBS.(TV Currents)(sportscasters)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Michele Greppi The gathering at which CBS Sports' NFL talent and producers reunite late each summer is always a fun one, but last week's seemed especially infused with good cheer, good will and good looks (or at least new looks)....

GM Playing a Part in Lifetime Shows; Placement Deal Will Shine Spotlight on Missing Kids.(TV Currents)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Jon Lafayette Lifetime is putting General Motors in the driver's seat with product integration in two upcoming programs. In one deal, GM's OnStar in-vehicle safety and security service will be featured in the upcoming movie...

Viral Video.(TV Currents)(OK Go's Internet video)(Brief article)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Daisy Whitney TelevisionWeek is trawling video-sharing Web sites to find the hottest clips spreading on the Internet. Visit TVWeek.com to view the latest. The setup: Don't try this at home. Chicago-based power pop band OK Go's...

Google Sticks to Distribution; VP Eun Positions Company as Technological Partner to Media Heavyweights.(TV Currents)(David Eun)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Daisy Whitney One of the Google executives who last week helped make the company a leading distributor of television shows on the Web says the Internet giant's media strategy is misunderstood. David Eun, VP of content...

Cable Clears a Lowered Bar; Programmers: Upfront Done.(TV Currents)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Jon Lafayette Flat is the new up in the cable upfront advertising market. The cable upfront does not appear to have grown much, if at all. But executives of most of the big cable programmers-Turner Broadcasting, MTV Networks,...

Jet Threat Scrambles Crews; Shows Switch Topics on a Dime as Terrorism Plot Unveiled.(TV Currents)(London airline bombing plot)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Michele Greppi The first message that hit NBC News President Steve Capus' pager at 1:13 a.m. last Thursday "was vague enough that it didn't set off the alarms,'' he said. "`U.K. police arrest several in plot to blow up U.K.-to-U.S....

Newsmakers.(appointments)
August 14, 2006... BROADCASTING Gail Sikevitz to director, educational programming, Weigel Broadcasting, from executive director, Dolores Kohl Education Foundation. CABLE James Lavallee to director, ad sales marketing, Discovery Networks, from...

Quick Takes: Have you increased your local weather coverage due to the record heat wave?(Press Room)(Brief article)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Naomie Worrell "KTLA has increased our local weather coverage by devoting more news time to the record heat crisis. Obviously, the heat wave has become a major news story affecting our viewers locally .'' Jeff Wald, news...

BET to Bulk Up Animation Slate; Signs Deals With Film Roman, Milestone Media's McDuffie.(TV Currents)(Dwayne McDuffie)
August 14, 2006... Byline: James Hibberd A month after announcing its first animated series, BET has signed a pair of development deals to help fuel its upcoming animation slate. The Viacom-owned network has formed a three-year, nonexclusive partnership...

MyNetworkTV Nears WGA Deal; Telenovela 'Translators' to Gain Writer Status.(TV Currents)(Writers Guild of America)
August 14, 2006... Byline: James Hibberd Writers working on MyNetworkTV's year-round telenovela project are near a deal to gain union status, sources said. Since last year, writers employed by Twentieth Television's upcoming U.S.-based telenovela dramas...

CHALLENGE IS TO SELL AUDIENCE ON NOVELAS; WMYO-TV.(TV Currents)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Michele Greppi The changes at MyNetworkTV's Louisville, Ky., affiliate extend all the way to evocative new call letters. On July 7, Block Communications-owned UPN affiliate WFTE-TV changed its call letters to WMYO-TV as part of...

Digital Set-Top Box Data Measures Up.(Press Room)
August 14, 2006... It's no secret that the world of television is changing. Digital broadcasting is ushering in the most significant revolution in broadcast media since the invention of cable television. The landscape of 21st-century broadcasting is shifting, and...

Excellence Awards Call on Syler's Voice; Emcee Happy to Give Back to Group That Nurtured Her Career.(Newspro)(Salute to Excellence Awards)(Rene Syler)(Interview)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Allison J. Waldman Special to TelevisionWeek "I'm thrilled to be going back and I'm thrilled to be able to help out in any way that I can,'' said Rene Syler, news anchor for CBS's "The Early Show,'' about going to Indianapolis...

News Hits Home as NABJ Gathers; Katrina, World Events Raise Diversity Issues for Journalists.(Newspro)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Allison J. Waldman Special to TelevisionWeek Opportunity, education, information and commendation will be at the top of the agenda when the National Association of Black Journalists gathers this week in Indianapolis for its 31st...

Fox, Kaiser Team for PSAs; To Foster Healthier Lifestyles.(TV Currents)(Fox Networks Group)(Kaiser Family Foundation)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Christopher Lisotta The Fox Networks Group and the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation are joining together on a new multiplatform public education campaign promoting healthy lifestyles to young people. The "Pause'' campaign...

AL ROKER ON DIVERSITY, MENTORING, TV NEWS; Q&A.(Newspro)(Interview)
August 14, 2006... "Today's'' Al Roker is flattered to have been asked by the National Association of Black Journalists to host its Hall of Fame induction Friday, Aug. 18. Mr. Roker sees himself as more of a weatherman and a feature reporter than a true...

At The Gate; In Louisville, as in Cities Across the Country, Local Stations Prepare to Switch Gears and Become CW, MyNetworkTV Affiliates.(TV Currents)
August 14, 2006... In Louisville, as in Cities Across the Country, Local Stations Prepare to Switch Gears and Become CW, MyNetworkTV Affiliates Louisville, Ky., the nation's 50th-largest market, could very well be Anytown, USA, at least when it comes to the...

FAMILIAR PROGRAMS, POTENTIAL CONFUSION; WBKI-TV.(TV Currents)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Michele Greppi At WBKI-TV in Louisville, Ky., the pace is torrid as the Cascade Broadcasting-owned station prepares this summer to take out all references to The WB and replace them with references to The CW at midnight Sept. 17....

DIVERSITY RISES IMPERCEPTIBLY; Number of Journalists Of Color Up, But African Americans Decline 0.8 Percent.(Newspro)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Allison J. Waldman Special to TelevisionWeek CBS news anchor Edward R. Murrow gave a speech at a Radio-Television News Directors Association event held in his honor in 1958. The iconic newsman was grateful that his peers were...

Harness the Power of Superheroes; Genre's Appeal is Wide-Ranging and Growing, So Look to TV Shows and Films for Blockbuster Ad Campaigns.(Media Planner)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Mark Dominiak Special to TelevisionWeek Media planners worth their salt are constantly searching for new ideas that can have big impact for their brands in the marketplace. But those big ideas have seemed increasingly hard to...

Shoppers Find ExpoTV Homey; Slick Spots on Multiple Viewing Venues.(Special Report: Shopping Networks)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Daisy Whitney As the television industry tilts daily toward new distribution models, the home shopping genre is shifting too. Once the sole purview of on-air behemoths such as QVC and HSN, shopping networks are now taking on new...

Networks Set Fall Promo Priorities; Big 4 Thinking Out-of-the-Box for Prime Time.(TV Currents)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Christopher Lisotta Just as the television landscape has changed dramatically since last fall, so have the Big 4 broadcast networks' plans for promoting their fall prime-time schedules. ABC, which has focused its marketing...

Viewers Bustle Into MarketPlace; Database Boosts HGTV.com Traffic to 98 Million in July.(Special Report: Shopping Networks)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Daisy Whitney In the latest evolution to its varied shopping pursuits, Scripps Networks fired up a new service last month on HGTV.com called MarketPlace that includes more than 7,000 product listings and has a new incremental...

Digital Dealmakers.(TV Currents)(BIAP Systems Inc.)(Brief article)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Daisy Whitney The player: Tim Peters, CEO of BIAP The play: BIAP has been steadily making a name for itself over the past year, powering various interactive products for Time Warner Cable, NBC Universal and eBay including...

Cash Registers Ringing as Buyers Migrate Online; Linear Networks Leverage Web Sites for More Impact.(Special Report: Shopping Networks)(online, television shopping)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Daisy Whitney America really does love to shop. Sales are rising at top TV shopping networks HSN and QVC at the same time that online shopping is jumping too. Consider this: Online shopping grew in total purchases by 13 percent...

TVWatch: BROADBAND: THE GREAT ENABLER.(TV Currents)(Turner Network Television)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Marianne Paskowski Tomorrow, Aug. 15, Turner Network Television takes the wraps off its long-planned broadband initiative by offering its blockbuster miniseries "Into the West,'' which can be seen in its entirety on TNT's Web site,...

Dale Turner Finds His Space.(Blink)("Jericho" character uses MySpace.com)(Brief article)
August 14, 2006... Byline: Christopher Lisotta Today's teenagers are nothing without a page on MySpace.com. The upcoming CBS drama "Jericho'' has taken that belief to heart by creating a MySpace page for one of the show's characters: the sensitive...

How MTV2 Lost Its "Pants."(Blink)(Pants-Off Dance-Off)(Brief article)
August 14, 2006... Byline: James Hibberd Fuse's cult hit "Pants-Off Dance-Off,'' the most praised music video gimmick since mid-1990s sensation "Pop-Up Video,'' was passed up by MTV before it ever got to Fuse. Since debuting earlier this year, the amateur...

Close-up: Bruce Seidel.(Newsmakers)(Food Network appointment)(Brief article)
August 14, 2006... Food Network has named Bruce Seidel Senior VP of program planning and special productions. Mr. Seidel will handle the network's development and production of special events and miniseries, including the October premiere of "Nigella Feasts." Mr....

Kentucky Derby.(TV Currents)
August 14, 2006... The abrupt births of The CW and MyNetworkTV put many local TV station executives in a predicament: With whom would they ally? TVWeek National Editor Michele Greppi reveals how two stations jockeying for position in Louisville, Ky., reflect...

Web Exclusive.(TV Currents)
August 14, 2006... Producers on 'America's Next Top Model' want writer status. Go to TVWeek.com for Senior Reporter James Hibberd's perspective from the sidewalk protests.

Capturing idle "Idol" hopefuls.(Blink)(American Idol)(Brief article)
August 14, 2006... Networks are always on the lookout for captive audiences to whom they can promote their new fall schedules. Fox has a unique promotional opportunity for such an audience with the tens of thousands of hopefuls lining up to audition for its music...

Douglas Paved Way for Today's Talk Hosts.(Press Room)(Mike Douglas)(In memoriam)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Steve Beverly We have lost one of television's genuine giants. Lest anyone suggest Mike Douglas was not a broadcasting icon, a review of history is in order. Douglas, who died Aug. 11, on his 81st birthday, was not just your...

Quick Takes: Is Aug. 27 too early for the Primetime Emmys?(Press Room)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Naomie Worrell "It is good timing, since it will not get shadowed by the start of the new prime-time season in the fall. Viewers could see it as refreshing programming for the end of the summer with repeats still around.'' ...

WOMEN'S VOD USAGE.(TV Currents)(video-on-demand)(Survey)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... * In VOD homes, 75 percent of women ages 18-plus say they have used video-on-demand at one time or another, compared with 57 percent of men ages 18+, according to Marquest Research. *Forty-one percent of women who use On Demand at least...

'Just the Facts, Ma'am'; 59 Years and Counting for KTLA-TV's Stan Chambers.(Special Report: Stan Chambers)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Debra Kaufman Special to TelevisionWeek As a Los Angeles news reporter since the dawn of TV, Stan Chambers has lived the history of the electronic medium from a unique vantage point. Starting at KTLA-TV in December 1947,...

An HD Feast for the Ears; HDNet Steps Up With Third Sound Review Studio.(Media & Technology)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Daisy Whitney Last month HDNet completed the installation of its third "listening room,'' a studio created especially for the review of sound on the network's programs to ensure the audio feed the network delivers along with its...

A LIFE IN TV NEWS.(Special Report: Stan Chambers)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... In his 59-year career reporting local news for KTLA, Mr. Chambers has covered more than 22,000 stories. Here are some highlights of his life in journalism. 1944 Stan Chambers graduates with a B.A. from USC's Annenberg School for...

Enough Kvetching About Emmy Snubs.(Press Room)(Primetime Emmy Awards)
August 21, 2006... With the naming of this year's Primetime Emmy winners coming up Sunday, it's time for the industry to stop its grousing about the change in the voting procedures this year and compliment the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for trying to...

The Insider: MSNBC'S "DANCING" FOOL.(TV Currents)(Dancing With the Stars)(Tucker Carlson)(Interview)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Michele Greppi The Insider grilled MSNBC's Tucker Carlson last week about what possessed him to compete in ABC's "Dancing With the Stars.'' At the time, the once famously bow-tied host of "Tucker'' had survived about 20 hours of...

Tech Briefs: 'Certified' Scores for Music Choice.(Media & Technology)(video-on-demand usage)
August 21, 2006... Video-on-demand music service Music Choice said that VOD users ordered its new show "Certified'' 730,000 times from its July 1 debut through Aug. 6. That makes the new monthly music show, in which fans vote on a favorite artist, the most...

Digital Dealmakers.(TV Currents)(StupidVideos.com)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Daisy Whitney The player: Greg Morrow, co-founder and president of PureVideo Networks, which operates StupidVideos.com and GrindTV.com. The play: Stupid Videos is one of dozens of companies competing for the attention of...

Viral Video.(TV Currents)(Britney Spears)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Daisy Whitney TelevisionWeek is trawling video-sharing Web sites to find the hottest clips spreading on the Internet. Visit TVWeek.com to view the latest. The setup: First Lady of Trouble Britney Spears is quickly becoming the...

Stephanopoulos Spurns CBS; Juicy Roles Discussed, but No Offer.(TV Currents)(George Stephanopoulos)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Michele Greppi CBS News courted but couldn't land George Stephanopoulos, who recently signed a new deal, with a nice raise, to stay at ABC News for four more years. Mr. Stephanopoulos, ABC News' chief Washington correspondent...

Court TV Locks Up Prime Demo; Network Hits Record High Viewing in Time of Transition.(TV Currents)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Jon Lafayette Marc Juris has good timing. Court TV's general manager for programming and marketing in January launched a new 8 p.m. block of action shows called RED, which stands for "Real. Exciting. Dramatic.'' Since then,...

Fox Stations Take Morning Crown; Prospects Improve for Planned Show.(TV Currents)(morning news program)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Michele Greppi Big 3-affiliated stations can't seem to get up early enough in the morning to beat Fox Television Stations at catching younger viewers with early news programming. In May, for the first time ever, Fox Television...

CBS Stations Make First Call; News Video Coming via Wireless.(TV Currents)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Michele Greppi CBS television stations will be the first in 16 U.S. markets to roll out news video feeds to customers who want to keep up with events on their wireless devices. The stations, owned and operated by the network,...

Lifetime on Demand; Cable Net Unveiling Long-Awaited VOD Service With Current Hits.(TV Currents)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Daisy Whitney After watching the video-on-demand market evolve from the sidelines for the last five years, Lifetime plans to launch its first VOD programming service with Comcast starting this week. The VOD service will be the...

News Briefs: Tobacco Companies Must Air 'Corrective' Spots.(TV Currents)
August 21, 2006... A federal judge's ruling last week that big tobacco companies engaged in racketeering by hiding the dangers of smoking will require four companies to each run one 15-second prime-time TV advertisement per week to educate the public. Philip...

Thank P&G's McElroy for TV Ad Model; The Concepts Behind the First Commercial in 1937 Still Work for Today's Audiences.(Media & Technology)(Neil McElroy, Procter & Gamble)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Adam Armbruster Special to TelevisionWeek There I was at a television industry dinner table, embroiled in yet another heated debate about effective TV advertising. This time, the topic was television viewer engagement. There was...

Newsmakers.(Paul Magnes joins WLVI-TV)(Ron Damron joins WBBM-TV)(Catherine Mitchell joins Cox Communications)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... BROADCASTING Paul Magnes to local sales manager, WLVI-TV, Boston, from local account executive, WBZ-TV, Boston. Ron Damron to controller, WBBM-TV, Chicago, from general manager, WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV, Boston and WLWC-TV, Providence, R.I....

9/11: Five Years Later.(TVWatch)(Column)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Marianne Paskowski How uncanny that just as I sat down about an hour ago to write this column about the slew of Sept. 11 anniversary programs, I was stopped cold in my tracks. There was a breaking story about a potential terrorism...

Promo Hurdles for MyNetworkTV; New Network Promoting Both Format and Stations.(TV Currents)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Christopher Lisotta With so many broadcast network shows debuting in the fall, any network is challenged to get traction for a programming concept that is unfamiliar to a large section of the TV audience. For MyNetworkTV, which...

"Behrendt" Wants a Comfy Audience.(Blink)(Greg Behrendt Show)(comfortable waiting area)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Christopher Lisotta Being part of a studio audience can be a trying experience-just getting into a taping usually requires a couple of tedious hours of standing in line outside in fairly spartan conditions. Sony Pictures Television...

Backstage With Megan Mullally; TVWeek.com Covers Anatomy of a Launch.(TV Currents)(The Megan Mullally Show)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Christopher Lisotta Launching a new daytime talk show into syndication has never been easy, but over the past few seasons the marketplace has made it even more difficult for the next generation of "Oprah'' hopefuls. Daytime...

Broadcast TV a Little Less Gay; GLAAD: Fewer Prime-Time Characters for 2006-07.(TV Currents)(Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation )
August 21, 2006... Byline: Christopher Lisotta Advocacy group Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation's annual report on diversity for the broadcast networks' prime-time series revealed the 2006-07 TV season is shaping up to be a little less gay than last...

'Edgy' Draws Eyes, Not Ads; Video Sites Find Traditional Content Still Most Bankable.(TV Currents)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Daisy Whitney Media agency MPG and its client Comedy Central laid a bet this month in the red-hot world of Web video that echoes decisions many other advertisers are making. They placed a banner ad for Comedy Central's upcoming...

Close-up: Fernando Romero.(Newsmakers)(promoted at Fuse Network )(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... Fuse Network has promoted Fernando Romero to VP of advertising sales, digital media, from director of interactive sales. Mr. Romero is responsible for driving ad sales growth and revenue for fuse's digital platforms, including mobile,...

Syndication Upfront Sales Coming in Flat; Other Sectors Mirrored.(TV Currents)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Jon Lafayette Several syndicators said last week they had nearly completed their upfront sales, and like their counterparts in broadcast and cable, they found dollars tight and prices largely flat. While negotiations this year...

Food Network Re-Slices the Pie; Celebrity-Making Channel Seeks Share of Stars' Non-TV Endeavors.(TV Currents)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Jon Lafayette Food Network wants to expand beyond television-and take its new celebrity chefs with it. The network has begun negotiating deals with new talent that go beyond hosting shows and give the network a share in online...

Allen set to unleash talk show; Comedy Roundtable Sold in 80% of U.S.(TV Currents)(Byron Allen new syndicated comedy: "Comics Unleashed":)
August 21, 2006... Byline: James Hibberd Stepping up with an answer to the dearth of syndicated comedies, entertainer and syndication veteran Byron Allen is set to launch a late-night talk show next month that's cleared on stations covering about 80 percent...

Lifetime VOD at a Glance.(TV Currents)
August 21, 2006... At launch, Lifetime's VOD service will include: * The first six episodes of "Lovespring International" * Episodes from reality series "Cheerleader Nation" * Library content from the "Intimate Portrait" series * Short-form...

Roving Eye.(TV Currents)
August 21, 2006... 1. HBO's Sheila Nevins, left, director Spike Lee and HBO's Chris Albrecht meet up Aug. 16 at the premiere of "When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" in New Orleans. 2. CNN's Mark Nelson, left, Kathy Slobogin, Cliff Hackel and Peter...

The Father, The Sons and DirecTV.(Blink)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Jon Lafayette If DirecTV has a fantasy football team, it's all set at the quarterback position. The satellite company extended its agreement with Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning to act as spokesmen for its NFL Sunday Ticket...

Special Time for A&E.(Blink)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... Byline: James Hibberd In the dog days of summer, when most cable networks go quiet and decision-makers forsake their BlackBerrys for some sun by the pool, A&E actually got some business done, greenlighting a backdoor pilot and a special....

Lighting Chicago's Fuse.(Blink)(Music network fuse opening Chicago ad sales office)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Jon Lafayette Music network fuse is dancing its way to the Windy City-with its pants on. The Rainbow Media-owned channel, which has been getting a lot of media buzz for its late-night "Pants-Off Dance-Off'' striptease program, is...

Insider Trading.(Blink; Consumer News and Business Channel Partnership apparently consulting their competition for help)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Tom Gilbert When CNBC is in a jam for sources, turns out it consults... its competition. Last week the following e-mail from a CNBC booking producer to a Bloomberg TV reporter made the rounds (complete with typos): "I am a booker...