Broadcasting & Cable articles from August 2008

Broadcasting & Cable archives from August 2008

BC Beat.(Broadcasting & Cable)
August 4, 2008... Edited byJoel Topcik Alec Baldwin 'Auditions' for '60 Minutes' Joel Topcik The National Business Travelers Association convention might not seem a likely venue for TV stars. But the 6,450 attendees at the annual confab last week...

China's Game Face.
August 4, 2008... By Marisa Guthrie For its inaugural Olympics, Beijing promised to open a door to the press. But will the media get a foot in? A year and a half ago, China sent two delegations of public information officers to NBC headquarters in New...

NBC's Olympic Proportions.(National Broadcasting Company Inc.)
August 4, 2008... By Allison Romano Network spreads Beijing Games coverage across all platforms and sports In past summers, when the Olympic Games hit television airwaves, die-hard fans of niche sports like archery or fencing were usually left out in...

Live From ESPN, It's 'SportsCenter'.
August 4, 2008... By Mike Reynolds Flagship show gets new format, anchors Come Aug. 11, the 9 a.m. SportsCenter will be different. Not only will ESPN's flagship show feature a new anchor team of Hannah Storm and Josh Elliott, but it will be live,...

BTN Ready For '08 Season.(Big Ten Network)(Interview)
August 4, 2008... By Mike Reynolds Buoyed by Comcast deal, net's hoping for more It's August, and for football players that means the grind of two-a-day workouts. For those trying to secure Big Ten Network carriage deals with Time Warner Cable, Mediacom...

NBC's Multi-Platform Push.(National Broadcasting Company Inc.)
August 4, 2008... By Glen Dickson Network goes to great lengths to pump Beijing action to myriad pipes NBC's Olympic coverage from Beijing should make technophiles leap for joy, both for the production quality and sheer volume of action. The 2008...

Deals.
August 4, 2008... By BIA Financial Networks TV WTVJ (TV)/Miami and W58BU/Hallandale, Fla. PRICE : $205 million BUYER : Washington Post Co. (Alan Frank, president/CEO, broadcasting) SELLER : NBC/GE (John Wallace, president/TV stations) ...

Grand Central Stations.
August 4, 2008... By Michael Malone Battling to reach on-the-go New York viewers As countless would-be actors and authors can attest, making your mark in the Big Apple is no minor accomplishment, and the well-funded stations in the country's largest DMA...

Leave My Game Shows Alone.(Column)
August 4, 2008... By David Bianculli When networks reinvent tried-and-true formats, the results can be losers I understand completely why networks, especially in desperate, post-strike scramble mode, would be eager to revive classic primetime game...

Jean Prewitt's Fight for Independent TV.(Interview)
August 4, 2008... John Eggerton Jean Prewitt, president of the Independent Film & Television Alliance, represents 160 companies that produce TV programming and films such as Crash, Million Dollar Baby and Shakespeare In Love . But given the current economic...

Regulatory Battle Rages Over Web Ads.(advertising)
August 4, 2008... By John Eggerton At issue: embedded spots and their implications for user privacy Until recently, 'network neutrality' held sway over industry and government officials as the Internet regulation issue du jour. But with a Congressional...

'ET', MSN Ink Deal.(Entertainment Tonight Online)
August 4, 2008... By Paige Albiniak Pact moves content online CBS and Microsoft have reached an agreement for Entertainment Tonight to become the premier provider of entertainment news to MSN, the Internet's seventh-largest Web portal. ET ,...

It's Just 'So Fox'.
August 4, 2008... By Melissa Grego Net to unveil branding push Fox is about to become an adjective. Executives at the News Corp.-owned network plan to roll out a branding campaign this summer across the network and its affiliates, anchored by the slogan...

Olympics Viewing Guide.(Column)
August 4, 2008... By Ben Grossman With all due respect to NBC and the 17,000 places they are letting us watch the Olympics, my interest in the Games has really waned in recent years. But I have to admit, this one has my eye. And it is that exact sentiment...

Where to be & what to watch-.(briefs)
August 4, 2008... By Alex Weprin Monday, Aug. 4 Teenagers everywhere will be glued to their screens, as a veritable cornucopia of programming appealing to the high school set hits the tube. The Teen Choice Awards , hosted by the now...

Unheralded pioneers.
August 4, 2008... Staff Editor: I was browsing through the July 28 issue of Broadcasting & Cable and came across the article (p. 12) about Raycom Media building a brand-new digital television station in South Carolina, which stated: 'It is what many...

New Logic.(merging of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Inc.)
August 4, 2008... Staff Turns out the FCC concluded last week that a merger to monopoly can be in the public interest so long as you apply enough conditions to satisfy at least three commissioners. When the FCC released its outline of the XM/Sirius...

Public Interest vs. Media Abundance.
August 4, 2008... By Erwin G. Krasnow An observer of the federal administrative/regulatory system once pointed out that government agencies can be divided into two categories: 'deliver the mail' and 'Holy Grail.' 'Deliver the mail' agencies perform neutral,...

Fates & Fortunes.(briefs)
August 4, 2008... By Staff BROADCAST Staff JOSEPH LOVEJOY , senior VP and acting CFO, Fisher Communications, has been named senior VP and CFO. THOMAS EHLMAN , VP and general manager, WGN Chicago, has been named president and general manager of...

KING's Local Hero.(Ray Heacox)
August 4, 2008... By Michael Malone Heacox feels right at home plotting vital Belo growth strategies Ray Heacox is home again. Two decades after he left the Pacific Northwest for the East Coast, he's more than happy to be back in the corner of the...

FCC Slams Comcast Over Web Access.(United States. Federal Communications Commission)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... By John Eggerton The FCC last week concluded that Comcast had violated its Internet open-access guidelines, stating the company had unreasonably interfered with BitTorrent peer-to-peer traffic on its network. In the decision, the FCC was...

Sony Re-Ups Mosko Through 2012.(Steve Mosko)(Sony Pictures Television)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... By Ben Grossman Sony Pictures Television re-signed company president Steve Mosko to a new deal to head the studio's television division through 2012. The finalization of Mosko's new deal comes on the heels of a couple of big wins for...

Q2 Earnings: Cable Hot.(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... By Robert Marich Cable TV operators are hot, while telcos are not. That's a trend evident midway through the two-week earnings reporting frenzy for the second quarter as Cablevision Systems and Comcast thrilled Wall Street, while Verizon...

Headlines from Multichannel News.(briefs)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Staff USA Sweeps in July With its five original series clicking, USA Network easily won cable's primetime ratings in July, bolstered by fresh episodes of returning series. Awkward Moments with Broadcasters Small cable...

FEC: You Pay, You Say.(Federal Election Commission)
August 4, 2008... By John Eggerton No way out of IDs for political-ad shorties Quick-hit TV and radio political spots must still carry a spoken sponsorship identification, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) ruled last week in a decision partisans say...

AOL Re-Launching Video Portal.(America Online Inc.)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... By Alex Weprin AOL is re-launching its two-year-old video portal and expanding its integration with other AOL verticals. AOL programming sites, such as AOL Music, AOL Television and GameDaily, will all see more targeted video content as...

Still Holding Court.(CBS Corp. CBS Television Stations Group)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... ByPaige Albiniak CTD renews Judge Judy through 2013 CBS Television Distribution has renewed its top court show, Judge Judy , on the Fox, Sinclair, Belo, Nexstar and other station groups through 2013, making it one of only a handful of...

Wendy Williams Hits In New York; Tests Continue Into Aug.
August 4, 2008... Staff After two weeks on television, radio deejay Wendy Williams has proved herself to be the Queen of All Media-at least in New York. On Fox-owned WNYW New York at 10 a.m., Debmar-Mercury's The Wendy Williams Show is averaging a 1.5...

BC Beat.
August 11, 2008... Edited by Joel Topcik Found! NBC's Delayed Duds Turn a New Page Joel Topcik The NBC page has achieved a kind of mythic status in the popular culture. Long before 30 Rock and its peppy, earnest Kenneth (Jack McBrayer )...

The Battle for The Lower Third.
August 11, 2008... By Claire Atkinson Advertisers are ready to buy into the last great battleground for viewer attention Viewers who settled in to watch The Incredibles on NBC after their Thanksgiving Day meal last November no doubt expected to see their...

Deals.
August 11, 2008... By BIA Financial Networks TV KZTV (TV)/Corpus Christi, Texas PRICE : $20 million BUYER : SagamoreHill Broadcasting (Louis Wall, president/CEO) SELLER : Eagle Creek Broadcasting LLC (Brian Brady, president) FACILITIES...

Capital Concerns.
August 11, 2008... By David Goetzl Albany market suffers tough times A week before the torch was lit, Steve Baboulis lamented the softer-than-expected Olympic sales at WNYT, Albany's NBC affiliate. Nonetheless, he was eager to run a slew of promotional...

Beware the Space Invaders.(Column)
August 11, 2008... By David Bianculli Why lower-third ad bugs must be stopped (even though they won't be) Lower-third promos. Snipes. Animated billboards. Whatever you want to call those annoying bottom-of-the-screen ads that interrupt, invade and...

When Digital Trend Began in Bend.(KOHD)
August 11, 2008... By Michael Malone As it approaches its first birthday, Oregon's KOHD claims to be first digital station launched from scratch A B&C cover story late last month touted newbie WMBF Myrtle Beach as what many believed to be the first fully...

Borrowing Just Got Harder.
August 11, 2008... By Robert Marich Many media companies are literally writing off their chances to spend their way out of their slumps. The financial handcuffs restricting many media companies' flexibility are getting tighter as several firms are...

Stations Face Olympic Ad Hurdles.(National Broadcasting Company Inc.)
August 11, 2008... By Robert Marich Affiliates' sell-through presents a mixed bag in a soft market While NBC nailed its $1 billion goal for advertising sales around the Beijing Games, it is a somewhat less triumphant story for network affiliates, with...

Corn Embraces 'Indecision'.
August 11, 2008... Marisa Guthrie In the current political arena, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart continually balances being an established member of the media, while also lampooning the absurdity of the 24/7 hyperbolic TV news industry. The show's...

Moving With the Times.(Column)
August 11, 2008... By Ben Grossman I experienced my first earthquake recently in Los Angeles, and I can report I am not a big fan. Back home in Minnesota, the ground doesn't move unless some really fat guy slips on an ice patch. So I did what I believe...

Where to be & what to watch--.
August 11, 2008... By Michael Malone Monday, Aug. 11 When Sesame Street premiered, a gallon of gas cost 35 cents and people were gushing about Hendrix's performance at Woodstock a few months before. Yes, Big Bird , Grover and the pre-Fraggle gaggle...

Hang Together.(United States. Federal Communications Commission)
August 11, 2008... Staff Virtually everyone in the broadcasting business recognizes the FCC's crackdown on fleeting profanity and indecency for what it is--a knee-jerk reaction to pressure from their bosses in Congress. Bono swears, Janet strips,...

Obese Kids: Time for Media to Act.
August 11, 2008... By Gary E. Knell The current childhood obesity epidemic is a stark but preventable phenomenon. One in three children is overweight in America today. This puts our country on a predictable trajectory leading to millions of overweight adults...

No, We're Number 1.(WABC-TV)(Editorial)(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Rebecca S. Campbell Editor: A major disconnect occurred in the Aug. 4 market profile of New York City titled "Grand Central Stations." Your publication rightly notes that WABC-TV in New York "had a smashing May sweeps, winning total day...

Fates & Fortunes.(appointments)
August 11, 2008... Staff BROADCAST Staff TREZ THOMAS , VP and group creative director, Lifetime Networks, has been named VP of brand strategy and creative director, Bravo Media. PROGRAMMING Staff SAM REGISTER , producer, Warner Bros....

Obituary.(death of Skip Caray and Ragan Henry)(Obituary)(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Staff SKIP CARAY , 68, longtime Atlanta Braves broadcaster, died in his sleep Aug. 3. Caray was the son of legendary Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray, and father of Chip Caray, an announcer for the Braves and TBS. Skip Caray was a...

Breaking News, Hollywood-Style.(Linda Bell Blue)
August 11, 2008... By Paige Albiniak Linda Bell Blue brings a special brand of intensity to 'ET' and 'The Insider' You hear a lot of weather metaphors when you ask people about Linda Bell Blue, executive producer of Entertainment Tonight and The Insider...

It's Crunch Time.(Academy of Television Arts and Sciences)
August 11, 2008... By Kevin Downey Last round of Primetime Emmy votes start now The pace may get slower for some people in August, but for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), it's the equivalent of Christmas season at Macy's. Primetime Emmy...

Reorder in the Court!
August 11, 2008... By Paige Albiniak Divorce Court turns 10 this fall Court shows are one of syndication's strongest genres as well as one of the least expensive to produce, unless the show is long-running and features a venerable judge, such as Judge...

Smooth Ride So Far for Mobile DTV.(digital television)
August 11, 2008... By Glen Dickson Broadcasters expect preliminary standard this fall Broadcasters say development of a new digital TV standard which will let them transmit video to cell phones and other portable devices is going smoothly, and that they...

Lower-Power Stations Out of DTV Coalition.(digital television)(National Association of Broadcasters)(Television Bureau of Advertising)
August 11, 2008... By John Eggerton NAB and ad groups leave operator association off invite list Community Broadcasters Association (CBA), the group representing low-power TV station operators, won't have a seat at the table when broadcasters are...

Minow, Fowler, Quello Plead: Curb FCC Indecency Regs.(United States. Federal Communications Commission)(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... By John Eggerton A trio of former FCC chairmen, including Newton Minow, the iconic critic of TV content and Mark Fowler, a symbol of deregulation, joined to ask the Supreme Court to strip the FCC of its power to regulate indecency...

Indy 500 on ABC Through 2012.(American Broadcasting Companies Inc. ABC Broadcast Group)(Versus)(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... By Alex Weprin The Indy Racing League locked up deals with ABC and cable's Versus that will keep its flagship race, the Indianapolis 500, on the broadcast network through 2012 and will bring IndyCar racing to the cable network for the...

Shark Week Bites Again.(Discovery Communications Inc. Discovery Channel)(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... By Alex Weprin The 21st installment of Discovery Channel's Shark Week, which ran July 27-Aug. 2, delivered a total of 29.1 million viewers, up from 27.2 million during last year's run. Those numbers were helped by six premiere episodes,...

Adios to Mackin At Univision.(appointment of Terry Mackin at Univision Communications Inc.)(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... By Michael Malone Univision Communications confirmed that station-group president Terry Mackin is departing the Spanish-language broadcaster after five months on the job. The former Hearst-Argyle Television executive vice president left...

'Fifth Grader' on Tap For Fall 2009 Syndie.(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... By Paige Albiniak Twentieth Television and Mark Burnett Productions are expected to announce that Fox's popular primetime game show, Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? , will be available to TV stations for fall 2009, sources said. ...

'Trivial Pursuit' Picks a Host.(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... By Paige Albiniak Christopher Knight, known to millions of aging TV viewers as Peter Brady on The Brady Bunch , was named host of Debmar-Mercury's new game show, Trivial Pursuit: America Plays . The show premieres in national syndication...

FCC to Attend 'Phantom of the Opera'.(United States. Federal Communications Commission)(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Staff The FCC picked the Majestic Theater in New York, now showing The Phantom of the Opera for testing unlicensed mobile devices to determine whether those devices' use of the white spaces between TV channels and wireless microphones...

Earnings Roundup.(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Staff There were plenty of television-related earnings reports last week. Cable system operators Time Warner Cable and Mediacom Communications continued a trend of posting impressive financial and business results for the second quarter....

Correction.(Correction notice)
August 11, 2008... Staff WLVT is the PBS station in Bethlehem, Pa. The call letters were transposed in a July 21 BCBeat item.

Headlines from Multichannel News.(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Staff OLYMPICS WON'T ALTER CABLE SKEDS It'll be business as usual for most cable networks during NBC Universal's two-week presentation of the Summer Olympics. TOON DISNEY TO BECOME DISNEY XD Analog television won't be the only...

Tech Talk.(China Central Television)(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Staff CCTV Makes HD Leap with RFS The Beijing Olympics will not only be produced entirely in HD for international telecasts but will also be broadcast locally in HD by China Central Television (CCTV). CCTV has installed a new UHF...

BC Beat.
August 18, 2008... Edited by Joel Topcik 'Beijing Ben' Silverman's Olympic Glory Joel Topcik Oh! Fireworks! Live! On air!! Oh, my-- Holy Cow!!!" If you've been relying on Bob Costas or Matt Lauer or any of NBC 's ubiquitous platforms for your...

Building the Next Syndication Hit.
August 18, 2008... By Paige Albiniak To strike daytime gold, executives need to be even more creative than show developers Can The Doctors stop the bleeding? Is Howie Mandel the real deal? Is Bonnie truly in the hunt? Much has changed in the six...

Deals.
August 18, 2008... By BIA Financial Networks TV WDRL-TV/Danville, Va. PRICE : $5.25 million BUYER : Living Faith Ministries (Michael Smith, president/director) SELLER : MNE Broadcasting LLC (Melvin Eleazer, owner/CEO) FACILITIES : Ch....

King of the Rhode.
August 18, 2008... By Michael Malone WJAR stays strong in soft Providence market WJAR has long commanded the lion's share of ratings points and revenue dollars in Providence, and it looks to have a robust late summer and autumn ahead. An NBC affiliate,...

Score One for TV.
August 18, 2008... By Ben Grossman Prior to the Olympics, NBC smartly touted that you could watch the Games pretty much any way possible. There was NBC, the cable networks and even new channels devoted to single sports like soccer and hoops. And then there...

Where to be & what to watch--.(Calendar)
August 18, 2008... By Michael Malone Monday, Aug. 18 The days are a little shorter, the nights are a little cooler, and Seasonal Affective Disorder looms off on the horizon. Alas, the sun goes down on HBO 's weekly al fresco film series in Manhattan's...

Good Games.
August 18, 2008... Staff As the Beijing Olympics ended its first week, it didn't totally surprise us that some 30 million Americans were watching every night, and more via the Internet and NBC's cable networks. At a time many Americans feel down on their...

Why Not Teen Videos on Newscasts?
August 18, 2008... By Paul Greeley Every day, on televisions all over the country, you could sit and watch news stories that cover every aspect of high school life that are written, shot and edited by high school students themselves. The stories are...

Another Folly Found.(Letter to the editor)
August 18, 2008... Staff Editor: To your list of ways in which the FCC has sown regulatory uncertainty ("FCC's Follies," Editorial, July 28) should be added its abysmal handling of rules for Access Broadband over Power Line systems. The rules that were...

Fates & Fortunes.(briefs)(appointments)
August 18, 2008... Staff BROADCAST Staff ROBIN ROCKWELL , promotions director, KITS San Francisco, has joined KBWB San Francisco as marketing and promotions director. ADRIAN GIUHAT , CTO, AvantGuard Technologies, has joined Nexstar Broadcasting...

Salisbury Stakes.
August 18, 2008... By Glen Dickson Technical sophistication helps Maryland station compete with bigger markets For a station in the country's 147th market, WBOC in Salisbury, Md., faces some big-time competition in local news. That's because the...

Chinese Takeout.
August 18, 2008... By Paige Albiniak Olympics hurting some daytime talkers Taking the Olympics' early ratings temperature, the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing thus far seem to be hurting some talk shows that don't air on NBC-owned stations or affiliates....

Conventions on a Tight Budget.
August 18, 2008... By Michael Malone Minneapolis, Denver stations await political confabs, but need to watch the bottom line tations in Denver and Minneapolis are coming up with innovative ways to cover the political conventions on what are often limited...

NAB's Sander Strives to Quiet DTV Controversies.(National Association of Broadcasters)
August 18, 2008... Staff Last week, the National Association of Broadcasters' board called for a timeout from negotiations for retransmission consents with cable and satellite providers, from Feb. 4 to the end of March of next year. The hope was that those...

'White Spaces' Issue Remains murky.
August 18, 2008... By Glen Dickson FCC tests of prototype wireless radios that would use unoccupied parts of the broadcast spectrum--the so-called "white spaces"--without requiring an FCC license to operate on broadcast channels, were an increased source of...

Master P Launching Cable Network.(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Staff Percy Miller, once better known as rapper Master P, says he is launching a new family-friendly cable network, Better Black Television. Miller's announcement late last week did not include mention of any carriage deals.

Broadcast Ad Revenue Down 4% in Q2.(Financial report)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... By Michael Malone Total broadcast-television ad revenues were down 4% in the second quarter, the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) reported, compared with the second quarter a year ago. Network TV was down 4.8% for the quarter,...

Albrecht Leaves IMG.(Chris Albrecht left from IMG Worldwide )(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Staff Former HBO CEO Chris Albrecht left IMG Worldwide last week and returned to Foresee Entertainment, the independent content-creation, development and distribution company he formed prior to joining IMG in 2007. The parting is said to...

Search Is On for New CBS Reality Boss.(CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... By Melissa Grego CBS executives continued meeting last week with candidates to replace Ghen Maynard, who stepped down from his post on Aug. 8 as executive VP, alternative programming and entertainment content for new media, CBS Paramount...

Basic-Cable Ads Poised to Slow, says Kagan.(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... By Robert Marich While 2008 is a banner year for basic-cable networks despite the weak economy, their revenue growth will decelerate later this year and in 2009, according to an SNL Kagan Research report unveiled last week. Kagan forecast...

Tribune Takes huge Write-Off.(Financial report)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... By Robert Marich Tribune Co. took a $3.8 billion noncash after-tax write-off last week. The bookkeeping charge mainly lowered valuations of Tribune newspapers. Tribune's bottom-line net loss was a staggering $4.5 billion for the...

Facebook Proves Elusive.
August 18, 2008... By Alex Weprin ABC News, others alter online efforts BC News and Facebook have quietly removed the much-ballyhooed U.S. Politics application they partnered on last year to engage users during the presidential election season, and are...

Headlines from Multichannel News.(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Staff COMCAST'S BOLD FAN CAST Comcast's new Fancast Web site allows customers to watch up to 4,000 episodes of programs and movies. GETTING THE DIGITAL WORD OUT The FCC is going all-out with a marketing campaign in Wilmington,...

Private Equity: Buying In To Cash Out.(Oak Hill Capital Partners L.P. bought fox stations from The News Corporation Ltd.)
August 25, 2008... By Robert Marich Investor money is helping to save the broadcast business, but will the saviors ultimately gut and sell? During the past year, Oak Hill Capital Partners, a private equity firm, bought eight Fox stations from News Corp....