Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
Showtime’s drama series Weeds has added a new regular cast member – Mary-Kate Olsen will play Tara, a Christian girl living in the Majestic community, and who becomes a love interested to Silas. According to Hollywood Reporter, Olsen will appear in 10 of the 15 episodes ordered. The new season begins on August 13th.
Although finalists on this year’s “American Idol” generated less buzz than in previous years and ratings were down slightly overall, the show was still the highest-rated series on TV this season and was able to command about $1.3 million for a 30-second spot for the finale. (Advertising Age 5/23)
The networks, trying to avoid the midseason ratings drop-off for serialized dramas such as “Heroes,” “Lost” and “
Jericho,” next season are planning to run continuous episodes of these types of shows to keep viewers tuned in. (Mediaweek 5/21)
IAC/InterActiveCorp home shopping network HSN is set to announce a deal with satellite-TV operator EchoStar to allow its subscribers to use their remote controls to purchase merchandise. A similar service has been tested by HSN rival QVC, owned by Liberty Media. (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117997728669513112-NlDd2z19CmN4ISrNrcOb8Zl6aZM_20070531.html 5/24)
Playboy expects to make up to 25% more money from licensing its name and rabbit head logo this year. But the future of its largest business, domestic television programming, is less clear. More cable companies are dropping adult pay-per-view channels for videos on demand. (http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=25108 5/23)
Many of the top ranked local U.S. Web sites are television stations, rather than newspapers, according to a study by The Media Audit. WRAL.com, the Web site of TV station WRAL in
Raleigh-Durham, N.C., ranks No. 1 in the nation with more than 474,100 people visiting in a typical month. (http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=60650 5/24)
Charter’s home-networking service, which started as a trial last year and is branching out this year, will alleviate customers’ headaches by networking up to five PCs and provide ongoing customer support. The service, which is similar to one offered by Comcast, will include equipment, PC-security software, installation and configuration for an additional $9.99 a month. (Light Reading 5/23, CED Magazine 5/23)
DirecTV is striking deals as it tries to roll out up to 100 national HD channels by the end of 2007. The latest additions to DirecTV’s HD lineup include six Discovery HD channels and five Starz HD channels, with the bulk of those offerings set to debut in September. (Multichannel News 5/23)
As part of a carriage agreement inked with Disney last month, Time Warner Cable is making ESPN HD and ESPN 2 HD available to digital subscribers for free across its footprint. In some markets, Time Warner Cable included the ESPN HD channels in tiers that cost $4 to $10 per month. (Multichannel News 5/23)
Tennessee lawmakers pulled the plug on an AT&T-backed bill that would have granted statewide franchising for cable TV services. Several lawmakers vowed to reintroduce a similar bill next year. The bill’s delay was “clearly a victory for consumers,” said Stacey Briggs, executive director of the Tennessee Cable Telecommunications Association. (Nashville City Paper (Tenn.) 5/24)
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