Daily Marauder

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NBC fired its entertainment president, Kevin Reilly, on Tuesday and will replace him with two co-chairmen. “Ugly Betty” independent producer Ben Silverman will be a co-chairman along with NBC West Coast President Marc Graboff. The changing of the guard will also mean a shift in digital strategy. Both men will take active roles in overseeing digital content, monetizing TV assets across new platforms including nbc.com and “new site” and making sure digital media efforts are fully integrated into the programming model from the beginning of the development process. (The Washington Post 5/30)

The NCTA and other groups are asking the FCC to allow cable companies to participate in the upcoming auction of broadcast-television spectrum. A May 23 filing with the FCC by the NCTA asked the FCC to reject proposals that would deny cable companies and local-exchange carriers from taking part in the 700-MHz auction. (Light Reading 5/29)

Comedy Central unveiled its new slate of original shows Tuesday. The new lineup includes “Michael Ian Black Doesn’t Understand” and an unnamed animated feature starring Larry the Cable Guy as a co-owner of a cable TV station. (Multichannel News 5/29)

Back when NBC ruled Thursday nights, “super-sizing” a show such as “Friends” seemed like a good idea, but with the advent of DVRs and confusion in the TV listings NBC won’t be super-sizing any of its comedies this coming season. Super-sizing typically added five to 10 minutes to NBC’s comedies when it was used in the past, which also meant an extra commercial break could be inserted. (Zap2it.com  5/29)

TiVo has hooked up with Seven Media Group, the parent company of Seven Network, for a deal that will land the DVR pioneer in Australia in the first half of next year. The TiVo platform will be available for use by other broadcasters and broadband-content owners in a free-to-air digital terrestrial television format. (ClipSyndicate 5/29, World Screen News 5/29)