Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
Pressure is growing on CEO Jeff Immelt to take action to get General Electric’s stock moving after six years of stagnation. Although the troubled NBC Universal is seen as “safe” until after the Summer Olympics next year, Immelt vows to be “tough-minded and investor-friendly.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/business/yourmoney/22ge.html?_r=1&oref=slogin 7/22)
Barry Diller is the first media mogul to get pinched in the new credit crisis, backing out of borrowing $3 billion for a stock buyback deal because it was too costly. Shares in his online travel firm Expedia tumbled on the news. Diller’s personal holdings in Expedia lost $14.9 million. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/07242007/business/diller_dilemma_business_paul_tharp.htm 7/24)
Variety reports HBO has ordered up another season of Big Love, with 12 new episodes. Production begins in November.
Comic Drew Carey is being tapped to replace legend Bob Barker on the CBS daytime game show “The Price is Right.” Carey says: “It’s only a game show, but it’s the longest-running game show in American television and I plan to keep it that way.” (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070724/ap_en_tv/tv_price_carey 7/24)
Music Choice can now claim more than a billion orders of its on demand music offering since its launch in November of 2004, according to data provided by Rentrack. Music Choice On Demand currently reaches 104 markets in the U.S., adding Mediacom Communications in a deal announced yesterday. The service generated 54 million views from 4 million set-tops in June.
MTV’s Laguna Beach will have a new vantage point for the fourth season as the show moves up the California coast to Newport Harbor. MTV will premiere Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County August 15 at 1030p. Also debuting on August 15 will be Virtual Newport Harbor at www.vmtv.com and starting this week viewers can go to newportharbor.mtv.com to see the cast bios, the official blog and exclusive photos.
WWE On Demand will treat customers to a free month of its SVOD service in September to promote WWE’s Biggest Fan contest co-sponsored by Comcast’s Ziddio.com and participating cable affiliates.
RCN Corp. and Disney-ABC Television Group struck a multi-year deal to provide ABC, Disney and ESPN programming to RCN customers on a variety of platforms. RCN will carry VOD content from Disney Channel, ABC Family, ESPN and ABC News. RCN high speed internet customers will gain access to the ABC News Now broadband service and the premium ESPN360.com service. The deal also includes carriage of ESPN2HD on RCN’s basic HD tier. (Broadcasting & Cable 7/23)
Comcast expects to have all of its e-mail and Internet customers in the Houston area switched over from Time Warner Cable’s Road Runner system to its own system by Friday. Comcast took over the Houston system Jan. 1 as part of a deal with Time Warner Cable to divide up Adelphia’s former assets. (Houston Chronicle 7/24)
Echostar has filed a petition that seeks to have the Big Ten Network designated as a regional sports network. EchoStar is concerned that if it isn’t able to reach a deal to carry the Big Ten Network, DirecTV will have an advantage in the eight-state region that the Big Ten covers. DirecTV parent News Corp. has a 49% stake in the Big Ten Network. (Variety 7/23)
On Monday, Showtime won the most awards for excellence in cable marketing during a ceremony at the CTAM Summit in Washington. Showtime won 16 Mark Awards, while Comcast’s 10 were the most for a cable operator. (Broadcasting & Cable 7/23)
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