Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

ABC’s fifth installment of Dancing with the Stars, produced by BBC Productions, premieres over three nights: September 24 at 8p with the female contestants showing off their moves; September 25 at 8p giving the guys a chance to strut their stuff; and on September 26 at 8p the first Dancing with the Stars Results Show will air. Hosts Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris return along with the same judges: Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba. Dancing with the Stars also introduces the most contestants for this new season, twelve altogether.

E! Entertainment TV has picked up three theatricals from NBC Universal Domestic TV Distribution for their first basic cable premieres — Knocked Up, Evan Almighty and Man of the Year, reports Variety.  The deal also includes secondary basic cable windows for Miami Vice, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, Pride & Prejudice, Georgia Rule and Because I Said So.  Total cost of the package – approx $40 million.  Knocked Up will go to E! in October 2009 for a four year exclusive deal.  The other titles are non exclusive, and USA has picked up a window for Man of the Year. USA also has the premiere windows of Chuck and Larry and Miami Vice; Oxygen has the first window for Pride & Prejudice and Georgia Rule.

With a boost from the credit crisis and a rollercoaster stock market, CNBC is posting its best August numbers in five years. During the month, CNBC’s business day, which runs from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., averaged 87,000 viewers in the channel’s target audience of adults age 25 to 54. (http://www.crainsny.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070829/FREE/70829008/1084 8/29)

TiVo reported a widening net loss of $17.7 million for Q2, up from $6 million during the same period last year. However, revenues increased by 5.1% to $62 million on the strength of HD DVR sales and its partnership with Amazon that allows TiVo users to download Amazon movies directly to the unit. TiVo closed the quarter with 1.71 million subscribers. (http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/earnings/2007-08-29-tivo_N.htm 8/30)

Comcast and TiVo are moving ahead with plans to allow TiVo DVRs to operate on Scientific Atlanta set-top boxes. The companies are expected to debut the TiVo service commercially in Comcast’s New England division shortly. (Multichannel News 8/29)

New York-based ImaginAsian Entertainment, Korea-based Sidus Corp. and CJ Group affiliate M-net Media signed a new multiplatform content deal that will give ImagineAsian U.S. distribution rights to popular Korean dramas, music and variety shows including Thrilling Blind Date, Jaeyong’s Chaste 19 and M Countdown. M-net Media will serve as content aggregator for CJ Group’s catalog of shows in the U.S.DirecTV is beta testing its upcoming VOD service, called DirecTV On Demand. The system, slated to be launched in the fall, is expected to download content to an HR20 receiver outfitted with an Internet-enabled DVR. (Light Reading 8/29) Borrowing a page from Best Buy’s Geek Squad, Cox is launching a new service that will bring its technicians to a subscriber’s front door. The service, called Tech Solutions, features white-shirted Cox agents making house calls in hybrid Honda Fit cars. (The Arizona Republic (Phoenix) 8/30)