Daily Marauder

General Electric is said to be planning to sell off NBC after the network airs the Beijing Olympics next year. Who would buy? Time Warner is seen as a likely candidate, since it is a large media company without a full-fledged broadcast network. But how about … Google? (http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=69025 10/11)

ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy was the most watched time-shifted show during premiere week ending Sept. 30, according to Tivo’s Stop||Watch ratings service, followed by CBS’ CSI, ABC’s Desperate Housewives, CBS’ Survivor: China and NBC’s The Office. NFL Sunday Night football on NBC got the top live rating while ABC’s Private Practice & Dirty Sexy Money and NBC’s Bionic Woman were the only new shows to crack the top 5 on any given night.

Grey’s Anatomy’s Latest Episode

NBC will broadcast some 756 hours of HD coverage of the Summer Olympic games from Beijing next summer, almost doubling the 399 hours of HD coverage offered from Athens during the last summer games.

After more than two years of promises and delays, Comcast is finally rolling out its first set-top boxes that run TiVo’s digital video recording technology. The Comcast-TiVo deal is considered a key part of TiVo’s future as it works to attract more customers and become profitable. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071012/ap_on_hi_te/tivo_comcast 10/11)

ABC is the only major broadcast network that uses the staff of its evening newscast to produce a daily program for the Web. Its 15-minute Webcast targets younger viewers with a tone that is “more MTV than ABC,” intended for people who view Web pages on iPods and cellphones. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/business/media/12abc.html?_r=1&oref=slogin 10/12)

The power of Rupert Murdoch’s name is convincing some that his new Fox Business Network, launching Monday, has a shot at succeeding. FBN has signed up more advertising deals than the first nine months after Fox News Channel’s 1996 launch. FBN is also signing up Web ad deals. (http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSN1042863620071011 10/11)

Cable operators are playing catch up in the race to match DirecTV’s pledge to offer 100 HD channels by year end, and many MSOs are getting creative to free up more bandwidth. Reclaiming analog spectrum, deploying switched digital systems (blacking out channels in neighborhoods that don’t watch them) and deploying more highly compressed mpeg 4 set-tops are some of the techniques being tried.

Charter has announced a deal with Wal-Mart that allows the cable company to sell its services at 700 Wal-Marts in the majority of the 29 states it serves. The deal, which effectively triples the number of Charter’s retail locations, also gives the cable company the right to hold promotions and special events at the stores. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch 10/12)