Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
Starz will debut two original comedies on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 10 pm ET/PT, also slated to appear on the Bongo broadband service later next year. Head Case chronicles celebrity therapy sessions with clients including Jeff Goldblum and Rosanna Arquette. Hollywood Residential is a fictional and faltering home improvement show featuring makeovers of celebrity abodes.
Head Case
Last season, hypothetical couch sessions with Dr. Goode included a rant from Andy Dick and Jason Priestley in drag. Very funny stuff.
The Television Critics Association press tour is the latest casualty of the Hollywood writers strike. “The machinations that forced this outcome were outside our control,” says TCA head Dave Walker, citing “the current woeful state” of the negotiations. (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i0236d573642f4e0d997c7aca6edafcc2 12/11)
The breakdown between TV producers and writers could set up wide-reaching changes in the industry, according to this article. (The Wall Street Journal 12/10)
NBC is reimbursing advertisers for its ratings disappointments, because commercials didn’t reach the projected number of viewers. The Hollywood writers strike is “compounding the problem.” Brad Adgate of Horizon Media notes: “It’s very usual for the networks to do this.”
Since NBC Universal purchased Oxygen last month, the cable network has added 180,000 new subscribers and is currently available to almost 74 million homes. New systems scheduled to launch Oxygen next month are Comcast in North Santa Barbara County, CA, Farmington, NM, Chattanooga, TN; Telecom Cable in Fulshear, TX; Bend Broadband in Bend, OR; and Buckeye Cablevision in Toledo, OH.
Hundreds of freelancers working for Viacom, which owns MTV Networks, walked out Monday to protest the terms of their new contracts, which cut benefits. Viacom says in a statement: “We respect the rights of our freelance and temporary employees to express their opinions.” (http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/MTV_walkout/11057.html 12/11)
In the first of what could be a series of joint programming moves from Viacom’s cable networks and DreamWorks Animation, Nickelodeon and DreamWorks have approved “The Penguins of Madagascar,” a computer-generated comedy based on the 2005 film “Madagascar” from DreamWorks. The order calls for 26 episodes, and the series could debut in 2009. (Mediaweek 12/10)
The Harlem Globetrotters are back on broadcast television for the first time in 14 years in a new special on MyNetworkTV January 30 at 9p. The Globetrotters will be joined by the Washington Generals, their long-time rivals, returning after a 12-year hiatus. The special will be packed with play and interviews with current players and memories from the past 80 years.
Next year will “represent a tipping point” for incumbent media companies, predicts Bear Stearns analyst Spencer Wang. The digitization of media, “long tail” economics and broadband Internet rivals “will start to more directly slow growth for entertainment firms.” (http://www.euro2day.gr/articlesfna/50969361 12/10)
Sundance Channel will release an exclusive VOD package for cable affiliates next month, featuring 10 “Festival Favorites” that have screened at previous Sundance Film Festivals, 4 of which will be available in HD. Longtime Sundance Festival Director Geoff Gilmore will introduce each movie. Sundance also announced a new year-long partnership with Stella Artois. The brewer will sponsor the channel’s multiplatform “31 Days of Sundance” package of programming in January.
Cox has a New Year’s resolution for digital subscribers in Arizona: Video-on-demand service will begin rolling out in the state in January. The service, which will be free of charge, will begin in the Scottsdale area and expand beyond that in subsequent months. (The Arizona Republic (Phoenix) 12/11)
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