Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

IAC boss Barry Diller’s already frigid relationship with Liberty Media chief John Malone is showing further signs of a deep freeze as the Internet company discloses that the two firms will no longer file joint regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/01312008/business/dislocated_joint_238024.htm 1/31)

Media stocks closed mixed Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate by a half a percentage point to 3% to help revive the sagging U.S. economy. Most media stocks are largely dependent on advertising spending. Disney rose 2.1%; News Corp. dropped 2%. (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/media-shares-close-mixed-following/story.aspx?guid=%7B06722959%2D9D44%2D416A%2D9C19%2D8BC6F3160918%7D 1/31)

MTV’s Making the Band 4, Season 2 premiere on Monday (10p) delivered a 2.2 rating among P12-34 and averaged 2.2 million total viewers.

Episode 1 (Click the image below to watch the full episode.)

The Hollywood writers strike is taking a heavy toll on prime-time viewership with the major networks airing more repeats, game shows and reality shows. The five top broadcast networks are down a collective 17% for the week ending Jan. 27 in ratings among viewers aged 18 to 49. (http://www.reuters.com/article/PBLSHG/idUSN3021119420080130 1/30) 

With the writers strike dragging dangerously close to the ABC Feb. 24 Academy Awards telecast, the film academy is planning two Oscar shows. A contingency plan calls for the use of Oscar history, film clips and other out-of-the-ordinary concepts, says academy president Sid Ganis. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080130/ap_en_mo/hollywood_labor 1/30)

In a move to save money and, apparently, the environment, Showtime has inked a deal with Brightcove to put full seasons of its top series on a special Web site for Emmy Awards judges. “I think the Academy members are ready for this,” said Richard Licata, executive vice president of corporate communications at the channel. “This will eliminate the enormous amount of packaging that has inundated members and ultimately ends up in our landfills.” (Variety 1/30)

TiVo is entering into a research partnership with CBS to examine viewing behavior of consumers who use digital video recorders. The partnership will allow CBS to “develop and measure new strategies for its advertising clients, and develop new and improved promotional strategies.” (http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2008/01/28/daily53.html   1/31)

An influential stock analyst who had predicted that Cablevision would see a subscriber decrease in the fourth quarter now says the company actually will add hundreds of new customers. The news sent Cablevision shares up 8% earlier in the week. (CED Magazine 1/30)

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell said he believed the cable industry could be moving toward an a la carte model, but cautioned against the commission’s moving too aggressively on the issue. McDowell called cable pricing a “fragile economic ecosystem” and added that the FCC should be “very, very careful” in unbundling cable offerings. (Broadcasting & Cable 1/30)