Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

Leave it to HBO to make John Adams attractive. The pay-cable channel’s seven-parter, “John Adams,” wooed an average of 2.5 million viewers during its premiere Sunday at 8 p.m. The second part of the miniseries, from 9 to 10 p.m. Sunday, did even better: It pulled in an additional 300,000, according to data from Nielsen. (The Hollywood Reporter 3/19)

John Adams Trailer

 
News Corp.’s Fox is passing CBS as the most-watched television network after its “American Idol” topped ratings and the Hollywood writers strike limited competition from scripted shows. Fox is said to have been harmed the least by the writers’ strike of any of the broadcast networks. (Iwantmedia 3/19, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=acpl3EwIwyBI  3/18)

 
USA averaged 2.79 million viewers in prime time for the week that ended March 16 to earn its 11th consecutive ratings win this year, according to Nielsen. USA also was No. 1 among adults 25 to 54, with an average of 1.28 million viewers, but TBS took top honors in the 18-to-49 demo, with an average of 1.26 million. (Mediaweek 3/18)

 
DVR pioneer TiVo has announced that it has started offering customers the ability to move Web-based videos — such as RSS feeds from favorite shows or home movies — from their computers to their TVs. The announcement comes a week after TiVo executives said they had inked a deal with Google’s YouTube to access videos from the popular social-networking site. (Broadcasting & Cable 3/18)

 
During its upfront presentation, NBC’s Sci Fi Channel announced plans to develop a prequel series to “Battlestar Galactica” that will be titled “Caprica.” The network also said it had struck a deal with actress Rosario Dawson for a two-hour dramedy pilot titled “True Believer.” (Broadcasting & Cable 3/18)

 
Kirstie Alley is entering a development deal with Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions for “future television projects, including a possible daily strip format.” The former “Fat Actress” star recently appeared in ads for Jenny Craig. Harpo president Tim Bennett says: “Audiences love her.”  (Iwantmedia 3/19, http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/03/59720  3/19)

 
Media stocks are continuing to underperform, despite the unusually hefty U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut on Tuesday. Media stocks are “more sensitive,” says Steve Birenberg, of Northlake Capital Management. “Despite the big rally, concerns about advertising growth remain.” (Iwantmedia 3/19, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/business/news/e3ifff588c2bae9eaff266d0a648533aef1   3/19)

 
Comcast is informing the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that the agency has no legal power to stop the cable giant from engaging in “network management practices” — or what critics refer to as peer-to-peer traffic blocking. The FCC does not need to “test its legal authority.” (Iwantmedia 3/19, http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080318-comcast-fcc-lacks-any-authority-to-act-on-p2p-blocking.html  3/18)

 
Cablevision in April will begin offering its Voom HD Network of high-definition channels via switched-digital video. According to this report, the company will deliver the 15 HD channels for free to customers with CableCard-based systems. (Multichannel News 3/18)