Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

FOX refused to pay the FCC’s proposed $91,000 fine leveled against 13 FOX owned and affiliated stations that aired an episode of Married by America in 2003 which contained pixilated nudity. The FCC issued the forfeiture order on February 22, giving FOX 30 days to pay. FOX instead filed a petition for reconsideration saying the commission’s ruling was “arbitrary and capricious, inconsistent with precedent and patently unconstitutional.” (Cynopsis, 3/25, http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080324/fox_tv_fines_fcc.html  3/24)

 
FOX announced it will pick up Prison Break, produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Adelson-Parouse Productions, for a fourth season.   that’s the good news.  Now for the bad news - Fox has cut The Return of Jezebel James from the lineup after most recently delivering a 1.1 A18-49 rating, and will insert encore airings of Bones in the Friday 8pm time period. (Cynopsis, 3/25)

 
Coming to CBS this April 8 at 10p is the premiere of the seven-week talent show Secret Talents of the Stars. The celebrities will rehearse and perform their hidden skills along with professionals with three judges offering critiques but the viewers will ultimately decide who stays and who leaves each week. (Cynopsis, 3/25)

 
NBC Universal has divided its Los Angeles production unit, Universal Media Studios, into two divisions, reportedly with the goal of keeping top executive Bonnie Hammer at the company. Hammer, named president of cable entertainment and of the newly created NBCU Cable Studio, will oversee all shows for cable channels. Meanwhile, Universal Media, which previously produced shows for broadcast and cable, will be limited to the former. (Los Angeles Times 3/25)

 
Twelve stockholding organizations have a proposal up for a vote at Time Warner’s annual meeting May 16 to split the post of chairman and chief executive officer. Jeff Bewkes’s employment contract stipulates that he can resign as CEO if he isn’t also elected chairman by Jan. 1. (Iwantmedia 3/25, http://www.wwd.com/memopad/article/123693  3/25)

 
Time Warner is making changes its finance management team as it mulls structural changes. Investor relations chief James Burtson is being promoted to senior VP, charged with overseeing mergers and acquisitions. Douglas Shapiro, a former Banc of America analyst, will take over investor relations. (Iwantmedia 3/25, http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2433668120080324  3/24)

 
Wall Street is taking a particularly grim view of big media stocks, with nearly all trading at close to their 52-week lows. CBS “continues to be the most unfavorably positioned.” Disney could see a “12.3% drag on earnings.” News Corp. and Time Warner are viewed as less “vulnerable.” (Iwantmedia 3/25, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/business/news/e3ifac237f466f9757e95fafc1d76d62d73  3/21)

 
Cablevision has announced a deal with Starz and Encore that will make available the channels’ first-run, hit and classic on-demand film slates to the cable firm’s customers for $4.95 a month. The deal follows similar VOD ventures Cablevision has struck recently with Scripps and Discovery. (Multichannel News 3/24)