Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

Monday night’s premiere of Nashville Star on NBC (9p) posted a 2.2/6 A18-49 and 6.6 million total viewers. (Cynopsis 6/11)

FX has officially decided to not go forward with the remaining six episodes of its original scripted series Dirt, per Variety. During the first season 13 episodes were ordered and then more recently for season two, only seven episodes were delivered, in part a result of the writers’ strike. (Cynopsis 6/11, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117987203.html?categoryid=1417&cs=1 6/10)

VH1 has ordered up a second season of “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew,” which follows less-than-A-listers as they try to overcome their addictions. The second season will feature troubled stars such as actors Jeff Conaway and Gary Busey and Nikki McKibbon of “American Idol.” (Broadcasting & Cable 6/10)

Advance advertising sales at the four major U.S. television networks suggest prime-time ratings will decline next season, according to UBS Securities analyst Michael Morris. Broadcast networks are “guaranteeing lower ratings than they did last year,” he says. (Iwantmedia 6/11, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aqrFrVhz3Q1o 6/10)

Digital video recorders may be brightening the picture for network television, which has been buffeted by erosion to cable. Viewership of ABC’s “Lost” was down 12% last season. But the decline was only 7% when factoring in those who delayed it but watched the same day. (Iwantmedia 6/11, http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2008-06-10-time-shifting-tv_N.htm 6/10)

MTV Networks will have sold nearly all of its upfront inventory by Friday, with “good growth” on pricing, according to Philippe Dauman, the CEO of Viacom, MTVN’s parent. Dauman added that Nickelodeon also would likely complete its upfront dealings by the end of the workweek.

(MediaPost Communications 6/10)

Pat Doyle, the chief financial officer of DirecTV, said this week that Liberty Media was considering a spinoff of its Liberty Entertainment so that it could be combined with the satellite-TV provider, of which Liberty Media owns 48%. “Certainly one of the scenarios that has been discussed is that Liberty Entertainment would spin out and merge with DirecTV,” Doyle said. (Multichannel News 6/10)

Landmark Communications is mulling the possible sale of its other media holdings now that its attempt to sell The Weather Channel is nearing the final stages. Landmark is distributing data to potential bidders on Dominion Enterprises, its portfolio of advertising Web sites and publications. (Iwantmedia 6/11, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a5f0a7aa-3742-11dd-bc1c-0000779fd2ac.html 6/11)

Comcast, at the end of this month, will offer those who subscribe to its highest-speed Internet service in parts of California a free upgrade that will double their online speeds. The new service, called Blast!, provides download speeds up to 16 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 Mbps. (American City Business Journals/Sacramento, Calif. 6/10, The Sacramento Bee (Calif.) 6/11)