Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Arts, Janet Jackson, Matthew C. Perry, Matthew Perry, The Hollywood Reporter, TV News, Wilmer Valderrama, Z List
The third-season premiere of “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood” on Wednesday attracted 667,000 total viewers and a 0.7 household rating, making it the most-watched season opener ever for an original series on Oxygen. The reality show also drew 450,000 adults 18 to 49 and 356,000 women 18 to 49. (Multichannel News 6/18)
MTV and Janet Jackson are developing a music competition series with 25/7 Productions, says Variety. The untitled project has begun casting and Janet would be mentor to singer and dancer hopefuls with the goal of finding the next Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake or Usher. (Cynopsis 6/19)
Showtime has greenlighted a pilot for “The End of Steve,” which is described as a dark comedy with former “Friends” star Matthew Perry in the title role. Perry will also help write and executive produce the show with Peter Tolan, the executive producer of “Rescue Me,” a drama series on FX. (The Hollywood Reporter 6/19)
FOX nodded its approval for a one-hour pilot project The Emancipation of Ernesto starring That ’70s Show actor Wilmer Valderrama, reported THR. The single-camera comedy from 20th Century Fox Television is about a naive guy (Wilmer) who journeys around Los Angeles trying to find his father. (Cynopsis 6/19)
U.S. television networks are bracing for a possible actors strike that could delay the upcoming fall TV season. The broadcast networks are said to be quietly considering a postponement of the traditional September launch of the next season as a “last resort” should a strike materialize. (Iwantmedia 6/19,http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN19291320080619 6/19)
Comcast has set early December as the launch date for high-definition service of its Versus, Golf Channel and E! networks. The country’s largest cable provider recently completed construction on a new HD production facility for Versus in Stamford, Conn. (Mediaweek 6/18, Broadcasting & Cable 6/18)
CEA and other industry observers are skeptical about the long-term prospects for the cable industry’s proposed tru2way platform that has received support from a number of CE manufacturers. CEA said tru2way — which would eliminate the need for set-top boxes in transmitting two-way programming — could still fall to alternative technologies, while analysts pointed to the ill-fated CableCard, which only confused most buyers, according to CE retailers. (The Wall Street Journal 6/18)
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