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BROADCAST/CABLE by Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

HBO has given the green light to a pilot titled “Manic,” a drama that will be based on Terri Cheney’s autobiographical best-seller, “Manic, A Memoir.” The series will focus on a female lawyer who suffers from bipolar disorder. (Variety 6/29)

TNT has bought the rights to “Cracker,” a rough-around-the-edges U.K. police show. While ABC’s attempt to bring the show stateside in 1997 lasted only one season, TNT’s version is likely to be truer to the original, according to this article. (The Hollywood Reporter 6/30)

Showtime is working with Rod Lurie on a new drama called Hilary Jones about a woman who works as a vice cop in Los Angeles during the week and is a legal prostitute in Nevada on weekends, according to THR. (Cynopsis 6/30)

ESPN attracted an average of 1.41 million viewers in its nine-game coverage of this year’s College World Series, a 26% increase over the network’s five-game average in 2007. The channel’s telecast of the title game June 25 generated a 2.0 rating with 1.9 million households, according to Nielsen Media Research. (Multichannel News 6/28)

Supercharged interest in the run-up to this year’s presidential election has helped MSNBC close the gaps — both in terms of ratings and with advertising revenue — behind news icons CNN and Fox News Channel. During the first three weeks of June, for instance, MSNBC’s prime-time audience in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic increased 85%. (The Washington Post/Associated Press 6/29)

Several large advertisers shifted significant amounts of money out of broadcast television’s upfront coffers and diverted piles of cash to the cable industry, according to this report. Among the biggest were Yum! Brands, the parent of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, which shifted $25 million to cable; SC Johnson, which moved $20 million; and General Motors, which transferred between $15 million and $20 million. (Mediaweek 6/30)

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