Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

When the Emmy nominations for the cream of the crop in TV are released today, there’s a very good chance that an upstart will be among those named: basic cable TV shows. AMC’s “Mad Men” and FX’s “Damages” lead a field of contenders, proving that first-rate cable programming has moved well beyond HBO and Showtime. (The Washington Post/Reuters 7/17)

SNL’s Amy Poehler is finalizing contract details to join the cast of NBC’s new comedy that was originally a spinoff of The Office. The sitcom from Greg Daniels and Mike Schur, will be a new stand-alone series which also recently cast Aziz Ansari. The series will open this winter in the Thursday at 930p time slot following The Office. (Cynopsis 7/17)

Some of the biggest players in the TV industry said they would appeal a recent U.S. District Court ruling that allows a lawsuit opposing channel bundling to proceed. Those who will fight the July 7 ruling and hope to dismiss the case include Comcast, Charter Communications, Cablevision, Time Warner, NBC Universal and Viacom. (Multichannel News 7/16)

New York’s Public Service Commission has authorized Verizon Communications to offer its FiOS TV service in all five boroughs of the city. The decision sets off a battle between the telecom and the city’s current cable providers, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision. (Reuters 7/17, OneTRAK 7/16)