Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

Sundance Channel picked up the British comedy series Pulling and will add it to the Sunday night comedy block starting October 19 at 9p. The six-episode series is about a 29-year woman who decides on the eve of her wedding to skip getting married, opting instead to move in with her wild partying single girlfriends. (Cynopsis 8/12)

NBC is in development on a new 30m comedy called Mogulettes about twentysomething female tycoons, reports Variety. The project is written by Plum Sykes and Amy Harris and Charlie Corwin will produce. (Cynopsis 8/12)

ABC gave its approval for a put pilot order for an updated version of The Witches of Eastwick based on a variation of the 1987 flick which was in turn based on the John Updike novel, per Variety. (Cynopsis 8/12)

Ah, Cher.  Only you can get hair a full foot off of your head. . .  Love it.

A rift is developing among the major media companies over releasing movies through video-on-demand on the same day DVDs go on sale. Time Warner and Sony support such a move; Viacom and News Corp. oppose it. Some say the switch would be “a grave mistake.” (Iwantmedia 8/12, http://www.nypost.com/seven/08122008/business/studios_vod_day_124073.htm 8/12)

Despite a parched economy and a dry advertising-sales environment, Discovery Communications took in a steady stream of new ad revenue in the second quarter. The company reported a 9% bump in U.S. ad sales during the period, which helped fuel a 10% overall increase in the company’s revenue, to $863 million. “It’s a testament to the growth prospects for cable networks,” said Rich Greenfield, an analyst at Pali Capital. “They’re attracting more and more eyeballs.” The Wall Street Journal (8/12)

ESPN’s now iconic “SportsCenter” on Monday introduced its new morning look: six hours of fresh news beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern time, which replaces repeat programming. Mark Gross, ESPN’s managing editor of studio production, said fans shouldn’t stress about the show’s format changing: “Is it going to be different? Yes. Is it going to be dramatically different? No. It’s still going to be scores and highlights,” he said. The Hollywood Reporter (8/11)

Charter Communications, the country’s third-largest cable TV provider, has struck a video-on-demand deal with Disney-ABC Domestic Television. The service costs subscribers just under $5 per month and will initially include movies such as “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,” “Air Buddies,” “Disney Princess Enchanted Tales” and “Geppetto.” American City Business Journals/Los Angeles (8/11)

EchoStar has signed an agreement with CableLabs that will allow the former Dish Network unit to develop set-top boxes and other two-way digital-cable devices that use tru2way protocols. The wording of the agreement leaves it open as to whether the devices developed by EchoStar will be marketed to cable companies or directly to consumers. Light Reading (8/11)