Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

CNN’s coverage of the opening night of the Democratic National Convention attracted 3.7 million viewers Monday, while Fox News tallied 3.02 million viewers of its own, both of which were about 85% higher than the opening night of the 2004 Democratic convention. MSNBC, with 2.15 million, showed an 88% gain. The Wall Street Journal (free content) (8/27)

Animal Planet scored record viewership totals for the premiere of “Animal Witness,” which spotlighted the rehabilitation of dogs owned by former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who is in federal prison for his involvement in dog fighting. The Sunday night premiere pulled in 1.1 million viewers, making it Animal Planet’s most-watched series debut ever. Multichannel News (8/26)

NBC Universal tallied 214 million total viewers for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing over 17 days, solidifying it as the most watched event in U.S. TV history, according to Nielsen. This tops the 1996 Atlanta Olympics at 209 million viewers and the 2004 Athens Games at 203 million. (Cynopsis 8/27)

TBS and “House of Payne” star Tyler Perry are developing a new sitcom based on Perry’s “Meet the Browns” movie. The series, which will be executive-produced by Perry, is expected to debut in January with an initial 10-episode order that will run over five weeks in back-to-back installments. Chicago Sun-Times (8/26) , The Hollywood Reporter (8/26)

With the start of the college football season right around the corner, Charter Communications, like several other cable providers, is closing in on a carriage deal with the Big Ten Network, according to this report. Comcast and Time Warner Cable recently finalized pacts with the network. The Post-Bulletin (Rochester, Minn.) (8/26)