Daily Marauder

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BROADCAST/CABLE

Around the world, 4.7 billion viewers tuned into the Beijing Olympics which represents nearly 70% of the global population, according to Nielsen and based on data gathered from its partners in 37 international markets. The Beijing Olympics topped the 3.9 billion viewers by +21% from the 2004 Athens Games and the 3.6 billion viewers who watched the Sydney Games in 2000 by +31%. (Cynopsis 9/8)

20th Century Fox Television said it will halt production on the FOX series 24 for more than two weeks as of September 15. The show is taking a time out because executive producer Howard Gordon was not happy with the direction of the last six episodes of the season. Scripts will be rewritten and the show is expected to resume production by October 9. Season seven is still on target to debut next January. (Cynopsis 9/8)

According to Nielsen, the fourth and final night of the Republican National Convention last Thursday, which featured Presidential nominee Sen. John McCain’s acceptance speech, drew in a combined total of 38.9 million total viewers from eight networks offering live coverage from approximately 10-1115p: ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, Univision and Telemundo. Specifically, FOX News drew in 9.2 million, followed by NBC at 8.7 million, ABC 6.0 million, CBS 5.3 million, CNN 4.8 million and MSNBC at 2.5 million. The combined total from the eight networks among A18-49 viewers was 15.2 million. Total viewers for PBS from its coverage Thursday night between 8-11p was 2.7 million. (Cynopsis 9/8)

MSNBC is making some Presidential Election coverage changes.  Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews will no longer anchor the network’s election coverage, but rather NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host David Gregory will anchor the upcoming debates and election night.  Olbermann and Matthews will continue as analysts.  According to The New York Times, the change is a direct result of the network’s perceived partisan lean to the left, creating tension with its NBC Universal parent company.  MSNBC has averaged 2.2 million viewers during the DNC and 1.7 during the RNC, placing it last among all the broadcast and cable news networks. (Cynopsis 9/8)

Disney/Hearst’s Lifetime cable network won’t debut the sixth season of “Project Runway” until January so it has more time to promote the show that it swiped from NBC Universal’s Bravo. The news comes as a lawsuit over the rights to the hit reality series continues to battle in court. (Iwantmedia 9/8, http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/09/project-runway.html 9/5)

The Florida Federation of Republican Women is calling for a boycott of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” following reports that Winfrey will not have U.S. VP candidate Sarah Palin on as a guest before the election. “We are deeply disappointed in Ms. Winfrey’s decision,” the group says. (Iwantmedia 9/8, http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2008/09/florida-republi.html 9/6)

FOX made several casting announcements for its 60m comedy musical project called Glee, tapping Broadway star Matthew Morrison as Will, an Ohio high school Spanish teacher who is asked to manage the glee club, reports THR. Lea Michele, also seen on Broadway, will portray the glee club’s female diva while Jayma Mays, from ABC’s Ugly Betty, will play Emma the high school guidance counselor and possible love attraction for Will. Glee, from Ryan Murphy, is produced by 20th Century Television and is expected to debut next March. (Cynopsis 9/8)

Jeff Bewkes, Sumner Redstone and John Malone are among the media titans embracing the strategy of breaking up their conglomerates in an effort to bolster stock prices. The move to become “more nimble” is seen as a 180-degree reversal of the media merger mania of the 1990s. (Iwantmedia 9/8, http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6593656.html 9/6)

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