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BROADCAST/CABLE by Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

Wondering what the two Presidential candidates will be doing tonight on the eve of the election? Both will “appear” in separate pre-taped interviews on ESPN during halftime of Monday Night Football. Chris Berman will anchor the interviews, conducted earlier today, airing via satellite at approximately 1015p during the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Washington Redskins game. (Cynopsis 11/3)

ABC requested seven new episodes of comedy series Samantha Who?? starring Christina Applegate. This order takes the total number of episodes this season to 20. Normally, a full-season order consists of 22 episodes, however ABC indicated it has enough episodes in the pipeline from other sitcoms, such as Scrubs and According to Jim and does not need as many episodes of Samantha Who?. (Cynopsis 11/3)

The future of AMC’s red-hot “Mad Men,” the first original drama series on the Cablevision network, may be in jeopardy. Series creator Matthew Weiner is said to be seeking a $10 million, multi-season deal. But AMC “is no HBO” and is “unwilling to splash that sort of cash.” (Iwantmedia 11/3, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/02/usa-television-series-mad-men 11/2)

NBC approved nine additional episodes of its new comedy Kath & Kim, giving it a full-season order. To date, Kath & Kim, starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair has averaged a 2.6/6 among A18-49 and 6.0 million viewers. (Cynopsis 11/3)

FOX is moving forward on a fifth season of American Dad. The show’s executive producers, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman, have made separate new overall deals with 20th Century Fox Television allowing both to work independent of each other. Previously, the duo worked as writing partners with their own production company Underdog Productions and both confirmed they will continue working as executive producers on American Dad. Production for season four of American Dad will conclude soon and scripts for season five are in the works. (Cynopsis 11/3)

USA Network initiated production for a second season of In Plain Sight, the drama starring Mary McCormack about the Federal Witness Protection Program. Each of the 16 new episodes will be shot on location in and near Albuquerque, NM and Universal Cable Productions produces with show creator David Maples and Paul Stupin serving as executive producers. (Cynopsis 11/3)

With the stock market in an unsteady downward spiral, several media bigwigs are seeing their net worth vaporize. Rupert Murdoch has lost $4.2 billion; Google’s Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt are down $14.7 billion; Steve Jobs’s shares in Apple and Disney shrank by $2.2 billion. (Iwantmedia 11/3, http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/10/new-establishment-moguls-hemorrhage-billions.html 10/31)

At least I’m not the only one losing money.  Oh wait, that’s everyone.  How about this. . .at least I didn’t just lose a BILLION dollars.  Glass half full y’all.

Elsewhere at USA Network, the pilot project Operating Instructions has had the cast contingency on it lifting with the signing of Emily Rose in the lead role. The project is about a surgeon who has just completed her tour of duty in the military, and returns home to work in a military hospital.

FX is preparing a new police drama titled “Staten Island,” which will revolve around a police chief who works in the New York borough. The show, if a success, could fill the void being left by “The Shield,” which ends its run Nov. 25. Reuters/The Hollywood Reporter (11/3)

TNT announced plans to have at least seven 60m original dramas for 2009 and to spread first-run shows across three nights per week, cites Variety. Three established dramas, The Closer, Saving Grace and the recent pick-up of Raising the Bar are all set for next year. Leverage will open December 7 with Timothy Hutton starring as a modern-day Robin Hood, and in January, TNT will premiere Trust Me, an advertising agency drama set in Chicago with Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh in the leads. (Cynopsis 11/3)

NBC tapped Bradley Whitford to star and produce a single-camera comedy pilot called Off Duty produced by Universal Media Studios, per THR. The buddy comedy also stars Romany Malco about a respected police detective on his way down played by Whitford who takes on a new partner (Malco) on his way up. (Cynopsis 11/3)

Bucking the latest economic trends, cable companies such as Comcast, Charter, Cablevision, Time Warner Cable and Cogeco last week saw their stock prices swing higher, some as much as 15% to 20%. The turnaround appears to have been triggered by Comcast’s positive third-quarter earnings results, according to this analysis. CED Magazine (10/2008)

Comedy Central has opened a new performance space in New York where the network will present up-and-coming stand-up comedians, sketch acts, screenings and TV shows in development. The space, which is in the BLVD/Crash Mansion nightclub, is similar to the Comedy Central Stage in Los Angeles, a venue that served as a proving ground for shows such as “Mind of Mencia” and “The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show.” Variety (11/2)

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