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BROADCAST/CABLE by Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

According to B&C, NBC will be moving Jay Leno to 10p on weeknights, thereby allowing NBC to cut back on its primetime programming as well as keeping both Leno and Conan O’Brien in house.  The start date is as yet unknown, but speculation pegs next fall. (Cynopsis 12/9)

Co-President Harold Akselrad has decided to leave HBO after 25 years, the network announced Tuesday.  Mr. Akselrad recently concluded negotiations with several of the studios that supply the pay cable network with theatrical movies. (http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/12/akselrad_to_leave_hbo.php 12/9)

Billionaire real estate investor Sam Zell was unable to keep the wolves from the door as The Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy protection in federal court in Delaware on Monday. The company will restructure debt obligations and says it has the cash to continue to operate its media businesses during the process. It also reassured advertisers its broadcasting affiliations and pre-paid ad contracts are still in place. Zell described the move as a reaction to a “perfect storm” of factors including a rapid decline in revenue and severe tightening of credit markets. Tribune owns 23 TV stations and 8 major daily newspapers and newspaper websites including the LA Times, Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun. (Cynopsis 12/9)

TNT delivered 2.1 million A18-49 viewers for its new original series Leverage Sunday night at 10p. The Timothy Hutton-starring drama also attracted 5 million total viewers and it moves into its regular time period of Tuesdays at 10p beginning tonight. (Cynopsis 12/9)

Bravo is sticking by its commitment to four of its up-and-coming reality projects. That means “Flipping Out” and “Million Dollar Listing,” both of which focus on the real estate market, will get a third season and beauty-centric “The Rachel Zoe Project” and “Tabatha’s Salon Takeover” will be back for their sophomore campaigns. Variety (12/8)

The Rachel Zoe project is back for another season proving finally that. . .there IS a god.

Philippe Dauman, Viacom’s chief executive officer, moved to assure investors that the debt burdens of Sumner Redstone and his National Amusements holding company will not affect Viacom. “I am totally focused on running Viacom,” Dauman said. “It doesn’t impact our financial position (and) we have taken every appropriate governance measure to make sure that Viacom is not affected by the National Amusements situation.” Variety (12/8) , Multichannel News (12/8)

Magical Elves, the production entity behind such shows as Project Runway and Top Chef, made a development agreement with Kelly Cutrone for a new reality series about Cutrone’s fashion PR agency, People’s Revolution. The series will go behind the scenes at Cutrone’s company and its bicoastal offices, chronicling the personal and professional lives of Cutrone and her staff. (Cynopsis 12/9)

Time Warner Cable has reported a slowdown in subscriber growth for its video, Internet and phone services. “Consumers just sort of closed their pocket books.” Likewise, Cablevision has experienced a pullback in sales of its services. “There are no new opportunities.” (Iwantmedia 12/9, http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081208/FREE/812089974/1084 12/8)

Cablevision, whose network DVR has stirred some controversy because of the way it allows subscribers to store programs, will proceed with plans to roll out the device in 2009 … as long as it is not deemed illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court, according to Chief Operating Officer Tom Rutledge. “We have plans to begin deploying it some time next year,” he said. “It has all the functionality of a DVR, it looks to you like a DVR. You can’t really tell the difference.” Reuters (12/8)

Comcast debuted a trio of new triple-play packages, ranging from $115 per month to $180 per month. The top-tier package includes an HD DVR, 200 digital channels, Internet speeds of up to 22 Mbps and premium networks such as HBO, Starz, Cinemax and Showtime. “We will continue to innovate and evolve our packaging,” said Dave Watson, executive vice president of operations for the company. OneTRAK (12/8)

Worldwide advertising spending in measured media could decrease by 0.2% to $458 billion next year versus this year with spending up 2.6%, according to the study “This Year, Next Year” from GroupM. The study also projects the U.S. ad spending will decline by 3% to $157 billion next year after spending has increased this year by 0.3% to $162 billion. (Cynopsis 12/9)

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