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BROADCAST/CABLE by Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

Super Bowl commercials cost several million dollars, but Hulu received 60 seconds on NBC for free. When the online video hub launched, it received credits to run ads on the properties of co-parents NBC Universal and News Corp., but had not cashed any in until Sunday night. (Iwantmedia 2/3, http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=99574 2/2)

Super Bowl spot buy: $0.  Very nice.

This year’s Academy Awards telecast, to be hosted by actor Hugh Jackman, will “take many risks, some bold.” The 2008 broadcast, hosted by comedian Jon Stewart, hit a record low of 32 million U.S. viewers. Still, the show remains a top-rated program on U.S. television. (Iwantmedia 2/3, http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSTRE51206G20090203 2/2)

NBC Universal is looking for an outside partner that would allow it to bring its “Lipstick Jungle” series back on the air. One potential partner is Comcast, which unsuccessfully bid on NBC’s “Friday Night Lights” and has said it was interested in participating in similar deals in the future. Broadcasting & Cable (2/2)

I say, let it die.  But then again, I would have said that after watching the first episode.  It’s no Friday Night Lights…

HBO has secured the TV rights to a book being written about the story behind the 2008 financial crisis. The book, expected in January 2010, is being written by New York Times business writer Joe Nocera and Vanity Fair writer Bethany McLean, the woman who co-authored a book about the Enron scandal that later was turned into an Academy Award-nominated documentary. Variety (2/2)

Ad-supported cable channels are averaging a 35.3 household rating during prime time, more than 10 points higher than broadcast’s 24.4, for the first 18 weeks of the current TV season, according to the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau. The CAB attributed the disparity in cable’s favor to the fact that original programming has increased 153% since 2002, to 1,837 shows. Mediaweek (2/2)

(Below) I debated with a friend about this one because this struck me as the kind of brand spot that only belongs on the channel.  No where in the ad was any reference to the shows being mentioned while the characters were on screen.  So, apart from the USA logo at the end, why would someone feel compelled to watch these unnamed shows?

With a single spot that ran right after the Super Bowl on NBC, USA Network promoted seven of its shows, including “Burn Notice” and “In Plain Sight.” “We debated how to do it: Do we promote one show or take a big shot across the bow?” said Chris McCumber, executive vice president of marketing at USA. “We decided to showcase seven shows and 10 characters in a way that was linear and entertaining.” The Hollywood Reporter (2/2)

CBS handed a series order to the producers of Top Chef, Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth of Magical Elves, on a docu-reality series titled Marriage centered on arranged marriages, cites THR. The series follows four single adults age 25-45, all eager to marry, who allow their friends and family to select their marriage partners. The couples marry for real and the series watches their marriages unfold. (Cynopsis 2/3)

Hit with a downgrade to a sell rating by Natixis Bleichroeder, and tarred by worries about consumer spending patterns, shares of Disney fell 3% Monday. U.S. consumer spending fell in December by a full percentage point — a steeper downturn than had been forecast. (Iwantmedia 2/3, http://blogs.barrons.com/stockstowatchtoday/2009/02/02/disney-hit-with-downgrade-consumer-data 2/2)

Comcast, the largest U.S. cable-television provider, says that some Super Bowl viewers in Tucson, Ariz., were inadvertently exposed to adult content during the final minutes of the game. Comcast is investigating to determine how it happened, says a spokeswoman. “We are mortified.” (Iwantmedia 2/3, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aw6hD3abaUHw 2/2)

The House of Representatives on Wednesday is scheduled to vote a second time on whether to delay the transition to all-digital TV signals from Feb. 17 to June 12. On Monday, influential Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rick Boucher, D-Va., chairman of the House Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee, threw their support behind a delay. Broadcasting & Cable (2/2)

Top cable providers are poised for strong cash-flow growth, in part, because they will be spending less on deploying new set-top boxes and DVRs, according to industry analyst Craig Moffett. He predicts companies such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable will offer investors 9% to 15% increases in free-cash-flow-yield per share in 2009. Reuters (2/3)

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