Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE by Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

President Obama’s first primetime press conference Monday night, airing live from 8p to 9p drew in nearly 49.5 million viewers over eight networks – ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Univision, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC. The hour also posted a combined 30.8 HH rating. (Cynopsis 2/11)

Details of the programming philosophy behind Epix — the premium cable channel formed by Viacom, Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate that will launch online in May 2010 and on TV that October — are beginning to take shape. According to this report, Epix this summer will begin shooting “Tough Trade,” an original scripted drama about the high and low notes of a family musical dynasty in Nashville, Tenn. The Hollywood Reporter (2/10)

Showtime gave a renewal nod to The United States of Tara for a second season. The drama starring Toni Collette as a woman with multiple personalities has averaged 2.1 million viewers per week, including repeat airings. (Cynopsis 2/11)

As this is my favorite show this season, I praise the TV gods over this announcement.

NBC approved a new series featuring peak performance strategist Tony Robbins. The series is described as life-changing as Robbins will mentor participants through personal challenges offering them a chance to refurbish their futures. Reveille will produce the series. (Cynopsis 2/11)

NBC selected two more comedy pilots: The first called Community is billed as similar to the movie Stripes set though in a community college and the second one is a cast-contingent pilot order for 100 Questions for Charlotte Payne. (Cynopsis 2/11)

MTV is giving rapper/record producer Snoop Dogg his own weekly variety show called Dogg After Dark. Premiering next Tuesday at 9p, the Los Angeles-based series will highlight interviews, sketch comedy and music performances. (Cynopsis 2/11)

Anne Heche will co-star in upcoming HBO comedy series Hung, playing the ex-wife to Ray (Thomas Jane) who is remarried. Production for the series begins mid-March with a premiere date expected in June. (Cynopsis 2/11)

The CW is moving the twelfth season premiere of America‘s Next Top Model to March 4 at 8p, a week later than planned. The opening episode also expands to two hours. (Cynopsis 2/11)

Shares of Time Warner shares dropped nearly 8% in New York trading Tuesday after Sanford Bernstein analyst Michael Nathanson downgraded the media giant to “market perform” from “outperform,” driven by declines at AOL and the Time Inc. magazine publishing unit. (Iwantmedia 2/11, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=auIz_yeGg_xw 2/10)

Up until very recently, the prevailing wisdom among media analysts was that “content is king.” Now, movies, television shows, magazines, radio programming and Internet content are being devalued. “No one knows to what extent content will be ‘re-valued’ as the economy improves.” (Iwantmedia 2/11, http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1878711,00.html 2/11)

An increasing number of Americans are cutting their ties to cable companies and traditional DVD outlets in favor of the growing availability of free or low-cost video content that can be found online at places such as Hulu.com and Netflix.com, according to this story. Estimates suggest that cable subscriptions are down more than 1 million U.S. households and that DVD sales fell 8% last year. CNNMoney.com/Dow Jones Newswires (2/9)

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