Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

Thanks to cable networks such as Nickelodeon and video games such as “Rock Band,” Viacom reported fourth-quarter revenue of $4.2 billion, which was essentially flat from the comparable period in 2007. The company’s results in a time of economic uncertainty prompted one analyst, Anthony DiClemente of Barclays Capital, to comment on “the resiliency inherent” in Viacom’s performance. ClipSyndicate/Bloomberg (2/12) , The New York Times (2/12) , OneTRAK (2/12) , The Wall Street Journal 2/12)

Sumner M. Redstone is chairman of Viacom and CBS.

USA Network canceled The Starter Wife starring Debra Messing, per Entertainment Weekly, who reports the reason is poor ratings.  The original six-hour miniseries in 2007 attracted around 5 million viewers yet paced much lower at 2.4 million viewers during its second season last fall. (Cynopsis 2/13)

Comedy Central’s premiere of Important Things with Demetri Martin on Wednesday at 1030p posted a 1.5 rating among A18-49 viewers, a 3.6 rating/1 million viewers with M18-34 and a 6.6 rating/800,000 viewers with M18-24 as well as 2.4 million total viewers. (Cynopsis 2/13)

The Disney Channel has the tween girl market cornered, thanks to hits like “Hannah Montana.” Now the company wants to do the same with boys with the new Disney XD cable channel and Web site, debuting Friday. Corporate cousin ESPN will help develop programming. (Iwantmedia 2/13, http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/12/disney-rich-ross-business-media_0212_disney_xd.html 2/12)

In a preliminary fourth-quarter earnings report, Charter Communications said it expected pro forma revenue of $1.65 billion during the period. The country’s fourth-largest cable provider, however, also announced it would enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on or before April 1 in a bid to reduce overall debt by $8 billion. OneTRAK (2/12) , Reuters (2/12) , The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) (2/13)

Cable provider Mediacom has a deal for those who are not yet subscribers: switch now and get basic cable for free until June 12, the new date for the DTV transition. The novel offer has earned Mediacom plenty of media attention, and the company has set up a toll-free telephone number to handle requests for free service. Multichannel News (2/12)

Cable operator Charter Communications, controlled by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, says it will file for Chapter 11 by April 1, after it reached a deal with some of its creditors helping to reduce its debt by around $8 billion. It had a debt load of around $21 billion as of Sept 30. (Iwantmedia 2/13, http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE51B5OX20090212 2/12)