Daily Marauder

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It’s going to be Hammer time all over again now that A&E has given the go-ahead for a reality series following rapper and dancer MC Hammer and his family. The network has ordered 11 30-minute episodes of “Hammertime” and plans to launch the series later this year. Variety (2/17)

Starz Entertainment has finalized a four-film deal with Summit Entertainment that, the network hopes, will appeal to a variety of age groups and provide some demographic crossover. The films — “Penelope,” “Sex Drive,” “Never Back Down” and the 3-D animated “Fly Me to the Moon” — will be available on multiple platforms, including TV, VOD and online. TVWeek.com (2/17)

Sirius XM Radio reached an 11th hour investment agreement with John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp. to stave off bankruptcy on Tuesday – the day Sirius was due to pay back investor Charlie Ergen $175 million in notes the company did not have. The deal calls for two phases of investment totaling $530 million in loans from Liberty Media, which will get preferred stock equal to 40% of Sirius’s common equity in exchange. EchoStar Chairman Ergen began buying up Sirius debt last fall in a play to possibly take control of the company. (Cynopsis 2/18)

CBS is reporting a 52% decline in fourth-quarter earnings and announcing plans to slash its dividend by 81%, as the economic downturn takes a big bite out of advertising revenue. The company also plans to make job cuts in its television, radio and billboard businesses. (Iwantmedia 2/18, http://www.smartmoney.com/news/ON/?story=ON-20090218-000951-1809 2/18)

Tivo and EchoStar returned to court in Texas yesterday in a legal dispute over intellectual property rights of DVR patents, per Reuters. The court initially ruled in Tivo’s favor in 2006, ordering EchoStar to pay $104 million in damages (later upheld in various appeals,) but the company continued to sell DVRs and collect fees after replacing the recording software with a slightly modified version. (Cynopsis 2/18)