Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Battlestar Galactica, Disney Channel, DisneyXd, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Lee Adama, NBC Universal, Time Warner Cable, Toon Disney
Bravo offers viewers a glimpse into the lives of rich, privileged teenagers residing in Manhattan with its new docu-series NYC Prep opening June 16 at 11p. NYC Prep chronicles the lives of six wealthy high school students who lead sophisticated yet pressure-filled lifestyles. Under the surface of exclusive parties, luxurious vacations and shopping sprees, there are college applications and high expectations for each of these teens. (Cynopsis 4/10)
Gossip Girl The Reality Show.
Wednesday’s season premiere of Real World/Road Rules: The Duel 2 on MTV posted a 1.76 rating with P12-34 and averaged 1.78 million viewers. (Cynopsis 4/10)
Kids cable nets Cartoon Network and Disney XD, formerly Toon Disney, are adding more live-action fare to their production slates in hopes of attracting a larger audience of boys between the ages of 6 and 14, according to this report. “Animation as a genre channel seemed to be very limiting,” said Rich Ross, chief of Disney Channel Worldwide. “We had an opportunity to broaden our voice to get more kids, and certainly boys, by re-engineering what Toon Disney was.” USA TODAY (4/9)
MLB Network on Saturday night will add a new wrinkle to its programming strategy: live Saturday evening games. The move will allow the network, which already had scheduled 26 Thursday night telecasts, to double the number of games it will carry in its freshman season. TVWeek.com (4/9)
SCI FI Channel Battlestar Galactica fans and collectors will have one last chance to buy a piece of show memorabilia during a live auction weekend May 8-10. NBC Universal Television, DVD, Music and Consumer Products Group is partnering with Propworx to again offer more than 900 items from the show. Some of the items include: Admiral Adama’s desk chair, a full-size Viper Mark II ship and Lee Adama’s bomber jacket. The auction, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting United Way, will be held at the Pasadena Convention Center and a preview will be open to the public on May 7. The auction will also stream live at the Auction Network site at www.auctionnetwork.com , allowing fans to watch and bid in real time. For more information and to view the auction catalog, please visit www.battlestarprops.com. (Cynopsis 4/10)
Cable stocks rallied Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 246 points. Cablevision shares led the charge with an 8.6% increase, while Mediacom posted a 7.9% gain, Time Warner Cable rose 3.2% and Comcast increased 2.5%. Multichannel News (4/9)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Arts, Battlestar Galactica, Bill Paxton, Bob Saget, Cable television, Primetime Emmy Award, Television, Television program
HBO has ordered a fourth season of “Big Love,” the drama about a polygamist in Utah and his growing roster of wives. The show, starring Bill Paxton, averages about 5 million viewers when time-shifted and VOD viewing as well as encore showings are considered. Variety (2/4)
Live-plus-seven-day figures from Nielsen show that many people like to watch Sci Fi’s “Battlestar Galactica” on their own schedule. The Jan. 16 episode attracted 2.11 million live-plus-same-day viewers, Nielsen said, but the DVR-driven, seven-day data showed the number of viewers increased to 2.8 million, adding 32% to the original showing. Mediaweek (2/4)
Changes come to the Primetime Emmy Awards as the Board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences voted to increase the number of nominees from five to six in the following categories: Outstanding Comedy and Drama Series programs, Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series and Outstanding Supporting Actor and Actress in a Comedy and Drama Series. Additionally, the Television Academy Governors voted to eliminate the two-phase nominating process in the series and performance categories. That means the voting for the Drama and Comedy Series programs will be determined by the whole Television Academy membership; nominees in the Drama and Comedy Series performer categories will be voted on by the Performer Peer Group. (Cynopsis 2/5)
VH1 reported its 90m premiere of I Love Money 2 on Monday night at 9p posted a 1.3 rating among A18-49 and 2.3 million total viewers. On the same night at 1030p, For the Love of Ray J opened and held steady with a 1.3 A18-49 rating and increased it’s lead-in among Total Viewers to 2.4 million. (Cynopsis 2/5)
IAC/InterActive Corp’s CollegeHumor.com has evolved into a go-to site for 6 million visitors monthly, a comedy tour, books and now a television series, MTV’s “The CollegeHumor Show,” premiering Sunday. Beer, babes and parodies dominate the site, a favorite of men ages 18 to 22. (Iwantmedia 2/5, http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2009-02-04-collegehumor-show_N.htm 2/4)
ABC acquired the Media Rights Capital comedy Surviving Suburbia, headlined by Bob Saget, and will place it on Mondays following Dancing with the Stars beginning April 6 at 930p. With 13 episodes already produced, Surviving Suburbia was originally planned to be part of The CW’s Sunday night block. The sitcom replaces Samantha Who? which moves to Thursdays. (Cynopsis 2/5)
Ex-Viacom CEO Tom Freston is now a consultant for Oprah Winfrey’s forthcoming cable television channel, OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network, set to launch by early 2010. OWN, he says, “is as big an idea now as MTV was then. It’s the first network about empowerment and life purpose.” (Iwantmedia 2/5, http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/03/news/newsmakers/sellers_freston.fortune/index.htm 2/3)
A state tax credit that brought television production in New York City to a record high last year has run out of money, threatening jobs. “None of us has booked a single pilot this year,” says Alan Suna, head of Silvercup Studios. “Everybody is sending their pilots elsewhere.” (Iwantmedia 2/5, http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090204/FREE/902049968 2/4)
Time Warner Cable added 44,000 digital-TV subscribers and 124,000 high-speed-data customers during the fourth quarter of last year. It also had 130,000 telephony additions. Overall, the cable provider reported revenue jumped 8%, to $4.4 billion, during the period. OneTRAK (2/4) , Light Reading (2/4)
The last major obstacle in the way of moving the digital-TV transition from Feb. 17 to June 12 was overcome Wednesday when the House of Representatives voted 264-158 in favor of a four-month delay. A similar measure had already passed in the Senate, and now a combined bill will go to President Barack Obama, who has said he is in favor of the June 12 date. The Wall Street Journal (free content)/Dow Jones Newswires (2/5) , Los Angeles Times (free registration) (2/5) , Broadcasting & Cable (2/4)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Barack Obama, Battlestar Galactica, NBC Universal, Sci Fi, Sci Fi Channel, Time Warner, Wall Street Journal, Walt Disney Company
HBO has acquired the rights to a documentary on President-elect Barack Obama, which it plans to premiere sometime next year. The film comes from actor Edward Norton’s production company, which has followed the Obama team for more than two years and was granted extensive access to the Illinois senator, along with his top staff, family and friends. The Hollywood Reporter (11/6)
Fans of SCI FI Channel’s Battlestar Galactica series can buy a piece of the show as NBC Universal Television, DVD, Music and Consumer Products Group is working with Propworx to provide thousands of unique props, set pieces, costumes and more for a three-day auction event. The auction begins with a preview on January 16 and convenes January 17-18 at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, CA. (Cynopsis 11/7)
Walt Disney Co.’s cable networks, led by ESPN, posted operating income of $1.2 billion during the company’s fiscal fourth quarter, $116 million higher than the same period a year earlier. The entertainment behemoth said overall revenue rose 6%, to $9.4 billion, but earnings were off 13%, to $760 million. Los Angeles Times (11/7) , The Wall Street Journal (11/7) , OneTRAK (11/6)
MTV Networks has said it will begin working with Web-widget developer Clearspring Technologies to export the highly portable micro Web sites related to its assets, which can carry advertising as well as content, to blogs and social-networking sites. Clearspring already works with media companies such as Time Warner, NBC Universal and Fox Broadcasting. Mediaweek (11/6)
Bethpage, N.Y.-based Cablevision added 58,000 digital-phone subscribers, 31,600 broadband customers and 25,000 digital-video homes during the third quarter, all of which helped the company report earnings of $27.1 million on revenue of $1.74 billion, a 15% increase. With the solid financial news, Cablevision Chief Executive Officer James Dolan said the company was shelving plans to spin off certain assets, such as its Rainbow Media cable networks. The Wall Street Journal (11/7) , Reuters (11/6) , Light Reading (11/6)
Charter Communications added 98,800 telephony customers in the third quarter, a 60% increase compared with the same period a year earlier. The St. Louis company also reported a 7.3% increase in overall revenue during the period, to $1.64 billion, and trimmed its net loss to $322 million. American City Business Journals/St. Louis (11/6)
The Comcast Media Center, which launched its MPEG-2 video-on-demand platform in 2003, said the offering now was available to more than 30 million VOD-ready homes. The Comcast unit said the platform now had about 9,000 titles from more than 275 content providers. CED Magazine (11/2008)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Barack Obama, Battlestar Galactica, Fox News Channel, John McCain, Politics, Sarah Palin, Saturday Night Live, United States
Bravo’s Project Runway season five concluding episode Wednesday night at 9p with repeat airings at 11p and 12a attracted a total aggregate of nearly 4.8 million A18-49 viewers and almost 7.2 million total viewers. At the first 9p airing, the finale delivered approximately 3.2 million A18-49 viewers and close to 4.8 million total viewers. (Cynopsis 10/17)
Overall total estimated viewership declined for the final live Presidential Debate between candidates Senators Barack Obama and John McCain Wednesday night from approximately 9-1030p. Nielsen reports 56.5 million total viewers tuned into a combination of 11 networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC-America, CNBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, mun2 and tape delayed on Telemundo. According to Live Feed, NBC topped the list at 11.3 million; ABC 10.6 million; CBS 9.2 million; FOX News 9.1 million; CNN 8.9 million; and MSNBC 3.7 million. (Cynopsis 10/17)
The big news out of John McCain’s appearance on CBS’ David Letterman show Thursday night is that VP contender Sarah Palin plans to appear in person on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Palin will “probably get more of an audience than our debate did,” McCain says. (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/10/palin-mccain.html 10/16)
With the season finale of “Mad Men” just days away, the future of the hit television drama series is in question. Creator Matthew Weiner has not signed for another season. The official renewal of the first basic cable series to win the Best Drama Emmy Award has not been announced. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/10172008/tv/big_babies_133904.htm 10/17)
SCI FI Channel set the premiere of the fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica on January 16, 2009 at 10p. The series will air over 10 weeks and end with a finale on March 20. (Cynopsis 10/17)
Additionally on SCI FI Channel, the season finale of Destination Truth Wednesday at 10p packed in 1.0 million A18-49 viewers, 1.0 million A25-54 viewers as well as 1.6 million total viewers. (Cynopsis 10/17)
Sumner Redstone’s National Amusements says it is in talks with its bankers about the company’s debt as a result of the sharp drop in the value of CBS and Viacom stock. The company may be forced to sell ”all of its nonvoting shares and even begin to sell some of its voting shares.” (Iwantmedia 10/17, http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/10/redstone_may_have_to_sell_more.php 10/17)
Liberty Media chief John Malone is eyeing the “wild” yields offered by other media companies’ debt, echoing the tactics through which he built his cable empire. Liberty is “probably not the right buyer” for AOL’s dial-up business. But many content companies, such as Viacom, “look cheap.” (Iwantmedia 10/17, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cd97f0d2-9bcf-11dd-ae76-000077b07658.html 10/17)
Hollywood‘s big players are scrambling to determine how the economic meltdown will impact their businesses. While the film industry is seen as relatively protected for at least a year or two, television costs will be under pressure as advertising weakens. One TV exec predicts “major cuts.” (Iwantmedia 10/17, http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/17/news/economy/siklos_la.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008101710 10/17)
As promised by Chairman Brian Roberts at the beginning of this year, Comcast now offers more than 1,000 high-definition options through its linear channels and on-demand offerings. Comcast’s HD menu includes more than 200 movies via its on-demand platform and almost 300 TV shows. Broadcasting & Cable (10/15
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is ordering fines against Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications for preventing subscribers from receiving certain channels. Customers who use digital video recorders are being blocked from viewing certain channels. (Iwantmedia 10/17, http://www.smartmoney.com/news/ON/?story=ON-20081016-000954-1546 10/16)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Arts, Battlestar Galactica, Discovery Channel, HBO, Programs, Sci Fi Channel, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Television
SCI FI Channel’s mid-season finale of Battlestar Galactica (10p) last Friday delivered 1.2 million A18-49, 1.2 million A25-54 and 1.8 million total viewers. (Cynopsis 6/17)
Click the image below to watch the full finale online.
The hotter-than-hot “Army Wives” continues to set records for Lifetime. A week after the Season 2 premiere pulled in 4.5 million viewers, a high-water mark for the female-focused channel, the net last Sunday night attracted 1.98 million women in the 25-to-54 demographic. (Broadcasting & Cable 6/16)
To check out full episodes on their vertical site, click below.
Documentaries from HBO and Cinemax will now be available online for purchase through Amazon-owned CreateSpace’s DVD on Demand offering. The first movie in the new deal, “When I Knew,” which looks at when people first knew they were gay, will be available June 26, a day after its Cinemax premiere. (World Screen News 6/16)
Investors say General Electric could help its languishing shares — now near 4 1/2-year lows — by selling off businesses in its portfolio. But the company is resisting calls that it should sell its 80% stake in NBC Universal. GE says it is committed to a diversified business model. (Iwantmedia 6/17, http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSN1647648820080616 6/16)
News Corp. shares are getting a boost from their 52-week lows following a positive report by Lehman Brothers analyst Anthony DiClemente. The media giant is a good buy at the current price, DiClemente says, noting that MySpace continues to show strong revenue growth. (Iwantmedia 6/17, http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080613/news_corp_mover.html 6/13)
Multiplatform international sports broadcaster WCSN formed a joint venture with NBC Sports hoping to build a larger audience around sports largely overlooked by existing sports brands including Gymnastics, Track and Field, Swimming and Biking. The Universal Sports brand will replace WCSN’s linear digital channel later this summer – currently in about 2 million digital multicasts homes – and launch as the ad-supported web portal Universal Sports.com in July. (Cynopsis 6/17, Reuters/The Hollywood Reporter 6/17, The Washington Post/paidContent.org 6/16)
As part of its deal to separate from Time Warner, Time Warner Cable is looking to sell $5 billion in bonds to pay a cash dividend to shareholders of the parent company, according to one report. The spinoff is expected to give the country’s second-largest cable provider far more flexibility and freedom in charting its own future. (BusinessWeek/Standard & Poor’s Equity Research 6/17, Bloomberg 6/16, Reuters 6/16)
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Battlestar Galactica, Jeffrey Zucker, NBC Universal, Philippe Dauman, Sci Fi, Sci Fi Channel, Science fiction, Television
Speaking at a news conference in New Orleans at the opening of The Cable Show,Viacom President and CEO Philippe Dauman told reporters that he’s having “good conversations” with cable companies about carrying the pay-TV channel being developed by Paramount, MGM and Lions Gate. Dauman jokingly said that he kept a blank contract sheet for the upcoming venture in his pocket, just in case executives such as Comcast’s Brian Roberts have a pen that’s ready to write. (The Hollywood Reporter 5/19)
Sci Fi Channel has effectively expanded the boundaries of the science fiction genre and, not incidentally, the channel’s role in parent NBC Universal‘s global strategy. “For an international standpoint, we really have two global brands. We have CNBC … and Sci Fi,” said NBCU Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Zucker. “Business is universal. And science fiction is such a well-known global genre.” (The New York Times 5/19)
“Battlestar Galactica” is one of the Sci Fi Channel’s biggest hits.
Time Warner chairman Dick Parsons says he will probably step down after this year, a move that will allow CEO Jeff Bewkes to take over the position at the world’s biggest media company. “I am leaving the company in good hands,” says Parsons at Time Warner’s annual meeting in Atlanta. (Iwantmedia 5/19, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=admbfjxH4tAU 5/16)
Comcast agreed to carry linear network MGM HD across its footprint and offer MGM HD movie titles to customers via VOD. The service draws from MGM’s library of over 4,100 films. Additionally, Multichannel News report MGM HD also landed a deal with Time Warner, its fourth cable carriage deal in addition to Comcast, Dish Network (both signed this week) and DirecTV. (Cynopsis 5/19)
