Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

TV viewers will see more of Al Roker on weekday mornings as he signed on to host a new program for The Weather Channel called Wake Up With Al. The 60m program, with TWC’s Stephanie Abrams as co-host, will begin each weekday at 6a starting this summer. Wake Up With Al will offer an in-depth look at the day’s weather and Roker will appear in the studio, chatting with guests and viewers as well as in the field, reporting on weather where it happens. (Cynopsis 4/30)

NBC picked up another season of The Celebrity Apprentice slated for Spring 2010 from Mark Burnett Productions in association with Trump Productions LLC. Currently, this season The Celebrity Apprentice is averaging a 3.5/9 among A18-49 with 8.6 million overall viewers. (Cynopsis 4/30)

Viacom says its first-quarter profit fell 34%, hurt by falling advertising and entertainment revenue. But CEO Philippe Dauman is pointing to signs of an ad turnaround, a critical factor for the company’s cable assets. “Over the past few weeks we have seen the ad market stabilize.” (Iwantmedia 4/30, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090430/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_viacom 4/30)

Sumner Redstone says he has no plans to step down anytime soon or give up his controlling positions in CBS or Viacom. “I have no intention of dying.” Also, newspapers are one business “I’d never be in.” (Iwantmedia 4/30, http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSTRE53S9C520090429 4/29)

Peter Chernin is keeping his cards close to his vest about his post-News Corp. plans, but dismisses talk that he is being wooed by Viacom. “Nothing, no conversations,” says News Corp.’s president and COO. (Iwantmedia 4/30, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2009/04/panel.html 4/29)

Time Warner Cable during the first quarter beat analysts’ expectations by adding 36,000 basic-video subscribers, 121,000 digital-video customers, 225,000 high-speed Internet subscribers and 166,000 phone lines. The country’s second-largest cable provider reported that revenue was up 5%, to $4.4 billion, but net profit fell to $164 million. The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (4/30) , OneTRAK (4/29) , Reuters (4/29)

Powered by its “Waking the Baby Mammoth” special, National Geographic Channel recorded its best April performance during prime time. From March 30 to April 26, the network averaged 445,000 total viewers as well as a 0.28 rating in the 25-to-54 demographic group, the latter of which was a 17% gain. Multichannel News (4/29)