Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: EricIdle, Friday Night Lights, John Cleese, Michael Palin, MontyPython, Nickelodeon, Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, Terry Gilliam
Nickelodeon‘s “2009 Kids’ Choice Awards” attracted 7.7 million viewers Saturday night, the largest audience ever for the annual franchise. After the awards show, Nick debuted “The Penguins of Madagascar,” which pulled in 6.1 million viewers, a record for a premiere on the network. TVWeek.com (3/30) , Mediaweek (3/30)
MTV has ordered four more seasons of its long-running “The Real World” series. The current iteration, “The Real World: Brooklyn,” will wrap up Wednesday night, and producers already are at work on the show’s next stop: Cancun, Mexico. The Hollywood Reporter (3/30)
Haven’t we had enough? The Real World would be more interesting if we could periodically vote people off.
NBC invested two more seasons into high school football drama series Friday Night Lights. NBC and DirecTV have completed a 26-episode order agreement (13 eps per season) for the series produced by Universal Media Studios. The deal also allows Friday Night Lights to premiere on DirecTV with a second window on NBC. (Cynopsis 3/31)
Monty Python fans get ready for a new six-part, original documentary series, Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut) is set to air on IFC this October from Eagle Rock Entertainment. Coinciding with the comedy troupe’s 40th anniversary, surviving members John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin will participate in this retrospective anthology taking viewers from the beginning through the end. (Cynopsis 3/31)
ABC barely got the new baby changed and diapered when it announced it cut the episode order for new midseason comedy In the Motherhood, per Variety. ABC will air just six episodes this season including the pilot, despite the network originally ordering 13 episodes. This news comes directly after ABC premiered the series last Thursday night to lukewarm reviews and ratings results: a 2.1/6 among A18-49 and 6.7 million viewers. ABC, though, says there isn’t room on the schedule for all 13 episodes as Ugly Betty returns in the time slot it has temporarily left open as of May 7. (Cynopsis 3/31)
ABC and Mark Burnett are working on a reality series Shark Tank, an adaptation of the British hit Dragon’s Den where ambitious entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to five multimillion tycoons in hopes of receiving investment money. ABC ordered seven episodes and this marks the first time the network partners with Burnett who has successful shows on the three other major broadcast networks. The format originated in Japan and is now a global hit with Dragon’s Den airing on BBC Two in the UK for six seasons and here in the US on BBC America. ABC has not yet set a premiere date for Shark Tank though sometime next season is probable. The five “sharks” have been tapped: Robert Herjavec (internet security systems), Kevin Harrington (infomercials), Barbara Corcoran (real estate), Kevin O’Leary (top Canadian investor) and Daymond John (FUBU sportswear). (Cynopsis 3/31)
The BBC version is so intriguing to me. To anyone who counts themselves as an entrepreneur, you will deeply appreciate this series.
Fox is said to be planning to launch a Saturday late-night show featuring comedienne/actress Wanda Sykes. The show is believed to be more in the mold of Bill Maher’s show on HBO than a typical talk show. It will air Saturdays at 11 p.m. ET and will be an hour long. (Iwantmedia 3/31, http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/191000-EXCLUSIVE_Fox_Eyes_Wanda_Sykes_For_Saturday_Late_Night.php 3/31)
FOX is getting back into the reality dating/competition genre on a new series titled More to Love, reports THR. FOX along with partner Mike Fleiss, producer of The Bachelor, will focus on “average looking” people who are overweight and looking for love. The series will copy the format of The Bachelor as a group of real women compete for the attention of one guy who, according to producers, looks more like a Kevin James-type. (Cynopsis 3/31)
Starz Media tapped UK-born actor Andy Whitfield to portray the warrior hero Spartacus in the new action series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand. In addition, Lucy Lawless was cast as Lucretia, who along with her husband Batiatus, own the Ludus or gladiator camp and thus Spartacus. Production on the series begins Wednesday in New Zealand and will open on Starz next January. Starz Media produces with Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi and Joshua Donen as executive producers. (Cynopsis 3/31)
Time Warner and Time Warner Cable began trading independently Monday, marking what Time Warner Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Bewkes called “a new era for Time Warner.” Bewkes went on to say that his company is “committed to investing more money than last year in the top-notch content that defines our brands — while we run our businesses more efficiently than ever.” The Hollywood Reporter (3/30)
Time Warner’s spinoff of its cable division dropped the owner of Time magazine and Warner Bros. to third place among U.S. media companies, behind Disney and News Corp. Analysts say: “It’s better to be Disney than a company that’s a third of the size like Viacom.” (Iwantmedia 3/31, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a6m8W1j7WL9g 3/31)
(Below) The problem isn’t “supporting the infrastructure.” The problem is figuring out how to maneuver in a world with new entry-level competition encroaching in markets where your audience generally despises you. This shouldn’t help that problem.
The newly spun-off Time Warner Cable will impose premium rates on big users of broadband in Web markets in Texas, New York and North Carolina. “We need a viable model to be able to support the infrastructure of the broadband business,” says CEO Glenn Britt. (Iwantmedia 3/31, http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc20090331_726397.htm 3/31)
News Corp.’s Fox Soccer Channel is beating out Disney’s ESPN for the rights to show European Champions League soccer games next season. ESPN held the right since the 1994-95 season. ESPN shares Major League Soccer rights with Fox and other networks. (Iwantmedia 3/31, http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fox-wins-US-TV-rights-to-apf-14796331.html 3/31)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Bethany McLean, Friday Night Lights, Jon Stewart, NBC Universal, Super Bowl, Super Bowl advertising, Television, Television advertisement
Super Bowl commercials cost several million dollars, but Hulu received 60 seconds on NBC for free. When the online video hub launched, it received credits to run ads on the properties of co-parents NBC Universal and News Corp., but had not cashed any in until Sunday night. (Iwantmedia 2/3, http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=99574 2/2)
Super Bowl spot buy: $0. Very nice.
This year’s Academy Awards telecast, to be hosted by actor Hugh Jackman, will “take many risks, some bold.” The 2008 broadcast, hosted by comedian Jon Stewart, hit a record low of 32 million U.S. viewers. Still, the show remains a top-rated program on U.S. television. (Iwantmedia 2/3, http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSTRE51206G20090203 2/2)
NBC Universal is looking for an outside partner that would allow it to bring its “Lipstick Jungle” series back on the air. One potential partner is Comcast, which unsuccessfully bid on NBC’s “Friday Night Lights” and has said it was interested in participating in similar deals in the future. Broadcasting & Cable (2/2)
I say, let it die. But then again, I would have said that after watching the first episode. It’s no Friday Night Lights…
HBO has secured the TV rights to a book being written about the story behind the 2008 financial crisis. The book, expected in January 2010, is being written by New York Times business writer Joe Nocera and Vanity Fair writer Bethany McLean, the woman who co-authored a book about the Enron scandal that later was turned into an Academy Award-nominated documentary. Variety (2/2)
Ad-supported cable channels are averaging a 35.3 household rating during prime time, more than 10 points higher than broadcast’s 24.4, for the first 18 weeks of the current TV season, according to the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau. The CAB attributed the disparity in cable’s favor to the fact that original programming has increased 153% since 2002, to 1,837 shows. Mediaweek (2/2)
(Below) I debated with a friend about this one because this struck me as the kind of brand spot that only belongs on the channel. No where in the ad was any reference to the shows being mentioned while the characters were on screen. So, apart from the USA logo at the end, why would someone feel compelled to watch these unnamed shows?
With a single spot that ran right after the Super Bowl on NBC, USA Network promoted seven of its shows, including “Burn Notice” and “In Plain Sight.” “We debated how to do it: Do we promote one show or take a big shot across the bow?” said Chris McCumber, executive vice president of marketing at USA. “We decided to showcase seven shows and 10 characters in a way that was linear and entertaining.” The Hollywood Reporter (2/2)
CBS handed a series order to the producers of Top Chef, Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth of Magical Elves, on a docu-reality series titled Marriage centered on arranged marriages, cites THR. The series follows four single adults age 25-45, all eager to marry, who allow their friends and family to select their marriage partners. The couples marry for real and the series watches their marriages unfold. (Cynopsis 2/3)
Hit with a downgrade to a sell rating by Natixis Bleichroeder, and tarred by worries about consumer spending patterns, shares of Disney fell 3% Monday. U.S. consumer spending fell in December by a full percentage point — a steeper downturn than had been forecast. (Iwantmedia 2/3, http://blogs.barrons.com/stockstowatchtoday/2009/02/02/disney-hit-with-downgrade-consumer-data 2/2)
Comcast, the largest U.S. cable-television provider, says that some Super Bowl viewers in Tucson, Ariz., were inadvertently exposed to adult content during the final minutes of the game. Comcast is investigating to determine how it happened, says a spokeswoman. “We are mortified.” (Iwantmedia 2/3, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aw6hD3abaUHw 2/2)
The House of Representatives on Wednesday is scheduled to vote a second time on whether to delay the transition to all-digital TV signals from Feb. 17 to June 12. On Monday, influential Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rick Boucher, D-Va., chairman of the House Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee, threw their support behind a delay. Broadcasting & Cable (2/2)
Top cable providers are poised for strong cash-flow growth, in part, because they will be spending less on deploying new set-top boxes and DVRs, according to industry analyst Craig Moffett. He predicts companies such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable will offer investors 9% to 15% increases in free-cash-flow-yield per share in 2009. Reuters (2/3)
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