Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

President Obama’s first address to a Joint Session of Congress this past Tuesday in primetime reached nearly 52.4 million total viewers. The speech was carried live on 10 television networks: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, CNBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC. (Cynopsis 2/27)

Bravo’s season five finale of Top Chef: New York Wednesday night at 10p cooked up 2.77 million A18-49 viewers and 3.74 million total viewers. According to Nielsen, this season ranks as the highest rated ever as Top Chef: New York averaged 2.14 million A18-49 viewers and 3.02 million total viewers, up 18% and 19% respectively versus Season #4. (Cynopsis 2/27)

The Golf Channel on Wednesday attracted 1.7 million viewers to its first-round coverage of the Accenture Match Play Championship, the largest audience ever to have tuned in to a first round of golf televised by the network. Not coincidentally, it was also the return to action of Tiger Woods. The New York Times (2/26)

FOX ordered two more seasons of The Simpsons ensuring the longest-running primetime series in history goes through its 22nd season. The network approved 44 additional episodes, taking the total library episode count just under 500 at 493. Currently the show is in its 20th season and a global year-long celebration called “Best. 20 Years. Ever” is underway through January 14, 2010, the actual 20th anniversary of the show’s premiere. (Cynopsis 2/27)

CBS confirmed it will continue reality competition series Survivor through the 2009-2010 season, serving up the 19th and 20th editions. Jeff Probst will also remain as host. (Cynopsis 2/27)

General Electric is slashing its quarterly dividend by nearly 68%, a move expected to save about $9 billion a year. The parent of NBC Universal has been paying a regular dividend for more than 100 years. Shares of GE have fallen nearly 70% since mid-September. (Iwantmedia 2/27, http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/GE-slashes-quarterly-dividend-save/story.aspx?guid=%7B618EAEEE%2DE61D%2D4522%2DA8B3%2D21D8DE89E8FE%7D 2/27)

Discovery Channel on Wednesday will debut “Hudson Plane Crash: What Really Happened,” the story of the US Airways flight that crash-landed in the Hudson River in January without the loss of life. The one-hour documentary will feature interviews with passengers, rescuers and aviation experts as well as a new computer animation that will break down the miraculous landing. Broadcasting & Cable (2/26)

Comedian/producer Jerry Seinfeld reunites with NBC for a new primetime comedy-reality series created by Seinfeld’s Columbus 81 Productions and executive producer Ellen Rakieten (The Oprah Winfrey Show) called The Marriage Ref (wt). The series will feature celebrities, comedians and sports stars all judging and offering advice to real-life couples dealing with typical marital problems. In describing the show concept Seinfeld said, “This is not a therapy show, it’s a comedy show.  After nine years of marriage I have discovered that the comedic potential of this subject is quite rich.” NBC so far has not indicated when the show will premiere or be scheduled. (Cynopsis 2/27)

Time Warner says it will complete the spinoff of cable unit Time Warner Cable on March 27. The spinoff is intended to transform the conglomerate into a company more focused on movies, TV programming and magazines and to make both companies more competitive. (Iwantmedia 2/27, http://www.smartmoney.com/news/ON/?story=ON-20090226-001239-1731 2/27)

The cable division within highly diversified Cablevision Systems Corp. reported that revenue grew 7.4% in the fourth quarter of 2008. The cable provider added a total of 101,000 revenue-generating units during the period, including 53,000 VoIP subscribers. Chief Operating Officer Tom Rutledge announced that the company had a wideband service for residential and business customers in the works, but he did not give a specific release date. OneTRAK (2/26) , The Wall Street Journal (2/27) , Light Reading (2/26)