Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Arts, Daytime Emmy Award, High School Musical, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, NBC, Television, Television network, Television program
Animal Planet attracted a record-setting 1.3 million viewers to Sunday night’s debut of “River Monsters,” including 647,000 in the targeted 25-to-54 demographic group. The episode was the most-watched premiere in Animal Planet’s history and pulled in more viewers than any other regularly airing prime-time telecast on the network in more than six years. Broadcasting & Cable (4/7)
NBC dethroned its drama series Kings, opting to move it off of Sunday nights at 8p to Saturdays at 8p, starting April 18. Originally, Kings had been slotted to air Thursdays at 10p but was moved by NBC Entertainment President Angela Bromstad to Sunday nights where the most recent episode averaged a 1.1 rating among A18-49. The new John Wells drama series Southland gets the prime Thursday at 10p time slot this week. (Cynopsis 4/8)
In May, Fox will broadcast a “sneak peek” of its new television series “Glee,” a comedy-drama about a high school glee club that has echoes of Disney’s lucrative “High School Musical.” After airing the pilot episode May 19, Fox will re-introduce “Glee” this fall. (Iwantmedia 4/8, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/business/media/08rice.html 4/8)
Nickelodeon has added a pair of live-action buddy comedies to its production slate. One is for an as-yet-untitled series that will be about two surfing pals in search of the perfect wave, while the other will be called “Telepathic” and revolves around high school students with supernatural powers. The Hollywood Reporter (4/7)
The CW will broadcast the Daytime Emmy Awards for the first time on August 30. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences made a deal with The CW to broadcast this year’s show from the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, at the same time the network plans on debuting its new fall lineup. Previously, ABC and CBS alternated airing the awards show but after both declined the NATAS offered it to The CW along with first time show producer, Associated Television International. (Cynopsis 4/8)
From television networks selling downloads of shows, to music companies trying to curb file-sharing, to struggling newspapers and magazines, the make-or-break question is this: How do you get consumers to pay for something they have grown used to getting free? (Iwantmedia 4/8, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/business/media/08pay.html?_r=1 4/8)
More food comes in June as Bravo debuts Top Chef Masters, the spin-off of its Top Chef series, on June 10 at 10p. The flip-flopped premise of this competition/elimination series has 24 world-famous chefs trying to out-do each other until one winning chef remains receiving $100,000 for the charity of their choice. Throughout the series run, guest stars and celebrities will be featured including Neil Patrick Harris, Zooey Deschanel, the past Top Chef winners as well as appearances by Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons among others. (Cynopsis 4/8)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Arts, Dennis Hopper, Disney Channel, High School Musical, Nickelodeon, Starz, Television, Univision
E! registered more pre-Oscar viewing on its network as 3.2 million total viewers watched its two-hour Live from the Red Carpet show Sunday night at 6p, up 14% from a year ago. The show additionally captured a 2.43 HH rating. (Cynopsis 2/24)
In the ongoing battle for the attention of America’s youth, Nickelodeon has built a business model that, the Viacom network admits, borrows a thing or two from rival Disney Channel, the latest of which was Nickelodeon’s Feb. 16 launch of “Spectacular,” an upbeat musical that resembles Disney’s “High School Musical.” “I think they tapped into a genre that had been sleepy,” said Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami. “Now, it’s a genre that is open for everybody.” The New York Times (2/23)
The cast of “Glen Martin DDS,” about an eccentric dentist’s family, which will start on Nick at Nite this summer.
“Crash,” the first original series from Starz, received a new 13-episode order that will make up the series’ second season. The show, which stars Dennis Hopper, will have a new behind-the-scenes creative team in its sophomore outing, and about half of the cast, including Hopper, will remain on board. The Hollywood Reporter (2/23)
Univision’s finale of its novela Fuego en la Sangre (Burning for Revenge) last Friday night at 9p was #1 for the hour with all A18-34 and A18-49 viewers, across all languages. The one-hour conclusion attracted 1.8 million A18-34 viewers, 3.2 million A18-49 viewers and nearly 5.9 million total viewers. (Cynopsis 2/24)
VH1 is developing a reality series that will feature some of the “most compelling female residents” of Aspen, Colo., a representative for the network said. And, according to this report, the show is part of a new programming trend that features conspicuous consumption by the country’s moneyed set. Broadcasting & Cable (2/23)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Camp Rock, Demi Lovato, Disney, Disney Channel, High School Musical, Jonas Brothers, Television, Television movie
Hard on the success of its Jonas Brothers-starring “Camp Rock” made-for-TV movie, Disney Channel has announced plans for a sequel, which is expected to go into production next year. The original, featuring the increasingly omnipresent brothers as well as Demi Lovato, attracted 8.9 million viewers in its premiere Friday night. (Reuters/The Hollywood Reporter 6/24)
MTV, which has not accepted political advertising since the channel was launched in 1981, will now run national ads from political candidates, their campaign committees and nationally recognized political parties. The move is effective immediately and leaves Lifetime as the only high-profile cable network that still does not take political advertising. (TVWeek.com 6/24)
MSNBC has created MSNBC Films, a company that will fund feature-length documentaries and effectively double — from three to six — the number of documentaries that the cable news network televises each year. First up will be “Dear Zachary,” the true story of a man killed by his pregnant girlfriend. (The Hollywood Reporter 6/24)
Sports memorabilia expert Donald Frangipani is filing a defamation lawsuit against HBO and those associated with its “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” program for a segment that accused him of participating in a forgery ring. Bryant Gumbel is named as a defendant. (Iwantmedia 6/25, http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSN2438145420080624 6/24)
Shares of most major media companies finished lower with the broader market on Tuesday, following signs that soaring fuel costs are taking a toll on corporate profits. Time Warner lost 2 cents to $14.60; Disney slipped 17 cents to $32.22; New York Times Co. fell 17 cents to $15.60. Iwantmedia 6/25, (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080624/media_companies_closing_glance.html 6/24)
Cablevision is beefing up its on-demand offerings with Versus on Demand and Golf on Demand as free services to its iO digital-TV customers. Both Versus and Golf Channel are owned by Comcast. (Multichannel News 6/24)
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Arts, Camp Rock, Disney Channel, High School Musical, Jonas Brothers, Movies, Studios, Television
George Carlin, the man behind the Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV comedy routine, died of heart failure yesterday at the age of 71, reports the AP. He went to the hospital yesterday afternoon complaining of chest pains, and passed away later on that evening. (Cynopsis 6/23)
With 8.9 million viewers, Disney Channel’s “Camp Rock” made-for-TV movie was the most-watched program last Friday night. The movie’s premiere, which stars The Jonas Brothers, even outperformed the debut of Disney Channel’s original “High School Musical.” (TVWeek.com 6/21)
You know you’ve made it into the public zeitgeist when you’re the subject of a question on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” as AMC’s series “Mad Men” recently was. But the show, set in a 1960s-era Madison Avenue advertising agency, has done that one better: Running from Tuesday until September, the Science, Industry and Business Library within the New York Public Library will stage an exhibition about the ad men — and women — of that era. (The New York Times 6/23)
HBO will bring “In Treatment” back for a second season. Production of the new season of the series, which stars Gabriel Byrne and Dianne Wiest, is scheduled to begin in New York this fall, and new episodes are scheduled for 2009. (Broadcasting & Cable 6/20)
Former “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Brokaw is being chosen to temporarily take over the moderator duties on “Meet the Press” left vacant by Tim Russert’s death. The veteran journalist will lead the Sunday morning news program through the U.S. presidential election. (Iwantmedia 6/23, http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b143723_tom_brokaw_named_temporary_press.html 6/22)
Tim Russert (left) and Tom Brokaw (right)
Bravo’s season two premiere of Flipping Out last Tuesday (10p) drew in 511,000 A18-49 viewers and 672,000 total viewers. (Cynopsis 6/23)
The NFL Network, which has been striving to become a cable TV powerhouse, with limited success because of the lack of a major carriage deal, is in talks with ESPN about a joint venture that would give the network distribution on most systems across the country, according to these reports. The talks have gone on for some time now and have reportedly now reached a high level — all the way up to NFL Network boss Steven Bornstein, who once ran ESPN, and Disney chief Bob Iger. (New York Post 6/21, CNNMoney.com/Associated Press 6/20)
Late Friday, ABC announced it is appealing the FCC’s ruling and fines that center on a 2003 episode of NYPD Blue that, according to the FCC, violated indecency policies. (Cynopsis 6/23)
Disney execs including CEO Bob Iger are touting “the Disney Difference” to convince investors that the company’s products and brand make it less of a cyclical media business and more like a consumer goods company, similar to Nike or Coca-Cola. So far, the campaign is proving “a hard sell.” (Iwantmedia 6/23, http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSN2240180220080623 6/23)
In a high-profile victory for cable companies, the FCC ruled late last week that Verizon Communications could no longer contact customers who were in the process of switching phone service to other providers. Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks filed a complaint with the FCC, arguing that the practice was illegal. (The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires 6/23)
