Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

NBC‘s Meet the Press this past Sunday morning, featuring Colin Powell’s anticipated endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama, averaged 6 million viewers along with a national 4.3/12 HH rating. This was the largest audience for Meet the Press since February 8, 2004 when the late Tim Russert interviewed President George W. Bush. Also on October 19, ABC’s This Week pulled in nearly 3.4 million viewers and CBS‘ Face the Nation had close to 2.9 million viewers. (Cynopsis 10/24)

HBO is taking Curb Your Enthusiasm back into production this December for a seventh season. Ten new 30m episodes will be ready to debut in 2009. The comedy completed its sixth season, headlined by Larry David and Cheryl Hines, in November 2007. (Cynopsis 10/24)

For political junkies wanting to watch multiple news updates on election night, November 4, DirecTV offers a special Election Mix Channel, cites Variety. DirecTV will spotlight election coverage from ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC as well as alternating feeds from Comedy Central and BBC America. Eight networks will be on screen simultaneously and viewers will select one to hear audio and also have the option to go full screen with any one network. DirecTV will broadcast Election Mix Channel in both hi-def and standard def beginning 7p on November 4 until 6a November 5. DirecTV offers a similar interactive service for its sports programs. (Cynopsis 10/24)

As more and more polls cast doubt on the McCain-Palin ticket, Hollywood producers and agents are discussing possibilities for capitalizing on Sarah Palin’s fame, ranging from an Oprah-style syndicated talk show to a Sean Hannity-like perch in cable news or on radio. (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3icc3b73373ecfd4eb935ddcc53cb38f27 10/23)

So you won’t vote for her ticket but you will make money off of her?  [sigh] I love Hollywood.

Fox television’s broadcast of the opening game of Major League Baseball’s World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays drew 14.6 million viewers, a drop from last year. The audience declined 14% from the 16.9 million viewers of last year’s first game. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aHC7TgbfTmA0 10/23)

CBS will give frosh comedy Gary Unmarried a shot in the arm by re-airing the pilot episode next Monday at 930p, replacing Worst Week, says THR and Live Feed. The network is hoping the higher rated Two and a Half Men will give the new sitcom a viewer boost. Wednesday’s night’s Gary Unmarried averaged 7.8 million viewers and posted a 2.5/7 among A18-49. (Cynopsis 10/24)

E! has re-upped with late-night comedian/talk show host Chelsea Handler, a move that will keep her “Chelsea Lately” show on the cable net through 2009. The show turned in a stellar third quarter, when it boosted its household rating 21% in the 11:30 p.m. time slot. Mediaweek (10/23)

NBC is using its legal clout to delay “Project Runway” from moving over to Lifetime while it launches a copycat show on its Bravo network, according to insiders. A casting call for Bravo’s new “Fashion House” is remarkably similar to pitches made by “Project Runway.” (http://www.nypost.com/seven/10242008/gossip/pagesix/nbcs_stealth_runway_clone_134982.htm 10/24)

FX has paid an estimated $8 million to get first cable rights to a trio of films from 20th Century Fox, according to this report. The cable network gets the movies — the currently showing “Max Payne,” “The X Files: I Want to Believe” and “The Rocker” — for a reported four-year window that opens in late 2010 or early 2011. Reuters/The Hollywood Reporter (10/23)

Sports fans in northern New Jersey should cheer: Comcast has announced that it will begin carrying MSG HD and MSG Plus HD. MSG HD has the New York Knicks, Rangers and Liberty as well as the Buffalo Sabres, while MSG Plus HD’s lineup includes the New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils and a variety of programming from Fox Sports. Multichannel News (10/23)