Broadcasters are warning the Federal Communications Commission against requiring additional local broadcast content or more evidence of local public service during license renewal. Responding to suggestions from consumer groups and some legislators that local content and “public interest” are casualties…
Jay Mohr, Jaime King and Paula Marshall have been cast in CBS’ untitled Ed Yeager pilot, says the Hollywood Reporter. The sitcom revolves around a recently divorced man (Mohr) trying to navigate life with his ex-wife (Marshall), his kids and…
Britney Spears will reprise her role as receptionist Abby on 20th Century Fox Television’s “How I Met Your Mother,” reports the Los Angeles Times. The episode, scheduled to air May 12, begins production today. Spears’ previous appearance launched the CBS…
Film actress Angela Bassett will join the cast of “ER” for its final season, says the Hollywood Reporter. Bassett will play a tough attending physician with a troubled past who has returned to Chicago after a couple of years as…
Natasha Henstridge (“Eli Stone”) will join James Cromwell and David James Elliott in “Impact,” a two-hour TV disaster movie, reports Daily Variety. The $14 million miniseries, which began filming last week in British Columbia, follows the aftereffects of a dwarf…
The CW’s “Beverly Hills, 90210” remake has cast Lori Loughlin, best known for “Full House,” as Celia Mills, reports Daily Variety. The CW also reached out to Hillary Duff for the role of her daughter, Annie, but Duff’s representatives told…
CBS Corp. is expected to announce a drop in first-quarter sales tomorrow, Bloomberg reports. With viewers rejecting reruns, the writers strike is being cited as one of the reasons for the estimated 3.3% decline in sales to $3.54 billion. —Vlada…
U.K.-based ITV is rethinking a documentary series fronted by Sarah Ferguson following the arrest of one of its participants, reports Daily Variety. “The Duchess in Hull” follows the Duchess of York as she spends a week with the Sargerson family…
Ondrej Zach has been appointed vice president of programming and acquisitions for HBO Central Europe, reports Daily Variety. The Prague-based Zach previously was HBO’s executive director for the Czech Republic. —Vlada Gelman
Warner Bros. Television Group will resurrect its former broadcast network, The WB, as a new ad-supported Web video-based interactive site, TheWB.com. The site will feature some of the studio’s most popular shows from its library targeted to the 16- to…