http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/ TelevisionWeek is teaming up with TV industry veteran Marianne Paskowski. The blog will give Marianne a forum to convey her deep knowledge of the industry and pass along some of the juicy morsels she's hearing on the grapevine. Marianne has covered the TV industry from the inside out and top to bottom, and TVWeek's readers are bound to benefit from her sharp eyes, ears and wit. TVWeek.com invites readers to jump online, chime in and pick Marianne's brain on the latest industry news. en Copyright 2008 Fri, 09 May 2008 10:00:52 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss When I first heard that the NBC Universal owned-and-operated station WNBC-TV in New York was launching a 24-hour local news channel this fall, I thought it was a great idea. Now I’m having second thoughts. For starters, the new cable http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/05/wnbctvs_allnews_channel_could.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/05/wnbctvs_allnews_channel_could.php WNBC-TV Fri, 09 May 2008 10:00:52 -0800 As if things weren’t bad enough for NBC, the broadcast net that has the broadcast rights to the Beijing Summer Olympics starting Aug. 8, now China is experiencing an outbreak of a potentially fatal hand, foot and mouth virus. In http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/05/yet_another_olympian_nightmare.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/05/yet_another_olympian_nightmare.php Wed, 07 May 2008 12:21:42 -0800 Fifteen-year-old Miley Cyrus, the billion-dollar baby of Disney’s “Hannah Montana” franchise, is on the hot seat for posing semi-nude for Vanity Fair magazine. What is the big deal? I saw the Annie Leibovitz photo of Cyrus that showed only her http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/miley_cyrus_photo_shoot_no_apo.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/miley_cyrus_photo_shoot_no_apo.php Hannah Montana Miley Cyrus Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:08:03 -0800 Interesting, and possibly risky, rebranding effort for Oxygen, the women’s cable network now owned by NBC Universal. The new branding effort is aimed at the 18-34 demo, or “Generation O,” as the network defines the younger strata of its audience, http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/oxygen_targets_generation_o.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/oxygen_targets_generation_o.php Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:18:44 -0800 It came as absolutely no surprise to me that “The CBS Evening News,” anchored by Katie Couric, hit its ratings low last week, attracting only 5.39 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Forget about Katie Couric. She’s not the problem. The http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/broadcast_nets_dancing_in_the.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/broadcast_nets_dancing_in_the.php CBS Evening News Katie Couric Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:31:32 -0800 I just knew yesterday when I got that email blast from the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org that ABC would pay in the headlines today. (MoveOn supports Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama and not his opponent Hillary Clinton.) Press coverage today http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/viewers_blast_abcs_gotcha_deba.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/viewers_blast_abcs_gotcha_deba.php Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:26:37 -0800 Caught sight of my favorite media analyst, Pali Research’s Rich Greenfield, on CNBC and he did not disappoint. He’s kind of like Mikey, the kid in the old TV spot for Life cereal who hates everything. True to form, he http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/clearance_sale_for_media_stock.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/clearance_sale_for_media_stock.php Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:52:02 -0800 If various published reports are true, the editors and reporters at Tribune-owned Newsday have to be leaping for joy, hearing today that Cablevision Systems Inc., the multiple-system cable provider in its own back yard, is not interested in acquiring the http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/no_ink_is_s_good_ink_at_cablev.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/no_ink_is_s_good_ink_at_cablev.php Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:10:56 -0800 One of the biggest stories on cable news networks today was American Airlines’ grounding of 1,000 flights, which stemmed from an FAA mandate demanding inspection of the airline’s workhorse fleet, the MD-80. The problem and the news coverage ramped up http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/a_great_day_to_be_a_couch_pota.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/a_great_day_to_be_a_couch_pota.php Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:32:13 -0800 Borrowing a page from cable, the broadcast Peacock network will stagger new shows throughout the year including summer, instead of waiting for the traditional fall premiere window. That’s the half-right part. The half-wrong part is the mish-mash of programming slated http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/nbc_gets_it_half_right_but_mos.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/04/nbc_gets_it_half_right_but_mos.php Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:09:22 -0800 Sure, NBC has the bragging rights for securing coverage of the upcoming Summer Olympic Games. Too bad, though, that the games are being held in strife-ridden Beijing this August. With the bragging rights comes a nonstop public relations nightmare for http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/03/nbcs_olympian_challenge.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/03/nbcs_olympian_challenge.php Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:21:17 -0800 I was more than surprised to see that NBC Universal chieftain Jeff Zucker told the Los Angeles Times that its USA Network is “probably the single most important entity within the entire portfolio.” That’s a wow moment. According to this http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/03/nbcs_seismic_shifting_tv_econo.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/03/nbcs_seismic_shifting_tv_econo.php Jeff Zucker NBC Universal Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:39:13 -0800 Discovery Communications chieftain Dave Zaslav had to love the splash of largely positive ink in today’s Wall Street Journal that featured a long article about his upcoming plans to morph the existing Discovery Home into Planet Green on June 4. http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/03/discovery_gambles_on_green.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/03/discovery_gambles_on_green.php Discovery Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:55:18 -0800 Today marks the five-year anniversary of the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. TV coverage of the war then was nonstop and so were appearances from Pentagon spokeswoman Torie Clark, who described it as a “shock and awe” attack. http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/03/no_shock_and_awe_five_years_la.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/03/no_shock_and_awe_five_years_la.php Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:17:19 -0800 Today is the deadline for preliminary bids for Landmark Communications’ Weather Channel and its popular Web site, weather.com. The company expects to sell those properties for a cool $5 billion, a figure industry analysts think is too steep. Given the http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/03/prelim_bids_due_for_weather_ch.php http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/marianne-paskowski/2008/03/prelim_bids_due_for_weather_ch.php Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:20:52 -0800