TVBizwire
Items from the past two weeks
Friday, March 19
- ABC News Paid $200,000 to Family of Murdered Toddler; Most of the Money is Being Used in the Legal Defense of the Accused Murderer, the Toddler's Mother
- Did This Spot Blur the Line Too Much Between What is Programming and What is a Commercial
- Entering the Lion's Den: FCC Commissioner to Talk to Broadcasters at Their NAB Convention in April
- Jim 'Mad Money' Cramer's TheStreet.com is Being Investigated by the SEC
- Davy Crockett, Who Millions of Boys Pretended to Be in the Mid to Late 1950s, Has Died
- YouTube Accuses Viacom of Secretly Putting Videos Up While Publicly Complaining About Them
- The Hippest, Coolest TV Show of the Late 1950s—Early 1960s is Coming to the Big Screen
- The FCC Wants to Hear From YOU About the Proposed Comcast-NBCU Deal
- Discovery Teams with Yahoo for Major Promotion
- Consumer Electronics History Will Be Made At Next Week's Hockey Match Between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden
Thursday, March 18
- Cast of 'Glee' to Visit Oprah
- Best Line in a Sitcom This Year
- Christiane Amanpour Joining ABC News as 'This Week' Anchor in August
- Unsealed Documents Reveal Mudslinging in Viacom/YouTube Case
- Report: Pressure Being Applied to Fox Affiliates to Make Room for Conan
- A&E, Discovery Frontrunners to Obtain Palin Reality Show
- White Says She Turned Down 'SNL' Hosting Gig Three Times Before
- Showtime Sets Summer Schedule
- Roger Ailes Meets With Fox Newsers, Attempts to Quell Grumbling About Glenn Beck
- How Ryan Seacrest Ruined 'American Idol' for the West Coast
- Bravo Says D.C. ‘Housewives’ Still on Track
- Syfy Adding More Reality to Its Lineup
- Video: Obama Frustrated by Constant Interruptions by Fox News' Bret Baier During Interview
- Leno’s Likability Dropped in Wake of Return to Latenight
- Nickelodeon Teenage Star Re-Ups For Million Dollar Salary and 26 More Episodes
- Report: Amanpour Even Closer to Accepting ABC Offer to Host 'This Week'
- Google, Intel, Sony Teaming to Bring Web to TV Sets in Major Way
- Original Non-Celebrity ‘Apprentice’ to Return; NBC Exec Thinks it Can Give Hope to Unemployed
- Howard Gordon, Showrunner of '24,' Sets Next Project; Meanwhile Says He and Kiefer Sutherland Are Up For Another Season of '24' if There's a Good Storyline
- Viacom, YouTube Fight Documents to be Unsealed Today
- Fans Rally to Save Bonnie Hunt’s Talk Show: Telepictures Says Sorry, Ain't Gonna Happen
- Two West Coast Development Execs For Discovery Exit
- Another Network Adding a Chef Competition Series
- Ratings do Justice to Latest FX Original Series; Oxygen Show Scores as Well
Wednesday, March 17
- New Rule on the Set of 'Two and a Half Men'
- Is Conan O'Brien On His Way to the Big Screen?
- 'Hawaii Five-O' Pilot Finds Its Bad Guy
- 'Biggest Loser' Spin-Off Gets Summer Start
- What TV Fact is Shared by Jimmy Stewart, Bette Davis, Tony Curtis, Fred Astaire, and Peggy Lee?
- Cable Companies, Studios Team Up for $30 Million Ad Campaign
- Fox Continues to Have 'Nightmares,' and that's a Good Thing
- Univision Is Near Selling Out Ad Time for the Most Popular Event in the World
- Fox Moves Closer to a Conan Latenight Show; Some Serious Hurdles Remain
- Tiger Woods' Next Woman Will Be Good For Him
- Two Powerful Congressmen Support Broadcasters in What Could Be a Brawl Over the National Broadband Plan
- C-SPAN Opens Up Video Vault To Online Viewers
- NBC’s 10 p.m. Ratings Post-Leno? Up Significantly
- Video: On Letterman's Show Tuesday Night, Kimmel and Letterman Dish About Leno
- Ad Spending Dropped 12 Percent in 2009
- Reality Star and Playboy Model Kendra Wilkinson: I Was Suicidal, Institutionalized
- Tom Selleck Expected to Join Cast of Pilot
- Former NBC Star Equates Network to ‘Horrible, Drug-Addict Mom’
- Major Renewals for Wendy Williams
- YouTube Going Directly After MySpace
Tuesday, March 16
- One of TV's Best-Known, Well-Respected Journalists Being Wooed To Come To ABC To Host Sunday's 'This Week'
- PBS Announces Support of FCC's National Broadband Plan
- Writer-Producer-Director Larry Charles of 'Borat' and 'Seinfeld' Fame Preps Send-up of Steve Jobs for TV Series
- HBO's 'The Pacific' Ratings: We Report, You Decide
- Hallmark Acquires Martha Stewart Library; Will Use It As Basis of Daily 7-Hour Programming Block
- Hot in Cleveland (and Everywhere Else): Betty White Lands Starring Role in Sitcom
- Obama Makes Rare Fox News Appearance for Healthcare Chat
- It's Official: Tiger Confirms Return to Golf at The Masters
- Bravo Renews Reality Show
- ABC Contemplates Midday News Program
- Survival of a Different Type from Discovery
- Sheen's Legal Problems Could Mean Shortened Season For 'Two and a Half Men'
- Official Date Set for 'Avatar' Release on Blu-Ray and DVD; For Now, 2D Only
- Posthumous Record Deal For Michael Jackson Tunes is Biggest Record Deal in History
- Report: Paula Abdul Headed to ABC
- Syfy, Ron Moore, Discussing Another 'Battlestar Galactica' Spinoff
- Broadcasters Alarmed About FCC's National Broadband Plan
- Stalker of ESPN's Erin Andrews’ Gets 30 Months in Prison; Andrews Says It's Not Long Enough
- A Top Public TV Exec Abruptly Resigns
- A Summer To Look Forward To If You Love HBO's 'True Blood'
- Versus Channel Returns to DirecTV
- Mischer Returns as Emmy Executive Producer
Monday, March 15
- Sneak Peek at National Broadband Plan: $15.5 Billion to Deploy
- Report: In the 25th Hour, NBC Might be Interested in Picking Up '24'
- 'Battlestar Galactica' Star Joins Another Syfy Series
- Fore! Next Month's Masters Golf Tourney Makes Jump to 3D for Some TV and Online Coverage
- New Mike Tyson TV Show is For the Birds
- Star of 'L-Word,' 'Life' Gets New Series
- Ferrell Casts 'SNL' Alumni for New Comedy Central Series With Debmar-Mercury
- A Third Lawsuit Filed Against an Ad Run During This Year's Super Bowl
- CNN Prepping State-of-the-Art HD Studio for Spring Rollout
- Cookbook Author Sues Seinfeld Again, This Time for Comments Made on Letterman
- Showtime Set To Use Facebook, Twitter in This Year's Emmy Campaign
- A Must-Read Article and Must-See Video: The End of Broadcast
- ‘Mission: Impossible” Star Peter Graves Dead at 83
- Pew's Annual State of News Report Out; Only Cable and Online Usage Up, and People Like Ad-Model Better Than Pay Firewall
- East Coast Storm Knocks Out Lifetime’s Movie
- SAG Board Approves Joint TV Contract Bargaining with AFTRA
- Larry David Says 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' Likely to Return for Another Season
- NBC's New Restaurant Reality Series Signs Big Star of the Food Network as a Judge
- No Subject Off Limits: 'South Park' Season Premiere This Week To Tackle Tiger Woods Scandal
Sunday, March 14
- More Than Friends: David 'Ross' Schwimmer Actually WILL Take Thee Brit
- Netflix Cancels Second $1 Million Contest
- Broadcasters Could Face Fee for Not Giving Back Spectrum
Friday, March 12
- An Expert Speaks: Former 'Idol' Showrunner Says Who He Thinks Should Replace Simon
- Cable Operators Must Share Their Channels, Appeal Court Says
- 'Idol' Dominates But ABC Holds Firm on Thursday Night Ratings in 18-49 Demo
- Barnes & Noble Announces E-Book App. for iPad; Amazon Might Jump Onboard as Well
- 'Good Morning America' Talent Jumps to NBC
- Cult Movie Fave Actor Perfect Fit For Cult TV Show Fave
- Michael Vick Joins Cable TV Reality Show Cast
- ESPN-Branded Saturday Programming Block Slated for ABC Stations
- Katherine Heigl Was Supposed to Return to the Set of 'Grey's' on March 1. She Didn't. Will She Return to the Series at All?
- Shakeup of Executives at the Oprah Winfrey Network
- Tiger Likely To Make Golfing Reappearance at The Masters; Woods Also Reportedly Hires Former White House Press Secretary As Advisor
- Longtime TV Exec Adelson Now Advising Warner Bros.
- ESPN Ombudsman Says Viewers Also Find Hannah Storm’s Clothing Distracting
- Report: Sheen Wants to Make a Plea Bargain
- U.S. TV Station for Sale...on Ebay!
- Academy Award-winning Actor (and Three-time Golden Globe Winner) Signs on For Series Lead
- FCC Makes Tool Available To Consumers So They Can See How Fast Their Internet Connection REALLY Is...
- Uh Oh: Is 'Clueless' Star Stacey Dash Clueless? Or is a Certain Cable Channel Just Messing With Her?
Thursday, March 11
- Conan Sets Live Shows; Officially It's 'The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour"
- Merlin Olsen, 69, Football Great, Actor, TV Sports Commentator, Loses Cancer Battle
- NBC Star Richard Belzer Accused of Attacking Apple Store Employee
- John Wells ('ER,' 'Southland'), Who is the Current WGA West President, Warns Senate Committee That Comcast-NBCU Would Create A Media 'Superpower' That Could Dominate TV
- Bengals' Chad Ochocinco Getting Wild Reality Dating Show--Involving 85 Women!
- Nickelodeon Announces Six New Series, Including One Based on a Hit Animated Movie
- Starz, Showtime Make Movie Deals
- '24’ Alum Tapped for Lead in New ABC Comedy
- Mark Burnett Sells Game Show Pilot to ABC
- Betty White Will Host 'SNL' on Mother’s Day Weekend
- Legendary Low Budget Movie King, Who Just Received an Honorary Oscar—Roger Corman ('I, Mobster,' 'Wasp Woman,' 'Little Shop of Horrors')—Making TV Movie For Syfy
- Broadcasters Fight Back on Retrans
- Discovery Exec Says Why Broadcasters’ Retrans Demands Will Hurt Cable
- CNN Eyeing Morning Shakeup?
- Olbermann Criticized for Likening First Amendment Lawyer to Nazi Collaborator
- ABC News Fakes 2-Second Video in Report of Toyota Cars Accelerating
- Eye-Opener: Iger Open to Spinning Off ABC
- Will It Soon Be Legal To Bet Which New TV Shows Will Be Successful?
- CW Developing Reality Competition Shows
- Planet Green Programs 'Verge'
Wednesday, March 10
- Jerry Seinfeld Becomes Guest Host for One Time Only, Tomorrow Morning
- Former Red Sox Slugger Joins ESPN as Baseball Analyst
- 'West Wing' Alum Cast in NBC Legal Drama
- Leno's Post-Olympic Boost Gone as Letterman Regains Ratings Lead
- Ratings: 'Idol' Continues to Roll On Tuesday Night and 'Glee' Rerun Scores; NBC's 'Parenthood' Slips
- Major Cable Network Adds Fifth Night of Original Programming
- Moonves Says He’d Pull Signals from Affiliates Who Won't Share Retrans Fees; Says CBS Could be Making Over $250 Million in Retrans Fees in Two Years
- Starz Halts ‘Spartacus’ Production Over Star’s Cancer
- Charlie Sheen Returning to ‘Two and a Half Men’ Next Week
- 'Lost Boy' Actor Corey Haim, 38, Dead of Apparent Overdose
- Report: Decision Near That This Will Be Last Season of '24' on Fox
- Comedy Central Shows Could Return to Hulu, if the $$ Is Right
- Cable Operators, Satellite Distributors Appeal to FCC and Congress About Retransmission Fee Negotiations and Disputes
- You'll Never Guess Which Characters From An Award-Winning Series Will Be Memorialized in the Ken and Barbie Collection
- March Madness: Final Four to Air in 3D in Theaters
- Keri Russell May Return to TV
- Kimmel Oscar Special Gets Primetime Outing, A Week Late
Tuesday, March 9
- Andy Richter on Leno Saying He Didn't Have a Choice To Leave NBC and Not Take Back 'Tonight Show': 'Multimillionaires are always being forced to do things they don't want to do.' Ouch!
- Case Closed: Letterman Blackmailer Pleads Guilty, Gets Jail Time
- Lohan Files Suit Over E*Trade Super Bowl 'Milkaholic' Baby Ad
- Fox Slots Summer Premieres for 'Hell's Kitchen,' 'So You Think You Can Dance,' 'Lie to Me'
- Fox Steals Time from Affiliates For 'Glee' Spring Premiere
- Further Evidence That 'Numb3rs' Days are Numb3r3d
- Creatives on 'Castle' Might Feel Rooked: ABC Decides Show Not Getting Sunday Tryout After All
- Supreme Court Won't Hear Case About Ban Stemming From a '60 Minutes' Interview
- 'Planet Earth' Sequel, Narrated by Oprah, Gets Simulcast Premiere on Seven Channels
- Here It Is: Cisco's Announcement Tuesday, March 9, 2010, That It Says 'Will Forever Change the Internet'
- Google and Dish Network Test Set-Top Boxes
- CBS Renews Reality Series
- Oscar-Winner From Sunday Night To Be Basis of TV Series
- The Good, The Bad and The Ugly That Was This Year's Oscarcast
- Top News Corp. Exec Says Affiliates Will Have to Pay Up for Fox Programming
- Sony, Panasonic Set Retail Plans to Sell 3D TV Sets
- The Biggest Challenges and Opportunities in Online Advertising (Answers in Daisy Whitney's New Media Minute Video)
- Great Trivia (But Not Trivial) Question--Impress Your Friends, Colleagues: On Sunday Night, With its Oscarcast, ABC Ranked No. 1 in Primetime Among Women 18-to-34. What Broadcast Network Ranked No. 2 in That Demo?
- Worldwide Debut This Thursday of New Lady Gaga Video (with Beyonce) Will Be Neither Online Nor On MTV, But It Will Be On This Cable Network Instead
- TiVo Losses Accelerating
- ABC Family Snatches Up Another Big Film Post-Oscars
- NBC Likes the Pageant Business Even if TLC Doesn’t
Monday, March 8
- Betty White Says 'Saturday Night Live' Appearance Is A Go
- ABC Renews One of Its Sunday Night Lineup
- NBC Denies Sweetening Audio for Sarah Palin 'Tonight' Set
- Conan Makes an Extra-Special Friend on Twitter
- Oscar Powers That Be Don't Apologize for Leaving Farrah Out of the Memoriam
- Syfy to Put Supernatural Spin on Fairy Tale Classics
- With Popular Films Such as 'Avatar' and 'The Blind Side' Up for Best Picture, Oscarcast Ratings Improve
- Conan on Fox Wouldn't Have Syndicators Laughing
- ABC's 'Castle' to Spoof NBC's Late Night Debacle (the only question: Is it about Letterman/Leno years ago or Conan/Leno now...or both?)
- Don't Miss This: Another Kimmel Star-Studded Video to Join His 'I'm F*ing Ben Affleck' as a Classic
- Burke's Law: It's Official—'Dancing With the Stars' Gets New Co-Host
- Report: Fox Renews Cult Favorite for Another Season
- Cisco Says Announcement Tomorrow—Tuesday, March 9th—'Will Forever Change the Internet'
- Hmm. Cablevision and Disney-ABC Reach Accord (Sorta) in Time to Get Oscarcast Back on Air About 15 Minutes After the Start of the Show
- All in The Family: Basic Cable Network Acquires This Past Weekend's Big Box-Office Hit, 'Alice in Wonderland'
- Composer Whose Credits Include 'Lassie,' 'The Untouchables,' and 'Slattery's People' Dies at 94; Son is Famous Jazz Saxophonist
- Station Group Suit Against Nielsen Allowed to Proceed
- NBC Thursday Night Comedies Renewed
Sunday, March 7
- Video: Apple Reveals First iPad Commercial During Oscarcast
- Turner Spins Off truTV Upfront Presentation
- HBO's ‘Rome’ May Rise Again
Friday, March 5
- Consumers are Cutting the Cord to Watch Online Video on Their TVs
- CW President Ostroff Says It's Hard to Envision 'Gossip' and '90210' Nielsen Ratings Going Up
- Potential Tiger Woods Sponsor--a Legal Bookmaker--Declines TVWeek Offer To Make a Bet if Woods Will Eventually Take the Gig
- 'The Office' Gets a Baby Bump in the Ratings
- It's the Eleventh Hour, You're Going to An Oscar Party, You're Going to Have to Enter an Oscar Poll, and You Don't Want to Embarrass Yourself. Here's Our Oscar Picks--Including The Really Tough Ones, Like Short Documentary
- 'Legend of the Seeker' on the Bubble as Tribune Fails to Renew
