Syndication Upfront Moving, CPMs for Upper Tier Programming Down a Percent or Two

As the long, long, summer sloughs along, there's finally some upfront movement for syndicators, Mediaweek reports.

Syndicators with high demand programming are writing business with cost-per-thousands (CPMs) down 1% to 2%, Mediaweek says. The selling of ad time in programming with not such high demand is tougher, and those shows are taking a hit of 7% to 9%, Mediaweek reports.

—Chuck Ross

Marie Osmond Will Not Come Back in Syndication this Fall: Victim of Poor Ad Market

Despite being originally cleared by TV stations reaching 80% of the country, Program Partners says the weak ad market prevents its new hour-long talk show with Marie Osmond from launching this fall, Variety reports.

One of the problems is that stations have been saying they now cannot afford to take the show, since their revenues are down in this recession.

"Our belief in Marie's creative vision for a new kind of talk show is unshakable, but in the end, the marketplace this year was simply unyielding," Program Partners chief Ritch Colbert told Variety.

—Chuck Ross

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Are Zucker's Critics, Especially Journalists, Fair?

Variety columnist Brian Lowry writes about the changes NBC continues to go through.

He notes that NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker is clearly innovative and, for a long time now, has been "willing to explore new ways of doing business."

Zucker has typically answered his critics, Lowry writes, "by suggesting that if NBC doesn't evolve, it will end up like the newspaper industry."

Giving Zucker his props, Lowry then examines the fairness of Zucker's critics, and the fairness of Zucker's response.

—Chuck Ross

'Bachelorette' Contender Complains: 'On that Show, I Wouldn't Believe Anything!'

Wes Hayden, one of the contenders on this summer season's "Bachelorette" series, is not happy with how the editing of the show portrayed him, People reports.

Hayden told the magazine: “There’s an old saying here in Texas “Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see … On that show, I wouldn’t believe anything.”

—Chuck Ross

Check Out This Take on 'Jon & Kate': The Obsession with Them is a Positive Media Development

Baltimore Sun TV Critic David Zurawik has a different take on the 'Jon & Kate' phenom.

In his latest column he says that "One of the pleasures some viewers get in writing and talking about the Gosselins is connected to the fact that the TV image of Jon and Kate as exemplary parents of a happy family has been exposed as a lie in recent months."

And this was accomplished, he says, not by the mainstream press, but primarily by the tabloids and online bloggers.

This, he posits, might be a good thing: "It isn't so much wanting to see someone famous torn down, it's more about wanting to see a fake media-constructed ideal deconstructed."

—Chuck Ross

WGA East, West Presidents Blast Emmy’s Decision to Pretape Some Telecast Segments

Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America East, has criticized Emmy’s decision to pre-tape some of its award presentations for this September’s telecast, Daily Variety reports.

"The writers are the storytelling stars of television, and we are disappointed that the Academy chooses to diminish our members' invaluable and essential contribution to the medium," said Winship in a statement. "We ask that they reconsider the decision for this and future Emmy broadcasts."

Patric Verrone, president of the WGA West, echoed those sentiments in a statement, as well, Variety reports.

"It is also a serious demotion for writing and a fundamental misunderstanding of the importance of writers in the creation of television programs,” said Verrone. “Last year's Emmys suffered a tremendous decline in quality and ratings because of a lack of scripted material.”

--Sergio Ibarra

Tune Into One of the Best Reality Shows You've Never Heard of on Sunday Night

TV Critic Ed Martin says if you tune into the reality show "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" this Sunday night you won't be disappointed.

What? It's on BBC America, and it's about  young women competing for the lead role in a  production of "Sound of Music" that will run on London's version of Broadway, its storied West End.

This reality show originally ran in the U.K. in 2006 and the winner did well: The West End revival of "Sound of Music,' Martin tells us, was a smash hit, and ran for two years.

—Chuck Ross

'Shark Week' Starts Sunday: One Critic Calls it Bloody but Good

Discovery Channel's 22nd Annual Shark Week begins this Sunday, August 2. As a zap2it critic says, "[T]his year's films are especially bloody. Yet for those who can't get enough of sharks, it's the place to be."

—Chuck Ross

WGA to Represent CBS Internet Writers

The Writers Guild of America West said Friday that they have gained jurisdiction over 15 Internet writers employed at CBS studios, according to Daily Variety.

The writers voted unanimously to be represented by the WGA West.

"This is good news for new media writers," WGA West president Patric Verrone said. "As more and more news, sports, and promotional content is distributed on the Internet, it is essential that its writers win respect for their work and all the benefits of a WGA contract."

--Alex Jacobius

Jackson Autopsy Results Postponed Indefintely

In the lastest development surrounding the sudden death Michael Jackson over amonth ago on June 25th, the Los Angeles coroner's office--which was expected to announce a cause of death this week--now says it cannot say when that information will be announced, the Los Angeles Times reports.

This delay of the announcement coincides with numberous investigations into the various doctors who had been treating Jackson in recent years, and the drugs he might have been taking.

—Chuck Ross