'Friday Night Lights' Actress Cast in Hallmark Channel Movie

 Alicia Witt, who has a recurring role on the fourth season of the DirecTV/NBC drama "Friday Night Lights,"  has been signed to star in a Hallmark Channel movie with the tentative titled "Backyard Wedding," The Hollywood Reporter reports.

The film centers on a woman whose plans for her second wedding are marred by her ex-husband and first love. Markie Post and Frances Fisher are also in the cast.

-- Tom Gilbert

Movie Veteran-Playwright to Star in Epix' First Drama Pilot

Epix, a joint venture of Viacom, Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate that launched Oct. 30 with concert and comedy specials, has tapped Sam Shepard to star in its inaugural pilot, "Tough Trade," reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Shepard will play the patriarch in"Tough Trade," an hour drama about a three-generation Nashville music dynasty whose penchant for drink, debauchery and divorce has left them morally corrupt and on the verge of bankruptcy, the Reporter said.

-- Tom Gilbert

TiVo Teams with Major Advertiser To Show Commercials When Viewers Fast Forward Through Content

In a pioneering deal, TiVo has partnered with a major advertiser to show messages from the advertiser even when viewers fast forward, rewind, pause, or delete certain content, Advertising Age reports.

When viewers perform these functions with NFL games, message for Coors Light will appear on the screen. 

According to the report, " 'It's true that sports are much less time-shifted than anything other than news,' said Todd Juenger, TiVo's VP-general manager for audience, research and measurement. 'But it's 20%, and that's not zero.' " 

The report also notes, "The deal covers every NFL game through the Super Bowl, which means consumers could theoretically find themselves looking at Coors Light branding while rewinding for another look at an Anheuser-Busch spot. (A-B is the only brewer with commercial time during the Super Bowl broadcast, although Coors Light is the big game's official beer.)"

 -- Allison J. Waldman

Another Season of 'Scream Queens' for VH1

 VH1 has ordered a second season of Lionsgate reality competition series "Scream Queens," in which contestants are put through horror film boot camp to work with creatures and gore, according to Variety.

Jamie King hosts the series, the new season of which is expected to debut in 2010.

The winner of the competition will appear in the studio's next "Saw" film. 

-- Tom Gilbert

Garth Ancier Leaving Helm of BBC America

Garth Ancier is stepping down as the president of BBC America. UPDATE: This news was first reported this morning by Bill Carter of the New York Times on its  Media Decoder blog.

According to Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood, here's the email Ancier sent his staff today:

This morning we will announce that I intend to step down in March as President of the U.S. portion of the company, but remain a non-executive director of BBC Worldwide America.

Together we have achieved a great deal over the past three years and I’m immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished.

BBC America is performing at an all time high. We’ve increased distribution to 65 million homes, doubled primetime ratings and established a raft of mainstream hits including Torchwood, Top Gear and Primeval. Bringing ad sales in-house has increased revenue by 39% in year one and Mark Gall and his team have doubled the channel’s advertiser base. Establishing an in-house affiliate team makes our distribution efforts stronger and is already driving the roll out of BBC America HD. As many of you know, plans are also well advanced for the launch of pre-school channel CBeebies next year.

One of my proudest achievements is the commissioning of BBC World News America. Rome Hartman and his team have done a remarkable job. WNA has become a cornerstone of BBC America’s schedule and is retransmitted throughout the world. The program upholds all that is great about BBC News, but packages it effectively for the U.S. market. In its first year it won a much- deserved Peabody Award, and this year it has received six Emmy nominations – fingers crossed for December 7!

I believe we’ve now aligned BBC America, DVD and DTO to effectively exploit content across all windows. In digital, Beth Clearfield has spearheaded important deals with Amazon, Xbox, Netflix and iTunes. BBC America is now one of the top 15 television providers on iTunes in the U.S. Next year, our digital story will get even stronger with the launch of a U.S. facing edition of BBC.com.

On the BBC Worldwide Productions front, Dancing With The Stars remains a reality juggernaut and is about to wrap its ninth season on ABC. I’m delighted Jane Tranter joined us in January to head up the U.S. production operation adding scripted production to our slate, and that our New York-based team, set up to serve the East Coast cable industry, has won several new commissions.

In Home Entertainment, Planet Earth continues to be a remarkable success for Burton Cromer and team. It is now the number one DVD documentary of all time in the U.S., selling over four million units. We look forward to the release of follow-up, Life, early next year.

The business is firing on all cylinders – and now seems a suitable time to pass the day to day running of the U.S. over to someone new. I sincerely thank all of you for your continued hard work and dedication. Without you we could not have grown the BBC brand so significantly or increased profits by 78%. I very much look forward to continuing to work with you in my new role.

A search for my replacement is underway – but in the meantime it’s business as usual!

Best regards,
Garth

--Chuck Ross

Smart and Sassy: The Brillance of (and Why We Love) Jon Stewart

The last thing you think you want to see is another video about Lou Dobbs leaving CNN.

But trust us, you DO want to see this.

It's Jon Stewart's interview with Dobbs and it's why we love Stewart: It's hysterically funny and has more substance than 10 other interviews done on the same subject. Click here to view it.

--Chuck Ross

Ka-Ching: Fox Business News Get Additional 3 Million Subs in New York Market

Cablevision subscribers in the New York metropolitan market are soon going to be seeing the Fox Business Network on their system, reports B&C.

Commencing November 19, Cablevision's 3 million households in New Jersey, Connecticut and parts of New York will have FBN appearing on channel 106.

-- Allison J. Waldman

Aaron Sorkin, the Creator of 'West Wing' and 'Sports Night' is Planning Another TV Series

Five-time Emmy-winner Aaron Sorkin, who created "West Wing," 'Sports Night' and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," is planning another TV series, according to TVGuideMagazine.com.

According to the report, Sorkin said, "It's going to be what turns out to be the third in the trilogy of TV shows that take place behind the scenes of a TV show, but this will be a different kind of TV show. That's all I can let out of the bag right now."

His shows "Sports Night" and "Studio 60" were also set behind the scenes at TV shows.

Sorkin said he hopes to collaborate with his pal and well-known TV director Tommy Schlamme on the project, as well as work with some of the actors he's worked with in the past.

--Chuck Ross

Spot Runner Intros New Online Buying and Selling Platform (It's NOT Auction-based)

Spot Runner has announed a new online platform for buyers and sellers of commercial time on TV.

It's called  the Malibu Media Platform and is not auction-based.

Spot Runner said in the annoucement that: "The platform is based on the core tenet that media sellers preserve control over inventory, pricing and buyer relationships and buyers preserve their buying power on behalf of clients."

To read all the details put out by Spot Runner on this new service, click here.

--Chuck Ross

New Series: 'Cops' Meets 'Animal House'

A new series is coming to cable TV that could be described as "Cops" meets "Animal House."

The series is "Cops PD" and it debuts Dec. 9 at 11PM ET/PT on the G4 cable network.

The series is filmed in five college towns: Tallahassee, FL; San Marcos, TX; Cincinnati, OH; Chico, CA; and Greenville, NC.

According to the G4 announcement: " 'Campus PD' takes viewers along for the ride with officers on duty to capture firsthand all the mayhem and excitement they take on night after night when student 'fun' spirals out of control."

Dunno about you, but we're gonna invite over Bluto, Pinto, Flounder, Boon and Otter, grab ourselves a brewksi, and check out this sucker.

--Chuck Ross