Logo

Monthly Archives : March 2008

Kaplan Aims to Maintain Momentum at ‘Early Show’

Thirty-seven years after Rick Kaplan began his network news career as an associate producer on “The CBS Morning News,” he’s back as the interim executive producer of the show best known for perpetually running a distant third to its competitors…

‘Today’ Continues Winning Ways for February Sweep

For NBC’s “Today” morning show, three consecutive weeks of viewership increases at the peak of the presidential primary season added up to the widest non-Olympics February sweeps margin of victory in four years. “Today” averaged 6.06 million total viewers for…

Post-Strike, NBC Even Stronger in Late-Night Race

Coming out of the 14-week Writers Guild of America Strike, NBC’s late-night lineup of “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” and “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” saw a big ratings boost compared with rival shows on CBS. For the first…

Entriq’s Acquisition of DayPort Expands Online Content Options

Digital media company Entriq acquired technology provider DayPort for an undisclosed amount, the companies announced today. The acquisition is one of the latest in a string of mergers in the online video business, fulfilling experts’ predictions that consolidation would begin…

Cable Networks Turn Up Volume on Original Content at Upfronts

As the broadcast networks try to recover from the Writers Guild of America strike, cable networks plan to be more aggressive during the upfront, selling more original content. Last week, Turner Entertainment Networks announced plans to make its upfront pitch…

Brains Behind the Beauty: Web Video Follows TV Model, With a Twist

When online television network Revision3’s “Pop Siren” premieres March 10, it will follow a familiar formula: The hosts are female and they’re good-looking. Sure, they’re smart, too, but that they’re easy on the eyes is a time-honored programming strategy that…

SXSW a Hub for Online Video Networking

The South by Southwest Conference, which has become the networking event for the Internet TV business, kicked off in Austin, Texas, over the weekend, and anyone who’s anyone—or anyone who’s trying to be someone—in the online video world likely will…

Pennsylvania Stations May Get $40 Mil in Campaign Ads

Six to seven weeks of massive political advertising spending are headed to Pennsylvania. Political observers say Sen. Hillary Clinton’s victories over Sen. Barack Obama in the Ohio and Texas Democratic primaries last week could prompt the wildest ad-spending battle yet…

Speed Gets ‘Wrecked’ in Quest for New Viewers

Fueled on the weekends by NASCAR programming, Speed is changing gears on weeknights. Rather than featuring racing, the cable network’s newest show focuses on the sometimes risky life at a family-owned tow truck company in Chicago. The network’s strategy is…

The Insider: Big Baaaaaaad ‘Brother’

Despite enduring a variety of humiliating expressions of disapproval from friends, The Insider has adamantly remained addicted to “Big Brother” through seven of the first eight summer installments (she was a year late joining the cult) of the CBS reality…