Last night’s “American Idol” charity episode “Idol Gives Back” cut taped appeals for charity from presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama because the show ran too long, the New York Times reports. “Idol,” which featured appearances from…
Verizon sued Time Warner Cable, saying the No. 2 cable operator’s advertisements are false because they claim that FiOS requires its customers to get a satellite dish, and that FiOS is an inferior product to Time Warner Cable service, Reuters…
MySpace signed an agreement allowing ShineReveille, headed by Elisabeth Murdoch, to distribute the social-networking site’s shows such as “Roommates” and “Special Delivery” to overseas television and DVD outlets, the Hollywood Reporter says. MySpace, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., is…
Blockbuster will announce this month that it’s developing a set-top box that would allow video streaming directly to television sets, the Hollywood Reporter says. The device from Blockbuster, whose spokeswoman declined to comment, would build upon the Movielink service the…
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has had three days of contract talks with the studios without a resolution, Daily Variety reports. The studio talks with the union, which covers about 25,000 West Coast production workers and whose contract…
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin yesterday reiterated his intention to get cable-television companies to offer a la carte pricing, Multichannel News reports. U.S. senators earlier this week said Mr. Martin should redirect his focus toward ensuring a smooth transition…
NBC signed John Michael Higgins and Mikey Day to play opposite Molly Shannon and Selma Blair in the comedy series “Kim & Kath,” the Hollywood Reporter says. Also, Fox cast Jonathan Sadowski for its one-hour pilot “Courtroom K,” the newspaper…
UTA partner Matt Rice will run the agency’s television department after department co-head Sue Naegle’s departure to become president of HBO Entertainment, the Hollywood Reporter says. Rice joined UTA in 2002, the newspaper reports. — Danny King