The Senate continued to try to curb concentration of media-company ownership by voting to block a Federal Communications Commission decision to loosen a rule preventing cross-ownership of broadcast and newspaper companies, Broadcasting & Cable reports. B&C quotes Senator Byron Dorgan…
Olympic advertising sponsors have restrained spending on television and in newspapers in China, likely because of either fears of a U.S. recession or unwillingness to be linked to the controversial torch relay, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing data from…
Studio executives planned to return to work directly from this week’s upfronts in New York because many pilots and regular series are in production and they want to build up a backlog of new episodes in case of an actors…
HBO signed Kelly Preston to star in the Barry Sonnenfeld-directed comedy pilot “Suburban Shootout,” the Hollywood Reporter says. Meanwhile, Adam Goldberg will be featured in the ABC drama/comedy “The Unusuals,” the newspaper says. Finally, USA Network brought on Danielle Nicolet…
The Writers Guild of America strike gave “24” writers a chance for the first time to map out the show’s whole season in advance, the Hollywood Reporter says, citing star Kiefer Sutherland. Because lead character Jack Bauer’s “day” was laid…
Television ratings firm Nielsen said yesterday it won’t expand into radio or newspaper ratings analysis, Media Daily News reports. The company’s publishing arm, Nielsen Business Media, has been put up for sale so the company can focus more on global…
Yahoo today will likely announce a partnership with advertising company WPP in an agreement that will help WPP better target Internet users through its 24/7 Real Media unit, the New York Times reports. WPP acquired 24/7 Real Media for $649…
Dish Network won a piracy lawsuit against DirecTV and NDS Group Plc, though the award was cut from the $1 billion sought by Dish to $1,500, the Wall Street Journal reports. The five-year-old suit was filed after NDS, majority owned…
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia sold three compilation specials to Fine Living, Daily Variety reports. The specials, to run each Saturday starting this month, feature subjects such as gardening and outdoor grilling, the newspaper says. –Danny King
Warner Home Video promoted Mike Saksa, Jeff Baker and Jeff Brown to help run its New Line unit, Daily Variety reports. Meanwhile, Cablevision’s Rainbow Media Holdings promoted Jeremy Elice to vice president of original programming at its AMC network while…