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Monthly Archives : June 2008

Comcast HQ Looks Like ‘Flash Drive’

Comcast Center, the U.S. cable leader’s headquarters set to open in Philadelphia this week, looks like a “giant flash drive,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The city’s tallest building, designed by Robert Stern and Graham Wyatt, is “clean” but “lacks conviction,”…

Paul Sills, Co-Founder of Second City, Dies at 80

Paul Sills, who helped found of comedy-improv group Second City in 1959, died of complications from pneumonia in Baileys Harbor, Wis., at age 81, the Associated Press reports. Mr. Sills’ group helped launch the careers of future “Saturday Night Live”…

Lakers-Celtics Matchup Seen Driving Strong Ad Sales for ABC

With a dream matchup in the NBA Finals pitting the storied Boston Celtics against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, ABC/ESPN Sports is expecting strong demand for ad spots in the series. “We have a lot of interest,” said…

Mr. Bill Starring in MasterCard Ad

Mr. Bill, a clay character from “Saturday Night Live,” will be featured in a new MasterCard commercial that begins airing June 9, the New York Times reports. Mr. Bill, known for being hurt and humiliated while crying “Oh, nooooo!” on…

Ex-CNN Exec Joins Comcast SportsNet

Princell Hair is joining Comcast SportsNet as senior VP of news operations, TVNewser reports. He will be in charge of news, studio programming and digital content for the Comcast networks, the Web site says. Hair was formerly the executive VP…

CBS Upgrades Video Player

CBS Interactive will launch a new video player on CBS.com and the CBS Audience Network over the next few months, TVNewsday reports. The new player will feature HD quality, full-screen viewing capacity, a redesigned interface and embeddable video clips, the…

Daily News’ Gittrich Shifts to NBC

Gregory Gittrich has been named the national news editor for NBC Local Media digital platforms, Broadcasting & Cable reports. He will oversee the Web sites for 10 TV stations, syndicated Web offerings and any mobile applications, the newspaper says. Gittrich…

‘Sight’ Sees Strong Premiere

The kickoff of USA’s “In Plain Sight” Sunday trumped several recent program premieres on USA, giving the hourlong series about officers of the witness-protection program a hardy start. Starring Mary McCormack, “Sight” averaged 2.3 million viewers in the 18- to…

‘Torchwood’ Season 3 a Go

The third season of BBC’s “Torchwood” will begin filming in August for a spring 2009 premiere on BBC1, TV Guide reports. The series will shoot five episodes to be aired as a one-week miniseries, the magazine says. “Torchwood,” starring John…

‘Simpsons’ Voice Cast Makes a Deal

The voice cast of “The Simpsons” has reached a new four-year deal with 20th Century Fox TV, the Hollywood Reporter says. The actors will get a salary increase to nearly $400,000 per episode and Dan Castellaneta, who voices Homer, will…