National Telecommunications and Information Administration acting head Meredith Attwell urged more stations to run a digital TV test like those in Florida, Broadcasting & Cable reports. Orlando, Fla., stations will turn off their analog signals for 10 seconds at 7:59…
Cable news networks are lumping together TV talking heads under the label of political strategists, even if they have no experience working for a politician, Politico reports. Betsy Goldman, a former booker and producer for CNN and MSNBC, claims that…
Federal antitrust regulators approved Cablevision Systems Corp.’s purchase of Newsday from Tribune Co. for $650 million, the Associated Press reports. The Long Island-based newspaper has 3.1 million subscribers in the New York metro area, the wire service notes. —Vlada Gelman
The Spanish-language upfront market is expected to close with only a modest 6% increase compared to last year’s 10% increase in spending, Media Life magazine reports. The slowdown is attributed to an uncertain economy, which has resulted in tightened budgets…
Philadelphia CBS affiliate KYW-TV has discharged anchor Larry Mendte after former co-anchor Alycia Lane claimed that he engaged in a sabotage campaign against her, Broadcasting & Cable reports. Lane, who was also discharged, recently filed a sex-discrimination lawsuit against the…
TV audience researcher TRA and DVR-maker TiVo have made a licensing deal that will give TRA access to set-top-box data from TiVo’s 1.7 million STBs, Adweek reports. The researcher matches viewing data from set-top boxes to purchase data from frequent…
Comcast Chief Operating Officer Steve Burke told an audience at the Cable-Tec Expo 2008 on Wednesday that he sees the DTV transition as a way to grow Comcast’s basic-video subscriber base, Broadcasting & Cable reports. Burke believes that unused converter…
Former Adelphia executives John and Timothy Rigas, who were convicted on 18 counts of fraud and conspiracy in 2004, had their sentences reduced yesterday to 12 years and 17 years, respectively, Multichannel News reports. The sentences are down from 15…
This year’s “Wide Open Coverage” NASCAR race telecast on TNT will be sponsored by Coke Zero, Coors Light, HP, Papa John’s, Sprint, Subway, Toyota, U.S. Army, Viagra and Warner Bros. The telecast will air during the prime-time Coke Zero 400…
Keri Murphy has been tapped as the host of Golf Channel’s “Highway 18,” which will premiere July 22 at 10 p.m. The model and actress will guide five teams, mapping out challenges and providing viewer insight as they race across…