Logo

Daily Archives : Aug 18, 2008

Jesse Ventura Eyes Court Show

Jesse Ventura, the former big-time wrestler and Minnesota governor, is deep in talks with Twentieth Television to host a court show, TelevisionWeek reports, citing people familiar with the situation. If the deal is completed, the half-hour show would debut for…

Phelps’ Win Gives NBC Record Ratings

NBC’s Saturday night coverage of the Olympic Games drew an average of 31.3 million viewers, with over 40 million viewers watching the 11 p.m. half hour featuring Michael Phelps’ record-setting gold-medal victory, Daily Variety reports. Those numbers are an 18-year…

NBC’s Olympic Expectations Exceeded

NBC, which scaled back the ratings guarantees it made to Olympics advertisers, is enjoying unexpectedly high ratings for The Games, the New York Times says. The event has drawn an average audience of about 30 million a night on NBC,…

Coke, GE, Visa Biggest Games Winners

Coca-Cola, General Electric and Visa have dominated the Olympic Games in terms advertising effectiveness, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing research from Nielsen’s IAG. Spots that went for an emotional hook were best remembered and most liked, putting Coca-Cola’s “Bird’s…

Rounding Up SAG Labor News

The Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have different stories to tell about current contract negotiations, Deadline Hollywood Daily says. After SAG issued an e-mail update on recent talks, AMPTP issued statement saying that…

FCC to Referee Wi-Fi, Broadcaster Fight

The FCC in September is expected to report its finding on whether TV airwaves can be shared with wireless gadgets that connect to the Internet, the Wall Street Journal reports. The fight over so-called white space is key because broadcasters…

GM Pulls Out of Oscars Ad Deal

General Motors Corp. won’t be advertising in this year’s Academy Awards telecast, leaving ABC without one of its biggest sponsors for the Oscar show in February, the Wall Street Journal says. Last year, the company spent $13.5 million for spots…

Budweiser Sponsors Last Season of ‘Shield’

The final season of FX’s “The Shield,” which set edgy programming trends on basic cable and had difficulty garnering advertisers early on, will be sponsored by Budweiser, TelevisionWeek reports. The Anheuser-Busch brewing company will present the first three episodes of…

Seth MacFarlane, BK Team Up for Web Show

Next month, Seth MacFarlane, creator of Fox’s “The Family Guy,” will unveil an animated Web series called “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy” that will be distributed solely on the Web through Google, the New York Times says. MacFarlane will…

Food Network Hungers for Competitive Eating

Food Network is looking to enter the competitive eating programming game with its tentatively titled series, “Eat the Clock,” the Hollywood Reporter says. In “Clock” contestants must race through various Los Angeles restaurants and stuff their faces with several gastro-intestinal…