Barack Obama is spending $3.5 million to air a half hour campaign ad in primetime Wednesday, but it is unclear how many people will tune in, TelevisionWeek says. Even if undecided voters watch, it’s unclear the long-form infomercial will convince…
MSNBC boss Phil Griffin still carries the ID card he carried when he worked for CNN in the early 1980s, a sign that he’s been in cable news almost since its beginnings, the New York Observer reports. These days, Griffin…
With “90210” back on the air, the CW and CBS Paramount Network Television are talking about bringing back its spinoff “Melrose Place,” TelevisionWeek says. A CBS Paramount spokeswoman tells TVWeek the talks about a new “Melrose” have just begun and…
Despite being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Patrick Swayze is putting 12-hour days on the set of “The Beast,” a new series for A&E, the New York Times reports. So far, the “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost” star has missed only a…
With Amy Poehler leaving “Saturday Night Live” after having a baby, Seth Meyers will be anchoring the show’s “Weekend Update” segment alone for the foreseeable future, executive producer Lorne Michaels tells the New York Post. Michaels also says the show…
The New York Times is the latest to notice that Hulu, the web video venture of News Corp. and NBC Universal, is doing fairly well. One popular aspect is having a single commercial between program segments, which contrasts with the…
CNN is trying to get newspapers interested in a new CNN Wire that it says will “provide stories of interest to your newspaper and online readers,” Editor & Publisher reports. At this point, CNN says it is talking to a…
Analysts say that if the economy affects the advertising market, CBS Corp. may not be able to maintain its rich dividend, Dow Jones reports. CBS gets about 70% of its revenue from advertising, much of it from hard-hit local stations….
Sony Pictures Entertainment is hoping to give its Web video site Crackle.com a shot in the arm by bringing new management in a new headquarters along with more full-length content from the studio’s library, the Hollywood Reporter says. The site…
Bravo is casting a reality show set in the desert kingdom of Dubai, TelevisionWeek says. The as-yet-untitled series, will track a group of American and British ex-pats at work and at play in the middle east. The show is being…