ABC has greenlit “The Middle,” a comedy pilot, after landing Patricia Heaton for the lead, the Hollywood Reporter says. Julie Anne Robinson will direct the pilot, after also entering a blind commitment to direct another pilot during the current development…
FX is developing new drama “AR2” from Paul Scheuring, creator and executive producer on “Prison Break,” and Thomas Schlamme, a director and executive producer of “The West Wing,” the Hollywood Reporter says. Scheuring describes the project as “’Les Miserables’ in…
World Wrestling Entertainment has launched a social-networking site, WWE Universe, aimed at fostering fan discussion on all things WWE-related, Daily Variety reports. More than 200,000 users have signed up for the site, which began testing last April. By drawing fans…
Decker Anstrom, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association board chairman, may step down from his post later this week, Broadcasting & Cable reports, citing unnamed executives in the cable industry. Anstrom’s departure comes as a result of NBC Universal’s recent…
Online television technology providers Permission TV and Move Networks have paired up in a deal that calls for the two companies to have the option to integrate their online video tools and sell jointly to customers. Under the agreement, Permission…
Dan Abrams, whose time slot on MSNBC was given to Rachel Maddow, is tapping a corral of journalists as labor for a public relations consultancy he has set up, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mr. Abrams, who was chief at…
The Art Directors Guild changed some of the rules for its production design awards, Daily Variety reports. Two awards at the Feb. 14 event will be given for single-camera TV shows instead of one, while voting will be mostly tallied…
Irving Gertz, who composed themes for television shows such as “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” and “Daniel Boone,” died last week in Los Angeles at age 93, Daily Variety reports. Gertz also wrote scores for more than 200…
Public-television station WNET will build a studio at New York’s Lincoln Center, the Hollywood Reporter says. The studio, scheduled for completion next spring, will house programming for station WLIW21 as well as for Thirteen, the newspaper reports. —Danny King
A panel of IBM and Accenture executives said more U.S. viewers are getting their television content from the Internet because of more choices and dissatisfaction with traditional advertising practices on TV, Multichannel News reports. Meanwhile, executives at NBC and CBS…