Unilever has launched a version of “Ugly Betty” in China, a market where it has less than a 2% market share for its Dove products, the Wall Street Journal reports. A deal brokered by Mindshare ensures that Unilever is the…
Charter Communications reached tentative retransmission agreements with Belo Corp.’s CBS affiliate in St. Louis, its ABC affiliate in Norfolk, Va., and its NBC affiliate in Charlotte, N.C., Multichannel News says, citing messages on those stations’ Web sites. Belo had warned…
African-American oriented networks BET and TV One are both planning extensive coverage of Barack Obama’s inauguration as America’s 44th president, the Associated Press reports. Neither network has done much to cover other presidents being sworn in. “This is an opportunity…
CBS deserves credit for having a good TV season, with five series up in ratings versus a year ago and broadcast’s only new hit, “The Mentalist,” the Washington Post says in a series of pre-Television Critics Association Press Tour columns….
A prime-time edition of “The Today Show” looking back at the year’s big news stories drew only 10% more viewers than the breakfast show draws on an average morning, the New York Times notes. Using “Today” was just one way…
Real life Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio and his deputies have a starring role in a new show on Fox Reality Channel that springs stings on people with outstanding warrants, the Associated Press reports. People caught on camera must sign releases…
If politics makes strange bedfellows, meetings in the greenrooms of Washington’s political shows can breed friendships between people on the far ends of the ideological spectrum, the Los Angeles Times says. Rule number one, the paper says, is “what happens…
Pro sports leagues are finding that live feeds of their games are being pirated and broadcast on the Internet, the New York Times says. The development is becoming a problem as the leagues try to build a business in getting…
USA Today offers a stimulus plan designed to improve the quality of what’s on television. Among the items: a boycott by viewers if actors go on strike; a call for shows that better reflect racial and class diversity; and giving…
Major League Baseball is set to launch its new cable channel in 50 million homes on Jan. 1, Advertising Age notices. MLB Network CEO Tony Petitti concedes the launch comes amid a tough economy. “Things are challenging out there,” he…