Chuck Ross

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Chuck Ross is the managing director of TVWeek.com. He's been involved in the TV business ever since he sold cable TV subscriptions in Santa Monica, Calif., door-to-door in the mid-to-late 1970s. He's had regular gigs reporting and/or editing about TV and advertising for Cablevision magazine,The Hollywood Reporter, the San Francisco Chronicle, Inside Media and Advertising Age. He first joined the predecessor to TVWeek, Electronic Media, in 2000.

Showtime Announces Renewal of Comedy Series

Showtime has announced the renewal of a comedy series that has become a fixture for the network, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed blog. "Weeds" will return for an eighth season, as the pay cable net ordered 13 new…

Viacom and Nielsen Investigating Unexplained Drop in Nickelodeon Ratings; Viacom Posts Higher Profits

Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman said his company and the Nielsen Co. will look into an “anomaly” in ratings for Nickelodeon, Advertising Age reports, citing a Bloomberg News story. The sudden double-digit drop in ratings, which Dauman called “inexplicable,” occurred in…

Ashton Kutcher Shifts His Twitter Strategy After Stumbling Into Joe Paterno Controversy

Ashton Kutcher has announced some changes in his Twitter practices after a couple of blunders. He initially said he would stop using Twitter — at least until he found a way to avoid blowing it — after he stumbled into…

Viacom Reports Bigger Profits, Investigates ‘Inexplicable’ Ratings Drop at Nickelodeon — Abrupt Decline Doesn’t Square with Set-Top Box Data

Advertising Age Viacom, owner of MTV and Paramount Pictures, topped analysts’ profit and revenue estimates for the fourth quarter, but said it is working with Nielsen to investigate an abrupt and "inexplicable" drop in Nickelodeon’s ratings in mid-September, Bloomberg News…

Ricky Gervais Ready to Jump Into Void and Host Oscars — And He Appears to Be on Track for an Improbable Return to Golden Globes

Ricky Gervais, whose awards show hosting gigs have produced, um, mixed results (to put it delicately), says he’s ready to step in following the departure of Eddie Murphy as host of the upcoming Oscars, THR reports. Defying predictions after a…

Spike TV Hires Disney Exec for Key Programming Post

Spike TV has named a Disney/ABC Cable Networks Group executive to the post of executive VP, programming, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Tom Zappala, recently the executive vice president of acquisitions and scheduling at Disney/ABC, gets the Spike job, the…

Creator of Long-Running Cartoon Dies

The creator of a panel cartoon that has been appearing in newspapers since 1936 has died, People magazine reports. Bil Keane, who created “Family Circus,” was 89. Keane succumbed Tuesday to congestive heart failure at his home in Paradise Valley,…

MSNBC Balks at Letting Pat Buchanan Plug His New Book; Is ‘Bigoted Rhetoric’ to Blame?

MSNBC is reportedly keeping a high-profile political analyst off the air just as he’s making the rounds to promote his new book, TVNewser reports. Pat Buchanan has been on the other major cable news networks with his book "Suicide of…

Longtime HBO Exec Lands at NBCU

An executive who was with HBO for 33 years before departing in July has accepted a job in the NBCUniversal corporate family, B&C reports. Ross Greenburg, the former president of HBO Sports, will produce documentaries for the NBC Sports Group,…

Veteran Network Newsman Dies

A veteran broadcast television network newsman who was a pioneer of political journalism has died, ABC News reports. Hal Bruno, the longtime political director for ABC News, was 83. Bruno also once worked for TVWeek’s sister publication Advertising Age. Bruno…