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.

She Wrote ‘Oo La La Sasson’ and Other Commercials, But She’ll Be Best Remembered For Co-Writing a String of Hits of the ’60s, Including: ‘Leader of the Pack,’ ‘Da Doo Ron Ron,’ ‘Chapel of Love,’ ‘River Deep, Mountain High’; Ellie Greenwich Dead at 68

Ellie Greenwich, one of the most prolific writers of hit songs in the early 1960s–who later wrote dozens of TV commercials–has died at 68 of a heart attack. The web has many obituaries about her today. This one is excellent,…

Dominick Dunne, 83, Dies of Cancer. Best Known for Chronicling Trials in Print and on TV, He Was Actually a TV Pioneer, Having Worked on One of the First and Most Beloved Kids Programs Ever, ‘The Howdy Doody Show’

Dominick Dunne, perhaps best known for writing about court trials for Vanity Fair and commenting about them on what was then Court TV, has died at age 83, of bladder cancer. Dunne started his career working as a stage manager…

Stand-Up Comic Sued by Her Mother-in-Law for Making Mother-in-Law Jokes on Comedy Central, Other Venues

Comic Sunda Croonquist has been sued by her mother-in-law, Ruth Zafrin, in U.S. District Court in New Jersey for making mother-in-law jokes on Comedy Central, on other networks, in live performances and on recordings, according to the Associated Press. According…

Okay Planners, You’re Being Bombarded by Clients Wanting Product Placement in TV Shows. Time to Think a Little Out of Your Comfort Zone, as This Article Attests

By Brian SteinbergAdvertising Age Spanish-language network Univision is making an "American Idol" play by launching musical talent contest "¡Viva el Sueño!" (Live the Dream!"). The show will pit 14 contestants against each other to determine which of them will have…

Sen. Edward Kennedy, Who Died Tuesday Night, Finally Mastered How to Be Very Effective on TV. But as the N.Y. Times Recalls, TV Was Kennedy’s Undoing When He Challenged Then Incumbent Jimmy Carter for the Democratic Presidential Nomination

Here’ the verbatim account by John Corry, who at the time wrote about media for the New York Times. This appeared as part of a much larger article about style vs. content on TV in the Feb. 26, 1984 edition of…

‘Big Brother’ Canceled in the U.K. by Channel 4

Channel 4 in the U.K. has confirmed that next year’s airing of "Big Brother" will be its last on the channel, Variety reports. Now in its 10th season on Channel 4, the show is pulling about 2 million viewers per…

CBS Thinks It Has the Jay Leno Stopper, for One Night at Least: the Season Finale of ‘Big Brother’

CBS has decided to expand the season finale of "Big Brother" from one hour to two hours. By doing that the last hour of the popular summer seies–which is up 5% this season in total viewers–will now compete with the second…

Reality Series Featuring the Jackson Brothers a Go on A&E

Cable’s A&E has confirmed that it plans a reality series focused on the brothers of Michael Jackson, but didn’t say when it would air, the New York Times reports. A previously announced special (back-door pilot) was shot and the series ordered before Michael’s sudden death…

CW’s ‘One Tree Hill’ Plans to Air Episodes Featuring Co-Star Who Pled Guilty to Selling Social Security Numbers

Even though actor Antwon Tanner pled guilty in a Brooklyn federal court last week to selling more than a dozen Social Security numbers, he’ll still appear in at least the first few episodes of the new season of CW’s “One…

Bravo’s ‘The Real Housewives’ Makes First Syndication Deal

NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution has made a deal with NBC’s owned TV stations for a one-hour syndication strip of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives,” to air in Fall 2010, B&C reports. The all-barter show, drawn from Bravo’s different editions of “Housewives,”…