The Insider
The Insider was at the first screening, in New York, Nov. 18, of “Live From Baghdad,” the HBO adaptation of former CNN producer Robert Weiner’s book about the news network’s breakthrough in 1991 by virtue of its reporting on the…
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Tech Briefs
TechTV’s interactive channel, TechTVi, has performed well on Cablevision’s iO digital platform, the network announced last week. The service launched in April and has served nearly one video-on-demand clip for every four subscribing households, placing it in the top 25…
AOL TW picture will get worse before it gets better
The turnaround plan announced for AOL last week will test the patience of investors and consumers before it ever yields the intended results more than a year from now. And that could be the online unit’s undoing.While the broad outline…
Editorial: Networks must resist giveaway of prime time
Hearst-Argyle CEO David Barrett wants ABC to hand over the 10 p.m.-to-11 p.m. hour to its stations, a move that would shake up the very definition of prime time. But as radical as his suggestion may be, it is worth…
Quick Takes
“Making available more local time to run ad inventory is a good move. Sinclair’s recent Fox affiliate buyback agreement is such a move. I think that local broadcasters ought to take back lost ground with cable.” Mark Aitken, director, advanced…
NBC still king in many markets
Despite the growing strength of the CBS prime-time lineup, NBC’s affiliates still claimed the late local news crown in many markets in the November sweeps. NBC’s owned-and-operated stations finished first in late local news in 11 of 14 markets.In the…
Adelstein could break FCC impasse
A long-pending affiliate request that the Federal Communications Commission crack down on alleged network abuse could finally be resolved now that Jonathan Adelstein has stepped in as the agency’s fifth commissioner, breaking an impasse.The agency’s other four commissioners have been…
Guest Commentary: Teed-off at CBS
In this era of rampant corporate greed and malfeasance, I’d like to congratulate CBS for having the courage to put its values ahead of profit.I’m referring, of course, to the Masters golf tournament, a broadcast that will likely lose at…
Local Listings
Miami owned-and-operated CBS station WFOR-TV and its sister station UPN O&O WBFS-TV have partnered with The Miami Herald to share resources starting this month. WFOR has installed a bureau inside the Miami Herald’s newsroom that is staffed by a reporter/producer…
FCC to hold media ownership hearing
In a surprise about-face, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell last week announced that the agency will hold a field hearing on its media ownership regulations sometime in February in Richmond, Va.Late last month, Michael Copps, a Democratic FCC commissioner,…