no hang-ups for hung
UC Berkeley student William Hung’s startlingly popular performance of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” on “American Idol” Jan. 27 did not help him on the show – he didn’t win the contest – but it landed him a record deal, a…
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Proliferating Nets Chase Big Market
Spanish-language television in the United States today looks a lot like the English-language TV landscape in the 1980s, a time when over-the-air broadcasters still dominated television viewing while cable programmers launched new niche services at a dizzying pace.In the 2004…
Show Shines Light on Abducted Kids
Mark Burnett, the producer behind the CBS hit “Survivor” and NBC’s “The Apprentice,” is developing a very different kind of reality show that will chronicle the heart-wrenching searches for kidnapped children. CBS confirmed that it has ordered the pilot but…
Court TV Takes ‘ROI’ for a Spin
Court TV is taking media buyers for a ride.Instead of the usual PowerPoint presentation followed by cocktails, Court TV is revving up what it’s touting as the industry’s first mobile upfront presentation.Last week, the Court TV bus, covered in a…
B. Smith Makes a Home at Discovery
The departure of Christopher Lowell from the Discovery Channel has opened the door for Barbara Smith on the cable network and at the same time closed the door on veteran syndicated series “B. Smith With Style.”Distributor Tribune Entertainment confirmed that…
Checking Facts Basic to Good Journalism
Let’s see, I’ve been called a hooker on national TV, a phony by a large Ohio newspaper and an actress by the newspaper that prides itself in having “all the news that’s fit to print.” Yet if the truth had…
Viacom’s Bressler Not Gloating Over EchoStar
Earlier this month Viacom was in a high-profile stare-down with No. 2 satellite operator EchoStar Communications over programming fees for carriage of networks such as CBS, MTV and Comedy Central. The battle involved tricky must-carry issues and even stirred up…
Integrated Deals Work for Discovery
The upfront’s not that big a deal to advertiser-friendly Discovery Communications.Not when cross-platform and worth from $5 million to $100 million already account for more than 20 percent of the programmers’ total ad revenues, said Joe Abruzzese, president, advertising sales,…
Light Touch Needed on Kids Advertising
Some key figures involved in advertising and media buying sounded an alarm during the recent children’s ad market, warning that this upfront could be the last. Those predictions may have been overstated, but they do have some basis in reality.At…
Roving Eye
1. Recording artist Michelle Branch, second from left, gets together with Comcast’s David Klein, left, and Oxygen’s Geraldine Laybourne and Geoffrey Darby at the taping of Oxygen’s “Michelle Branch Custom Concert” March 11 in San Francisco.2. Documentary filmmakers Chris Hegedus,…