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With Returning Cast Member as Host, ‘Saturday Night Live’ Hits Ratings High

With a former "Saturday Night Live" star hosting the show over the weekend, the venerable NBC program chalked up its best overnight ratings of the season, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Jimmy Fallon’s return to his old show as host…

NBC Stations Ink Deal to Put Programming in Taxis, Gas Stations

NBC Owned Television Stations and VeriFone Systems Inc. have signed a long-term agreement to put news, information and entertainment programming in more than 12,000 taxi cabs and in thousands of gas stations and other out-of-home platforms, the companies announced today….

Ad Spending Is Up in 2011

Total advertising expenditures for the first nine months of 2011 were up from a year earlier, according to figures released today by Kantar Media. Spending was up 1.5%, finishing finished the period at $104.7 billion, Kantar reported. Growth in spending…

With HBO Deal, Time Warner Cable Customers Can Watch Pay Channel’s Shows on Mobile Devices; Now Only One Major Cable Company Remains Unsigned

Time Warner Cable has struck a deal with HBO to allow its subscribers to watch the pay-cable channel’s shows on mobile devices such as iPads and on computers, reports the Los Angeles Times’ Company Town blog. The deal comes after…

Things Heat Up in Snooki’s Licensing Lawsuit

"Jersey Shore" star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi has been hit with a counterclaim in her legal battle with licensing company SRG Ventures, reports the New York Post’s Page Six. SRG has filed a $7 million counterclaim against Polizzi and her management…

No. 1 Cable Network Names VP of Comedy

A former ABC Studios executive has been named VP of original comedy series for the No. 1 cable network, Multichannel News reports. Melanie Frankel joins USA Network, which aims to ramp up development of scripted half-hour programs, the report says….

ESPN and NCAA Extend Deal Through 2024

ESPN and the NCAA have extended their television rights agreement through 2023-24, reports the Associated Press. ESPN will have the network worldwide multimedia rights to 24 championships in various sports and exclusive international rights for the "March Madness" men’s basketball…

In What One Analyst Calls ‘A Staggering Loss,’ Top Cable Executive Resigns

In what one analyst is calling a "staggering loss," a top cable executive has announced that he will  depart later this month for undisclosed reasons, reports Bloomberg. The executive is the well-known, well-respected and well-liked Tom Rutledge, the chief operating…

Netflix Launches Effort to Win Back the Favor of Its Subscribers

In an effort to regain the approval of its subscribers over the holidays, Netflix is offering DVD subscribers an extra disc as a freebie for orders placed during the year-end promotion, reports Bloomberg. The promotion is a reversal of Netflix’s…

‘Seinfeld’ Alum, ‘Chelsea Lately’ Team Behind New Fox Sitcom

Fox has bought a single-camera sitcom that will star a "Chelsea Lately" regular and will have veterans of “Seinfeld” and “Brothers & Sisters” on the writing team, reports Deadline.com. Comedian Josh Wolf, a regular panelist on “Lately,” will star in…