Business

Sure, HDTV Is Available on 20-Inch TV Screens, but Does It Matter?

Getting the top-quality high-definition television resolution on a smaller set sounds like a good deal — after all, a 20-inch set will set you back just $300 — but in reality, the benefits of such sharp resolution on small screens…

No Critical Huzzahs Like ‘Mad Men,’ But TNT’s ‘Rizzoli & Isles’ and Shows Like It are Cable’s Meat & Potatoes

TNT’s "Rizzoli & Isles" has generally received lukewarm reviews, but it’s still no surprise why this female buddy show is considered one of the summer’s breakout hits, reports Brian Steinberg in Advertising Age Its ratings have been robust for a…

Blogs and Twitter Feeds Become Source of TV Inspiration — but Success Isn’t a Sure Thing

Blogs and Twitter feeds are becoming a new source of inspiration for the entertainment industry, but successfully translating a feed based on 140-character messages into television show or film isn’t necessarily a sure thing, reports the Los Angeles Times. For…

To Get More Funding for OWN From Discovery, Oprah Commits to Personally Appearing More on the Network

Discovery Communications recently said it would make a commitment to invest more than the $100 million it had originally agreed to give to the upcoming Oprah Winfrey Network that it co-owns with Oprah Winfrey. Now, Discovery has revealed in an SEC filing that in…

Sorry, Snooki: Trademark Application for Nickname Turned Down

Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi was turned down by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which rejected her application to trademark her nickname for printed matter reports The Smoking Gun. The reason for the turn down was because of a "likelihood of…

What Would Papa Smurf Do? Probably Not What Cartoon’s Importer Did — Attempt to Extort Son-in-Law for $11 Million

Stuart Ross, who brought the Smurfs to the U.S. in the 1980s, took a no-jail plea in a case that involved extorting his son-in-law, a private equity executive with Blackstone Group, reports the New York Post. Ross denied a likeness…

Google TV Ads Sign on DirecTV For Auction-Based Ad System

Google TV has signed on DirecTV for Google’s auction-based ad system, reports our friend David Goetzl at MediaDailyNews. Google TV also represents inventory on Dish Network. Thus Goetzl writes, "[T]he chance to reach 33 million homes — which is a…

Former WNBC-TV Exec Takes CNBC Post

Tom O’Brien, the former president and GM of WNBC-TV New York, has landed a new gig as chief revenue officer at CNBC, reports B&C. This is a new position for the company, which–like WNBC–is part of the NBC Universal group….

What Do Maria Bartiromo, Jeff Bewkes, Rocco Commisso, Jim Gray, Paul Kagan and Tim Wirth Have in Common?

CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo; Time Warner Inc. Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes; Mediacom Communications founder, Chairman and CEO Rocco Commisso; Jim Gray, former vice chairman, Time Warner Cable, and former chairman and CEO, PrimeStar Partners; PK Worldmedia Chairman and CEO…

How the Steven Slater Story–He Is the Flight Attendant Who Took the Evacuation Slide to Quit His Job This Week–Is Stifling JetBlue’s Social Media Strategy

The story this week of the JetBlue flight attendant who flamboyantly left his job by activating a plane’s evacuation slide after an altercation with an unruly passenger has caught the public’s imagination, but JetBlue has had a hard time talking about it. "At…