NBC’s ambitious two-hour rollout for the new season of its musical drama series “Smash” fell to earth with a loud bang Tuesday night, based on Nielsen overnights. TVbytheNumbers.com reports that the broadcast mustered only a 1.1 average rating in the…
In the biggest media acquisition since 2007, John Malone’s Liberty Global has agreed to buy British cable-television provider Virgin Media, Bloomberg reports. The $16 billion cash and stock deal sets up a challenge by Malone to Rupert Murdoch in Europe’s…
Sales of advertising time for the 2014 Super Bowl have already begun, and the city where the game will be played could have an impact on prices — at least if Fox can successfully make that pitch, reports Brian Steinberg…
ABC announced that its Academy Awards telecast has sold out of commercial time, with the sellout coming at the fastest pace for the telecast in more than a decade. The Oscars were virtually sold out by Christmas, the network revealed….
On a night when CBS rolled out the season premiere of “Rules of Engagement” and two franchise reality shows went head-to-head on ABC and NBC, it was CBS that came out on top among the broadcast networks, based on Nielsen…
One advertiser appears to have reached far more viewers with its Super Bowl commercials than the rest, based on Kantar Media Audiences commercial ratings. But that advertiser isn’t like the rest, either. Based on the Kantar research, the advertiser that…
Queen Latifah’s production company, Flavor Unit Entertainment, announced it has inked an exclusive licensing agreement for movies in the U.S. with Netflix. Flavor Unit, a collaboration between Latifah and Shakim Compere, will make available films from the company to debut…
While CBS continues to issue press releases about the huge numbers racked up by its coverage of Sunday’s Super Bowl, the cable channel Animal Planet has its own record numbers to crow about. The channel announced that its Puppy Bowl…
John Malone’s Liberty Global is in discussions with Virgin Media for a deal to expand to Europe, a move that would challenge fellow billionaire Rupert Murdoch and his British Sky Broadcasting Group, reports Bloomberg. Virgin Media, a U.K. cable-television provider…
One of the rookie daytime talk shows — part of the freshman crop of syndicated shows that have been vying to fill the void left by the end of “Oprah” — is getting the ax. B&C reports that “The Ricki Lake…