"American Idol" will tape this week’s first performance featuring the top 13 contestants, reports the New York Post. Says the Post, "Since the series began 10 years ago, perform ances by the "Idol" finalists have always been aired live. But…
"[Mark] Cuban confirmed Sunday evening that he’s had several conversations with [Charlie] Sheen recently about developing programming for HDNet, the cable network Cuban owns," writes Tim MacMahon at ESPN’s website. Cuban, who also owns the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA,…
A winner of seven Grammys and an Academy Award–and a proud one-time nominee for a Cable Ace award–Phil Collins has announced he is leaving the music business. According to an account in the U.K. publication The Press Association, "Health problems…
CBS has given an early renewal to one of its hit sitcoms, and the trouble involving “Two and a Half Men” and its star Charlie Sheen may be one reason, reports Deadline.com. The show is "How I Met Your Mother,"…
Charlie Sheen hosted a rambling 50-minute webcast on Saturday night that he later called a "shameful train wreck filled with blind cuddly puppies." Sheen made the comment on his second show, which went up on UStream at about 10 p.m….
Tech firms and data-gathering services are joining forces with cable and satellite TV operators to step up efforts to match specific types of viewers with specific types of advertising, The Wall Street Journal reports. The approach borrows a strategy widely…
The upfront television market this year could see "double-digit" gains in advertising rates, helped by a revitalized auto market and battles between wireless carriers, the New York Post’s Claire Atkinson reports. Given the health of the advertising market, ratings-poor NBC…
In what could mark her first regular television series role if the show gets picked up, film star Anjelica Huston is joining NBC’s drama pilot "Smash," reports Deadline.com. Huston will play a shrewd and cynical New York theater producer in…
After failing to reach a retransmission consent deal as of midnight, LIN Media’s more than two dozen television stations have gone dark for Dish customers, reports B&C. Dish called LIN "greedy" in a statement, while LIN Chief Executive Vincent L….
To promote "Today’s” new website, the "Today" show will produce a second show that will air only on the Web, reports The New York Times’ Media Decoder blog. The Web-based "Today.com Show" will be a one-time production and will air…