Cable

TV Properties Help Drive News Corp.’s Second Quarter Profit; My Space Brought In Less Revenues Than a Year Ago

News Corp.’s second-quarter profit more than doubled, helped by a 12% rise in advertising at the company’s U.S. channels and a five-fold jump in operating profit from its television unit, Bloomberg reports. The television unit was helped by higher political…

NBC Sports Veteran Ebersol Puts His Stamp on Comcast’s Sports Properties

NBC Sports veteran Dick Ebersol is quickly putting his stamp on Comcast’s sports properties, reports our friend Rich Sandomir in The New York Times’ Media Decoder blog. NBC executives with ties to Ebersol are taking on new roles at the…

USA Network, Which Has Not Had An Executive Dedicated To Reality TV For Almost Three Years, Hires One

USA Network has tapped Heather Olander as senior vice president alternative programming, signaling a return to reality programming for the network, which hasn’t had a dedicated reality executive for almost three years, reports Deadline.com. Olander will report to USA’s president…

Lindsay Lohan Accused of Shoplifting; Charges ‘Likely’

Lindsay Lohan appears to be in hot water again, accused of shoplifting after a visit to a Venice, Calif., jewelry store, TMZ.com reports. Lohan reportedly turned over an expensive piece of jewelry to authorities before they could serve a warrant…

Watchdog Group Wants Cable and Satellite Providers Investigated for Child Porn in Connection With MTV Show

A watchdog group is taking its campaign against a controversial MTV show to another level, reports James Hibberd in Entertainment Weekly’s Inside TV blog. The Parents Television Council wants its members to urge their state officials to investigate local cable…

Anderson Cooper Describes Being Attacked by Angry Mob in Cairo

Anderson Cooper and his crew, in Cairo, Egypt, to cover anti-government protests for CNN, were attacked Wednesday by supporters of embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Reuters reported. The CNN team escaped with scratches, the story said, even as the protests…

Sitcom Star Charged With Driving Under the Influence

A TV and film actress best known for her role on a popular NBC sitcom has been formally charged with driving under the influence after being arrested Jan. 5 in Santa Monica, Calif., CBS News reported. The actress is Jaime…

A TVWeek Public Service: Given the Tough Winter, We Thought You’d Like To Know What Punxsutawney Phil, the Groundhog, Had to Say Today, the 125th Groundhog Day (In case you don’t like Phil’s prediction, we’ve included a clip from the Bill Murray version)

Bill Murray version:

If the Piers Morgan We See on CNN Were a Contestant on ‘America’s Got Talent’ He’d Probably Have to Interrupt Himself With the Buzzer and Get the Big Red X. That’s Because His Ratings on CNN Are Now No Better Than Larry King’s, Whom He Replaced

Piers Morgan’s interview show on CNN last week finished third with an average of 978,000 viewers; almost identical ratings compared with the ratings Larry King was getting in the time slot a year earlier, writes Deadline.com’s Nellie Andreeva in a piece entitled "CNN Hires…

Report: Martin Sheen and Wife Trying Desperately To Gain Control Over Son Charlie’s Life So They Can Help Him

"Charlie Sheen’s family is growing increasingly concerned about his well being, and is quietly discussing going to court to gain conservatorship over him," says RadarOnline.com in an exclusive report. According to the article, "A source tells us: ‘Charlie looks awful… he…