Cable

Interest Groups Want FCC to Delay Comcast-NBCU Merger, Examine Past Comcast Deals

Public-interest groups are asking the Federal Communications Commission to defer action on Comcast’s merger with NBC Universal until Comcast makes its programming contracts available going back to 2006, reports B&C. The groups, including the Media Access Project and Free Press,…

Big Year-End Retransmission Dispute Pits Time Warner Cable Against Sinclair Broadcast Group

As another year draws to a close, another fight over retransmission consent fees has arisen, with Time Warner Cable in a battle over the fees the cable operator pays to Sinclair Broadcast Group to retransmit 33 of its 58 television…

Cold Weather Heats Up The Weather Channel’s Ratings

The winter storm that has chilled much of the country is having a different effect on The Weather Channel, which has seen its ratings heat up. The network announced Tuesday that it reached more total viewers over the holiday weekend…

Major Cable System Makes 11th-Hour Decision to Carry OWN

An important distribution gap has been closed just days before the launch of Oprah Winfrey’s new cable channel, OWN, The New York Times reports. Cablevision has agreed to carry the channel, which launches Jan. 1, the story reports. OWN will…

Prelim Nears in Michael Jackson Manslaughter Case–With About 30 Witnesses to Be Called

The preliminary hearing in the manslaughter case against Michael Jackson doctor Conrad Murray is expected to last about two weeks and to include about 30 witnesses, TMZ.com reports. The Web site reports that a “Perry Mason moment” is not expected,…

Beloved ‘Star Wars’ Installment, Travolta Musical, Watergate Drama and Leslie Nielsen Comedy Are Among the Movies Added to National Film Registry

One of the movies in the original “Star Wars” trilogy and a hugely successful John Travolta disco movie are among the latest selections by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Film Registry, the AP reports. “The…

Kelsey Grammer Looking at a Hefty Price Tag for His Divorce

The cost to former "Frasier" star Kelsey Grammer to end his marriage to Camille–currently starring as one of Bravo’s "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills"–will be a whopping $50 million, reports TMZ.com. Their 13-year marriage did not include a pre-nup, exposing…

Univision Beats All the English-Language Broadcast Nets in Monday Ratings

On a Monday night when the major broadcast networks aired nothing but reruns and settled for subpar viewer totals, Spanish-language broadcaster Univision was able to pull off an outright win for the night in the adults 18-49 demo, TVbytheNumbers.com reports….

Not in My Back Yard: Americans Don’t Want ‘Jersey Shore’ Gang in Their Neighborhood

In a new poll by real estate marketplace Zillow.com asking Americans who they would want living next door to them, the least desirable neighbors are the people in the reality TV series "Jersey Shore," reports Reuters.com. The person they would…

Ron Howard Spearheading Massive Project to Present Stephen King Epic as Film Series Combined With TV Show

Oscar-winning director Ron Howard plans to adapt Stephen King’s seven-part novel "The Dark Tower" as a series of feature films and a television show, reports The Washington Post. Howard has been working on the big project with producer Brian Grazer…