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Mark Mandala, Former President of the ABC TV Network, Dead at 72

Mark Mandala, the popular former president of the ABC Television Network, has died at age 72. An avid golfer, Mandala passed away while playing golf on Saturday in Dorset, Vermont. He had retired from ABC in 1994, after serving 32…

La Toya Bombshell: Michael Was Murdered for the Music Publishing Rights He Owned

La Toya Jackson, Michael’s sister, says her brother was murdered, according to the UK publication News of the World. "We don’t think just one person was involved in the murder. It was a conspiracy to get Michael’s money,"  she told…

Raging Controversy: Time For Sports Programming to Move to C3 Ratings? At Stake: Fate of an $8 Billion Market

With a letter that went out to clients last week from Nielsen Media Research to its clients, there’s a raging debate whether or not the $8 billion-plus live sports marketplace should move from live ratings to C3 ratings. The veteran…

Jon With a Date (It’s not Kate)

Jon Gosselin shows off new girlfriend, Hailey Glassman, as he travels in France, according to the Boston Herald. —Chuck Ross

Networks Vying for First Jailhouse Interview with Madoff

ABC, CBS and NBC have confirmed that that are all trying to woo Bernie Madoff for an interview, B&C reports. Madoff was recently sentenced to prison for a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. —Chuck Ross

Showtime Lines Up New Show From Craig Wright; It’s 180 Degrees From the Show He Previously Created, ‘Dirty Sexy Money’

Showtime is developing a religion-themed drama called “Revelation,”  Variety reports. The CBS TV Studios series comes from David Janollari and Craig Wright, creator of “Dirty Sexy Money." Interestingly, Wright is a former minister. Janollari used to be a partner of…

Cox Cable Wants to Up VOD Offerings to 100 Top-rated Shows Per Week

Cox Cable wants to offer, on video-on-demand, 100 "of America’s top-rated television programs from that week," Cox president Pat Esser told Multichannel News. Currently the cable operator offers 50 to 60 shows per week on its VOD service. Cox is targeting…

FCC Asked To Force Cablevision to Sell HD Sports Programming to Rival

Verizon Cmmmunications wants the Federal Communications Commission to force Cablevision to sell HD programming from Cablevision’s  Madison Square Garden Nets to Verizon’s Fios TV service, Multichannel News reports. In addition, "Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal [has written to the FCC] arguing that an…

MTV Boards the Big Train in New Coming-of-Age Series, Follows ‘Hung’s’ Footsteps

MTV is following in HBO’s footsteps and ordered a new series about a big member, the Hollywood Reporter says. “Hard Times” will follow the story of an unknown 15-year-old high school student who accidentally reveals his impressive manhood to the…

International Olympic Committee Unhappy About New U.S. Olympic Cable Channel

The International Olympic Committee criticized the U.S. Olympic Committee’s plan to launch an Olympics cable channel with Comcast, saying it could have a negative impact on other Olympic broadcasters and sponsors, the Wall Street Journal says. The IOC, which is…