Sony Pictures Entertainment plans to eliminate 300 jobs or about 4% of its workforce because of declining DVD sales and the overall effects of the recession, the Los Angeles Times reports. The layoffs follow cutbacks at Warner Bros., Universal Pictures…
In preparing for television’s upfront advertising market, the intrepid folks at National Geographic Channel have discovered a mysterious zone not affected by the recession. Executives at the channel say first-quarter ad sales are up 11% and that the network is…
Brian Philips, general manager and executive vice president of Viacom’s CMT, has been promoted to president of the country music network. Philips, who has run the network since 2001, will continue to lead programming and marketing efforts as well as…
Disney Channel will begin production on “High School Musical 4” later this year, with the film scheduled to debut on the cable network in 2010, the Hartford Courant reports. In Disney’s announcement Tuesday, the company said the film’s story will…
Jami Gertz is joining HBO’s “Entourage” as the wife of Andrew Klein, an agent at the Miller/Gold firm, the Hollywood Reporter says. Autumn Reeser is also joining the show as a junior agent named Lizzy, the publication says. —Aimee Picchi
GolTV, a soccer network, will debut on Time Warner Cable’s central New York division on March 3, Multichannel News reports. Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed, the publication says. —Aimee Picchi
Comcast’s G4 network plans to start a pop-culture series targeting young men, which will investigate subjects such as ninja schools and superheros, Daily Variety reports. The show, “G4 Underground,” will debut on March 29 with six episodes in the spring…
TV Land Awards has asked Neil Patrick Harris to host the April 19 event, Daily Variety reports. The award ceremony will air as a 90-minute special on TV Land a week later, the publication says. —Aimee Picchi
Rainbow Media said it will be offering interactive advertising during this year’s upfront. The interactive elements will be available to subscribers on cable systems owned by Rainbow parent Cablevision Systems. “The interactive elements available to advertisers on Rainbow networks including…