Universal is negotiating with Glen A. Larson to write a movie version of “Battlestar Galactica” as the Sci Fi Channel series airs its final episodes, the Hollywood Reporter says. The movie wouldn’t have a connection to the cable series, except…
CNBC put reporter Rick Santelli’s rant about President Obama’s housing plan on the Web to generate traffic on its Web site, the New York Times reports. When Santelli was called out by Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs, his profile was…
Television news coverage of President Obama’s stimulus package featured political commentators but few economists, the Associated Press reports. The Center for Economic and Policy Research said the media had “badly failed” to inform the public about what the stimulus plan…
John Sayles has been hired to write HBO’s “Scar Tissue,” a project based on the childhood of Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis, Daily Variety reports. Kiedis’ dad sold drugs while hobnobbing with rock stars on the Sunset Strip,…
Recently retired quarterback Brett Favre could be a nifty replacement for Emmitt Smith on ESPN, USA Today reports. Norby Williamson, an ESPN executive, tells the paper the network hopes to meet with Favre next month. “He’s a funny, dynamic guy…
As more recession-wary Americans opt to stay at home rather than shell out for movies, cable networks are adding made-for-cable movies to their schedules, Multichannel News reports. Once a staple of the broadcasters in the 1970s and 80s, TV movies…
MTV is banking on 16 new unscripted series and some scripted and animated shows in 2009 to boost its ratings, Broadcasting & Cable says. The strategy marks a radical change in its programming style, which is needed because the cable…
Staying cable’s top sports network isn’t cheap, the Wall Street Journal says. As sports rights fees rise, revenues at Disney’s Cable Networks, including ESPN, grew just 2% in the fiscal first quarter and operating income fell 12% the paper notes….
On Discovery Channel’s “Wreckreation Nation,” host Dave Mordal participates in off-beat competitions around the United States, the New York Times says. The first episode featured lawn-mower racing in Ohio and alligator wrestling in Colorado. “Mordal made it out of the…
Media titans John Malone and Charles Ergen are bidding for money-losing Sirius XM Radio in part for the tax losses owning the company could provide, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sirius has at least $6 billion in tax losses that…