Oprah Winfrey considered Tom Freston, who helped build MTV when he headed Viacom, as chief executive officer of her new OWN network before hiring ex-MTV President Christina Norman, Fortune reports. Freston, who was fired by Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone in…
The Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN sports network will cut 200 jobs within the next year, mostly through not replacing unfilled positions, and will freeze pay to its top executives, the Associated Press reports. Despite such cuts, the network is still…
The Cartoon Network animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” will have some of its first-season previous episodes re-aired on sister station TNT starting Feb. 14, Daily Variety reports. The series, whose Oct. 3 premiere set a ratings record for…
The National Hispanic Media Coalition, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization, sent a petition to the Federal Communications Commission alleging that hate speech is widespread on cable news networks, Broadcasting & Cable reports. CNN’s Lou Dobbs and Fox’s Bill O’Reilly were…
HBO has ordered Alexandra Pelosi’s documentary chronicling Republican views during last year’s presidential campaign, Broadcasting & Cable reports. “Right America, Feeling Wronged—Some Voices From the Campaign Trail” will debut Feb. 16 at 8 p.m., B&C reports. —Danny King
Fox News Channel broadcaster Heather Nauert will begin anchoring “Good Day Wakeup” on Fox’s WNYW starting next week, TVNewser reports. In addition to her anchor duties on Fox News, Nauert does the same for “The Strategy Room” and FoxNews.com, TVNewser…
In another sign of how the struggling economy is affecting the television business, the Disney-ABC Television Group on Wednesday announced that it was cutting jobs across the board. Layoffs had already quietly begun at the company, insiders said. In all,…
Former G4 chief operating officer Dale Hopkins is joining GSN as head of marketing, replacing executive VP Heidi Diamond, who left GSN last month, a network spokeswoman said. Ms. Hopkins most recently had been CEO and commissioner of the Championship…
Former MTV President Christina Norman has been named CEO of Oprah Winfrey’s new cable network, OWN, which is a joint venture with Discovery Communications. Ms. Norman, who left MTV last year, will start her new job Feb. 17. She’ll be…
Ellen Barkin will star in and executive produce an unnamed pilot for HBO, marking the first television show for the actress, Daily Variety reports. The story, written by Shauna Cross, is about a woman who ends a high-profile marriage and…