Digital

Sinclair Signs ABC Affiliation Pact for 9 TV Stations–Concedes That Part of Deal Is a Pass Through To ABC of Some of Sinclair’s Retrans Monies

Sinclair Broadcast Group has signed a new affiliation agreement with ABC Network covering nine television stations, and as part of the deal Sinclair acknowledged that the agreement includes a license fee, based in part on retransmission consent revenue, MediaWeek reports. According…

DirecTV to Launch ESPN’s 3D Channel

DirecTV has become the fist distributor to announce that it will carry ESPN’s new 3D channel. According to the ESPN announcement, "ESPN 3D will showcase a minimum of 85 live sporting events during its first year, beginning June 11 with…

DirecTV In Retrans Conflict with Midwest Stations; Could Affect March Madness at One Station

Citadel Communications is caught in a conflict with DirecTV over retransmission consent, reports B&C. Three Citadel stations, ABC affiliates WOI Des Moines, Iowa and KLKN Lincoln, Nebraska, and CBS affiliate WHBF Davenport, Iowa, will go dark at midnight March 31…

Is Anderson Cooper Going to Try a Talk Format?

CNN’s Anderson Cooper may be trying out a new format this spring, TVNewser reports. TVNewser picked up on a Cindy Adams tidbit in the NY Post this week that said Cooper would be headlining a nightly talk show for the…

Nikki Finke Says She Was Offered $450,000 Annual Salary, Plus $1 Million Malibu Home, To Become Editor-in-Chief of The Hollywood Reporter

Nikke Finke, of Deadline Hollywood fame, says that in January she was offered an annual salary of $450,000 and a $1 million house in Malibu to become editor-in-chief of venerable trade publication The Hollywood Reporter. In a piece at dealine.com today…

Spike Launching Fight Site

Spike TV is getting into mixed martial arts in an even bigger way, with the launch of the site UltimateFighter.com for fans, B&C reports. The site will launch along with the 11th season of Spike’s UFC series, “The Ultimate Fighter."…

CW to Double Ad Content in the Online Version of Its Shows

The CW plans to double the number of commercials it runs in Web versions of its shows, bringing them to par with the number of commercials in the broadcast versions, the Wall Street Journal reports [The WSJ uses a subscription…

FCC Chief Vague on Whether Broadcasters Would be Forced to Give Up Spectrum

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, at a House Communications & Internet Subcommittee hearing on the FCC’s broadband plan, was vague when asked whether broadcasters would be forced to give up spectrum if voluntary measures didn’t work, B&C reports. Genachowski…

Facebook Blamed For Increased Rates of Sexually Transmitted Disease in Britain

Facebook is being blamed by a professor in the United Kingdom for facilitating the increase in a sexually transmitted disease, the New York Daily News reports, referring to an article in the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph. Says the Daily News: "The…

In Time for the Upfront: Starcom, Zenith Hook Up with Rentrak to Get Data From 15 Million Set-top Boxes

Starcom Media Group Exchange has signed a four-month deal to get set-top data from Rentrak, MediaDailyNews reports. According to the article, " ‘[W]hat makes it so exciting,’ says Tracey Scheppach, senior vice president of innovations director at SMGX. ’15 million…