For the week ended Dec. 25, holiday shopping and a slew of repeats appeared to hit syndicated programming in the ratings, with virtually all of the first season offerings either flat or down for the week.The highest-rated debuting first-run strip…
ABC’s broadcast of the Rose Bowl Wednesday night drew the highest rating for a college football game since 1987. The game, in which Texas upset Southern California during the final 19 seconds, drew a 21.7 Nielsen Media Research rating, up…
“The Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart has been secured to host the 78th Academy Awards telecast, his first stint as an Oscar headliner. The 78th Oscar telecast will air Sunday, March 5, 2006, on ABC.“As a performer, I’m truly honored to…
EchoStar announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas plans to expand its high-definition offerings with the rollout of a new HD package starting Feb. 1 that will allow it to deliver more than 25 national HD channels total,…
Comedy Central will offer “South Park” and “Chappelle’s Show” content on mobile phones starting this month, the network announced Thursday. The deal is the first mobile content agreement for Comedy Central, which is partnering with Amp’d Mobile. The deal includes…
Two Nexstar Broadcasting Group-owned NBC affiliates are refusing to carry “The Book of Daniel,” a series that debuts with two back-to-back episodes Friday on NBC and features Jesus as a character who chats with a pill-popping Episcopal minister. KARK-TV in…
Fox Entertainment Group and satellite operator DirecTV announced Thursday that they reached a video-on-demand agreement under which content from Fox Broadcasting and FX will be available to DirecTV customers, including new episodes of prime-time FX series that can be viewed…
Bravo has ordered a seven-episode docu-soap reality series called “The Real Housewives of Orange County.” The one-hour series follows five women living in a gated Southern California community and will debut March 21. “Bravo continues to innovate in the reality…
During Thursday morning’s opening keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show, Sony Corp.’s Chairman and CEO Howard Stringer announced that Sony Pictures’ syndicated game shows “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” will be available in high-definition starting this fall. They will be…
During his traditional Consumer Electronics Show pre-show opening keynote address on Wednesday Microsoft founder Bill Gates announced partnerships with several television entities, including MTV Networks, DirecTV and Comedy Central. During a speech that focused largely on the attributes of Microsoft’s…