Viacom has all but assured Tom Freston and Leslie Moonves that either or both executives will replace Sumner Redstone as CEO of Viacom by 2007, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows. According to the document, which details the executives’…
NBC Universal Cable was set last week to release to the video-on-demand platform the Ben Stiller/Jennifer Aniston comedy “Along Came Polly,” with an added-value tie-in to what’s known as Movie Cash-certificates for movie theater tickets. Customers who buy the movie…
Predictably, the first movers in hi-def were the networks with the content most pleasing to the HD eye. ABC, CBS and NBC started introducing HD programming as early as 1998. Fox plans to begin this fall offering the format for…
The major broadcast networks have cut back on coverage of the political convention, but viewers will still be able to watch as much as they wish. A number of cable channels are planning extensive coverage. Here is a rundown: ABC…
| Network | Too Early to Grade Summer
Now that Court TV has achieved full distribution to more than 81 million homes, the network wants to leverage its reach and prime-time ratings growth over the last year through a new revenue stream-DVDs. It’s a model that has worked…
Fox-owned KDVR-TV in Denver beefed up its investigative staff earlier this month to compete head-on in the investigative arena with the other TV stations in Denver. The station now counts four reporters, rather than one, in the unit. The team…
| Cable | Network Schedules Heavy on Downbeat Programming
Former ABC Drama executive Heather Kadin has been named VP of drama development for Warner Bros. Television, while WBTV’s Rachel Kaplan has been promoted from director of drama development to VP. Lisa Lang, formerly VP in current programming at the…
It has been reported that “CSI” series regulars Jorja Fox and George Eads might return to the hit CBS procedural drama, just days after they were fired over a pay dispute. Mr. Eads said at the Television Critics Association press…