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In Depth

Syndication on the Way to a Comeback

The dark era may or may not be over. Analysts and insiders, who for years predicted the fall of syndicated programming, received a thump in 2003 as audiences rediscovered syndie fare, new series broke from the pack and ad rates…

Showtime Near Deal for Posner Book

Showtime Networks is near an agreement to acquire Gerald Posner’s controversial best seller “Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11,” sources close to the deal said. The book is an exhaustive chronicle of two decades of intelligence failures and…

Corrections

* In “Pursuit of a Story” (TelevisionWeek, Dec. 15), “This American Life” is broadcast from WBEZ, Chicago.* In the chart “Regional Cable Networks at a Glance” (TelevisionWeek, Dec. 8), the Ohio News Network has 1.5 million subscribers.* In “Football Promotion…

A haircut, a shave and a cell

This amusing photo hit the Internet not long after Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces in Iraq. The artist, who used a computer program to combine the cast of the hit show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” with…

USA Launching Movie Night

USA Network is planning to introduce a hosted-movie franchise on Thursday nights.Hosted movies, such as TBS’s “Dinner and a Movie,” are attractive to programmers because they reinforce the network’s brand, and to advertisers because they create opportunities for product placement…

PIONEER-TiVo DVRS: SETTING THE STANDARD

I have seen the future, and it’s called the Pioneer-TiVo DVR/DVD recorder.

Super Bowl Spots May Sell at Discount

CBS has received a sluggish response to its efforts in recent weeks to sell off its remaining Super Bowl ad time-eight 30-second commercial units worth about $17 million.

Researchers Examine Holes in Nielsen Ratings Methods

After weeks of finger-pointing and countless news stories about the decline in viewing this season among young adult men, the core issue apparently is not simply the missing men but the notion that they may represent the canaries in the…

Syndies Score in the Double Digits

Although network prime-time viewing suffered a loss of 492,000 households during the recent November sweeps, syndicators were flush with success. Syndicated shows were up an average of 619,000 households, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The Ratings Wizard

Monday, Dec. 1, 2003-Sunday, Dec. 7, 2003