Comcast Corp. and Cox Communications have given Michael Eisner a competitive challenge to worry about that could do serious damage to The Walt Disney Co. and its balance sheet long before dissident shareholders Roy Disney and Stanley Gold launch their…
While most genres struggled toward the end of the November sweeps, celebrity-driven newsmagazines-both weekly hours and strips-continued their climb up the charts, buoyed by news of the Michael Jackson scandal.According to Nielsen Media Research figures for the week ending Nov….
The NBC owned-and-operated stations are fine-tuning their schedules for 2004, and the results will be seen beginning in February.Last week the group announced it had officially renewed freshman talk show “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” for a second season and canceled…
Changes to the programming and on-air look of the TV Guide Channel are persuading more cable systems to insert and sell local ads on the network.During 2003 TV Guide boosted the number of subscribers reached by local advertising from 22…
Whoopi Goldberg and Emma Thompson will be honored at a gala luncheon Wednesday in New York with 2003 Muse Awards for Outstanding Vision and Achievement, presented by New York Women in Film & Television. This year’s honorees also include Bonnie…
No more waiting for 25 minutes after and five minutes until the hour to bring “Today” viewers up to date on the news, traffic and weather in local markets. NBC last month gave affiliates and network-owned stations permission to run…
Comcast Communications is nearing an agreement to purchase TechTV for nearly $300 million, sources familiar with the deal said Friday. The cable operator plans to merge the network with its struggling video game channel G4.Representatives for Comcast and G4 declined…
Court TV plans to spend $6 million on promotion-its biggest promo-spending burst to date-to get viewers to tune in during January, when the network plans to premiere an original movie and debut new episodes of several series.While Court will air…
If off-network marketing and promotional efforts were ratings points, ABC’s “Good Morning America” would have been the big winner of the battle of the network morning stars this November sweeps.An unusual promo push behind “GMA” underlined the fact that the…
A panel of multiple system operator heavyweights agreed last week that satellite providers represent a major threat to the cable industry. But most panelists said the technical capabilities of the cable platform give them a long-term advantage-if they can get…