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In Depth

Time Change Helps Newsmags During Sweeps

Newsmagazine distributors got an early holiday present as ratings for weekend editions and strips received ratings jolts at the end of daylight-saving time, which coincided with the onset of November sweeps.Despite pre-emptions on the West Coast due to the Southern…

Breaking News Archives

‘Survivor’ Gets Plum Post-Super Bowl Slot CBS will premiere “Survivor: All-Stars” following the Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 1. The “All-Star” edition — the series’ eighth — will feature 18 of the most memorable previous contestants fighting it out for the…

KCTV to Drop Sports, Use Metro Cable Reports

In a highly unusual instance of cooperation between a cable operator and a local broadcast station, the CBS affiliate in Kansas City, Mo., plans to eliminate its in-house sports news department and replace it on the air with reports from…

‘Ambush’ Getting National Launch

Following five months of regional tests, Twentieth Television is giving daytime syndicated makeover strip “Ambush Makeover” a national launch beginning September 2004.The series, in which stylists from around the country give show participants guidance on their looks, premiered July 7,…

A Working-Class Protest

Some TV shows just don’t go away quietly. Such is the case with “EastEnders,” which was canceled in September on BBC America, though it is still hugely popular in the United Kingdom, where it attracts up to 20 million viewers…

Editorial: Pay-for-Play Should Be Nipped in the Bud

They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but NBC affiliate WFLA-TV, a Media General station in Tampa, Fla., probably would just as soon do without the attention it has received for its decision to run paid interview segments…

Liberty Media Wants Discovery Stake

Liberty Media CEO Robert Bennett said Friday he would be interested in acquiring the 25 percent stake in Discovery Communications that is now held by cable operator Cox Communications, another sign that Liberty is looking to become a more active…

Cable Notes

John Malone’s Liberty Media said last week that its third-quarter profit nearly doubled to $41 million, or 2 cents a share, from a year-earlier profit of $22 million, or 1 cent a share, while revenue surged 72 percent to $905…

It’s on the Bag

In New York and Los Angeles, where entertainment awards shows are consumed like popcorn, cable network Trio is waging its biggest promotional campaign ever. To back its “Awards Show Mania” month in December, the Vivendi Universal-owned network is stamping its…

NBC Wants to Unload Pax

It looks as if Lowell “Bud” Paxson’s dream of launching a new television network has died.With NBC’s decision last week to unwind its 32 percent stake in Paxson Communications, Mr. Paxson’s plan to tap NBC’s programming has gone up in…