TLC’s Fashion Police
When the BBC made TLC aware of its makeover series “What Not to Wear” about a year and a half ago, there was no doubt that the hit United Kingdom series had major potential in the United States. After all,…
In Depth
Rollback Effort Showing Signs of Life
The congressional effort to repeal new Federal Communications Commission ownership rules, which many said was dead for this year, is showing new signs of life. More than 200 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including at least nine Republicans,…
Cablevision Move Sparks Speculation About Sale
Has Cablevision hung out a “for sale” sign?With the announcement last week that the cable operator plans to spin off its satellite and entertainment cable channels into a separate company, Wall Street is betting the remaining cable systems are being…
Will the Monkey’s Option Be Picked Up?
If you were one of the millions who weren’t caught up in Pepsi’s “Play for a Billion” bottle-cap sweepstakes on The WB this past summer, you may be surprised to learn serious talks are under way to renew both the…
Big Buy Fires Up Scatter Market
Citigroup made a deposit worth between $70 million and $100 million into TV network coffers this month, giving a shot in the arm to a very quiet scatter market.Network ad executives said the Citigroup purchase was the biggest for the…
Major Sports Carriers Getting NBA Price Hikes
On the eve of another National Basketball Association season, ABC/ESPN and TNT are securing moderate price increases from advertisers for commercials-even though the games’ ratings slipped in some key areas last year.Trish Frohman, senior VP of Turner Sports Sales, said…
MIGRATING VIEWERS SHIFTING DOLLARS
The big news in the prime-time television season under way is not the networks’ overpriced and overhyped series, many of which will be canceled before it’s over. It is the upset in TV’s status quo that threatens to shift millions…
When Ashton Kutcher Attacks
It’s one thing when everyone talks about a hit show. It’s something else entirely when that show changes the language. Such is the case with “Punk’d,” which has replaced “prank,” “con” and “hoax” in the national lexicon.Since March, “Punk’d,” the…
Miramax Takes Stab at ‘Kill Bill’ TV Run
Is TV ready for “Kill Bill?”The bloody Quentin Tarantino film from Miramax was No. 1 at the box office when it opened two weeks ago, and some cable networks say they could be interested in the edgy movie, whose broadcast…
MSOs, Nets Cited for Hikes
The battle between cable operators and programmers over who’s to blame for skyrocketing cable rates took an unexpected turn last week, with the General Accounting Office pointing the federal government’s finger at both parties.In a rapidly escalating public relations war,…