Steven Spielberg, who struck ratings gold with his epic “Taken” miniseries for the Sci Fi Channel, is again lending his talents to a basic cable project: a 12-hour limited original series for Turner Network Television about the opening of the…
In yet another flip-flop, the National Association of Broadcasters last week said it is going back to its original board-mandated position of support for legislation to roll back the national ownership cap to 35 percent, at least for the time…
Some in network and cable news are raising questions in the wake of last week’s announcement that the Court TV show “Catherine Crier Live” would offer to broadcast local TV news reporting, thus making the reports eligible for national news…
DirecTV’s deal with Nielsen Media Research to create a satellite TV ratings service has several important media planning implications. First and most obvious, ad agency executives say it will help legitimize DirecTV as a component of national TV advertising plans,…
Nearly four years ago, Sharon Levy was handed a unique life-changing opportunity.At the time, she was a public relations executive for Comedy Central and was asked to join David Stanley and Scott Stone for lunch. The duo, who head Stone…
NBC Cable is “looking hard” at creating one or more new digital networks targeting Hispanic Americans. Although no decisions have been made yet, a new network, possibly built around telenovelas or Spanish-language films, could be greenlighted early in 2004.NBC also…
When it comes to selling its U.S. entertainment assets, has Vivendi Universal outsmarted itself?As the Paris-based company continues to use stall tactics and staring contests to help drive up the price of its Vivendi Universal Entertainment unit, a growing number…
Rainbow Media Holdings hopes that last week’s consolidation of its cable channels American Movie Classics, Independent Film Channel and WE: Women’s Entertainment will position the networks to increase their audiences, launch new channels and take advantage of video-on-demand technology, said…
A most unlikely detour from the usual executive career path-namely, a year on the tennis court in the exotic island paradise of Club Med Turkoise-turned out to be the crucial step that led Adam Shaw to a job at Fox,…
Forget the new fall lineups-oh, you already have? Fine, because we have the fall lineups for 2004 here now. Networks plan further ahead than ever, and thanks to the latest computer programs, they already have the projections to show which…