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In Depth

Susan Blakely Reborn As an Advocate

She was Julie Prescott, the all-American girl America fell in love with in the landmark miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man.” She made us cry as tragic movie star Frances Farmer in the TV movie “Will There Really Be a Morning?”…

Viacom Not About to Give Up on Spike

There was “rampant public confusion” among viewers and “chaos and loss of good will” among cable operators, production executives and advertisers after a judge granted director Spike Lee’s request to temporarily bar Viacom from renaming TNN “Spike TV.”Such claims of…

Spinning Web Into Profits

Online advertising has become a catalyst for TV stations to generate new broadcast dollars. That’s the conclusion of a report that local media research firm Borrell Associates plans to release early this week. The findings are backed up by mid-year…

The WB’s Star Factory

Go to the Web site of any Big 4 network and you will find predictably static program descriptions, network news and schedule information. Now go The WB’s site. Different story. The WB’s site reads like a temple of fan worship…

DAVE’S NO ANGEL, BUT HE’S EARNED HIS WINGS

As you must recall, Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life” opens with shots of a starry sky and the voices of George Bailey’s friends and neighbors praying for his welfare-“Dear God, please help George …” and so on. And in…

BUSINESS REPORTERS ARE MADE, NOT BORN

Stations are looking everywhere, from the local newspaper business pages to the financial world, for people with the expertise to handle the job of financial reporter.Ilyce Glink, financial reporter for WGN-TV, the Tribune Broadcasting Co.-owned independent in Chicago, was a…

Biz Briefs

Vivendi Universal moves one step closer June 23 to selling its U.S. entertainment assets, accepting bids from the six parties interested in either some or all of the French conglomerate’s properties.A source close to the company said that Paris-based Vivendi…

AMC Woes Shock Industry

Cablevision Systems saw its shares drop 6 percent in the two trading days that followed the company’s revelation that it had fired 14 executives at its AMC Networks unit for accounting improprieties.However, several Wall Street analysts surveyed by TelevisionWeek said…

CBS-Times Feud Carries Warning

As increasingly large, diverse companies run the media, flare-ups like the one last week between CBS News and The New York Times could become more common. At the center of the dispute is whether CBS went beyond acceptable ethical standards…

Close-up: Sheldon Rabinowitz

ABC Entertainment Television Group has named Sheldon Rabinowitz senior VP, finance. Mr. Rabinowitz will be responsible for all financial, accounting and planning functions for ABC Entertainment, Touchstone Television, ABC Daytime and ABC Kids. Before joining ABC, Mr. Rabinowitz served two…