Top dogs open NCTA The June 9 Opening General Session of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s 52nd annual National Show will be headlined by Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect, Microsoft Corp.; Mel Karmazin, president and chief operating…
Craig Plestis has been named VP, alternative programs, for NBC Entertainment. Mr. Plestis was formerly VP, on-air promotions, The NBC Agency. He will be responsible for overseeing and developing alternative series programs. He currently oversees the new unscripted series For…
Australia native Poppy Montgomery made a name for herself playing Marilyn Monroe on the CBS miniseries Blonde, but this actress says she was built for the one-hour drama schedule. “I love working week after week,” she said. “I go nuts…
Loyalty has paid off for NBC’s sophomore dramedy Scrubs, according to the show’s creator-executive producer Bill Lawrence. By maintaining continuity during the past two seasons, “We have evolved and not repeated the mistakes from the first year-being too cartoony or…
The consolidation of media planning assignments may not be as visible as the consolidation of media buying accounts that transformed Madison Avenue over the past several years, but its implications are more far-reaching, especially for entrenched advertising options like television….
Having emerged from the rigors of the prime-time pilot season with two NBC series pickups, one of TV’s last surviving independent production and distribution companies, Carsey-Werner-Mandabach, faces new financial challenges posed by this week’s pending media deregulation. At the very…
The professional balancing act carried off by both Marg Helgenberger and the character she plays on CBS drama series CSI has not gone unnoticed by those closest to them. Ms. Helgenberger describes her stripper-turned-crime-scene-investigator character Catherine Willows as “a very…
The 2002-03 season is over, as are May sweeps. One of the most successful upfront selling seasons in history is now on the books. The summer offers some promising TV programming, as does the coming fall season. After all the…
Univision’s $2.3 billion acquisition of Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. was coming under increasingly heavy attack from Democrats in Washington last week, largely out of concerns that the combination of the biggest Spanish-language broadcaster and largest radio chain may be too GOP…
The Simpsons-prime time’s longest-running animated series and longest-running sitcom currently on the air-managed to stay fresh in its 14th season by returning to its roots, executive producer Al Jean said. “We tried to go back to the reason why people…