The book tour blues
Someone once said, or might have said, “You see one green room, you’ve seen them all.” OK, nobody to my knowledge did say it, but I do feel as though I have seen them all. The reason is simple, as…
In Depth
Disney unwise to sell radio operations
Regarding Diane Mermigas’ story “plans new TV model” (EM, Oct. 7), perhaps experts can explain a few things to me. Though a longtime broadcaster who works for ABC News-Network Radio, I’m just a lay person when it comes to Wall…
New technology ready for conflict
As the specter of war in Iraq looms larger every day, television networks are preparing not only to dispatch journalists but also to deploy technological resources to the region. In some cases, the technology represents an improvement over the tools…
Breaking News Archives
Posted Monday, Oct. 21 Cable firms OK reporting plan In an unprecedented show of unity, the 11 publicly reporting cable operators signed off on voluntary guidelines to provide more consistent details of industry operating metrics. The move comes in response…
Evan Sternschein
Title: Senior VP, national ad sales, Discovery Networks, U.S.Recent interesting deal: “Two recent deals stand out. The first was the cross-platform partnership with Procter & Gamble and MediaVest across several Discovery properties, including the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, the…
Premium services are a tough sell in tough times
The faltering economy has taken a toll on the number of new direct broadcast satellite subscribers who are willing to pay for premium services. That percentage has fallen from 62 percent in 2000 to just 50 percent in 2002, according…
Harry Cross
Title: Chief operating officer of Snell & Wilcox, based in Hampshire, England.Background: Mr. Cross trained as an accountant with Arthur Andersen and worked at the firm for three years. He also served as managing director for the U.K.’s Brimar, a…
How sustainable is the ad recovery?
The debate is raging about how real and sustainable the current advertising recovery is, and some of the biggest media players are taking sides.Mel Karmazin, Viacom’s chief operating officer, recently declared that “extraordinarily strong advertising demand” has pushed CBS’s fourth-quarter…
Station groups at a glance
Dennis SwansonExecutive VP, chief operating officer, Viacom Television Stations GroupNumber of stations: 39 (20 CBS, 18 UPN, one independent)Number of stations with news: 25Fred YoungSenior VP, news, Hearst-Argyle TelevisionNumber of stations: 27Number of stations with news: 25Phil LombardoCEO, Citadel CommunicationsNumber…
ITV in 2003
OpenTV last week had some good news and bad news.The bad news: The interactive TV software company laid off nearly 50 percent of its 670 employees.The good news: An interactive TV company actually had 670 employees.ITV companies, which were supposed…