In the 1930s, people suffering great depression from the Great Depression went to the movies for escape. They saw lavish, fantastic, ridiculous musicals. Busby Berkeley gave them fountains of beautiful girls, troupes of beautiful girls and a “hall of human…
AOL Time Warner officials must come clean this week on America Online advertising revenues and accounting practices, a new top management team’s executable vision and how it will integrate its disparate operations if it is to salvage any of the…
HBO garnered 93 nominations-the most of any network-when the 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards nominees were announced last week.Its “Six Feet Under” received the most nods (23 nominations overall), including one for outstanding drama series. HBO was also represented in…
The new buzzword at AOL Time Warner is content.With television and print veterans Jeff Bewkes and Don Logan now leading the charge at AOL Time Warner, the media giant will focus on tapping existing Time Warner assets to develop new…
Get prepared for late-night’s version of World War III.Going into a tenth season of late-night sparring, NBC’s “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” still owns sizable ratings advantages over CBS’s “Late Show With David Letterman.” But CBS will seek to even…
Giving the digital television rollout a kick in the pants, Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., told industry lobbyists last week that he has directed his staff to draft legislation to expedite the DTV transition.Under the lawmaker’s plan, the legislation will be…
In Gainesville, Fla., the heat is on. Budd Broadcasting-owned WB affiliate WGFL-TV converted to a CBS affiliate effective July 15. That puts some pressure on the leading station, ABC affiliate WCJB-TV, owned by Diversified Communications. “To have the additional affiliation…
The appointment of Daniel Tibbets last week as Twentieth Television’s VP of production is just the tip of the iceberg as the company gets ready to overhaul its development and programming ranks.The hiring not only reunites Mr. Tibbets with Twentieth’s…
Contrary to what you have been reading lately, the future of public television is bright, very bright indeed. The future of PBS, now that’s another matter. For all the compromises-the beg-a-thons, the corporate-themed programming, the ridiculous pledge fare-public TV still…
Cable rate hearings setWashington-The Senate communications subcommittee has slated oversight hearings Wednesday to consider cable TV rate hikes and other industry issues. The Consumers Union is expected to charge that cable rates have risen 43 percent since 1996, two and…