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In Depth

At Press Time

Lions Gate ending its `Tracker’ action hourLos Angeles-Lions Gate Entertainment has pulled the plug on weekly action hour “Tracker,” according to sources. The freshman entry had been averaging a 1.2 season-to-date household rating. Its highest rating came at the end…

Cautious optimism sets the tone for TV buying season

Upfront prognosticators are pegging this as the year of the turnaround, but the big questions are how big the 2002 pie will be and which segment will get the biggest slice.The TV market overall is likely to be up in…

Talent Moves

Hamish Linklater and John Carroll Lynch have joined the cast of “Live From Baghdad,” an HBO original movie. Mr. Lynch is repped by Writers & Artists. Mr. Linklater is repped by Don Buchwald & Associates. … Sydney Tamiia Poitier will…

Canada’s gay TV network gets ready for U.S.

Beating larger players to the punch, a small company in Canada has launched the first television service targeting the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.“It’s an absolutely amazing opportunity to disseminate information, entertain, and connect a community that’s enormous,” said…

Product Spotlight: Fastrack

What it is: Fastrack, a hybrid editing system from Editware, in Grass Valley, Calif., that operates as both a linear and nonlinear editing system.How it works: The Fastrack system interfaces with and controls video servers. In addition, it controls mixers,…

Tech Briefs

TeleCable to test iSurfTV guideMexican cable operator TeleCable de Morelos will pilot test an interactive programming guide developed by iSurfTV, based in Sunnyvale, Calif. TeleCable’s digital subscribers in Cuernavaca, Mexico, will participate in the pilot test, scheduled to launch in…

Syndicators ready to take back what’s theirs

It will take some time for the syndication industry’s major effort toward promoting the value of syndicated shows to pay dividends, say industry experts. However, this upfront season, distributors do expect to regain some precious ground lost last year.Early forecasts…

Original series help cement a network’s brand

During the last several years, the creation of original series has become a vital element in branding a cable network. Some programmers have been at it for a while, and others are relatively new to the original series genre, but…

Who Is News

advertising & agenciesAllison Bloom to senior media buyer, Inter/Media, from media buyer, National Media/E4L, Encino, Calif. Also, Erin Brown to media buyer, from local broadcast buyer, Round 2 Communications, Los Angeles.BroadcastingMichael Hugger to president, Eagle Television Sales, Katz Television Group,…

Upfront Summit Wednesday in New York

Electronic Media and Advertising Age have finalized the speaking roster and schedule for Wednesday’s at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York.More than 400 media buyers, planners, sellers and clients are expected at the event, which will examine this year’s…