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In Depth

If a dupoly is good, a triopoly may be better

At a time when executives are trying to squeeze out more for their money, General Manager Steve Mauldin of CBS-owned WFOR-TV, Miami, is running three stations from one facility and stretching the WFOR news department to do more with less.In…

Tape-delayed Games score a hit

NBC affiliates in the Pacific time zone who had to argue long and hard to win network agreement for the Winter Olympics to be carried tape-delayed on the West Coast, were grinning last week like ski jumpers leaning into a…

Guest Commentary: Creative ideas build a station’s bottom line

Memo to general managers: The world of television has changed forever … and the future is uncertain. But one thing is becoming clearer by the minute: If consumers can’t find your show, your TV station or your network … then…

In Promolympics, NBC’s on thin ice

The tail is wagging the Peacock again. Meaning that: At NBC, the network is apparently there to serve the promo department and not-as the good Lord intended-the other way around. And so while there is much to admire, visually at…

Dot-com executives plug back into cable

In the TV business, where two occurrences of almost anything counts as a trend, the simultaneous return of three prodigal cable advertising sales executives from the outer reaches of cyberspace seems at the very least to constitute a no-confidence vote…

Hollings wants to dry up liquor ads

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., told Electronic Media last week that he may hold hearings on the advertising of hard liquor on television because of NBC’s decision late last year to permit such spots.The senator would bring renewed…

Tech Briefs

Warner Bros. to digitally distribute programmingWarner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution signed on with Pathfire to digitally distribute syndicated programming to stations. With Pathfire’s Digital Media Gateway, stations will no longer have to grab programs off satellite feeds at specific times….

Hollywood Notes

Dick Clark Productions purchased A pair of major investors-Mosaic Media Group and Capitol Communications CDPQ-have agreed to buy Dick Clark Productions for roughly $140 million in cash. Mr. Clark, who will remain as chairman of Dick Clark Productions, will be…

AT&T Comcast proxy protects executives

Comcast Corp. and AT&T Corp. appear to be making sure it won’t be easy for an unwanted suitor to foil their proposed $72 billion deal before it closes later this year-and for years afterward.In a 332-page shareholder proxy filed with…

Local Listings

WFAA’s Shipp makes national wavesAfter his national exposure on “Nightline” last week, investigative reporter Brett Shipp from ABC affiliate WFAA-TV, Dallas, has been getting e-mail from colleagues around the country. He appeared to discuss a story WFAA broke Jan. 1…