Columbia TriStar’s television division may have undergone structural changes the past few months, but that hasn’t prevented the company from moving forward with two of its daytime staples, “Ricki Lake” and “Judge Hatchett.”“Ricki” fans likely breathed a collective sigh of…
Comedy8 SIMPLE RULESTouchstone pilot pickup. Auspices: Gamble, Tracy (EP/W pilot); Shadyac, Tom (EP-N/W); Suarez, Flody (EP-N/W); Cameron, W. Bruce (author). Logline: A comedy series based on W. Bruce Cameron’s book “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter … And…
Everyone’s favorite “Friends” are leading a charmed life.In TV land, the NBC show has been revitalized with a new energy feeding off the story line of Rachel’s pregnancy. In real life, negotiations for a final season to wrap up the…
News Corp. smarting from sports costsNews Corp. is taking a $909 million write-down in its fiscal second quarter for advertising revenue shortfalls it will realize during the years remaining on its NFL, Major League Baseball and NASCAR contracts. “You would…
President Bush’s 2003 budget does the entire television business a disservice. Specifically, his proposal to hit broadcasters who haven’t given up their analog spectrum by 2007 with a combined $500 million in annual fees is a wrongheaded approach that, if…
NBC, MGM go for `B.A.I.T.’Los Angeles-Just as NBC is considering a summer 2002 Saturday-night network platform to springboard the launch of “B.A.I.T.” into first-run syndication (see story, Page 2), NBC Enterprises has entered into a deal with MGM to serve…
Digital cable subscribers, compared with direct broadcast satellite subscribers, are less likely to own their own home and are more likely to be single. They are as a group younger and better educated than DBS subscribers. They also are more…
With the economy in recession, the once high-flying news consulting business has taken a hit.“The consulting business is hurting,” said Carl Gottlieb, deputy director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. “I talk to news directors and consultants every day,…
Where have you gone, Ted Turner? CNN turns its lonely eyes to you.OK, it isn’t Simon and Garfunkel, and who among the 18 to 34 set remembers “The Graduate”? But with last month’s cable news ratings causing an earthquake in…
FCC ponders how to handle frequency requestsThe Federal Communications Commission last week launched proceedings to determine what to do when noncommercial broadcasters want to apply for new frequencies that haven’t been specifically reserved for noncommercial operations. The FCC originally wanted…