TiVo Reports Q4 Loss

Digital video recorder maker TiVo reported a narrowed fiscal fourth-quarter loss of $12.4 million, or 18 cents a share, vs. a year-ago loss of $32.5 million, or 56 cents a share, as the company saw a healthy rise in subscriptions. Revenue for the three months ended Jan. 31 surged 85 percent to $42.6 million.

For the year, the San Jose, Calif.-based company narrowed its loss to $32 million, or 48 cents a share, compared with red ink of $82.3 million, or $1.61 per share, a year earlier, as revenue jumped 47 percent to $141.1 million.

The company cited the addition of 330,000 new subscriptions during the period, with more than 60 percent of the new additions come from TiVo’s partnership with DirecTV.

Those gains, coupled with the $143.2 million in cash that TiVo has on hand, the company said it was launching a $50 million subscription acquisition plan that executives hope would double TiVo’s subscriber base by the end of fiscal year 2006.

Sting to Perform at Turner’s Upfront Event: Sting will perform at Turner Broadcasting’s upfront event for its TNT and TBS networks. The event will be held April 22 at The Armory in New York.

‘Kingdom Hospital’ Debut Rules for ABC: “Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital” gave ABC its strongest debut for a new drama series in 21/2 years. On the final night of February sweeps, the two-hour debut of “Kingdom” won its time slot in adults 18 to 49 with a 5.5/14 and total viewers with 14 million, according to Nielsen Media Research fast affiliate data.

It was also the No. 1 drama premiere of the season in adults 18 to 49 on any broadcast network. The second hour of “Hospital” from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. scored a 5.4/14 in adults 18 to 49, beating NBC’s stalwart “Law & Order,” which had a second-place 5.0/14.

Fox won the 8 p.m.-to-9 p.m. hour with first-place finishes in adults 18 to 49 for “That ’70s Show” (4.6/13) and “American Idol” (8.5/22). “Idol” was the most-watched show of the night with 19.4 million viewers.

For the night, Fox won in adults 18 to 49 with a 5.7/15, followed by ABC (4.8/13), NBC (4.0/10), CBS (3.7/10), The WB (2.0/5) and UPN (1.5/4). In total viewers, Fox won the night with 12.7 million, followed by ABC (12.5 million), CBS (11.8 million), NBC (10.8 million), The WB (4.9 million) and UPN (3.5 million).

‘Real Sports’ Gets 8 Sports Emmy Nominations: “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” on HBO was the most-nominated show (eight nominations), and ESPN was the most-nominated network (22 nods) when candidates for the 25th Annual Sports Emmy Awards were announced today.

Fox racked up 15 nominations, followed by ABC (14 nominations); NBC (12); CBS (nine); Fox Sports Net and TNT (five each); ABC/ESPN, ESPN2 and NFL Network (three each); ESPN Classic and Outdoor Life Network (two each); and ESPN/NBC, NBC/HBO, iN Demand pay-per-view, NBC/TNT and USA (one each).

The Sports Emmys will be presented at a black-tie dinner ceremony April 19 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York. Leading sports broadcasters, personalities and television professionals will be presenters at the event. Additionally, this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Ed and Steve Sabol of NFL Films in recognition of their pioneering efforts and significant contributions to sports programming.

A complete lost of nominees is posted at www.emmyonline.org.

Lifetime Renews ‘1-800-MISSING’: Lifetime has renewed the drama series “1-800-MISSING” for a second season, the network announced today. Vivica A. Fox (“Kill Bill: Vol. 1,” “Soul Food”) will replace lead actress Gloria Reuben to co-star with Caterina Scorsone. Ms. Fox will play an FBI agent who’ll bend any rule to solve a missing person’s case.

Martha Stewart Living Reports Mixed Results: Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia reported mixed results Thursday, as the lifestyle company swung to a fourth-quarter profit but saw its revenue decline as the company continued to labor under the dark cloud of its founder, who is on trial for obstruction of justice.

The New York-based company reported a quarterly profit of $4.6 million, or 9 cents a share, compared with a loss of $2 million, or 4 cents a share, a year ago, when the company booked a $7.7 million restructuring charge. Revenue fell 9 percent to $70.9 million.

For the year, the company posted a loss of $2.8 million, or 6 cents a share, vs. a year-earlier profit of $7.3 million, or 15 cents a share, on a 17 percent revenue decline to $245.8 million.

CEO Sharon Patrick said the company “continued to feel the negative impact of the events surrounding Martha Stewart’s legal situation,” and said the company is preparing for a variety of outcomes of the trial, which is now in the jury-deliberation phase.

Among the business units, publishing and Internet/direct commerce were the hardest hit, while the television operations suffered declines as well.

Indeed, the TV operations recorded a 7 percent decline in the quarter and a 4 percent drop for the year as a result of lower license fee revenue, higher production costs and increased marketing costs at the company’s nationally syndicated show.

‘DeGeneres’ Gets 12 Daytime Emmy Nominations: Ellen DeGeneres and her freshman show racked up 12 Daytime Emmy nominations to edge ABC’s “The View,” which received 11 of the nominations announced Thursday by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. “The Oprah Winfrey Show” received 4 nominations and spinoff “Dr. Phil” earned three. In the middle of the talk pack with 6 nominations each: “Live With Regis and Kelly” and “The Wayne Brady Show,” which has been canceled.

“Martha Stewart Living” earned 6 nominations while a jury deliberated her fate on charges related to a stock sale.

CBS was the most-nominated network, getting 53 nods, followed by ABC with 50 and NBC with 19.

“The Young and The Restless” contributed 16 nominations to CBS, while “All My Children” and “As the World Turns” contributed 14 nominations each to the totals of ABC and CBS, respectively. “ATWT” and Procter & Gamble stablemate “Guiding Light” earned a combined total of 26 nominations and are both vying for best drama for the first time in 10 years.

Programming on public broadcasting stations earned 35 nominations, followed by Showtime (11 nominations); Disney Channel (10); Nickelodeon (5); Cartoon Network, Food Network, Kids WB and Travel Channel (4 apiece); Soap Network (3); Discovery Channel, Discovery Health and WE: Women’s Entertainment (2 apiece); and MTV, Learning Channel, The WB Network, American Movie Classics, Comedy Central, Discovery Kids, HBO and Nick Jr. (1 apiece).

The 31st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, presented in cooperation with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall in a ceremony at 9 p.m. Friday, May 21, on NBC.

The Creative Craft Daytime Emmy Awards will be presented Saturday, May 15, in New York at the Marriott Marquis Hotel and in Los Angeles at the Kodak Theatre Ballroom.

A complete lost of nominees is posted at www.emmyonline.org.

Leone Becomes WCBS President, General Manager: Lew Leone has been promoted to president and general manager of WCBS-TV, New York, the flagship CBS-owned station, whose ratings and revenues have improved steadily since Mr. Leone was named VP and general manager in summer 2002. “Lew has brought great energy, ideas and leadership to CBS 2, which will continue to drive our growth,” said Fred Reynolds, president and CEO of the Viacom Television Stations Group.

Jill Arrington Joins ESPN: Jill Arrington has joined ESPN, where she will be a sideline reporter on “College Football Thursday” and provide features for “College GameDay” and “SportsCenter.”

Ms. Arrington has been CBS Sports’ lead sideline reporter for college football and reporter on “The NFL Today” show since September 2000.