The Emmys are getting a socially responsible spinoff. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced Thursday that the organization will launch a new awards show honoring achievement in programming “with a conscience.” Dubbed “The Television Academy Honors,” the new…
Rejecting senators’ accusations the FCC is ignoring its main duty—protecting the public interest—in order to justify media ownership rule changes and would better spend its time on digital transition issues, FCC chairman Kevin J. Martin is promising to move ahead…
Directors Impatient to Get to Bargaining Table The Directors Guild of America will only delay its contract renewal talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers until after Jan. 1, giving writers and producers about 15 days to…
Jeff Sellinger, who has been VP of CBS Mobile since November 2006, has been promoted to senior VP of the division. “Jeff is one of the rare people who combines brilliant implementation skills with extraordinary creativity,” Cyriac Roeding, executive VP…
The announcement of the Golden Globes has raised some spirits in a Hollywood beset by writers’ strike malaise. Some stars made note of the work stoppage as they reacted to their nominations for the awards distributed by the Hollywood Foreign…
It had to happen eventually. Penthouse Media Group, which publishes the eponymous porn magazine, will offer its branded adult-entertainment on-demand videos available in high-definition some time next year, marking the first time adult video-on-demand service will be available in HD,…
The player: Derek Chang, executive vice president of content strategy and development for DirecTV Inc. The play: Chang helped oversee DirecTV’s jump to 87 high-definition channels from 18 at the beginning of the year. With another satellite scheduled for launch…
CompUSA Will Shut Stores After Holidays CompUSA Inc. will close its doors after the holidays. The Dallas-based retailer, which was acquired by a unit of restructuring firm Gordon Brothers Group LLC, had already closed about half of its 200-odd stores…
HD programming picks for Dec. 13-19: “Fletch,” “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,” “Scarface” “Fletch” and “Fletch Lives” (HDNet). Friday, Dec. 14, 8:15 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET: Chevy Chase stars as a Los Angeles reporter who uses disguises and charm…
Discovery Holding Co. and Advance/Newhouse Programming Partnership have agreed to combine their stakes in Discovery Communications, creating a new publicly traded holding company that will own 100% of Discovery Communications. Discovery Holding also said that it will spin off its…