Broadcasting & Cable back issues from October 2005:
FCC chief calls for better 911: Martin reveals lessons from two hurricanes.(Federal Communications Commission)
Oct 03, 2005 ... The issue of emergency communications has become a priority for Washington regulators and lawmakers after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita exposed massive communications failures. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who appeared at two of three hearings on the issue last week, took time out with B&C's ...
'Daily Show' crew's new projects.(NEWS & COMMENT)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005; ... The gang from The Daily Show With Jon Stewart will take another stab at publishing after the success of America (The Book), which spent several weeks atop The New York Times bestseller list. While acknowledging the deal, host Jon Stewart and executive producer Ben Karlin are mum on the ...
Court to debut live call-in show.(Courtroom Television Network Inc.)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005; ... Court TV will launch Cutler & Hayes, a weekly live call-in show with defense attorneys Bruce Cutler and Ed Hayes beginning Oct. 14. The duo--who combined have defended such high-profile clients as late Mafia boss John Gotti, music producer Phil Spector (both Cutler clients), actor Robert ...
Networks ponder schedule shuffles.(National Broadcasting Company Inc.)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005; ... For all the murders, aliens and abductions that have occurred two weeks into the fall season, the big action is yet to come. Network executives are sifting through numbers to see what shows should be moved or cancelled, and which should be pulled off the bench. NBC Friday tried ...
Where to be and what to watch ...(B&C WEEK)
Oct 03, 2005; ... Monday, Oct. 3 Listen up, people. The Mississippi Cable Telecommunications Association in Jackson, Miss., has cancelled its calendar for the foreseeable future, since the MCTA's member cable systems are in post-Katrina disarray. The nixed events include the three-day fall ...
To Tivo or not to TiVo.(usage of digital video recorders)
Oct 03, 2005; ... For me, the moment when the digital video recorder finally zapped beyond the early-adapter stage to the mainstream occurred last week. I was taking my kids to school on Monday when I heard about my 10-year-old, Mafia, getting into an impassioned discussion with a group of her classmates ....
TV grudge match reignites: stations and cable brace for new retransmission-consent talks.(Nexstar Broadcasting Corp. negotiating with local television stations for retransmission costs)
Oct 03, 2005; ... For months, station owners have praised Nexstar Broadcasting for standing up to cable operators in the battle that is known in TV circles as retransmission consent. Nexstar Broadcasting is insistent on forcing cable systems to pay cash to retransmit its local stations' signals ....
The B&C: week of September 23-28.(NEWS & COMMENT)(Illustration)
Oct 03, 2005 ... <Pre> THE B&C WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 23-28 THE B&C 10 WEEKYTD 0.4%-6.6% BROADCAST TV GROUPS WEEKYTD -1.6% -15.4% CABLE OPERATORS WEEKYTD 1.2%-6.0% RADIO WEEKYTD 2.3%-5.4% ...
Tribune tax effect.(Tribune Co. (Chicago, Illinois)'s shares dropped by -7.4%)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... -7.4% There's nothing like losing a $1 billion dispute with the IRS to tank a company's stock. Tribune Co. lost a case inherited when it acquired ...
Click here for 'Chris': as networks Webcast shows, skeptics wonder how money can be made.(Chris Rock )
Oct 03, 2005; ... Chris Rock fans who Googled the comedian last week saw a blue box linking to the debut episode of Everybody Hates Chris, UPN's fall darling. Google and UPN offered surfers the 22-minute premiere gratis and free of advertising--no pop-ups, no sponsor links, no spots during the ...
MTV's different note.(MTV Networks Inc.'s music television program)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005; ... MTV was slated to premiere the first half-hour of the second season of Diddy's Making the Band 3 on its broadband site Overdrive on Oct. 1, a week before the one-hour premiere runs on TV Oct. 6. Unlike Google's ad-free episode of UPN's Everybody Hates Chris, the 22-minute show ...
While McKinsey vets, Viacom sweats.(Viacom Inc.'s reorganizing affects McKinsey and Company Inc.)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005; ... The opportunities offered by the impending division of Viacom into two entities have both sides of the company excited, for different reasons. MTV Networks folks, heading into the side considered the youngster with the most growth potential, love being acknowledged as the star ...
Go scripted? E!ureka?(E! channel selecting the celebrities for their programs)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... Given that the E! channel recently terminated Tara Reid's beveragelicious travelogue, Taradise, and red-carpet gusher Star Jones Reynolds is reportedly unlikely to return after her recent Emmy shmoozefest, the question arises: Whither E!? One likely answer, which should get Hollywood ...
Veiny, Vidi, Vici.(Alessandra Stanley and her opinions of public service)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... The New York Times' TV critic Alessandra Stanley suffered the indignity of a Times "Editors' Note" last week as the paper finally budged on Nudge-gate, admitting on Sept. 27 that Fox News Channel's Geraldo Rivera did not use a "factual" nudge when beating a Hurricane Katrina rescuer to the ...
Freshman class, with senior status: networks are increasingly willing to entrust new shows to inexperienced showrunners. Here's how the rookies handle the pressure.(Cover Story)
Oct 03, 2005; ... Paula Pell was a little frazzled recently on the first night of taping for a new NBC midseason comedy, Thick and Thin. While she had a decade as a writer and performer for Saturday Night Live under her belt, this was her first time as an executive producer, or showrunner. She was the boss ....
Indecent underexposure.(obscenity complaints against cable television industry reduced )(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... Broadcasters' self-regulation on the indecency front may be paying off, at least in terms of complaints. According to the FCC's quarterly report, released last week, indecency and obscenity complaints against broadcast TV and radio dropped from 157,016 in first quarter 2005 to ...
Peer-to-peer.(control of piracy )(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... Key members of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week were intent on giving the Justice Department more weapons in the fight to protect copyrighted material--movies, TV shows, songs--from digital piracy. If more help isn't provided, said Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), piracy will ...
Networks ask FCC to delay Kids' rules.(WASHINGTON WATCH)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... The parent companies of the Big Three broadcast networks and various cable channels have banded together to try to delay FCC implementation of new children's-TV rules, saying the rules need clarification, were a surprise and suffer legal flaws. Children's activists were not ...
Ratings 9/12-18/05: Nielsen Media Research.(SYNDICATION)(Illustration)
Oct 03, 2005 ... <Pre> RATINGS 9/12-18/05 Nielsen Media Research Top 25 Shows ADUUS 18-49 PROGRAM AA GAA 1 ESPN/NFL 4.7NA 2 Seinfeld (wknd) 3.7 4.5 3 Everybody Loves Raymond ...
What if it aired on cable first? A new business model for daytime and hourlong dramas emerges.(SYNDICATION)
Oct 03, 2005; ... Faced with shifting economics, some major syndicators are mulling a drastic revamp of the way they roll out first-run syndicated strips. And Tribune Entertainment is looking to do the same on weekends as a way to get back into the business of first-run weekly series. In what ...
Making a buck by selling a 'Dollar'.(STATION TO STATION)
Oct 03, 2005; ... In Portland, Maine, skydiving lessons and weekend getaways at the Embassy Suites are selling fast on UPN affiliate WPME and sister WB outlet WPXT. Both stations peddle goods and services from area merchants on a locally produced home-shopping program, The Dollar Saver Show. That "show" is ...
Hard news the hard way: for Rita, planning and improvisation helped.(NEWS & COMMENT)
Oct 03, 2005; ... When Hurricane Rita crashed ashore in southwest Louisiana Sept. 24, anchors from KPLC, the NBC affiliate in Lake Charles, huddled around a single microphone in a local hospital. Reporters were dishing out scraps of news they gathered on cellphones and a lone laptop. To assist ...
At a glance.(MARKET EYE)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
Oct 03, 2005 ... <Pre> AT A GLANCE The Market DMA rank 5 Population6,218,000 TV homes 2,392,000 Income per capita $23,184 TV revenue rank...
Mass. appeal: region is booming, despite some shake-ups.(BOSTON)
Oct 03, 2005; ... According to a recent study, Boston is the most expensive metropolitan area in the U.S. That is both a bane and a boon to local broadcasters. The region is growing quickly, creating new audiences and a fresh supply of advertisers. "This is one of the biggest boom markets in the ...
I want my 'My TV'.(MARKET EYE)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005; ... Area residents now have a station to call their own. Independent outlet WNDS relaunched Sept. 26 as WZMY, calling itself My TV; it offers viewer-contributed programming and hyper-local fare. My TV is the brainchild of Diane Sutter, whose Shooting Star Broadcasting acquired WNDS ...
Making reality more real: cutting-edge gear enriches the genre.(REALITY TV TECH SPECIAL REPORT)
Oct 03, 2005; ... Some critics of reality shows say the unscripted genre has pushed the boundaries of taste. Whether or not one agrees, what's indisputable is that the genre has pushed the boundaries of technology. Be it the miniature spy cameras on The Real World, night-vision cameras on Big Brother or the ...
A business that really needs a hit: lack of momentum is a problem that's cooling off sales.(SYNDICATION SALES SPECIAL REPORT)
Oct 03, 2005; ... Syndication is usually a boom or bust business. This fall, it finds itself in the uneasy middle. Media buyers say syndication will probably end this year up only a bit from 2004. Ad expenditures in the recent upfront tumbled, but cable and broadcast networks also had ...
Some oldies are just better than others.(SYNDICATION SALES SPECIAL REPORT)
Oct 03, 2005; ... Syndicated television's proponents say long-running shows have seen an audience revival in recent years, but surging ratings are hardly a widespread trend. Instead, the stellar performance of a handful of strips--notably, King World's Jeopardy! and The Oprah Winfrey Show--are raising the ...
Straight out of centralcasting: Time Warner Cable is latest to connect news operations with fiber.(TECHNOLOGY)
Oct 03, 2005; ... Thanks to a combination of the pressure to keep costs down and a more widespread fiber-optic network, cable-system operators such as Time Warner Cable (TWC) are centralizing news operations through a single hub. Known as centralcasting, this allows sister news organizations to share ...
Mixing lifestyles with forecasts.(WEATHER CHANNEL)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005; ... Weekend View, the Weather Channel's new lifestyle-oriented program, may have a casual feel to it, with featurettes on hot-air balloon festivals and New England foliage. But making the morning program run smoothly requires leading technologies, such as touch-screen control of data and ...
The prime time race.(Illustration)
Oct 03, 2005 ... <Pre> THE PRIME TIME RACE Top 10 Basic Cable Shows Sept. 19-25 Total Households (in millions) PROGRAM DATE NET HHS 1. NFL: Giants/Chargers 9/25 ESPN 7.2 2. SR: LAX Plane Emergency Lndg 9/21 FOXN 3.8 2 ....
Nielsen Sept. 19-25 ratings.(Illustration)
Oct 03, 2005 ... <Pre> abc Week 1 MONDAY10.7/37# 8:00 16. NFL Monday Night football 8:30 Special9.4/16### 9:00 8. NFL Monday Night 9:30 Football--Washington 10:00 Redskins vs. Dallas Cowboys## ...
TVs.(television broadcasting industry, mergers and acquisitions)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... WDWB(TV) DETROIT PRICE: $97.5 million BUYER: AM Media Holdings LLC (Kenneth Brotman, managing member) SELLER: Granite Broadcasting Corp. (Stuart J. Beck, president) FACILITIES: Ch. 20, 1,500 kW, ant. 1,063 ft. AFFILIATION: The WB ...
Combos.(Double O Radio LLC, Ultimate Broadcasting Network Inc, Key Broadcasting Inc, mergers and acquisitions)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... WBOB(AM) FLORENCE (CINCINNATI), KY.; WTSJ(AM) CINCINNATI PRICE: Swap BUYER: Christian Broadcasting System Ltd (Jonathon R. Yinger, president/director); owns three other stations, none in this market SELLER: Salem Communications Corp. (Edward G. Atsinger ...
FMs.(FM radio stations, mergers and acquisitions)
Oct 03, 2005 ... WXER(FM) PLYMOUTH (SHEBOYGAN), WIS. PRICE: $2.3 million BUYER: Midwest Communications Inc. (Duey E. Wright, president); owns 40 other stations, including WHBL(AM), WBFM(FM) and WHBZ(FM) Sheboygan SELLER: RBH Enterprises Inc. (Randall Hopper, president) ...
AMs.(AM radio stations, mergers and acquisitions)
Oct 03, 2005 ... WLQV(AM) DETROIT PRICE: Swap BUYER: Salem Communications Corp. (Edward G. Atsinger III, president/CEO); owns 103 other stations, including WDTK(AM) Detroit SELLER: Christian Broadcasting System Ltd (Jonathon R. Yinger, president/director) ...
'Onion' guy makes good: executive producer Karlin hits funny bone on a Daily basis.(Ben Karlin)(Biography)
Oct 03, 2005; ... Ben Karlin, executive producer of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, isn't all that familiar with the starving writer's plight. Although countless Hollywood hopefuls pound the pavement and suffer endless rejection before penning a pilot that never airs, Karlin found success shortly after ...
KPRC Houston.(Edward J. Ortelli appointed)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... EDWARD J. ORTELLI, station manager, KVOA Tucson, ...
WBBM Chicago.(John Vitello appointed)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... JOHN VITELLO, production coordinator, Fox, Chicago, ...
Cox Communications Inc.(Mark kaish appointed)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... MARK KAISH, VP, next generation solutions, BellSouth Corp., Atlanta, ...
Warner Bros.(Mike Russo appointed)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... MIKE RUSSO, VP, sales, Warner Bros. domestic cable ...
Discovery.(Discovery Communications Inc promotes Eileen O'Neill, Vivian Schiller)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... At Discovery, Silver Spring, Md.: EILEEN O'NEILL, senior VP/general manager, Discovery Health Channel, promoted to executive ...
NBC News.(National Broadcasting Company Inc appoints Cheryl Gould)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... CHERYL GOULD, VP, CNBC, New ...
NBC Universal.(Susan Haspel appointed)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... SUSAN HASPEL, executive producer, The More You Know, PSA campaign, NBC, ...
YES Network.(Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network L.L.C promotes Woody Freiman)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... WOODY FREIMAN, supervising producer, YES Network, ...
New England Ford Dealers Patriots' Fifth Quarter and Sports Final.(CBS4 news appoints Ted Johnson)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... TED JOHNSON, former linebacker, New England Patriots, named sports analyst, New ...
WEMP(AM), WMYX(FM) and WXSS(FM).(Entercom Communications Corp promotes Alan Kirshbom)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... ALAN KIRSHBOM, director, sales, Milwaukee market, Entercom Communications Corp., ...
WUSN(FM)/WJMK(FM) Chicago.(Dave Robbins appointed)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... DAVE ROBBINS, VP/general manager, WUSN(FM)/ WJMK(FM) ...
Simmons Market Research.(Martin Vega, Adam Berg appointed)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... At Simmons Market Research: MARTIN VEGA, senior strategic planner, The Bravo Group, New York, joins as client services account manager, ...
Bader Rutter & Associates.(John Moriarty, Audra Jacobs, Jennifer Diehl appointed)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... At Bader Rutter & Associates, Milwaukee: JOHN MORIARTY, account executive, public relations, Charleston|Orwig, Hartland, Wis., named media relations supervisor, public relations group; AUDRA JACOBS, ...
Petry Media Corp.(Joseph Powers appointed)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... JOSEPH POWERS, account executive, Los Angeles Dodgers team, Blair ...
Desser Sports Media Inc.(Ed Desser appointed)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... ED DESSER, executive VP, strategic planning and business development, National Basketball ...
Sundance Channel.(Heidi Bujorian appointed)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... HEIDI (LEWELLYN) BUJORIAN, marketing administrator/ cross-channel advertising sales, ...
MFORMA.(Jonathan Sacks, David Oppenhdmer appointed)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005 ... At MFORMA, San Francisco: JONATHAN SACKS, president/COO, named president/CEO; ...
Flicks shift from Paramount.(Paramount Pictures Corp.)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005; ... Domestic distribution of Paramount's valuable 3,600-title theatrical-film library, as well as future movie titles from that studio, will shift from CBS boss Les Moonves' side of Viacom to a new distribution arm being formed by Tom Freston's Viacom film unit. CBS entities will ...
New CPB head.(Corporation for Public Broadcasting appoints Cheryl Halpern, Gay Hart Gaines)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005; ... The Corporation for Public Broadcasting voted Monday to elect Cheryl Halpern to succeed Ken Tomlinson as chairman of the board. Elected vice chair was Gay Hart Gaines, replacing Democrat Frank Cruz. The moves are not ...
Emmis sells four stations.(Emmis Communications Corp.)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005; ... Emmis Communication moved another step closer to shedding its TV division last week, selling off four more of its TV stations. Investment firm The Blackstone Group and midsize station operation SJL Broadcast Group have cut a $259 million deal to buy KOIN Portland, Ore.; KHON Honolulu; KSNW ...
Correction.(Correction Notice)
Oct 03, 2005 ... Although there are no immediate plans to market a DVD set of the first season of Boston Legal, the episodes could be ...
Supreme TV stars?(bill raised to include television cameras in supreme court or not)(Brief Article)
Oct 03, 2005; ... Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) has introduced a bill to permit TV cameras in open Supreme Court sessions, unless the majority in a particular case decides it would violate due process. Specter, chairman of the Senate ...
Let's finally plan ahead.(government should plan for better emergency communication system)(Editorial)
Oct 03, 2005 ... Remarkably, even Hurricane Katrina was not enough to trigger the national emergency alert system (EAS). It lay dormant even as the storm surge wiped out whole towns along the Gulf Coast, levees were breeched and much of New Orleans was reduced to flotsam. In those desperate ...
In Katrina's wake, need for a new GUARD.(Geospatially Aware Urban Approaches for Responding to Disasters)
Oct 03, 2005; ... The chaos and destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina have put the urgent need for reliable first-response communications back into the headlines. After 9/11, it became clear that inadequate communications systems hampered rescue efforts and may have contributed to loss of life ....
Unions unite against merged media; groups plan to organize, push for public policy.(AFL-CIO)
Oct 10, 2005; ... Ten of the largest communications unions, representing a million workers, are banding together to provide a united front in the face of "rapid media consolidation and massive technological shifts." The groups plan to organize, but could also collectively bargain and push for ...
CBS2: network in the Works: new venture to offer entertainment fare.(Brief Article)
Oct 10, 2005; ... CBS Executive VP and DTV transition point man Martin Franks says that talks are well underway with affiliates on a digital network that would "complement or even counterprogram the mothership." In contrast to NBC's weather channel and ABC's news service, the CBS digital ...
Tribune chief exits.(Patrick Mullen quits from Tribune Broadcasting Co.)(Brief Article)
Oct 10, 2005; ... Tribune Broadcasting President Patrick Mullen is exiting the company. Mullen first joined the company in 1998 when Tribune acquired WXMI Grand Rapids, Mich., where he was VP and general manager. In Jan. 2003, he was tapped to head all of Tribune's 26 TV stations. ...
Bochco joins 'Chief'.(Steven Bochco hired by American Broadcasting Companies Inc.)(Brief Article)
Oct 10, 2005; ... Steven Bochco is joining ABC's Commander in Chief as an executive producer as part of his new deal with Disney's Touchstone Television. Series creator Rod Lurie will focus on new projects for Touchstone while maintaining an executive producer title on Chief. Lurie's producing partner Marc ...