Multichannel News back issues from January 2008:
Change in Forecast for Weather.(Landmark Communications Inc.)(Company overview)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell Network Could Fetch Billions For Owner Landmark Communications Barely one week into the New Year, Landmark Communications, the Norfolk, Va.-based parent of The Weather Channel, is gauging which way the deal-making wind blows. <Pre> Snapshot ...
A La Carte on Trial.(cable operators, programmers ask for lawsuit's dismissal )
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Ted Hearn Operators, Programmers Ask For Lawsuit's Dismissal Washington- Major cable operators and programmers on March 10 plan to ask a federal judge in Los Angeles to toss out an antitrust suit designed to force pay TV distributors to allow consumers to buy ...
Disney: FCC Lacks Power.(Federal Communications Commission )
Jan 07, 2008 ... by Ted Hearn Washington- The Federal Communications Commission can't impose 'wholesale' a la carte rules on the cable industry because Congress has not given the agency authority to intervene in the program-distribution market on that scale, The Walt Disney Co. said last ...
CE Show Takes Its Video to Go.(Comcast and Panasonic will kick off the Consumer Electronics Show with the debut of a high-definition digital video recorder)
Jan 07, 2008 ... by Todd Spangler Portable Players Will Light Up Las Vegas Conference Hit the road, Jack: Comcast and Panasonic will kick off the Consumer Electronics Show this week with the debut of a high-definition digital video recorder that you can unplug to watch TV shows or ...
Netflix Flips On Net Video.(Netflix dropped plans to sell its own Internet TV set-top, and instead will work with LG Electronics Inc.)(Brief article)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler Netflix dropped plans to sell its own Internet TV set-top, and instead will work with LG Electronics to develop a device to let subscribers of the DVD-by-mail service watch movies and other programming delivered via the Internet on their TVs. The ...
2006 Gains Lost in '07.(Cable television broadcasting industry)(Financial report)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell With Prices This Low, Have Cable Stocks Now Become A Bargain? Cable stocks, on the heels of a 40% rise in 2006, gave most of those gains back in 2007 as investor sentiment shifted from giddiness over the success of cable phone service to concern over ...
Hallmark 'Puts' Stock Question to Rest.(settlement between Crown Media Holdings Inc. and the National Interfaith Cable Coalition)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Linda Moss and Mike Farrell Crown Media Holdings, which owns and operates Hallmark Channel, last week reached a settlement with the National Interfaith Cable Coalition, which has agreed not to exercise its put option for more than 4 million shares of Crown stock valued at ...
Disney Is No. 1.(Walt Disney Company)(Brief article)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Linda Moss It's official: Disney Channel was the No. 1-rated cable network in primetime last year, according to final Nielsen Media Research data released last week. Winner Disney Channel broke a record in 2007 with its average of 2.694 million total viewers, the ...
Coda.(Mark Hollinger joins Discovery Communications Inc. as chief operating officer)(James Assey joins National Cable & Telecommunications Association as vice president)(Charlie Dietz will retire from his post as of Jan. 11)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Staff The Big Postgame Mike Reynolds NFL Network's marquee matchup, the New England Patriots' pursuit of regular-season perfection against the New York Giants, which became a political football between the pro football league, carriage-recalcitrant ...
Bodying Up.(Discovery Health is adding online video)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by R. Thomas Umstead Online Videos Bolster 'Challenge' Discovery Health is adding online video muscle to its staple National Body Challenge health-and-fitness series, adding a myriad of on-demand workout segments and nutritional tips to its Web site to help guide ...
Screen Test.
Jan 07, 2008 ... by Kent Gibbons and George Vernadakis THE WIRE (HBO, Sunday, Jan. 6, 9 p.m.) The Rundown: Crime drama's fifth (final) season branches into media malfeasance. Pros: Det. Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) returns to a prominent role; Clark Johnson ...
MTV Gets New Shot of 'Tequila'.(MTV Networks Inc.)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Mike Reynolds Tila Tequila ended the old year without her dating-show suitor, but she gets a second chance at TV romance as MTV has approved a sophomore season of her hit series. The network ordered 10 more episodes of A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila from 495 ...
Scoring With Affiliates.(NFL Network)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Linda Haugsted NFL Network Drives Interest With Local Promotions NFL Network ended 2007 still fighting the nation's largest cable multiple-system operators for carriage, and alienating some existing affiliates by agreeing to share its biggest exclusive game of the ...
Fair Warning for Copyright Holders.
Jan 07, 2008 ... by Linda Haugsted THE PROBLEM : Internet providers must find a way to serve their subscribers with demand letters from copyright holders saying they're violating copyrights via illegal downloads. THE RESPONSE : Bill stuffers are thrown out unread and e-mail messages ...
Coke Pumps Up Exercise TV.(video-on-demand service ExerciseTV has made sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola North America)(Brief article)
Jan 07, 2008 ... by Staff Los Angeles- Video-on-demand service ExerciseTV has poured a two-year sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola North America. Taking effect on Jan. 1, the deal, terms of which were not disclosed, will encompass a number of the beverage giant's brands and manifest in ...
Quick Hits.(Lifetime Television Network)(Brief article)
Jan 07, 2008 ... by Staff Lifetime Visibly Supports 'Naked' Staff New York - Lifetime last week was set to unleash in New York City an army of robed women twirling bras in an effort to promote the Jan. 4 debut of its upcoming reality series How to Look Good Naked . ...
Face2Face.(Bruce McClelland joins Arris Group Inc. as president)(Courtney Wood joins Cox Communications Inc. as director)(Barry Stagg joins 4Kids Entertainment Inc. as senior vice president)
Jan 07, 2008 ... by Staff Arris Cable-technology vendor Arris has elevated Bruce McClelland to president, broadband communications, as part of the restructuring stemming from its acquisition of C-COR. He had been Arris' VP, general manager of customer-premises equipment products. ...
Reed TV Group Elevates Four.(Louis Hillelson)(Michael Farina)(Katie Rosa )(Elana Denis)(Brief article)
Jan 07, 2008 ... by Staff New York- Reed Television Group, publisher of Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable , has promoted three members of its advertising and marketing staff and added a fourth from elsewhere in parent Reed Business Information. Louis Hillelson has been ...
Questions (and Answers) For 2008.
Jan 07, 2008 ... by Staff From HD Supremacy to 'Triple-Play' Price Wars, Handicapping Hot Topics of the Year Ahead As the history books turn the page that was 2007, Multichannel News asked prognosticators at large - our readers - to make the call on some of the top issues that cable ...
No New Script Written.(Writers Guild of America)(television writers protest over compensation issues)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by R. Thomas Umstead, Programming Editor Nine weeks have gone by since television writers walked off the set of 24 , Desperate Housewives , Army Wives and other big-name broadcast and cable television shows in protest over compensation issues. Surprisingly, the sky ...
Volume Control.
Jan 07, 2008 ... by Staff From Picket Lines To Punchlines 'How do late-night hosts go on in the midst of a writers' strike? With a mix of ingenuity and guilt.' Joanna Weiss , The Boston Globe http://www.boston.com Can It Last if The Strike Does? ...
Waiting On Wideband Gear.(Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification)(Cable Television Laboratories Inc.)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler DOCSIS 3.0 Headend Systems OK'd, But Modems Aren't Headend equipment that promises to let cable companies offer Internet access at 100 Megabits per second - and higher - has passed the cut on the first go-round. But the applause ...
Pace to Pick Up Philips Set-Top Unit.(Pace Micro Technology PLC aquires Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.)(Brief article)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler In a deal that would double its size, the United Kingdom's Pace Micro Technology has agreed to acquire the set-top box and connectivity solutions business of Royal Philips Electronics, in a deal valued at about $135 million (or 95 million euros). ...
Three Dynamic Topics For '08.
Jan 07, 2008; ... By Leslie Ellis Three big topics permeated the engineering lingo scene this year, and will assuredly gibberish themselves well into 2008. Big topic No. 1 : Advanced advertising and the furious, industry-wide paddling, via the so-called 'Project Canoe,' to ...
TV Transition On Trial.(Federal Communications Commission)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Ted Hearn FCC's Copps Supports Digital Transmission Test Washington- The Federal Communications Commission is considering whether to conduct a digital-TV transition in at least one test market before the national cutoff of over-the-air analog TV on Feb. 17, 2009, ...
Media Miscues Anew on McCain.(Sen. John McCain performed political 'favors' for Cablevision Systems chairman Charles F. Dolan)
Jan 07, 2008; ... By Ted Hearn The story has been written three times: First by the Associated Press in March 2005, again by U.S. News & World Report last May, and then by The Washington Post on New Year's Eve. And each story was highly inaccurate. The claim in each story was this: ...
Retrans On the Rise.(Retransmission consent)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell Soaring Cable-Cash Tallies Bode Well For Broadcasters In '08 and '09 Payments for retransmission consent, a hot-button issue last year as several smaller cable operators battled with TV-station groups, is expected to heat up even further in the next ...
Gift That Keeps On Giving.(Comcast founder Ralph Roberts signed a new employment deal)(Brief article)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell Comcast founder Ralph Roberts signed a new employment deal with the nation's largest cable operator that will continue to pay him for five years after his death. The new deal, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 28, takes the ...
Insight Splits Up.(Comcast Corp.)(Insight Communications Company Inc.)(Brief article)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell It happened a day later than originally planned, but Insight Communications and Comcast completed the previously announced split of their 50-50 Insight Midwest partnership on Jan. 2. The deal was first announced in April and had been planned to close ...
Quick Hits.(Mario Gabelli reports Young Broadcasting Inc.'s stake)(Mediacom Communications Corp.)(survey on cable systems )
Jan 07, 2008 ... by Staff Gabelli Reports Broadcaster Stake Staff Rye, N.Y. - Funds controlled by cable investment guru Mario Gabelli have been beefing up on Young Broadcasting stock. according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last week, adding roughly ...
CES: A Big Celebri-tease.(Consumer Electronics Show)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler, Linda Moss, Mike Reynolds and Eric J. Smith How do you attract attention at a ridiculously sprawling event such as the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show? Consider this: The annual Vegas confab this week will host an estimated 2,700 ...
Hallmark Chief Makes His Case.(Henry Schleiff)(Interview)
Jan 07, 2008; ... by Tom Steinert-Threlkeld Henry Schleiff turned around Court TV, which was sold in 2006 to Time Warner Inc. Since then, Schleiff has been working to build up another independent network, Hallmark Channel, which has been plagued by low license fees and undesirable audience ...
Liberty Eyes a Compromise.(United States. Department of Justice is delaying approval for acquisition Liberty Media Corp. and DIRECTV Inc)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell Will Limit 'Information Flow' With Puerto Rico System TO Get DirecTV oK'd Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei last week told an audience at an investor conference that the company has made a proposal to the U.S. Department of Justice regarding approval of ...
Wal-Mart Considers a Do-Over.(Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to start service for downloading videos)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler Retail Giant May Re-enter the Broadband Video-Downloading Business Wal-Mart Stores, after shuttering its initial paid video-download service in December after less than a year in business, appears to be actively looking to restart a similar service on ...
Bright House Settles Public-Channel Spat.(Bright House Networks L.L.C. receives contract from Hillsborough County, Florida)(Brief article)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Linda Haugsted Opposition to Bright House Networks' decision to shift public, educational and governmental channels in Tampa, Fla., high up into the channel roster has ended. The Tampa division of the Advance/Newhouse Communications-owned cable company and ...
NBCU Plays On.(NBC Universal Inc. to use web applications and mobile video games)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by R. Thomas Umstead Titles Linked To Popular Shows Las Vegas- NBC Universal is hoping to make the mouse rather than a joystick the preferred weapon of video-game fanatics. The broadcast and cable TV programmer plans to move aggressively into providing Web ...
Software Will Drive Media.(Microsoft Corp delivers entertainment software to cable television broadcasting industry)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Tom Steinert-Threlkeld Broadcasters may just be starting to grapple with transmitting their signals in digits. But to Bill Gates, that's part of an inevitable transition. 'All media and entertainment will be software-driven,' the Microsoft founder and chairman ...
Turning Online TV Into Cash.
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler YouTube: 'It's Going To Take Time For Business To Come In' Las Vegas- Generating real money from online video is a tough business, as even the undisputed leader in the Internet-video category - Google's YouTube - conceded. At a breakfast ...
'Start Over' to Start On Comcast's Systems.(Comcast Corp.)(Brief article)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Tom Steinert-Threlkeld Las Vegas- Comcast plans to begin deploying the Start Over TV service in some of its systems by the end of the year, the company said Wednesday. The nation's largest operator of cable systems is in negotiations to license the name Start Over ...
Dish to Add High-Def, Freeze Some Rates.(EchoStar Communications Corp. planning to launch four satellites )
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Linda Moss Las Vegas- Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen said his company plans to launch four satellites this year, with three of those for domestic use, helping facilitate an expansion to 100 national high-definition channels from 76. 'It's really one per quarter,' ...
Ergen Slings Set-Tops.(EchoStar Holding to ptovice set top boxes to cable television broadcasting industry)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Linda Moss Las Vegas- Charlie Ergen and his new technology company, EchoStar Holding, last week said that they are aggressively planning to sell products - from Sling Media-enabled modems to set-tops - to Dish Network's video rivals, namely cable operators and telcos. ...
EchoStar Vows $40 Box.(EchoStar Communications Corp. sells set-top boxes (Television))(Brief article)
Jan 14, 2008 ... by Linda Moss Las Vegas- Essentially saying the product will be a loss leader, Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen last week said that his new spin-off company will offer a digital-to-analog converter that will help consumers make the transition to all-digital TV in February next ...
AT&T: Wireless Boosts the Bundle.(AT&T Inc. will market it's wireless telephony by managign consumer behaviour)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said that the anchor for the triple-play bundle of the future will be wireless telephony, not wireline service. The telecom giant will be more aggressive this year both within its region and possibly outside its territory ...
Legal Wrangling Makes Tech Awards 'Special'.(legal dispute between National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and Academy of Television Arts and Sciences)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler Las Vegas- Lawyers spoiled most of the fun at the 59th Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences last week presented Tech Emmys in six categories but - because of a legal dispute with the Academy of ...
BET Backs Web Ad Net.(BET Networks is launching an online advertising network featuring 30 premium web sites)(Brief article)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by R. Thomas Umstead Las Vegas- Aiming to give advertisers broad exposure to African-American Internet users, BET Networks is launching an online advertising network featuring 30 premium Web sites targeting that audience segment. Under the oversight of the BET ...
ESPN, Turner 'Ad' Up.(survey on advertising adgencies and advertising spendings)(Survey)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Linda Haugsted Ad agencies and advertisers who took part in a Beta Research survey were most likely to increase basic-cable ad spending on ESPN, TNT and TBS in 2008, according to a survey released Jan. 9 by Beta Research Corp. The survey of 150 ad-agency ...
Golden Globes' Crash Will Cost E!, TV Guide.(Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. TV Guide Publishing Group)(E! Online L.L.C.)(Golden Globe Awards)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Linda Haugsted Cable networks that sold ads for anticipated red-carpet coverage of the Golden Globe Awards ceremony are trying to find a way to mollify advertisers who were left with spots in less marquee programming with the cancellation of the gala. Executives ...
Political Ads Paying Off.(Advertising expenditures)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Linda Haugsted and Kent Gibbons Presidential candidates in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries exceeded $10 million in ad spending on spot cable, according to National Cable Communications, which handles political ad sales for Cox Communications, Comcast and Time ...
Coda.(Consumer Electronics Show 2008)(Golf Channel suspended commentator Kelly Tilghman)(EchoStar Holding named Dean Olmstead as president of satellite services)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Staff Voom Gets Madden Mike Reynolds Gameplay HD is in the game with 'EA Sports 2007 Madden Challenge.' Voom's high-definition channel devoted to the world of video gaming has created a new TV series capturing the action from competitive ...
2 Series In Starz's Script.(Hollywood Residential and Head Case )
Jan 14, 2008; ... by R. Thomas Umstead Goal: To Match Buzz of Rivals' Fare, Buttress Movies Starz is gearing up to take on Home Box Office and Showtime with scripted series. The Liberty Media-owned pay TV service is betting that its two new original scripted series, titled ...
Screen Test.(Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin)(Breaking Bad)(Brief article)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by George Vernadakis and Mike Reynolds BROTHER OUTSIDER: THE LIFE OF BAYARD RUSTIN (Logo, Saturday, Jan. 19, 8 p.m.) The Rundown: New season of Logo's 'Real Momentum' docu series kicks off with a riveting look at largely unsung Civil Rights Movement hero ...
'Zoey' Gets Big Views.(Jamie Lynn Spears's real-life pregnancy helped to boost the viewership of Zoey 101 )(Brief article)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by R. Thomas Umstead Controversy over Jamie Lynn Spears's real-life pregnancy may have helped propel the season finale of her Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 into record territory. The premiere of the one-hour movie on Jan. 4 drew a series-high 7.27 million viewers, ...
AMC's 'BAD' Ambition.(AMC Inc. (Fountain Valley, California) new series Breaking Bad)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Linda Haugsted online push seeks to build on success of 'mad men' AMC had a surprise hit last year with the original series Mad Men . The edgy drama about Madison Avenue ad executives in 1960 drew critical raves and averaged 1.1 million viewers for the Rainbow ...
Eventful Year for Ads.(trends in advertising expenditure)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Linda Haugsted 2008 Ad Forecast TNS Media Intelligence, New York Release date: Jan. 7, 2008 http://www.tns-mi.com Ad expenditures across all media are expected to increase 4.2% compared to 2007, with growth attributable to ...
Face2Face.(Channel One Communications Corp. appoints Angela Hunter)(Comcast Corp. appoints Jonathan M. Bernard)(Cox Communications Inc. appoints Mark McGuire)
Jan 14, 2008 ... by Staff Altitude Denver-based regional sports network Altitude Sports & Entertainment has elevated four staffers: Phillip Mallios to senior vice president, affiliate sales and marketing; Dave Zur to senior vice president, operations and engineering; Lynetta Fiscus ...
Cutting the Box Open.(cable television broadcasting industry uses set top boxes)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler New Interactive Devices Arrive to Connect Directly To Cable Systems. Meanwhile, TV Comes To Set-Tops, Via The Internet. Las Vegas- Brian Roberts, live and in the spotlight, was performing for a few different audiences in his debut at the International ...
Apple of Comcast's Eye.(Comcast Corp. launches Comcast 3.0 which makes possible to check voice mail and e-mail on a PC)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Tom Steinert-Threlkeld, Editor in Chief Las Vegas- January 8, 1935. It's the day that the King of Rock 'N' Roll, Elvis Presley, was born in Tupelo, Miss. January 8, 2008. It's the day that the nation's largest cable operator - also born in Tupelo - gave birth to ...
Volume Control.
Jan 14, 2008 ... by Staff Voices From Everywhere on Cable at CES But Will They Think Inside the Box? 'While I applaud today's announcements, there is still one big strategic piece missing which Comcast has yet to comprehensively address: What are its plans to allow ...
Channel Boost.(Imagine Multimedia Inc.)(Company overview)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler Imagine Debuts System to Optimize Broadcast Signals Cable operators maxed out on bandwidth may be able to put a powerful new running back into the high-definition TV ballgame. Startup Imagine Communications this week (Jan. 14) is set to ...
Sniffing Out Video Failures.(cable television broadcasting industry maintains quality of service provided)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler How do cable operators know if the video signals going into a subscriber's TV set are acting screwy? Often the first indication is when an irritated customer calls up to complain, according to Jim Chiddix, a longtime cable engineer whose career has ...
Thinking Alike.(2008 International Consumer Electronics Show)(Federal Communications Commission)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Ted Hearn Comcast, Telcos Agree: Reform FCC Las Vegas- Carmel Group chairman and CEO Jimmy Schaeffler saved his best for last as moderator of a 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show panel last Monday that included representatives from the biggest cable and ...
Scripps Split Due By June.(E.W. Scripps Company)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Mike Farrell CEO Lowe: Breakup Will Help Cable Unit Hone Its Focus E.W. Scripps executive vice president of finance and administration Joseph NeCastro said the company's plan to cleave into two separate publicly traded entities - one which would house its cable ...
Fairholme Buys More Stock In Dish Network.(Fairholme Capital Management)(EchoStar Communications Corp.)(Brief article)
Jan 14, 2008 ... by Staff Short Hills, N.J.-based mutual fund Fairholme Capital Management has been bulking up on EchoStar Communications, adding more than 6 million shares of the satellite TV provider to its portfolio in the past three months, according to a securities filing on Jan. 9. ...
Through the Wire.(2008 International Consumer Electronics Show)(Ryan Seacrest, host on E! and of Fox's American Idol )(Brian Roberts )
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Linda Moss, Todd Spangler, Leslie Ellis and Linda Haugsted BRIAN TO RYAN: 'DIDN'T HEAR THAT' Ryan Seacrest, host on E! and of Fox's American Idol , did a bit of improvising that threw Comcast CEO Brian Roberts for a loop during Roberts's big keynote speech at the ...
High-Def Dash.(cable television broadcasting industry uses the new technology of high definition television)
Jan 14, 2008; ... by Todd Spangler Operators 'Switch' To Narrow HD Gap Switched digital video, it seems, has boiled down to serving a singular goal for cable operators: allowing them to add a slew of high-definition channels on the double. Cable's HD offerings were ...