TelevisionWeek back issues from July 2007:
`road' lands abc in ditch; Earnest Drama Tops Worst List.(Special Report: Critics Poll)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: James Hibberd The Critics Poll list of worst shows is typically topped by a tawdry reality program such as Fox's "The Swan'' or an obnoxious sitcom like Fox's "The War at Home.'' But this summer's worst shows include several dramas-and the most-disliked ...
`Earth' rules but critics bury `heart'; Pretty `Planet' Wins Non-Series Category.(Special Report: Critics Poll)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: James Hibberd Garnering five times as many votes as the closest runner-up, Discovery Channel's 11-part nature documentary "Planet Earth'' dominated the non-series category in the semiannual Critics Poll. The high-definition travelogue was named best special, ...
ABC, CW Look Good for Fall '07; Critics Have High Expectations for `Pushing Daisies,' CW's First Full Lineup of Originals.(Special Report: Critics Poll)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: James Hibberd ABC's latest batch of femalecentric ensemble dramas and The CW's first full original slate won the most accolades from critics giving first-blush reviews of the fall season. Critics were asked which fall schedules and pilots looked most and ...
Best Movie, Miniseries or Special.(Special Report: Critics Poll)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Best Movie, Miniseries or Special Rank Show 1. Planet Earth 2. Longford 3. The State Within BBC (t) American Masters 5. Jesse Stone: Sea Change (t) Bill Moyers Journal: Buying the War 7. This ...
TV Debate Moves to Web: How to Count Audiences; Internet Ad Bureau Developing Guidelines.(News)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Daisy Whitney Television networks and advertisers, mired in confusion over how best to count viewers on the Web, are moving toward common ground. The Internet Advertising Bureau is putting together a team to develop guidelines for counting Web video audiences, ...
Viral video pick of the week; TVWeek's pick: Picture This.(Viral Video)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: DAISY WHITNEY The setup: Marco Tempest might not have been first in line, but he pulled off the best trick on iPhone day: He got his new iPhone to fill up with coffee, X-ray his hand and pop out a quarter using the hidden "stocks'' application. The source: ...
Mel's Diner.
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Melissa Grego Who: Paul Colichman, founder-CEO, here! Networks When: Monday, May 21, lunch Where: Mr. Chow, Beverly Hills The Dish: People warned Paul Colichman in 2002 that the cable industry is conservative. At the time, ...
Digital dealmakers; In focus: Ben Weinberger.
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Daisy Whitney The player: Ben Weinberger, CEO of Digitalsmiths in Durham, N.C. The play: Digitalsmiths wants to be Google AdSense, but for video. It's even got a similar-sounding name for its software, VideoSense, which launched in the second quarter and ...
FX Fosters Film Studies; HubFX.Com Wants Viewers to Stay Tuned.(News)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Jon Lafayette Looking to connect advertisers with viewers of its movies, cable channel FX is creating a movie club Web site that will offer visitors extra content and the chance to win prizes. The FX Web site, HubFX, is expected to launch as a beta site with ...
CBS Seeks New Brew for Its Morning Blend; 'Early Show' Format Shift Part of Bigger Revamp.(News)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Michele Greppi In January, CBS News will take another stab at making its third-ranked "The Early Show'' more competitive. CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus said he plans to abandon the so-called blended format, under which about 40 network affiliates ...
Fox Warms Up for Baseball All-Stars; Network's Seven-Year Deal Paying Off as Ratings Surge.(News)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Chris Pursell Buoyed by a season-long ratings spike, sold-out ad inventory and a surge of interest in Barry Bonds' controversial pursuit of the home-run record, Fox Sports execs are aiming to hit it out of the park with the annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game this ...
NFL Drives Forward, Posts Gains in Upfront; Advertisers Re-Sign After Growth Year.(News)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Chris Pursell and Jon Lafayette NFL football, one of the few television franchises showing ratings growth these days, is scoring in the upfront advertising market. The networks that carry football said they are getting beefy price increases as they line up for ...
CBS Fields Golf Quiz Special; Juma Entertainment's 'Rules' Show to Follow PGA Championship.(News)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Chris Pursell CBS will follow its live coverage of the PGA Championship on Aug. 18 with "The Rules of the Game,'' a quiz show from Juma Entertainment that tests golf fans' knowledge of the sport. The special will examine the 34 rules of golf, posing questions ...
Zenith reaffirms optimistic view of U.S. ad spending in '07; Rate of Growth Is Slower Than in Past.(Deals)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Nat Ives Advertising Age ZenithOptimedia has reaffirmed its prediction of 3.7 percent growth in U.S. ad spending this year, providing the brightest take among a recent spate of cloudy forecasts-even for certain traditional media. TNS Media Intelligence, by ...
News briefs.
Jul 09, 2007 ... NBC to Rehire `Apprentice' for Midseason Return NBC plans to revive Donald Trump's struggling reality series "The Apprentice'' for midseason, sources said. Under the leadership of newly installed Entertainment Co-Chairman Ben Silverman, the network is near a deal to bring back ...
iPhone Guts Reveal Apple's High Margin; Parts Suppliers See Inclusion in Hot Gadget as Validating Their Solutions.(Deals)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Mike Dano RCR Wireless News Initial research into the guts of Apple's iPhone shows Samsung Electronics and Infineon Technologies as two of the major component suppliers for the much-hyped device. But figures from teardown firm iSuppli Corp. reveal Apple ...
A Modest Proposal for Celebrity `News'; Editorial.(Press Room)(Editorial)
Jul 09, 2007 ... We have Paris Hilton to thank for a recent moment of clarity about celebrity "news'' versus the television news previous generations knew. It wasn't anything about Ms. Hilton, per se. Rather, it was the behavior of broadcast and cable networks clawing to get the first ...
Obesity Report Delayed Ahead of initiatives.(News)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Ira Teinowitz Two U.S. senators are postponing a task force report on child obesity, an indication that the nation's biggest food and beverage marketers are preparing to unveil major new concessions in how they market food to kids on TV. Sens. Sam Brownback, ...
Hold the `Joe' and Mika.(The Insider)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Michele Greppi The Insider is addicted to morning television, but she's also verrrrrrrry finicky about her morning television. She avoids, like the proverbial plague, any show whose hosts (usually male) seem bent not on telling her what's happening in the ...
Change of Tune in MTV Upfront; Net Strikes Ad Deal Using Spot Ratings.(News)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Jon Lafayette MTV Networks has finally jumped into the upfront advertising market, softening its resistance to striking deals based on how many viewers watch commercials. At least one of MTV Networks' major transactions appears to involve some form of ...
Turner Upfront Goes on a Diet; Obesity Issue Takes Bite Out of Advertising.(News)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Jon Lafayette The fun and games quieted down last week at Turner Broadcasting, where reduced ad spending by food companies held upfront commercial sales flat in the kids advertising market. Turner, which owns cable networks including the Cartoon Network, said ...
Roving Eye.
Jul 09, 2007 ... 1. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., left, hangs out with Oxygen chairman-CEO Geraldine Laybourne, Carly Fiorina, former chairman-CEO of Hewlett Packard, and Comcast regional senior VP Barbara A. Gehrig at Oxygen/Comcast's Mentor Walk June 19 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. ...
Calling the Big Shots; Rod Allen Reflects on a Few National Broadcasters He Has Worked With.(News)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Steven Douglas Losey On Thom Brennaman, FSN Sports and Cincinnati Reds announcer: "He's an unbelievable human being. He taught me about professionalism and really reinforced in me how to treat people on a day-to-day basis.'' On Ernie Harwell, longtime voice ...
'Storm' System Offers Flexibility; Unscripted Cable Hit Can Be Customized by Local Stations.(News)
Jul 09, 2007 ... Byline: Chris Pursell In the latest instance of cable programming going the broadcast route, the syndicated version of the Weather Channel's popular "Storm Stories'' is brewing to hit local stations for fall 2008. Litton Entertainment has reached a deal to distribute ...
BROADCASTING.(NewsMakers)
Jul 09, 2007 ... BROADCASTING Randi Goldklank to VP/general manager, WHDH-TV/WLVI-TV, Boston, from director, sales. Thomas Grant, to national sales manager/assistant station manager, WZDX-TV/WAMY-TV, Huntsville, Ala., from national sales manager, WFXR-TV/WWCW-TV, Roanoke, Va. ...
Flying Fingers Bring Viewers Trials and Errors; guest commentary.(Press Room)
Jul 16, 2007 ... Byline: Jim McKairnes Whatever the future of captioned viewing in the digital age-and kudos to TelevisionWeek for casting its considerable spotlight on the issue, with the welfare of millions of members of an invisible minority in the balance-I can only hope the door won't ...
Clicks.(Brief article)
Jul 16, 2007 ... Nielsen//NetRatings just changed the primary metric it uses to measure Internet engagement to time spent on Web sites. Previously, unique audience was commonly used to rank sites. 5th to 1st: ...
Viral video pick of the week; TVWeek's pick: Smokin' iPhone.(Viral Video)
Jul 16, 2007 ... Byline: DAISY WHITNEY The setup: The best part of the "Will It Blend'' episode on the iPhone is the reaction from YouTube users. After Blendtec CEO Tom Dickson put a new iPhone to the blend test-yes, it turns into a smoking pile of smithereens-YouTube users released their ...
Josh Barry.(Special Report: Hot List 2007)(Interview)
Jul 16, 2007; ... Byline: James Hibberd Every new ABC drama premiering this fall-and there are quite a few of them-owes some credit to Josh Barry. The 34-year-old VP of drama development is helping usher "Big Shots,'' "Pushing Daisies,'' "Cashmere Mafia,'' "Dirty Sexy Money'' and the ...
Blink.
Jul 16, 2007 ... FX Show Posters Creep Up on You FX is earning praise for its season-four "Rescue Me'' marketing poster. The network said the poster is inspired by Munch's "The Scream'' (though Blink also thought it had a Goya vibe). The poster continues a recent trend among FX posters toward a ...
Katherine Pope.(Special Report: Hot List 2007)
Jul 16, 2007; ... Byline: James Hibberd When showrunner Tim Kring was mapping out the first season of "Heroes,'' he got a call from Katherine Pope, then an NBC drama development exec, who had a problem with his pilot. The call was one of Ms. Pope's self-described "bad cop'' duties, ...
Bestofblog.(TVWeek.com)
Jul 16, 2007 ... TelevisionWeek's James Hibberd comments on the news of the week in his new blog, "Rated.'' Between Court TV's name change and the Television Critics Association last week, Mr. Hibberd had his hands full. C-Word Gives Critics Pause When discussing differing standards ...
Blink.(Today Throws a Wedding)
Jul 23, 2007; ... `Today' Throws a Wedding Road Trip "Today'' will hold cattle calls starting Tuesday in Las Vegas, Miami, Chicago and New York City for couples who would like to be the eighth pair married live on the NBC morning show-with oversight of every detail of the October wedding and ...
hiwire offers diverse lineup; Mobile TV Trial Sets 24 Channels.(Media&Tech)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Matt Kapko RCR Wireless News HiWire announced a diverse 24-channel lineup for its upcoming mobile TV broadcast trial in Las Vegas. The range of channels available on the platform immediately dwarfs the eight-channel lineup currently offered by rival MediaFLO ...
Senate in a Rush on Indecency; But Rockefeller Bill May Not Withstand Legal Scrutiny.(News)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Ira Teinowitz It's not taking long for Congress to move to overturn the broadcast networks' big court victory over the Federal Communications Commission's "fleeting expletive'' policy. A week after a Senate panel turned away on procedural grounds one attempt ...
Short-Form Video Maker Sets Lineup; IThentic Preps Schedule of Under-3-Minute Movies.(News)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Matt Kapko RCR Wireless News IThentic, a short-form production company that distributes online and in mobile, has announced its lineup for the 2007-08 season. It's the first such announcement since the online and mobile video company completed its ...
HD07: THE STATE OF THE BUSINESS.(Special Report: HD Marketing)
Jul 23, 2007 ... What: Keynote conversation with Dan Rather of HDNet's "Dan Rather Reports'' and panel discussion on hi-def with iN Demand's Robert D. Jacobson, Time Warner Cable's Lauren LoFrisco, Sanford Bernstein's Craig Moffett, Starz ...
TV Critics Attack, Execs Play Defense; Networks Fend Off Aggressive Questioning on Programs, Corporate Moves As They Present Fall Lineup of Shows.(Summer Press Tour 2007)
Jul 23, 2007 ... One network wanted controversy-and got it. Another network wanted to avoid controversy-and got it anyway. That's how the first two network presentations at the Television Critics Association summer press tour played out last week, with buzz-seeking CBS getting grilled ...
Double issue.(News)
Jul 23, 2007 ... TelevisionWeek will not publish July 30. The print edition will resume ...
2007 CTAM SUMMIT.(Special Report: CTAM 2007)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Theme: Power to the People Where: Washington (D.C.) ...
Clicks.(digital video recorders )(Report)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
Jul 23, 2007 ... 22 million: The number of households with digital video recorders $76,070: The average annual income of a DVR household, 18 percent higher than the national average ...
Digital Upfront in Slow Motion; Deals Delayed but Potential Value Still High.(News)
Jul 23, 2007; ... Byline: Jon Lafayette Remember back during the May upfront advertising presentations when the television networks made a big deal of digital? While the broadcasters have sold their television ad time, the digital opportunities they touted to marketers are still slowly ...
The (Friday Night) Lights Out at ATAS.(The Insider)(Academy of Television Arts and Sciences)
Jul 23, 2007; ... Byline: Michele Greppi Shame, shame, shame on the Primetime Emmy voters who didn't nominate NBC's "Friday Night Lights'' for best drama. The Insider knows the process is imperfect and that every year there's some inexplicable snub that will cause a tempest in the TV ...
Viral video pick of the week; TVWeek's pick: Back it up.(Viral Video)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: DAISY WHITNEY The setup: Some kids really do know how to make cool stuff with cameras. Sure, the tricks are probably uber-simple: Just roll the video backwards so things happen in reverse. Still, there's something slightly psychedelic, weirdly mesmerizing about watching ...
Fox Biz to Prime Cable's Ad Pump; New Entrant Means Bigger Revenue Pie.(News Feature)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Michele Greppi The TV business-news market is a rich revenue source that's likely to get richer with the Oct. 15 launch of News Corp.'s Fox Business Network. It's a niche market that draws upscale viewers. Published ratings may look small, but that's because ...
Scripted Originals Keep Cable in Race; Aggressive Marketing Drives Viewer Tune-in.(News)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Jon Lafayette The summer is off to a fast start for a number of original cable shows. USA's "The Starter Wife'' and "Burn Notice,'' Lifetime's "Army Wives'' and TBS comedies "Tyler Perry's House of Payne'' and "The Bill Engvall Show'' all are at the ...
Obscenity Legislation an Exercise in Futility; Editorial.(Press Room)
Jul 23, 2007 ... One can't help but goggle at the latest turn in the obscenity telenovela playing out in Washington. A U.S. Senate committee last week reached new heights (or depths, as it were) by advancing a bill that would give the Federal Communications Commission authority to regulate even ...
Newcomers Find Place in Emmy Fold; 'Heroes,' 'Betty' Join Fave 'Sopranos' on Nominations List.(News)(Ugly Betty)
Jul 23, 2007; ... Byline: Jon Lafayette The Primetime Emmy Award nominations last week provided a warm goodbye to some old reliables and hello to some shiny new favorites. "The Sopranos,'' which has already faded not-so-quietly to black, earned 15 nominations, the most for any series ...
AMC Hopes Ad Buyers Get 'Mad'; Strategy Seeks to Open Door to New Deals.(News)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Jon Lafayette For AMC, execution will be everything with its first original series, "Mad Men.'' AMC General Manager Charlie Collier is trying to use originals to make the movie network more interesting to advertisers, opening the door to product integration ...
Big Business in Measuring Video Views; Upstart Firms That Track Viewership Hope to Tap Into Booming Revenues.(Media&Tech)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Daisy Whitney When Michael Eisner's online series "Prom Queen'' ended its run last month, it had amassed more than 15 million views. While the 80-episode teen-centric mystery show drew the bulk of its views from MySpace, viewers also watched it on Veoh, ...
Campaign Season About to Heat Up; All Roads Lead to Consumers With HD Sets Who Haven't Chosen a Provider.(Special Report: HD Marketing)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Daisy Whitney Eager to lay the foundation for the big fourth-quarter high-definition television selling season, most cable and satellite operators are planning to launch marketing campaigns touting their HD services later this month and into early August. ...
NETWORKS TAKING A TARGETED APPROACH; Niche Marketing Key for Channels.(Special Report: HD Marketing)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Daisy Whitney As cable and satellite providers ready their broad-based high-definition marketing campaigns to run through the rest of the year, their programming partners are concentrating on fine-tuning their own more targeted campaigns. Programmers face ...
Quick Takes.(Press Room)(TCA cable TV Inc.)(Brief article)
Jul 23, 2007; ... Byline: Stephanie Robbins Does the TCA press tour still serve its purpose? "The press tour is a great opportunity for both the press and the programmers. It provides journalists-especially those not based in L.A. or New York-with face-to-face access to network ...
Digital dealmakers; In focus: Brent Weinstein.
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Daisy Whitney The player: Brent Weinstein, CEO of 60 Frames The play: 60 Frames is a hybrid company that provides financing, sales and syndication services for online talent. "We are not a production company, we are not an end distributor, but we represent ...
A&E Mobile Channels Go to Sprint; MobiTV to Offer Pair to Its 2 Million Customers.(News)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Daisy Whitney A&E Television Networks has struck its first carriage deal for its made-for-mobile channels A&E Mobile and the History Channel Mobile with MobiTV, which is available on Sprint cellular phones to more than 2 million customers. "We believe our ...
Wallace Puts Focus on Digital at NBC; Network Divides English-, Spanish-Language O&O Stations.(Q&A)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Michele Greppi John Wallace, a 19-year veteran of NBC, is the new president of NBC Owned-and-Operated Television Stations, the network's 10-station English-language group. He reports to NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker. Word is expected this week on the ...
Don't Give Up on TV Ads Just Yet; Even Fast-Forwarded Ads Can Keep Viewers Engaged, Research Shows.(Media Planner)
Jul 23, 2007; ... Byline: Adam Armbruster Special to TelevisionWeek Is the DVR is creating more-and more engaged-viewers? In case you missed the Innerscope Research report for NBC released earlier this month, it seems that, based on new research, the DVR could be not only ...
News briefs.
Jul 23, 2007 ... TV Critics Laud `Friday,' `Heroes,' `Sopranos' NBC was heroic at the 23rd Television Critics Association's awards last week in Beverly Hills, nabbing four awards, including program of the year for freshman series "Heroes.'' "Friday Night Lights'' was recognized as new program, ...
The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards; Nominees in major categories.(News)
Jul 23, 2007 ... DRAMA SERIES "Boston Legal,'' ABC; David E. Kelley Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television "Grey's Anatomy,'' ABC; ABC Studios "Heroes,'' NBC; Tailwind Productions in association with NBC Universal Television Studio ...
FIRST PLACE: CONTENT DISTRIBUTOR DIVISION; Rogers Cable's TVB On Demand.(Special Report: CTAM 2007)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Debra Kaufman Special to TelevisionWeek Toronto is a polyglot, multiethnic city, and no cable operator serves it better than Rogers Cable, which offers channels in more than 60 languages. But how to target the city's growing Chinese community with a new On ...
FIRST PLACE: CONTENT PROVIDER DIVISION; HBO On Demand: `The Wire'.(Special Report: CTAM 2007)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Debra Kaufman Special to TelevisionWeek On-demand usually translates to "after the fact'' of an initial airing on a linear channel. HBO On Demand took that idea and turned it upside down with popular cop drama "The Wire,'' premiering every episode of its ...
SECOND PLACE: CONTENT PROVIDER DIVISION; NBC Universal's `King Kong' on Demand.(Special Report: CTAM 2007)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Debra Kaufman Special to TelevisionWeek "King Kong'' presented some monster-sized challenges to NBC Universal Digital Distribution's marketing team. "When you have a movie like `King Kong' that has such a huge amount of hype for theatrical release and earns a ...
Not All Good News.(News)
Jul 23, 2007 ... It hasn't been a hot summer for every cable network. Here's a list of some of the larger cable entertainment networks suffering year-over-year declines in total viewers since the broadcast season ended. It's worth noting that last summer, AMC aired "Broken Trail,'' the highest-rated ...
The Dish on NASCAR.(Blink)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: JON LAFAYETTE A&E is working with EchoStar Communications' Dish Network to reach out to the NASCAR demographic. This year, Dish Network is a primary NASCAR sponsor, with Dish All-Star drivers from the Roush Fenway race team already bringing in a number of victories this ...
Consumers in Control at CTAM Summit; Cable Marketing Event Puts Focus on Building Brands and Relationships.(Special Report: CTAM 2007)
Jul 23, 2007 ... Byline: Debra Kaufman Special to TelevisionWeek When the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing gathers in Washington, D.C., from July 23-25, the organization will rally around its CTAM Summit theme, "Power to the People!'' "Our business is ...