Mediaweek - Cable TV

CAB to Buyers: Revive Swooning Upfront With Cable

Anthony Crupi — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:31:00 EDT

Group lobbying that the time has come to shift their focus away from their stalled negotiations with broadcasters and onto cable

TNT's Dark Blue Cuffs Solid Premiere Stats

Anthony Crupi — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:12:00 EDT

Jerry Bruckheimer’s latest project retained 91 percent of its lead-in, as the second-season premiere of the Timothy Hutton vehicle Leverage scared up 3.89 million viewers in the 9 p.m. time slot.

Discovery Hires Margaret Loesch to Run Kids Net

Anthony Crupi — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:39:00 EDT

Former Fox Kids Network chief to serve as president and CEO of joint initiative sparked by Discovery and the toy giant Hasbro

Armstrong Puts Tour de France in High Gear For Versus

Anthony Crupi — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:40:00 EDT

Per Nielsen, Versus’ live morning telecasts of the Tour have averaged 479,809 viewers, a dramatic improvement over the 270,359 viewers it was pulling in at this time a year ago

Cartoon Net Helps Tee Up Turner PGA Pact

John Consoli — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:43:00 EDT

Cartoon Network Enterprises will act as the PGA of America licensing agent to create consumer product lines, including apparel, that will be co-branded, targeting kids

Sonic Reups With TBS' Bill Engvall Show

Anthony Crupi — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:02:00 EDT

The drive-in restaurant chain Sonic has signed on as a returning sponsor of TBS’ original comedy series The Bill Engvall Show, which returns for its third season on July 18.

Long John Silver’s Dives Into Shark Week Microsite

Anthony Crupi — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:06:00 EDT

Ads for the Louisville-based chain will go live today (July 15) and will remain up on Discovery's Shark Week site through August 31

Oxygen Bows Music Initiative

Anthony Crupi — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:54:00 EDT

NBC Universal’s Oxygen is breaking into song this summer, launching a new music initiative designed to introduce the network’s girl-power demo to a roster of emerging artists.

Eureka Nabs Key Demo Win for SyFy

Anthony Crupi — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:20:00 EDT

The July 10 episode drew 1.32 million adults 25-54, making it cable’s most-watched program among the demo during the time period

USA Continues Weekly Ratings Run

Anthony Crupi — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:56:00 EDT

TNT’s The Closer once again was the most-watched program on ad-supported cable, averaging 6.05 million viewers in its Monday 9 p.m. time slot.

BET, Grey Goose Launch 'Icons' Series

Lindsay Gordon — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:46:00 EDT

BET Networks, in conjunction with Grey Goose vodka, will debut a TV and concert series dubbed Rising Icons on July 27.

Rentrak Signs on HSN for 'Essentials' Deal

Katy Bachman — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:48:00 EDT

Rentrak, one of several companies offering TV measurement services based on set-top box data, announced Monday (July 13) it had signed on Home Shopping Network for its line of TV Essentials services.

Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva Draws Decently for Debut

Anthony Crupi — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:26:00 EDT

Lifetime on Sunday night (July 12) drew a crowd with the premiere of its new drama series Drop Dead Diva, averaging 2.81 million total viewers in the 9 p.m. time slot, per Nielsen fast nationals.

Execs Look to New Media Biz Models

Yinka Adegoke (Reuters) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:43:00 EDT

Media moguls at this week's Sun Valley conference have spent as much time discussing how to reconfigure business models disrupted by the Web as they have worrying about the weak economy.

Comcast Expands Spanish-Language Offerings

Ayala Ben-Yehuda — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:58:00 EDT

Comcast has added a slew of Spanish-language entertainment channels to its lineup in Northern California.

Lifetime Nabs Rights to CBS Comedy 'Old Christine'

Anthony Crupi — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:35:00 EDT

Lifetime has scooped up the off-net rights to the CBS comedy The New Adventures of Old Christine, with an eye toward adding the show to its lineup in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Solid Ratings for SyFy's 'Warehouse,' ABC Family's '10 Things'

Anthony Crupi — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:17:00 EDT

Tuesday night gave rise to a pair of cable series premieres, as the newly refurbished SyFy took the wraps off Warehouse 13, and ABC Family bowed 10 Things I Hate About You.

FCC to Mediate Verizon, Cablevision Conflict

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:53:00 EDT

Verizon Communications Inc. on Wednesday said it has petitioned federal regulators for access to Cablevision Systems Corp.'s New York area sports programs in high-definition TV.

Napoleon Dynamite Star Lands Comedy Central Show

James Hibberd — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:45:00 EDT

Napoleon Dynamite star Jon Heder has landed a sitcom deal at Comedy Central.

TiVo, Best Buy Plug in Marketing Pact

Katy Bachman — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:03:00 EDT

The two will work together to exploit TiVo's full suite of interface solutions as a marketing vehicle for Best Buy's consumer electronics line

CNN Tops Jackson Coverage, E!, MTV See Spike

Anthony Crupi — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:43:00 EDT

While Nielsen pegged the U.S. TV audience for Michael Jackson’s memorial service at 31.1 million viewers, ratings for individual networks were still trickling in late Wednesday

FCC to Mediate Verizon-Cablevision Fight

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:40:00 EDT

Verizon has petitioned for access to Cablevision Systems Corp.'s New York area sports programs in high-definition TV

TNT 'Closes' First Week of Q3 With Ratings Win

Anthony Crupi — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:30:00 EDT

TNT celebrated Independence Day by winning the first week of the third quarter, notching an average prime-time delivery of 2.75 million total viewers and 1.26 million adults 25-54.

Comcast, U.S. Olympic Committee to Launch Cable Net

Anthony Crupi — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:12:00 EDT

Comcast has partnered with the U.S. Olympic Committee to launch a new standalone cable network dedicated to the nation’s premiere athletes.

Comedy Central, WGN Snap Up 30 Rock Rights

Anthony Crupi — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:20:00 EDT

Viacom-owned Comedy Central and Tribune Co.'s WGN will begin running episodes of the Tina Fey/Alec Baldwin vehicle in the fourth quarter of 2011

Nets Covering Jackson Memorial Not Concerned About Ad Loss

Anthony Crupi — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:42:00 EDT

While it’s believed that tens of millions more watched on broadcast and cable TV and via streaming online video, a final reckoning won’t be available until Wednesday

Study: DTV to Increase Pay TV Subs

Katy Bachman — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:09:00 EDT

Cable, satellite and other pay TV companies are likely to gain 653,000 subscribers this year as a result of the June 12 transition to digital TV, according to an analysis from Wells Fargo Securities released Tuesday (July 7).

VH1 Takes Great Debate to the Streets

Katy Bachman — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:15:00 EDT

Network will use live, interactive out-of-home screens and social media Web sites to create a multi-channel dialog and debate

Programming Exec Steve Cheskin Returns to TLC

Anthony Crupi — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:58:00 EDT

Steve Cheskin is returning to the TLC fold, accepting the newly created role of executive vp, programming. Based at the network’s Silver Spring, Md., headquarters, Cheskin will begin his tenure on Tuesday, July 7.

Oxygen Gets Strong 'Dance' Sampling

Anthony Crupi — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:16:00 EDT

Oxygen’s aggressive promotion of its new competition series Dance Your Ass Off seems to have paid off, as the show debuted to 1.27 million total viewers Monday night at 10 p.m., making it the most-watched premiere in the network’s history.