How Much Will Sports Become All About Cable Money? by David Goetzl

In sports, one person's greed is another person's sound business decision. So, while avarice may determine how many top-tier sports events move to cable, making money generally is not a crime. A harbinger of where the balance lies for rights holders could come as the NBA negotiates its next TV contract, where ESPN and Turner are the incumbents. ...Read the whole story

  • 'Tonight' Still King Of Late-Night TV by Wayne Friedman

    While NBC proceeds to set up its late-night changes for next year, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" continues to grab steady top results -- just ahead of the competition. ...Read the whole story

  • financial services FirstBank Expands Ad Campaign by Tanya Irwin

    FirstBank is extending its TV advertising for the first time outside of its home state of Colorado. A shift in emphasis from "less stressful" to "faster" marks the latest iterations of the financial services provider's ongoing "Mortgages Made Easy" advertising. ...Read the whole story

  • CW's Strategy: Year-Round Originals, Digital Reach by Steve McClellan

    CW President Mark Pedowitz outlined the TV network's strategy for the coming season. The strategy boils down to a few components, Pedowitz said, including more year-round original programming. Taking a cue from popular young adult fiction, the network will continue to utilize as much "high concept" programming with as much broad appeal as possible. ...Read the whole story

  • USA Looks To Make Comedy King In The New Season by Steve McClellan

    While USA has been the top-rated cable network for seven straight years, "we're not standing still," says Linda Yaccarino, NBCU president of ad sales. "We're looking for new ways to engage audiences." A major development this year is the network's focus on building comedy shows, anchored by the acquisition of syndication rights to the ABC hit sitcom "Modern Family," which will air this fall. And USA has picked up its first two original comedies," Sirens" and "Playing House," which it intends to create a multi-show comedy franchise with. ...Read the whole story

  • 'Idol' Falls, 'Bang' Leads Thursdays by Wayne Friedman

    The TV broadcast network environment is definitely shifting -- as evidenced by the last major night of the broadcast season, Thursday, where a number of high-profile season and series finales aired. Fox's "American Idol" final episode of the season expectedly took a steep dive -- down 44% to a Nielsen preliminary 3.6 rating/11 share. ...Read the whole story

  • retail Champs Taps Westbrook For Ad Push by Karl Greenberg

    The effort features a 30-second television commercial in which a high school basketball player picks up Jordan brand gear at a Champs Sports store and "becomes" Westbrook: when he dons the outers, he looks into a mirror and sees Westbrook looking back. ...Read the whole story

Big TV Broadcast Development for 2013-2014: But Where Is The New Reality? by Wayne Friedman

There some 52 new shows hitting the broadcast airwaves this fall season -- up from 37 a year ago. But increasingly, you don't see networks taking a chance in offering prime fall or spring time periods for new, unproven reality fare. ...More