The cable industry is at it again, trying to avoid carrying local TV station signals. Industry members claim that DirecTV and EchoStar Communications don't have to do it -- so why should they?» 0 Comments
With all the new programming competitions in the land of TV -- reality, sport or scripted - there's still not enough. We need a TV show that focuses on TV watching.» 0 Comments
Be a video contrarian. Stir up controversy, and make new friends. This is what we have Mark Cuban for. Here's the latest: The Internet is dead, he says. Cuban says the future is actually TV itself -- especially coming with video-on-demand (VOD) that has grown over the last several years.» 0 Comments
No puffing. No smoking. Better role models -- at least for one studio. Disney bans cigarettes from its family films. It's a no-risk move for the family friendly studio, but what does it mean for period pieces? And will such bans end with smoking?» 0 Comments
In NBA games, lots of points are scored. But if a rogue referee had his way, he'd make some points too -- all to help his gambling bets. ESPN and Turner Sports are helping with the FBI investigation, but what if it's more than one rogue ref? Then advertisers have big problems.» 0 Comments
Movie cable network AMC used to be the network that had no advertising; these days it has some. In the old days cigarettes could advertise on TV; now it's verboten. Until "Mad Men" and its Lucky Strike plug. The ad placement is an organic part of the story.» 0 Comments
What does TV advertising do for TV writers? They pay their salaries, of course? But maybe not in the future. In response to a possible strike by TV writers, who are demanding they get paid appropriately for their work that appears on new digital platforms, producers are taking a hard line. So hard, in fact, that here's what Carol Lombardini, executive vice president-business and legal affairs at the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, wonders how long will television continue to be an ad-supported medium.» 0 Comments
Calling for more branded entertainment means someone is getting rich -- but not producers. "It isn't changing our lives in terms of economics," said 20th Century Fox Television Co-President Gary Newman, speaking at the Hollywood Radio & Television Society's Newsmaker Luncheon this week. This brings up the question: Who is benefiting from branded entertainment?» 0 Comments
Two German TV networks decided not to air the Wednesday and Thursday stages of the Tour de France because a German cyclist, Patrik Sinkewitz of the T-Mobile cycling team, tested positive for testosterone. This is remarkable. Imagine if a New York Yankee baseball player tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and the YES network decide not to air a baseball game.» 0 Comments
When does WWE take a hit from advertisers or viewers? Not yet. Not as long as the sport - is not a sport. Not even when a top champion wrestler, or entertainment performer, Chris Benoit, in an alleged state of steroid rage, allegedly killed his son, wife and then himself.» 0 Comments
Wayne Friedman is West Coast Editor of MediaPost.