Looks like the cable industry is finally responding to the threat of cut-rate online alternatives such as YouTube and Hulu. "It would be a good thing if we could all figure out a way to have one or more smaller packages that would be attractive to people who can't afford bigger ones, especially if we could do it in a way that the entertainment companies are still able to finance the product," Glenn Britt, chief executive of Time Warner Cable, said at a media conference. Brian Dietz, a spokesman for the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn., an industry group, …

In what could be a bad sign for the future of the fledging ATSC's mobile TV standard, Qualcomm, the owner of its top competitor - FLO TV - said the mobile television platform has failed to meet expectations and may be sold. FLO TV is the main pay television platform used by Verizon Wireless and AT&T, the nation's top cellular phone providers. The broadcasters, who are testing their own system in Washington, D.C., have been unable to get carriage with either of these companies. Sprint is involved in the current mobile DTV trial, but has no long-term commitment to carry …

Consumer Reports has confirmed what many already knew about iPhone 4 -- touching its external antenna produces noticeable reception problems -- but with that finding offered a damning conclusion: This phone is not recommended. The verdict is a slap in the face to Apple, which earlier this month tried casting the iPhone 4 problem as an optical illusion, caused by the way the phone displays signal bars. Previously, Apple said holding the iPhone 4 in certain ways can affect signal strength, but insisted that overall the phone gets better reception than any previous model. For unsatisfied customers, Apple recommends holding …

Oprah Winfrey's quarter-century run on daytime TV may be accompanied by a TV film dramatizing her life. Veteran producer Larry A. Thompson said Monday the planned two- or four-hour Winfrey film will be based on Kitty Kelley's tell-all biography. Thompson says he has optioned it for six figures. The TV project, first reported by E!, is expected to air in September 2011, which would coincide with the end of Winfrey's weekday talk show. An unknown will likely be cast to play Winfrey. A spokesman for Winfrey's Chicago-based Harpo Productions declined to comment.

Television teens have birthed a prime-time baby boom. Recent seasons have delivered shows that range from MTV's gritty "16 and Pregnant" to "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" on ABC Family. This spring, a cheerleader and president of a high school chastity club performed a musical birth on Fox's "Glee" accompanied by pop tune Bohemian Rhapsody, reports The Houston Chronicle.  Last week, fans of "Friday Night Lights" watched as the show took on one of America's great television taboos: abortion. Though abortion has been legal in the U.S. since 1972, abortion plot lines are rare. Among the …

Daniel Tosh has surpassed both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in the ratings to have the most-watched and top-rated studio-based show on the cable network. His series, "Tosh.0," hit another series high Wednesday -- 2.4 million viewers, the network's best performance in that time period since "Chappelle's Show" in 2004. "Tosh.0" chronicles all that's newsworthy, weird and lewd about the Internet, with Tosh introducing video clips and occasionally interviewing guests in his "Web Redemptions" segment. It remains to be seen if Tosh can maintain his current ratings momentum -- Stewart has been making "Daily Show" a critical and …

Summer broadcast TV: It's not just for reruns and schlocky reality anymore. Or at least it won't be for long, thanks to a shifting dynamic in production costs -- reality is getting more expensive while scripted gets cheaper -- and advertisers' desire for fresh scripted fare. "Advertisers do like to see the broadcast networks putting on fresh scripted shows during the summer like ABC is doing this year," one media buyer said. "There are the top-tier summer reality shows that advertisers will embrace. But for the most part, an advertiser would rather take a lower rating in a new …

Analysts said Verizon's aggression in Los Angeles -- it is highly unusual for a so-called switch campaign to pop up almost two months ahead of a deadline -- is fresh evidence that cable giants like Time Warner are under increasing pressure. Insurgents in the pay-TV delivery wars (Verizon, DirecTV, AT&T, Dish Network) that are trying to build market share by offering consumers more for less. And they are succeeding. Six years ago, cable companies had 72% of the pie, satellite operators had 28% and telecom competitors had essentially none, according to SNL Kagan data. By last year, however, satellite …

The FCC has issued its final 2010 reg fee schedule that strays dramatically from its April proposals. How dramatically? Perhaps the worst-case scenario involves UHF TV licensees in Markets 1-10, who will see their reg fees skyrocket up by $6,975 over the rates proposed in April. Their UHF brethren in other markets above 100 will fare little better, with increases ranging from $3,325 to $5,225 over April's proposals. Most radio licensees will also experience increases -- the sole exceptions being Class B and D AM stations, which will remain at the levels proposed in April. The FCC does …

Significant questions about the business model for mobile DTV still need to be answered. These include whether the technology should broadly launch as a free, ad-supported service or as a subscription offering, and whether stations have the right to simulcast their normal network programming through mobile DTV, notes B&C. And while wireless carrier Sprint is participating in the Washington trial, no formal deal with a carrier to implement mobile DTV technology in handsets or other devices has been reached. If these questions aren't addressed soon, the commercial launch of mobile DTV could be delayed well into 2011 or …