Perhaps nothing illustrates ESPN's rapacity quite like the college football bowl season. After blowing Fox Sports out of the water with a $500 million bid, ESPN won the rights for the Bowl Championship Series through 2014. It now plays host to 33 of the 35 bowl games, including the Oregon-Auburn title match on Jan. 10. And here's the corker: Despite the towering expenses associated with hosting the BCS games, ESPN could air the championship event commercial-free and still walk away fat and happy. In exchange for its broadcast feed and hi-def simulcast, Bristol charges cable and satellite operators an average …

Genre series like HBO's "True Blood" are all the rage on cable. Broadcast is new to the game. Two drama pilots ordered so far by Fox are both in the genre category: "Locke & Key" is based on Joe Hill's comic, and "Alcatraz" features missing Alcatraz prisoners who reappear in present day. Genre projects have also attracted some of the biggest writer-producers in town: Lost's J.J. Abrams is behind Fox's series "Fringe" and "Alcatraz." David E. Kelley, who dabbled in sci-fi with "Life on Mars," is developing a series adaptation of comic book icon "Wonder Woman," while David …

Politics and automobiles gave the over-the-air local television industry a much needed revenue injection in 2010, leading BIA/Kelsey, adviser to companies in the local media space, to raise its estimate for the year to $18.5 billion, a 17% increase from 2009. BIA/Kelsey also forecasts an 8% decrease in local television revenues in 2011, a more pronounced decline due to this year's unusually robust political campaign season. Top markets with revenue increases of 22% or more in 2010 include: Denver; Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota, Fla.; West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Fla.; Chicago; Indianapolis; Cleveland; and Philadelphia.

Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) will be the next chairman of the House subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, and like many lawmakers, he broke the news on Twitter. A former radio station owner, Walden will be joined by vice chair Terry Lee (R-Neb.) for the subcommittee overseeing high-tech legislative issues. He is known for his experience in broadcasting and communications policy. On his Web site, Walden's bio states he "fighting for free speech on the airwaves by opposing the return of the so-called Fairness Doctrine." Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the overseeing Commerce and Energy Committee, made it …

Comcast Corp. will offer new programing targeted at African and Asian Americans if it is allowed to buy a majority stake in General Electric Co's NBC Universal, the company announced this week in agreements with civil rights groups. The decision to boost diversity efforts comes as the company awaits approval from the U.S. Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission to complete a proposed merger that would create a combined broadcast, cable, movie studio and theme parks business. Comcast said it would add four new cable networks either owned or partly owned by African-Americans within eight years. Plus, it expand …

Google Inc.'s drive to bring the Internet to living-room TVs and generate fresh advertising sales is being threatened by the failure to obtain popular shows such as "Glee" and "NCIS." CBS Corp. Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves and Chase Carey, the No. 2 executive at Fox parent News Corp., say after months of talks they're in no hurry to let Google TV offer shows via the Web for free. The four major networks are blocking Google TV viewers from watching shows that consumers readily see on the Web with PCs out of fear they'll lose ads, re-run revenue and …

CBS News, long a major presence on television, has had a modest online presence, widely trailing industry online news giants MSNBC.com and CNN.com -- as well the web sites of ABC News, Fox News and the BBC. But this appears to be changing as CBSNews.com has registered over 19 million unique visitors in November, besting ABC News, Fox News and the BBC in traffic in the United States, according to the latest numbers from comScore. According to comScore, traffic to CBSNews.com has increased 29% since March. Dan Farber, editor-in-chief of CBSNews.com., says that traffic has doubled over the …

A controversial proposal for Internet traffic rules that would allow providers to ration access to their networks is up for vote on Tuesday. The rules would ban high-speed Internet providers like Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications from blocking lawful traffic, but are expected to acknowledge their need to manage network congestion and possibly charge consumers based on Internet usage. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski's plan will likely attract the grudging support of his two fellow Democrats, overcoming opposition from the agency's two Republicans. Copps wanted the FCC to reclassify Internet traffic under tougher rules applying to telephone service, …

Vevo has launched a free application for the iPad, marking the first time thousands of music videos will be available for streaming on the device. "This is huge," said David Kohl, Vevo's executive vice president, sales and customer operations. "This is the first time consumers will have access to videos on a tablet device. We estimate that the app will have multiple million downloads relatively quickly." The 1-year-old Vevo is a joint venture among Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and investor Abu Dhabi Media Company. The site, which features videos from artists such as Justin Bieber (who has …

NCR's Blockbuster Express movie-rental unit reached a licensing agreement with Warner Bros. that gives the studio 28 days to sell new releases before they are placed in kiosks. NCR will be able to buy videos directly from Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. at a lower price and in greater volume than it gets from third parties. The pact applies to DVDs that will go on sale in stores in January. The company has 28-day agreements with NBC Universal and News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox, studios that also require a four-week window from a movie's so-called street date, when …