• CBS Picks Up Gellar Drama Pilot
    Sarah Michelle Gellar is returning to broadcast series TV with a pilot at CBS. In its first drama pilot pickup this season, CBS has greenlighted Ringer, which is top-lined by the former "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star. The project hails from ABC Studios, CBS TV Studios and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. UPDATE: The pickup of Ringer was followed by another drama pilot order by CBS to an untitled supernatural medical drama from writer Susannah Grant. Ringer, written on spec by "Supernatural" writer-producers Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder, centers on a troubled young woman (Gellar) who, while on the run from …
  • MTV Launches In Israel
    Israel marks the 64th localized version of the MTV service, which launched as a Hebrew-language channel in a deal between MTV Networks International and Ananey Communications. Targeted at 16- to 34-year-olds, MTV Israel airs international music programming, as well as entertainment series, including "Jersey Shore," "The Hard Times of RJ Berger" and favorites such as "Pranked." Also launching alongside the channel is a new MTV Israel Web site, featuring news, gossip, fashion, photos, polls, biographies, concert and event information and more. Marjory van Mackelenbergh, the VP of music content and business services for emerging markets at MTVNI, said: …
  • Companies To Buy 10 Million Tablets In 2011
    Companies will buy more than 10 million tablet computers this year, consultancy Deloitte said, supporting recent research from Gartner which sees the global market for Apple's iPad, rising to 55 million devices this year from 19.5 million in 2010. That could open the market for Research in Motion's 7-inch PlayBook tablet, set to launch in February or March, which received positive early reviews after the company offered hands-on demos earlier this month at CES trade show. Deloitte said healthcare and retail sectors alone could purchase some 5 million tablets this year. The surge of tablet market, coupled with strong …
  • Nielsen Struggles With Nontraditional TV Viewer Metrics
    While more viewers are getting up from the TV set and watching shows on the go, ratings giant Nielsen is stuck on the couch. Video viewing on Apple's iPad and other mobile devices is exploding. Just last week, Google's YouTube said its mobile video views tripled to 200 million in 2010. Nielsen, the market leader in traditional TV ratings, is having a tough time tracking eyeballs elsewhere. It has yet to offer advertisers an accepted way of measuring viewers who watch video on their home computers -- let alone on portable devices. "We are actively planning for the inclusion …
  • Miss America Pageant Returns To Network Television
    There she is, Miss America. The question is, will anyone notice? Those in charge are convinced that this is the year the iconic but long-beleaguered beauty pageant re-establishes its rightful place in the nation's consciousness as it returns triumphantly to network TV on Saturday for its 90th strut after five years in the cable wilderness. ABC's live broadcast will begin at 9 p.m. EST. "America loves a comeback story," Sam Haskell, chairman of the Miss America Organization, told AOL News. "When you figure out how education and scholarship and talent and service are all put in the forefront, …
  • Drew Carey Announces Cast For GSN Series
    Drew Carey announced the lineup of actors and comedians for his daily prime-time show premiering on GSN (Game Show Network) March 28. And host of "The Price is Right" is recruiting several old pals from both "The Drew Carey Show" and "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" for "Drew Carey's Improv-a-Ganza." The familiar Carey-over players include Kathy Kinney (Mimi on ABC's "The Drew Carey Show"), Ryan Stiles (a regular on both shows) and "Whose Line" stalwarts Brad Sherwood and Colin Mochrie. Also in the GSN troop are improv artists Greg Proops, Heather Anne Campbell, Jeff Davis, Chip Esten, Jonathan Mangum …
  • Actors Ratify New 3-Year Contract
    Members of Hollywood's two actors' unions voted to overwhelmingly support a new three-year contract that provides modest pay raises and higher contributions to their health and pension plans. The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists said Friday night that the film and TV contract was approved by a 94%-to-6% margin in a national vote, a strong endorsement of an agreement the unions reached with the studios in November after negotiations began Sept. 27, nearly nine months before the current contract expires. About a quarter of the 137,437 members who received ballots cast their …
  • TWC, Sinclair Reach Retrans Deal
    After weeks in limbo, about 4 million of Time Warner Cable's customers will no longer have to worry about losing one of their network TV stations. Just hours before a midnight deadline, the company announced Saturday it has reached a deal in principle with Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. over fees it pays to carry Sinclair broadcast signals, including those from local affiliates of Fox, ABC and CBS. Without a deal, Time Warner would have had to drop Sinclair's stations from its channel lineups, though subscribers might not have noticed the difference. Time Warner says it would have replaced signals …
  • Carell Exits 'Office' Before Season End
    You know that tear-filled May season finale of "The Office" featuring Steve Carell's swan song as Michael Scott we've all been expecting? Turns out Carell won't be in it. That's because Michael will actually leave Scranton (or at least Dunder-Mifflin) about a month before the season ends, according to Office show-runner Paul Lieberstein, who plays HR rep Toby. "Steve will have a number of episodes that dramatize and lead up to Steve leaving," the producer tells Vulture. "Then we'll continue on for about four more episodes, and the spring will prove to be not about an actor leaving, …
  • Standoff Between Studio, Casting Directors
    The broadcast networks are starting to pick up drama and comedy pilots for next fall. But who will cast them? No deal with casting directors for the pilots ordered since the beginning of the year have closed as casting directors and TV studios are in a bitter standoff. The issue at hand is who will pay for casting directors' assistants and associates, with casting directors demanding that the studio pick up the tab. In the past, TV studios would sometimes cover those costs on a case-to-case basis but this time, casting directors have banded together to demand that …
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