A sitcom on USA, known for its lightweight shows about quirky characters in mostly law-related professions?  A scripted soap on reality show queen Bravo? These could be logical extensions of the channels' current brands, but they are a departures nonetheless -- and part of a trend for cable networks to broaden their appeal by branching out beyond the genres they are known for, writes Gary Levin. Other networks taking this step include drama-heavy TNT, with its first reality show, "The Great Escape," and History, with "Vikings," its first scripted series.

Probably no big surprise, but 92% of more than 1,000 respondents to a recent survey would prefer a la carte cable TV -- paying $1.50 for  an average preferred number of 19 channels -- to their current multichannel packages, according to RBC Capital Markets. Also not a surprise: "The investment research firm's math confirms long-held views by both content companies and MSOs that a la carte economics would dramatically hurt a business that is a major revenue driver to both industries," writes Andrew Wallenstein. "A likely scenario sketched out by RBC's report envisioned the $34 billion content companies received in …

For the first time since December 1995 -- that makes 825 weeks --  ABC's "Good Morning America" bested NBC's Today in preliminary weekly ratings. The ratings announcement  marks "an end to the longest winning streak in TV history — and, for ABC, the longest losing streak," writes Brian Stelter and Bill Carter. By the way, ABC didn't win the week when Katie Couric co-hosted "GMA," but the week following -- starting April 9 -- when "Today" host Matt Lauer was on vacation.

The Parents Television Council is busy denouncing ABC's new show, "Don't Trust The B---- in Apt. 23" for its depictions of substance abuse and promiscuity,  saying it holds advertisers AT&T and Volkswagen accountable. The group also uses the word "sexist" to describe the show, which surprises us -- thought they cared only about making shows family friendly, not fair to women. May be a progressive step forward for them.

Swedish furniture maker and retailer Ikea will be selling its own TV -- "integrated into a piece of furniture to completely banish cables from your home" -- this fall, writes Jamie Condliffe. With the catchy Swedish title of Uppleva, the unit will feature an HDTV and Blu-ray/DVD player, and is expected to retail at about $950.

Scripps Networks Interactive, owner of The Food Network, has begun rolling out CityEats, an online restaurant reservation service, to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, and will move to other major markets including San Francisco and New York by year's end. The service, which "prominently displays the Food Network logo," is competing with market leader Open Table, in business since 1996. 

"Spanish-language channels in the U.S. are getting only half the advertising revenues they should," according to Emilio Romano, who became the chief exec of Telemundo six months ago. The stats he cites in defense of this claim -- “Hispanic television media get 8 per cent of the viewership on average on a single day and only 4 per cent of the total advertising [revenue]" -- includes 2010 U.S. census data showing more than 50 million Latinos, writes Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson (But to finish the compaprison, we'd like to know what percentage of the total population is Latino.) Edgecliffe-Johnson provides a quick …

Conde Nast's Brides magazine has undergone a total revamp for its May issue, after a new team took the reins at the top of the masthead last fall.  Publisher Michelle Myers, previously at Lucky, and editor in chief Anne Fulenwider, previously the executive editor of Hearst’s Marie Claire have updated "everything from the magazine’s logo to its editorial voice," writes Emma Bazilian. While the pub will maintain its traditional wedding-planning content, there will also be "frank discussions about topics like sex, travel, real estate and financial planning," writes Bazilian. New front-of-book sections include Stylist, which features an inspiration board based on …

A new, twice-yearly incarnation of beloved Conde Nast shelter book Domino is supposed to be on sale Tuesday -- but, along with the Boston reader cited in this article, we were so excited we started checking newsstands early. In our case, we scored. Seeing a single issue on a subway newsstand on Sunday,  we pounced, paying the surprised newssdealer the exorbitant price of $10.99. He asked, "Is there something special about this magazine?" This article rehashes the "something special" that attracted such a wide fan base. "[Domino] was approachable for real life,” according to one reader; it encouraged creativity and …

This fall BET will launch “Don’t Sleep With T.J. Holmes,” a satirical news commentary show that has Holmes, the former CNN newscaster, "speaking through a unique and smart African-American filter," according to Noam Cohen (with quotes coming directly from a company release). "The announcement shows the continued interest in the late-night time period among cable channels, which are encroaching on the audience of the late-night shows on ABC, CBS and NBC," writes Cohen.