• Network TV: Now Taking DVD Sloppy Seconds
    With all the activities of the last several weeks, one would have finally thought TV networks were forward-thinking in terms of on-demand programming deals. Then Fox makes an about face--of sorts. One of Fox's new episodes of cult hit "Family Guy" that will air in the new year will be one that has been already out for months on DVD.
  • Mind-Controlling TV?
    I've been having TV-induced business nightmares the past several days: Dan Patrick of ESPN's "SportsCenter" has been sending me "code" words, asking me to join him on "SportsCenter" as a co-host.
  • TV Is Everywhere, Yet We Don't Have Enough
    Think you have a enough ways to getting to TV content these days? Oh, no. Surprisingly, you are starving yourself for all the entertainment possibilities--especially when you leave home.
  • ABC Snaps Up One Issue of Life: Will It Snap Back?
    Media companies are now dipping their toes into the waters of single sponsorship of magazines. But snapping turtles lie beneath the water line.
  • The WB Needs Big Christmas Gifts
    The WB needs a lot this Christmas--better programs, and apparently even another partner or two.
  • New-Media Deals Not Likely To Affect Nets For Some Time
    For all that the networks have done with Apple's iTunes Music Store, DirecTV, Comcast VOD, and mobile phone deals, the underlying feeling is that their core revenue business--network advertising sales--is slowing.
  • Networks Try Telenovelas: Cheap Summer Entertainment?
    What with the standard flux of sitcoms, procedural crime dramas, reality shows, and medical shows, prime-time genres have been pretty stale over the last few years. Now ABC and CBS, as well as a bunch of other producers, are looking to break out a bit in the summer--their experimentation time--by producing English-language versions of Spanish-language style "telenovelas," focused mainly on love and betrayal.
  • Super Bowl: Flat Pricing Or Hidden Price Tag?
    The Super Bowl gets the highest price for commercials on television--duly deserved for the TV show that gets the highest rating of the year. Yet in the last three years the event hasn't shown a price increase.
  • DreamWorks/Paramount Deal: As Much About Nickelodeon and Shrek As About Live-Action Films
    Viacom's acquisition of DreamsWorks SKG's live-action unit has its own film-distribution TV motives, but the more crucial part of the deal is what DreamWorks animated product will do for the Viacom cable TV network-brand, Nickelodeon.
  • Has Internet-Created Content Had An Effect On TV Programming?
    Has Internet-created content influenced traditional TV program production? Nope. Not in the slightest, according to some TV executives.
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