• TV's 2010 Upfront Faces Five Years' Worth Of YouTube
    The upfront presentations are in full swing this week -- all on the fifth-year anniversary of YouTube. TV networks realize that while the democratization of video on the Internet is great for viewers, that's only one piece of the puzzle.
  • Turning Back The TV Development Hands Of Time At NBC: Will Viewers And Advertisers Follow?
    What is this, 1992? NBC has announced 11 new shows over the last several days. Seems like the good old days, when networks had plenty of dough to throw around, with CPMs always seemingly going higher no matter what shape the economy was in -- and when networks went with big expensive upfront program presentations. In recent years, NBC, as well as CBS and others, could offer as few as three new shows for a new season.
  • A Nicer Name For A TV Show Seemingly About 'Nailing Younger Guys'
    A veteran TV producer, and possibly the network itself, wants to take a moderately successful network TV show, and do the unthinkable: change its name. Bill Lawrence, executive producer of ABC's "Cougar Town," is worried his show's name has perhaps limited viewer potential -- and that it turns off others. That people might say, according to Lawrence: "I don't want to see some show about a 40-year-old woman nailing younger guys."
  • What Comcast Really Needs From NBC Universal
    We have a little deeper knowledge about where Comcast is going with its soon-to-be big broadcast/movie studio purchase: NBC Universal should do its own thing -- but with one exception.
  • A Different TV Upfront Market -- With Same Old Strategy
    A future TV business headline in the next couple of weeks: "The upfront market returns to quick overnight deals, high price increases, and laughing TV advertising sales executives." OK, maybe just smiling (or contented) advertising sales executives.
  • A Swing And A Miss: TV Consumers Take Another Strike
    A recent Federal Communications Commission ruling gave movie studios the ability to stop viewers from time-shifting films on video-on-demand services. Studios are now allowed to stop this practice -- via remotely changing consumers' set-top box connections -- to prevent illegal copying of movies. Consumer-advocacy groups say this is a dangerous move, just a short step to allowing all TV content owners this ability -- which has been technically possible for years.
  • TV's Riskier Program Gamble: Will Advertisers Still Participate?
    Comedy Central is developing a show called "JC," an animated show about Jesus Christ finding himself in New York City, looking to get out of the shadow of his father -- a man who seemingly just wants to play video games and not focus on his son. Seems crazy. This network already has issues with throwing around the name of Prophet Muhammad on "South Park." How does one sell this to advertisers?
  • Local TV News: What's In A Name
    There is indeed continuing interest in local TV news -- but you may have a hard time identifying where that local news originates. Some marketing executives still believe broadcast station call letters are the key for future growth, especially in the digital space. Yet other executives believe giving a new name to local digital TV news operations lets consumers gravitate to a "new" product and let go of any preconceived notions about the old TV station.
  • Traditional TV Rating Guarantees For Digital TV?
    Now on the verge of another TV upfront advertising season, with all the projections that it will seem just like a "regular" upfront with some price increases, one question lurks in the background: Are traditional TV executives running scared of digital? Digital video executives will tell you this is absolutely true. Trouble is, we have been hearing these crying-wolf calls for many years now.
  • Media Executive Suggests Unlikely TV Opportunity: Start A News Program
    For all those electronic and non-electronic journalism watchers, there comes good news from one media executive, News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch. On Fox Business' "Cavuto" on Tuesday, Murdoch said: "There has never been such demand for journalism as there is today."
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