by Maya Abulashvili on Jul 29, 8:46 PM
Michael Wolff safely assumes that people won't likely stop watching TV (as business model), even if they stop watching the TV (as distribution channel).
by Wayne Friedman on Jul 29, 8:15 PM
ABC grabbed great fortune with the entertaining NBA Finals: intense drama around high-profile players, overall closely fought games, and soaring TV ratings. But is that enough?
by Wayne Friedman on Jul 29, 8:09 PM
Chris Squire, co-founder/bassist of U.K.-based British rock band Yes, didn't make many TV appearances in the U.S -- especially recently. Part of this was because he grabbed fame and fortune in the early and mid-1970s. But he might get his day soon posthumously. Squire passed away recently from a rare form of cancer.
by Phyllis Fine on Jul 29, 2:10 PM
Networks like MeTV are now repurposing the seemingly endless inventory of old TV shows - just as Turner Classic Movies turned the showing of old films into a sometimes-educational, entertaining experience mingling nostalgia and discovery. Still, until this year no network had taken the TCM path of curating programming in all kinds of smart and/or fun ways. But now there's Decades, launched earlier this year.
by Steve McClellan on Jul 28, 3:15 PM
There's another reminder on this week's cover of New York magazine of just how tainted one of TV's biggest and brightest stars has become. The cover features 35 women -- including well-known names like Janice Dickinson and Beverly Johnson -- who claim that Bill Cosby molested them. Even one would be a tragedy.
by Fern Siegel on Jul 27, 1:19 PM
Snarky humor that doubles as social commentary is an art form. One of the high priestesses of the genre is Tina Fey, who has unleashed another wacky, but on-point sitcom, "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt."
by Wayne Friedman on Jul 24, 2:11 PM
With ESPN making cutbacks of high-priced talent -- not renewing contracts for Keith Olbermann, Bill Simmons, and Colin Cowherd -- the question becomes, what networks and TV shows are next on the hit list?
by Wayne Friedman on Jul 23, 4:55 PM
Cable network dreams don't always come true. Some decades ago, cable TV proponents believed a single ad-supported cable network could someday surpass one of the big major TV broadcast network. Not only that, but at least one cable TV executive believed that one day a cable network would "take" the Super Bowl away from the broadcasters. Come back down to earth: After more than three decades of nonstop battle with cable networks, broadcast networks -- at least the big three -- are still on top (even with viewership erosion).
by Wayne Friedman on Jul 22, 3:41 PM
For Hulu, this has been a long time in coming: an advertising-free subscription version of its service. But is it too late? That service would put it right smack in the race with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, as well as the likes of HBO Now.
by Wayne Friedman on Jul 21, 4:23 PM
In a series of new TV commercials for its first general marketing campaign, stand-alone digital TV service Sling TV shows pesky kids as bullies representing "Old TV," demanding money and longer term deals from adult TV consumers. F