Getting Vivendi out of the way was the sticking point, but GE has a deal
How much is Vivendi's stake in NBC Universal worth? According to NBCU's parent company, General Electric, it's $5.8 billion. That's how much it will cost GE to part ways with Vivendi, more than five years after their partnership created one of the industry's largest media conglomerates. Now wi ...
Read MoreHowever, when musical show returns, it will lead out 'American Idol'
There is some confidence left in "Lie To Me" apparently. Fox has ordered the back-nine episodes of the show despite its struggles in the ratings Monday nights as a lead-out from "House," according to The Hollywood Reporter. This will give "Lie To Me" a full season, and a chance to try and prov ...
Read MoreStrong 'Dancing' outing could push CBS out of top spot
If Wednesday's overnights stay the same as they did last week, CBS could finish its third week in a row of November sweeps with a 7.3 rating/12 share. Although that has been more than enough to lead CBS to wins the first three weeks of sweeps, it might not be enough to wrap up November. ABC is ...
Read MoreCould this be the one to break the author out of his boob tube funk?
We all remember what "It" and "The Stand" did for network television, but when you really look back at it, it's been a while since a Stephen King project has done well for television audiences. Maybe it's time for that luck to change. Another Steve, that is Steven Spielberg, has options King's ...
Read MoreWill be replaced by 'Past Life' for a short run
There are many who fear "Fringe" could meet a similar fate as another Fox show "Dollhouse." While producers have made it clear the network supports the show that stars Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson and John Noble, it's not doing "Fringe" any favors by pulling it from the network's February sweeps sc ...
Read MoreABC says the break is needed to help refresh the writing juices
If this was really planned by ABC, then they must've been out for more than two minutes and 17 seconds. The network, along with Warner Bros. Television, decided to break production of its new series "FlashForward" a week sooner than expected. The network says the planned stoppage was needed to he ...
Read MoreCable channel will air Christmas special day after UK broadcast
There once was a time when European audiences flew to the Internet looking for new episodes of television shows that had already been broadcast in the United States, but not elsewhere. But with the international success of "Doctor Who," especially with the final episodes coming up next month with ...
Read MoreSee how the 20 new programs on the 2009-10 season have fared
Is it good to decide whether a show should live or die based on the audience drop-off from only its second week? That's something that has come more and more in prominence these days, especially with movies. Thanks to insanely large openings from megaplex theaters that didn't even exist 20 years ...
Read MoreHead of WCBS-New York takes over all 29 stations, reporting to new GM Peter Dunn
The same week CBS Corp. said it would promote WCBS-New York president and general manager Peter Dunn to head of the company's television stations, the Eye has announced a number of other management restructuring moves as the media company looks to have a stronger foothold in local television markets ...
Read MoreOwner of 10 stations says network needs to dump comedian, but probably won't
Jay Leno insists that affiliates are happy with him. But there is one who completely disagrees. Bob Prather, president of Gray Television, says the ratings for "The Jay Leno Show" stink, saying that Leno's ratings were "definitely hurting" the ratings of local news at his 10 NBC affiliates. Gr ...
Read MoreWarner Bros. TV can finish 13-episode order, but then the show is done
It had some star power like Rebecca Romjin and a connection to a popular film. In the end, however, "Eastwick" was just not meant to be. ABC opted not to order any more episodes beyond its original 13, effectively canceling the series after seven episodes. Instead, the network has decided to cont ...
Read MoreNetwork now has won six of the first nine weeks of the 2009-10 season
Let CBS have its full schedule back, and suddenly it's in the lead once again. CBS won the week in audience of its non-news, non-event programming earning an overnight average of a 7.0 rating/11 share, according to a study of Fast National ratings from The Nielsen Co. That easily beat ABC, last w ...
Read MoreDrama was network's lowest-rated Friday show, but not by much
Hard to imagine many of the other networks willing to say good-bye to a television series averaging a 5.0 household rating on a tough night. But CBS is ready to do just that. Days after reducing the number of episodes planned this season from 22 to 16, Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has ...
Read MoreABC shows strength with 'V' premiere
CBS has been dominating ratings so far this season (although ABC hasn't been too far behind), and that superiority carried over into the first week of sweeps. The big eye earned a 7.0 rating/11 share in average overnights from The Nielsen Co. during the week that ended Wednesday of non-event, non ...
Read MoreNew comedy did well against Game 5 of the World Series
CBS likes what it sees in its new comedy "Accidentally On Purpose," and to reward it, has ordered five additional episodes of the series to bring its total order to 18. Part of the decision, CBS said, was because of Monday's broadcast, which matched a series high in the key demographic of adults ...
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