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Even in Tight Election, Media Struggle to Retain Audience

Choosier consumers, Internet video hurt

(Newser) - Even as the 2008 election attracts more voter interest than it has in decades, media efforts to translate that into financial success have had mixed results, reports the New York Times. While cable news has enjoyed an uptick—and websites are setting record for online video—viewership for mainstream news...

Mad Men 's Moss Puts Bad Bangs to Good Use
Mad Men's Moss Puts Bad Bangs to Good Use
GLOSSIES
Jul 21, 2008 8:25 PM CDT

Mad Men's Moss Puts Bad Bangs to Good Use

Deceptive secretary leads TV 'renaissance of female nerdliness'

(Newser) - She’s only 26, but actress Elisabeth Moss has already commandeered a niche: She has a knack for playing “easily underestimated innocents,” Emily Nussbaum writes in New York. Moss describes Peggy Olson—“the secretary with the unflattering bangs” she plays on the hit AMC show Mad Men—...

Mad Men, Damages Make History With Emmy Nods

Best-series noms are first for basic cable

(Newser) - Mad Men, AMC's sleek 1950s advertising drama, and FX's legal thriller Damages made Emmy nominations history today as the first basic cable programs to gain best-series nods. HBO's John Adams, meanwhile,  was the overall frontrunner with 23 bids, including a lead-actor nomination for Paul Giamatti's turn as Adams.

Weinsteins Sign 7-Year Deal With Showtime

Films will replace slate lost when Paramount bailed in April

(Newser) - Showtime and the Weinstein Company have inked an exclusive 7-year movie deal, giving the pay TV network a replacement for the slate of films it lost when Paramount, MGM, and Lionsgate decamped in April and teamed up to launch a rival network, Variety reports. Showtime had balked at what it...

Fox Unleashes Attack Dogs on Other Media

Station's PR team jumps at criticism 'like a political campaign'

(Newser) - The Fox News public relations machine makes no bones about skewering those it perceives as foes, writes David Carr in the New York Times. “At Fox News, media relations is a kind of rolling opposition research operation intended to keep reporters in line by feeding and sometimes maiming them,...

Weather Channel Sells for $3.5B

NBC, Blackstone, and Bain score cable stalwart for far under expected $5B

(Newser) - NBC is heading an investor group that will buy the Weather Channel for nearly $3.5 billion—well below the $5 billion Landmark Communications was expecting when it put the iconic cable channel up for sale in January. The group, which includes private equity firms Bain Capital and the Blackstone...

NFL Network, After Ratings Flop, in Talks With ESPN

Partnership could give cable sports power 8 games, save face for league

(Newser) - Having lost a game of chicken with the nation’s cable operators, the National Football League is in talks with ESPN to carry prime-time games that were unavailable to most American households last season, the Wall Street Journal reports. The NFL’s channel, charging lucrative fees, is available in only...

Cable Guys Won't Likely Fill Russert's Seat

Execs don't want pundits messing with 'pristine' NBC News

(Newser) - Early word on Tim Russert's Meet the Press successor focused on in-house candidates, like Chris Matthews, David Gregory, or Joe Scarborough. But one insider now tells Variety that there’s “no way” a cable personality will land the gig. NBC’s broadcast division would rather stay “pristine”—...

Sexism? Media Disagree With Clinton Backers
Sexism? Media Disagree With Clinton Backers
ANALYSIS
Jun 13, 2008 7:16 AM CDT

Sexism? Media Disagree With Clinton Backers

Hillary's supporters cry foul, but news world pleads innocence

(Newser) - Now that Hillary Clinton has suspended her presidential campaign, her most ardent supporters are hitting out at television news, proposing boycotts and setting up websites in response to allegedly sexist coverage. But as the New York Times reports, many in the media see little evidence of sexism. Rather, they accuse...

Sony Deal Ends Cable Box Era
 Sony Deal Ends Cable Box Era 
May 28, 2008 12:19 PM CDT

Sony Deal Ends Cable Box Era

Strikes deal for accessory-free TV

(Newser) - The days of set-top cable boxes are surely numbered, thanks to Sony, the first consumer electronics company to close a deal to produce TVs that need no accessories to receive digital cable signals. The memorandum of understanding, signed by all the major cable companies, doesn’t just apply to Sony;...

HBO: Coming to a Hard Drive Near You

iTunes will sell shows and movies, but they may be pricey

(Newser) - Apple and HBO are close to an agreement that would let iTunes sell episodes of HBO shows, Portfolio reports. Sources say HBO has cut a good deal—either by breaking iTunes' $1.99 video price ceiling or getting a bigger share of the same rate. But at least one HBO...

Obama Relents, Will Appear on Fox News

After 2 years, candidate agrees to do Wallace's right-wing talk show

(Newser) - Barack Obama will appear on "Fox News Sunday" this weekend, ending a two-year disagreement between the candidate and the right-wing channel. Obama had promised to appear on the program in 2006, but his campaign has repeatedly cited scheduling conflicts to avoid an appearance. Fox News is crediting its "...

Cartman's Evil Is His Appeal
 Cartman's Evil Is His Appeal 
Apr 6, 2008 12:16 PM CDT

Cartman's Evil Is His Appeal

Foul-mouthed fat kid ranks 10th in all-time list of cartoon characters

(Newser) - Eric Cartman—the foul-mouthed fat kid in the "South Park" foursome of misfit boys—has ridden his ability to do the unthinkable to No. 10 on TV Guide's top 50 cartoon characters of all time. What's the appeal, exactly, of a malicious, mean, lying, selfish 8-year-old? "I'd say...

NBC Splits Off Studio for Cable
 NBC Splits Off Studio for Cable 
Mar 25, 2008 2:55 AM CDT

NBC Splits Off Studio for Cable

Shake-up hands key role to Sci-Fi channel boss

(Newser) - NBC is splitting its TV production unit into two companies. The units will share the same resources, but will be divided into separate cable and broadcast operations, according to the Hollywood Reporter. NBC's cable channels have been reaping the profits of hits like Battlestar Galactica and Monk, while its broadcast...

HBO Struggles for Post-Sopranos Hits

New management picks a new crop of shows, hoping for a winner

(Newser) - HBO, at 36 years old no longer a bold young upstart of a network, is struggling to come up with hits to match The Sopranos and Sex & The City, the Wall Street Journal reports. Changes in the top ranks have meant shifts in direction: The Texas-set Lily Tomlin drama...

MSNBC Cans 'Tucker' for Rising Star
MSNBC Cans 'Tucker' for Rising Star
Mar 10, 2008 7:43 PM CDT

MSNBC Cans 'Tucker' for Rising Star

David Gregory will helm new evening political show

(Newser) - MSNBC today picked rising star David Gregory to helm a new political show in place of Tucker Carlson's low-rated "Tucker", TVNewser reports. Gregory's "Race for the White House" will air at 6 p.m. weekdays while he continues to report on the White House for NBC News and...

Liberty Looks to Leverage DirecTV Deal

In for a tough battle with better positioned telcos, cable companies

(Newser) - Closing Liberty Media’s $12 billion deal for a 41% share of DirecTV took more than a year, but positioning the satellite-TV service to rival telcos and cable companies offering triple-play packages of TV, phone, and broadband could be a bigger test, reports the Wall Street Journal today. The deal...

Gore's Media Co. Is Going Public
Gore's Media Co. Is Going Public
Jan 28, 2008 8:25 PM CST

Gore's Media Co. Is Going Public

Viewer-generated video channel registers to sell $100M of stock

(Newser) - Current Media will soon become even more public: The viewer-created cable TV network, co-founded by Al Gore in 2005, filed an IPO today. The young adult-oriented company registered to sell up to $100 million in class A common stock, but the price range and number of shares weren’t disclosed—...

Comcast Launches Web Film, TV Trove

Hub called Fancast will offer 3,000 hours of media, plus listings and data bases

(Newser) - Comcast will offer more than 3,000 hours of film and television titles on a new online venture called Fancast. Users will also be able to use the hub to tap into the vast IMDB database, seek TV listings, and find their way to TV shows and theatrical releases available...

Patriots Game on National TV
Patriots Game on National TV
Dec 26, 2007 5:56 PM CST

Patriots Game on National TV

NFL agrees to let CBS, NBC broadcast the game, too

(Newser) - The Patriots' pursuit of perfection will be on national TV after all. The NFL relented to widespread complaints today and announced that Saturday night's game will be broadcast on CBS and NBC along with the NFL Network, the Boston Herald reports. Original plans to air the game only on the...

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