Time Warner Enlists Networks for Internet TV Test

We don't care about platforms, Michael Wolff argues, we care about shows

(NEWSER) - Sunday should have been a banner night for HBO, with Game of Thrones and the premiere of its latest "zeitgeist-courting" show Girls. But Michael Wolff didn't tune in—though not for lack of trying. Wolff and his companion "don't have HBO. And, it turns out, after some hurried calling around, nobody we know has HBO. They all did; now, they don't," he writes in the Guardian . Pretty much everyone he called deemed HBO either too expensive, too "uncool," or both. "If I were HBO, I'd find this alarming." More»

Les Moonves pushing for star's return, says Radar

(NEWSER) - In spite of all his tiger blood-fueled antics and misdemeanors, rumor has it that CBS wants Charlie Sheen back on Two and a Half Men. CBS head honcho Les Moonves has expressed said desire to Warner Bros. Television, the company that produces the show, a "well-placed insider" tells Radar Online . Moonves has reportedly spoken to Chuck Lorre, too, telling him "that he should 'let us handle Charlie,'" the source said. More»

Time Warner snafu gives North Carolina youths previews

(NEWSER) - Whoops! Kids watching cartoons yesterday morning may have been shocked by glimpses of something not exactly G-rated: the Playboy channel. A two-hour equipment failure allowed previews for the X-rated channel to run in the corner of two kid-specific Time Warner channels in parts of North Carolina, the News & Observer reports. "We've taken calls from concerned parents, and we understand that they are concerned,” says an exec. “We're concerned, too.” More»

News Corp. makes a deal well past original deadline

(NEWSER) - Time Warner Cable and News Corp. made a deal tonight that will keep the Fox networks on the cable giant's systems. The agreement came nearly a day after the original midnight deadline and minutes before the kickoff of the Sugar Bowl. Terms were not disclosed, but News Corp. had been demanding $1 per subscriber while Time Warner was offering around 35¢, Broadcasting & Cable reports. More»

From election-night snafus to the WGA strike

(NEWSER) - It’s been an embarrassing decade for TV networks, as the Hollywood Reporter proves with its list of the aughties’ biggest industry mistakes:

1. Hollywood writers’ strike: It was unnecessary and “mutually destructive”—and for viewers, “has there ever been a longer 14 weeks?”
2. ABC’s rejection of CSI: The show has scored $6 billion for CBS and prompted spurned producer Jerry Bruckheimer to walk out on Disney.