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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: TV industry

TV industry stories: 13 news summaries

 Emotional Oprah: 'It's Time' 

Winfrey tells fans 25 seasons the 'perfect number' to end on

Nov 20, 09 10:54 AM CST
(Newser) - Oprah Winfrey fought back tears today as she officially announced the end of her show, telling the audience the decision came from the heart. “You may hear speculation in the press about why I am making this decision,” she said. “Here is the real reason: I love... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Oprah Winfrey • talk show • TV industry • Oprah Winfrey Network • network television

Analysis

By Ending Show, Oprah Bets Big on Cable

Move will wound ABC, CBS—and Winfrey?

Nov 20, 09 7:43 AM CST
(Newser) - Oprah's decision to end her network show in 2011 is a risky bet on cable TV that will cost CBS millions of dollars and ABC stations millions of viewers. Oprah will concentrate solely on her long-delayed cable channel, OWN, though it’s not clear how yet. She’s told her... More »

MORE ABOUT:
CBS • cable TV • ABC • Oprah Winfrey • Discovery Communications • TV industry • Oprah Winfrey Network • network television • Discovery Networks

Matthew Greenberg

 Say Goodbye 
 to NBC as We Know It 

It's probably going be more like a cable network

Oct 28, 09 1:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Monday was a milestone for NBC’s misbegotten Leno experiment: only 4.6 million tuned in, the worst Monday of the year, writes Matthew Greenberg. This is getting so bad it may signal the beginning of the end of NBC as we know it. The network’s rationale for putting... More »

MORE ABOUT:
NBC • local news • Jay Leno • TV ratings • TV industry • networks • network television • The Jay Leno Show

OPINION

Balloon Boy Is What's Wrong With Cable News

Popular stories don't need to take up 100% of channels' airtime

Oct 16, 09 1:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - The "balloon boy" non-story was just the latest example of how ridiculous cable news has become, writes Alan Sepinwall. With a war raging in Afghanistan, a jobless “recovery,” and a complex ongoing health care debate, the "news" networks spend hours on nothing at all. The problem... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • entertainment • news • fake news • TV industry • Afghanistan war • cable news • Falcon Heene • balloon boy hoax • Falcon Heene hoax • Wife Swap


 How TV's Trying 
 to Woo You Back 

...and back on the couch where you belong

Sep 23, 09 11:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - Networks know we’re watching our favorite shows online instead of on TV, but they’re not taking it sitting down. Here’s what they’re doing, smart or otherwise, to bring us back, writes Stephanie Schomer for Fast Company:
  • Cutting commercials: ABC is going to do without
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • list • commercials • Hulu • TV industry • Twitter • Neil Patrick Harris

Analysis

Leno Ratings Doomed...as Is the Future of Network TV 

Ratings may stink, but bottom line will be strong for NBC

Sep 21, 09 11:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - No one expects the Jay Leno Show to maintain the pumped-up ratings it got this week—not even NBC. But the low-key talk show might represent the future of network TV anyway, simply because it’s so darn cheap, writes Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age. With viewers breaking... More »

MORE ABOUT:
NBC • Jay Leno • late night host • TV industry • network television • prime time • The Jay Leno Show

Conan vs. Dave? Nightline's Beating Them Both

ABC launches ad campaign to tout its victory

Aug 31, 09 7:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - ABC is trying to remind America that it has a show on at 11:35, too. The network is launching a campaign touting Nightline's ratings, which, since Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show takeover, have averaged 3.459 million viewers a night. That puts it on top of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
advertising • ABC • late night talk show • late night host • Conan O'Brien • David Letterman • TV ratings • TV industry • Nightline • Jay-ZTV

Time Warner Enlists Networks for Internet TV Test

'TV Everywhere' to include CBS, HBO, and more

Aug 28, 09 10:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - Time Warner has signed up at least a dozen networks for a new Internet TV service, and plans to test the service in select markets soon, the Charlotte Business Journal reports. Onboard are CBS, HBO, Syfy, AMC, and Time Warner’s own TNT and TBS, among others. Time Warner... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • Time Warner • CBS • HBO • online videos • AMC • TV industry • Time Warner Cable • Sci-Fi Channel • Syfy

After Beck Flap, Advertisers Leery of Politics

Boycott may go beyond Fox host to other 'inflammatory' shows

Aug 24, 09 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Glenn Beck’s antics could just kill the entire political talk show genre, Advertising Age reports. Beck will return to the air tonight 33 advertisers lighter, after calling President Obama a “racist." But the fallout could spread to other talk shows, too—Clorox has already announced... More »

MORE ABOUT:
advertising • lefties • Fox News • Glenn Beck • pundits • TV industry • right wingers • punditry

Finke Has Hollywood Running Scared


Jul 17, 09 10:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - Few people in Hollywood have ever seen the hermit-like Nikki Finke, but they fear her anyway, David Carr reports in the New York Times. Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily blog has become essential reading for tinseltown players, a source of scoops and gossip that afflict the powerful. "In... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Hollywood • blog • entertainment industry • TV industry • new media • movie industry • Nikki Finke

 Oprah Set to Bolt ABC 


Nov 8, 08 10:02 AM CST
(Newser) - Oprah is getting ready to say goodbye to ABC and take her legendary talk show to her OWN cable network, the New York Post reports. The CEO of Discovery Communications, which is teaming up with Winfrey to create OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network) says he expects Winfrey’s eponymous... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • CBS • ABC • Oprah Winfrey • daytime talk show • TV industry • Discovery Networks

 Ugly Betty Moving to Big Apple 

Series moves to take advantage of new tax credit

May 12, 08 5:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ugly Betty, long set in New York, will now be shot there too, ABC News reports. The series is moving production to the Big Apple because of the financial incentives of a new state film tax credit. The expanded tax, announced last month by Gov. David Paterson, raises the percentage... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • New York • Ugly Betty • production • TV industry • tax credit • David Paterson

Letterman Seeks Writers' Deal

He will start separate talks, could be on air in a few weeks

Dec 15, 07 6:33 PM CST
(Newser) - David Letterman will begin his own talks with striking writers to get his show back on the air in early January, the New York Times reports. Letterman's production company, World Wide Pants, owns the show and will negotiate directly with the writers. Rivals Leno and Conan don't have that option... More »

MORE ABOUT:
David Letterman • Hollywood writers' strike • TV industry • internet royalties

13 Stories


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