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July 2008
- Muppets Spring Back to Life on YouTube
  
  newser | France24 | Jul 23, 08 6:40 PM CDT
  
  The Muppets, largely in retirement since 1981, have been pussyfooting their way back into the spotlight via YouTube, France24 notes. In the past month, Sam the Eagle, the Swedish Chef, Beaker and others have set up accounts, uploading clips on a regular basis and sharing comments like "Meep meep meep-meep meep Meeeeeep?" No word, yet, on whether the comeback is an official one. More »
- TiVo-Amazon Deal Offers Onscreen Buying
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 22, 08 10:28 AM CDT
  
  TiVo and Amazon have teamed to introduce a “product purchase” tool that will allow viewers to buy the products being plugged onscreen, the New York Times reports. Soon, when Oprah Winfrey plugs a book or David Letterman talks up his musical guest, TiVo customers will be able to order said book or CD onscreen via Amazon.com accounts. More »
- Networks Wrestle With Fall Uncertainty
  
  newser | USA Today | Jul 7, 08 1:03 PM CDT
  
  Still reeling from the writers strike and dealing with the threat of an actors strike, network TV faces an uphill battle for viewers this fall. On the eve of the annual dog-and-pony show to introduce new shows to critics, USA Today TV expert Robert Bianco looks at the uncertainty plaguing the once-reliable fall TV season and the straws the networks are grasping. More »
June 2008
- Don't Adjust Your Set: You See Gray
  
  newser | Variety | Jun 30, 08 5:32 PM CDT
  
  The average live TV watcher is 50 years old for the first time in history, Variety reports. The five broadcast networks' average viewer aged out of the desirable 18-to-49 demographic last season. Four of the five nets are rapidly skewing older, while CBS is remaining more or less steady, according to a new study. More »
- Choose Your Own Adventure, This American Life Style
  
  newser | Radar | Jun 29, 08 8:50 AM CDT
  
  This American Life , providing "a valuable census of liberal America's cultural consciousness since 1996," comes in for a little ribbing from Walker Boyd in Radar . Boyd spoofs Ira Glass's radio and TV narratives with a Mad Libs-type story generator. Now "your dreams of Ira narrating some touching yet inoffensive slice of your middle- to upper-class existence can become a reality," he writes. Some slices thereof: More »
- NFL Network, After Ratings Flop, in Talks With ESPN
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jun 20, 08 5:58 PM CDT
  
  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 40 million homes; major cable companies refused to carry it on the league’s terms. More »
- Janet Plans Her Own Talent Show for TV
  
  newser | Variety | Jun 19, 08 6:36 PM CDT
  
  Move over "American Idol:" Janet Jackson is headed for reality TV, reports Variety . The pop icon plans to mentor aspiring singers and dancers as she prepares for her world tour—participation in which could be the grand prize. Drawing contestants from YMCAs and church groups, the show’s producer hopes a non-traditional casting approach will uncover the next Justin Timberlake...or Janet. More »
- Doobly? Fipper? What Do You Call the Remote?
  
  newser | Guardian (UK) | Jun 17, 08 6:42 PM CDT
  
  The English Project is looking for unique words used among friends and families, and it's found a particularly rich vein in alternative terms for the TV remote control, the Guardian of London reports. Favorites include: doobly, podger, blipper melly, didge, clicker More »
- TV Home Shows Boom During Bust
  
  newser | New York Times | Jun 12, 08 9:20 AM CDT
  
  Home shows are becoming the heavyweights of reality television, even as the housing market continues to plummet, the New York Times reports. HGTV and TLC have million-plus nightly audiences as shows that provide step-by-step guidance to potential homesellers and buyers appeal to viewers weary of past hits that traded on big bucks through real-estate speculation. More »
- TV Switch Will Catch Some Off-Guard, No Matter What
  
  newser | Washington Post | Jun 11, 08 4:42 PM CDT
  
  Roughly half of Americans who still own analog TVs aren’t ready for February's switch to digital broadcasting, a government report concludes. Consumers are confused about what to do, and will go dark if they fail to buy a converter box, buy a digital TV or sign up for satellite or cable for the 70 million sets still using analog signals, the Washington Post reports. More »
- Disney Now Offering Free Movies Online
  
  newser | CNET | Jun 11, 08 3:09 AM CDT
  
  Disney has launched a new internet service streaming full-length movies for free, CNET reports. The company will be offering one movie a week on its website, making it available for a few days after it's shown on ABC's Wonderful World of Disney. This week's offering is Finding Nemo . More »
- Studios Want to Keep Certain Movies Off Your DVR
  
  newser | Ars Technica | Jun 9, 08 4:01 PM CDT
  
  Hollywood is pressing the Federal Communications to allow studios to block digital video recorders from copying high-definition films before they're released to DVD, Ars Technica reports. In return, the studios promise to shorten the time it takes movies to get from theater to home TVs. The feds would need to waive rules barring cable providers from transmitting digital codes that block such copying. More »
May 2008
- Amazon to Launch On-Demand Video Streaming
  
  newser | Reuters | May 29, 08 9:41 AM CDT
  
  Amazon plans to open the sluices for pay-per-view video streaming within weeks, Reuters reports. The Internet retail giant already rents videos for download via the Web but is enhancing its digital media service to better compete with rivals like Apple and Netflix. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos told a conference yesterday the service will be "a new version of video on demand." More »
- Sony Deal Ends Cable Box Era
  
  newser | Reuters | May 28, 08 12:19 PM CDT
  
  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; other electronics companies have been invited on board too, Reuters reports. Sets should be available by Christmas. More »
- Digital Switch May KO Ratings
  
  newser | New York Times | May 27, 08 3:58 PM CDT
  
  Almost 25 million US homes own at least one set that will go dark when broadcast TV switches to digital next year—which could wreak havoc on ratings, the New York Times reports. Roughly 17% of network prime-time viewers are using unprepared TVs, according to Nielsen. Secondary TVs, like those in bedrooms or kitchens, were especially vulnerable, which could hurt late-night and morning programming. More »
- Netflix Streams Movies Direct to TV
  
  newser | New York Times | May 20, 08 4:17 PM CDT
  
  Netflix today began marketing a $99 set-top box that lets subscribers play any of 10,000 movies and TV shows on their televisions, free. The device, made by start-up Roku, is cheaper and better than competitors like Apple TV, some analysts told the New York Times . Still, it faces obstacles including limited programming and competition from cable and satellite companies. More »
- TV Writer's Real Genius May Lie in the Fine Print
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | May 14, 08 4:03 PM CDT
  
  Television viewers are familiar with "vanity cards," the industry term for images crediting a production company at a show's end. But the cards at two CBS sitcoms are different: Producer Chuck Lorre uses the instant of screen time for a changing public diary, the Wall Street Journal reports. Impossible to read at first, they become legible when paused on a digital recorder. More »
April 2008
- Colbert Not World's Most Influential Person
  
  newser | Time | Apr 30, 08 5:10 PM CDT
  
  The result of an annual Time poll to name the most influential person in the world didn’t exactly give closure to a heated rivalry between contenders Stephen Colbert and Korean pop star Rain—neither took the top honor. That went to programmer Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Nintendo’s Wii, as well as the Mario, Zelda, and Metroid game franchises. More »
- Why We Love Gossip Girl
  
  newser | New York | Apr 27, 08 2:49 PM CDT
  
  New York magazine writers Jessica Pressler and Chris Rovzar have come out of the closet. No, not that closet—the one hiding adult fans of Gossip Girl . The pair once justified their love for the CW's teen soap opera by calling it "awesomely bad … like Showgirls . Or a Bloomin' Onion." Now they declare it "awesomely awesome." Here are six reasons why: More »
- Web Videos May Be Ad Gold Mine
  
  newser | USA Today | Apr 4, 08 3:12 PM CDT
  
  TV networks, major news organizations, and independent producers are all scrambling to create Web videos that will let them snag a portion of the ad dollars flowing online. Ad spending on Internet videos will grow to $4.3 billion by 2011, say researchers—a 455% increase over today. "It's growing faster than any other advertising category," an NBC Universal exec tells USA Today . More »