As a self-proclaimed TV junkie and foodie, I think my heart skipped a beat when, last week, I attempted to tune into Paula Deen and, instead, was confronted with a chipper voice reading aloud Cablevision’s statement against Scripps network for choosing to pull Food Network and HGTV from its lineup.
After self-medicating in a half-gallon of [...]

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Note: Ed Hersh is currently the SVP of Strategic Planning at Investigation Discovery. Formerly, he was the founder and Chief Creative Officer of StoryCentric, a programming/production consultancy providing insights to both networks and content creators. His experience as an executive and producer includes Court TV, A&E, and ABC News.
In my consultancy, StoryCentric, I worked with [...]

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It’s October and Fall is upon us.  From New England to the Carolinas, crimson, orange, and yellow foliage is beginning to burst out all over.  Light jackets and sweaters are the norm.  And for baseball fans like me, the postseason and World Series are here.

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The last year in TV distribution has been somewhat challenging. One year ago at MIPCOM 2008 the grumblings about the worldwide economic downturn were heard in just about every meeting in and around the Palais Convention Centre. Since then, distributors have shed business interests and shaved staff numbers either in preventative measures or [...]

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Ratings. They’re the universal figures by which we determine so many things in our business. Success. Failure. Ranking. Advertising. Renewal. Cancellation. For some it’s a daily report card. Others, it comes weekly or monthly. Some live and die by the numbers. Others isolate them [...]

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I have two different types of relationships with cable networks: There are the networks I turn to for one hour a week to watch the one show I love, like my new fave MAD MEN on AMC or the classic PROJECT RUNWAY on Lifetime. Then, there are the networks I can watch no matter [...]

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It’s summer, which means that it’s the doldrums of the television universe. Much like a heat wave, television programming these last couple of months is flat, stifling, and well, makes it a little hard to breathe.
I’ve compiled a list of my favorite (and well, not-so-favorite) summer programs. But I’d love to hear from [...]

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This is an EXTREME blog post! It’s also RAW, UNTAMED, UNCUT and THE DEADLIEST! So read on … if you dare!

An intro like this would seem more outlandish if we weren’t deluged with promos and show titles that employ dramatic language like this every- day. In a time with more content than ever, producers and [...]

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Editors Note: This popular post was originally published as a free part of CableU 101, a supplemental section of CableU’s normal subscription-based monthly research report and analysis service, designed to aid and educate industry professionals on industry standards and best practices. It is produced again here for our CableU Confidential readers along with all our [...]

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On the plane back from my first business trip, I was so used to the local language that when the flight attendant refilled my water I said “Gracias” instead of “Thank you”. You would think I was coming back from a week of meetings in Buenos Aires or Mexico City, but I was returning [...]

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