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 [...]

Filed under: Programming, Random, Reviews, TV Commentary, The State of the Business Permalink Comments (8)

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 [...]

Filed under: Programming, TV Commentary, The State of the Business Permalink Comments (1)

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 [...]

Filed under: Programming, Random, TV Commentary, The State of the Business Permalink Comments (3)

Last week, I found myself in the fortunate position of being able to travel “on location” to a television show shoot. Not only did I get to casually throw around cool television terms such as “on location,” I got to drive an SUV packed full of equipment 15 hours across the country, memorize two [...]

Filed under: Random, The State of the Business Permalink Comments (1)

You’ve just retired a series which has been successful for your network. You could take your chances on a completely new, original series or hey, you could reduce your risk by leveraging the the success you’ve had with the series you just retired with a clever spin-off?
It happens often, and has been going on for [...]

Filed under: Reviews, TV Commentary, The State of the Business Permalink Comments (4)

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 [...]

Filed under: Programming, TV Commentary, The State of the Business Permalink Comments (10)

MSG, a Cablevision-owned regional sports network has a little challenge during the summer. Their sweet spot is New York sports (hockey’s Rangers and basketball’s Knicks – Cablevision owns them, too). NYC is a 3-sports network town … (locally speaking … not including ESPN and Fox, of course). There’s YES – a Yankees network [...]

Filed under: TV Commentary, The State of the Business Permalink Comments (1)

One of the fringe benefits about working in our industry is the opportunity to meet and work with celebrities of all kinds. Rubbing elbows with the famous and almost famous from the worlds of music, science, sports, politics, history, pop culture, news, and of course, Hollywood. But, if you’re really lucky, you get [...]

Filed under: Reviews, TV Commentary, The State of the Business Permalink Comments (3)

If you were anywhere in the world near a radio, TV or computer last week, then you might have thought it impossible to avoid the media spectacle surrounding Michael Jackson’s death. From nonstop coverage on all news nets to a tribute at the BET Awards three days after his passing, to documentaries on networks [...]

Filed under: Reviews, TV Commentary, The State of the Business Permalink Comments (7)

News about recent TV markets report that attendance has been down, an indication of the TV sales industry suffering because of the unstable worldwide economy. Indeed, the official numbers released yesterday confirm that attendance at DISCOP, the major market for Central and Eastern European television, was down more than 10% from last year. [...]

Filed under: On the Convention Floor, The State of the Business Permalink Comments