Hot Off The Press! The Latest Television News and Info

[fredfa]

The Business of Television
Sinclair Fight Cost Mediacom Subs
By Mike Farrell [B]MultiChannel News 2/23/2007

Mediacom Communications’ three-month stand-off with Sinclair Broadcast Group cost the cable operator about 7,000 basic customers, or one-half of the total basic-subscriber losses it incurred during the fourth quarter.

Sinclair and Mediacom concluded their often-heated retransmission-consent battle for several Sinclair stations in 12 states in Mediacom markets in early February. While terms were not disclosed, it was expected that Mediacom agreed to pay cash for the right to carry the Sinclair stations.

Commisso said he decided to end his battle with Sinclair after reading reports that the Federal Communications Commission would not give him relief.

“At the end of the day, we caved in to their demands,” he added on a conference call with analysts to discuss fourth-quarter results.

Mediacom said it lost 7,000 basic customers as a result of the Sinclair deal during the period. Because the dispute continued into January, The MSO added that losses from that spat should also affect first-quarter basic-subscriber numbers.

For the period, Mediacom reported an 11.7% increase in revenue to $313.1 million and cash flow rose 9.7% to $111 million, its best growth quarter since 2002.

While basic-customer losses were higher than the 6,000-subscriber decline in the third quarter, the cable operator added about 14,000 digital customers, 34,000 high-speed-Internet customers and 22,000 telephone customers.

Mediacom also said it recently launched an all-digital-video service in selected markets with about 100,000 subscribers, and it will expand that offering to an additional 200,000 customers by the end of 2007.

Executive vice president of operations John Pascarelli said on the call that plans are to eventually establish two regional networks allowing Mediacom to provide full digital programming to 85% of its customers through two superheadends.

Mediacom also issued guidance for the full year of 2007, with revenue growth expected to be 8%-9%, cash flow to rise 7%-8% and capital expenditures to total about $215 million.

Mediacom shares were down one cent each to $7.94 per share in afternoon trading Friday.

http://www.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleid=CA6419059

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The Business of Television
Hearst-Argyle’s Retrans Revenue Soars
Broadcaster Reports Retransmission-Consent Revenue of $17.9M in ’06, Up from $6.8M in ‘05
By Linda Moss & Mike Farrell MultiChannel News 2/23/2007

Hearst-Argyle Television reported Friday that it collected $17.9 million in retransmission-consent revenue last year, up from $6.8 million in 2005.

This year, the broadcaster expects to get $18 million-$20 million in retransmission-consent revenue, according to its fourth-quarter earnings release.

Hearst-Argyle, which is 74% owned by Hearst Corp., is one of the few broadcasters to break out its cash compensation from retransmission-consent deals. Its total of nearly $18 million in such revenue last year represents payments from direct-broadcast satellite companies, telcos and money it receives for securing distribution of Lifetime Television and its spinoffs.

Hearst-Argyle and Lifetime are sister companies, via Hearst, which owns one-half of the cable network. Disney is Lifetime’s other owner.

Hearst-Argyle uses carriage of its TV stations as a bargaining chit to get cable carriage for Lifetime and its sister channels. The cable programmer, in turn, gives Hearst-Argyle a share in its license fees from cable operators and other distributors.

Like Hearst-Argyle, Mediacom Communications also held a fourth-quarter earnings call Friday.

Mediacom is fresh off its retransmission-consent battle with Sinclair Broadcast Group, during which the cable operator lost carriage of 23 Sinclair stations for one month.

Mediacom finally reached a deal with Sinclair Feb. 2, in which it is reportedly paying cash to carry the broadcaster’s stations, and Comcast’s current retransmission-consent extension with Sinclair expires March 1.

“I think we’re going to see more of this [retransmission-consent disputes],” Mediacom chairman and CEO Rocco Commisso told analysts. “We have the Comcast situation coming up in the next week or so. My bet on that is that they are going to go out and sign a deal. And then we’ll see what happens.”

Mediacom said it lost about 14,000 basic customers during the fourth quarter, of which about 7,000 were attributed to the Sinclair dispute.

“I think this Comcast situation that is currently going on with Sinclair will be an indication of the balance of power here,” Mediacom executive vice president of operations John Pascarelli said on the conference call. “We were sitting there with [Sinclair] having 50% of our customers and we only represented a small piece of their revenues. They were in a situation where they could be more aggressive. Whether and how this applies across the rest of the industry will be based on balance, and I think this will be a key indicator of how it goes.”

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6419064.html?display=Breaking+News

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Nielsen Notebook
ABC's `Lost' can't find way to keep audience
By Phil Rosenthal Chicago Tribune Media Columnist February 23, 2007

The drama that began with a plane crash is plummeting faster than Britney Spears.

ABC's "Lost," once the darling of the television industry, almost as popular as it was impenetrable, has bled viewers since returning from a three-month hiatus. This week's episode was up 110,000 viewers from last week's all-time low of 12.84 million, but it's still a far cry from the days when the cryptic series routinely drew more than 20 million viewers.

And ABC may be going down with it.

Now, ABC is sure to get a bounce this week, what with the Academy Awards--an "American Idol" for movie stars--set for Sunday. Even in a down year, and this may be a down year, Oscar is reliably one of the most-watched attractions each TV season.

But since the new year began, and "Idol" season began on Fox, ABC has slipped from first place to third, a notch above NBC. A hot fall has been squandered in a cold, cold winter.

While ABC has seen gains on revenue-rich Thursday thanks to the risky move of "Grey's Anatomy" from Sundays, it's down substantially on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays.

"Ugly Betty" has drawn a following, but other new shows such as "Day Break," "Knights of Prosperity" and "The Nine" have been busts. They challenged viewers, but viewers were tired of challenges, which may be why the network now is weighing a fall spinoff from "Grey's." At least that's a known commodity in a familiar genre.

Spinoffs have fallen out of favor in recent years, with "Joey"-type failures far outnumbering the "Frasier"-like successes. But it's a safer bet than trying another serial and hoping to catch fire with a new "Desperate Housewives" or "Lost"--two hits developed not by ABC Entertainment Steve McPherson, but predecessors Lloyd Braun and Susan Lyne--and winding up with "Six Degrees."

Viewers can only be expected to commit so much. "Lost" has tested that premise since becoming an out-of-the-box hit with out-of-the-box thinking since its September 2004 debut. But the series grew aimless, viewers grew restless and demanded answers.

The recent ratings decline indicates that many have given up. That would make the producers' announcement last month that they want to set an end date for "Lost," so they can work toward a conclusion that answers its many mysteries, seem presumptuous, or at least unnecessary.

The return of reality hit "Dancing With the Stars" next month--with hoofing contestants such as Leeza Gibbons, a dead mobster from "The Sopranos" and the former Mrs. Paul McCartney--should save ABC from slipping further.

But the network of "Lost" has its own mysteries to solve if it hopes to get airborne again.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-0702230173feb23,0,7251689,print.column

[dline]

The five FCC commissioners released their comments from their public hearing on media ownership in Harrisburg, PA.

Particularly worth reading are the comments of Chairman Kevin Martin, who tends to favor looser ownership rules, and Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, who oppose further consolidation.

Martin's idea is to allow for more smaller players through low-power FM and -- in what will surely be a controversial topic on AVS Forum -- allowing small businesses to lease "excess" bandwidth from existing broadcasters to operate their own channels.

Copps and Adelstein, noting that Harrisburg is Pennsylvania's state capital, both said that consolidation denies the public the state and local government coverage it needs.

Copps recalled a previous meeting in Phoenix in his statement.

"A former mayor told how when he was in office and the city council was meeting and they'd decide to take a few minutes break, they'd open the door to the hallway and four of five reporters who had been trying to eavesdrop would fall through the doorway," Copps said. "Then media consolidation hit, community news coverage was cut back, and so nowadays when the city council takes its break and opens that door ... there is often no reporter there."

Full statements at:

- Chairman Kevin Martin: .pdf (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-270765A1.pdf) text (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-270765A1.txt)
- Commissioner Michael Copps: .pdf (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-270758A1.pdf) text (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-270758A1.txt)
- Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein: .pdf (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-270762A1.pdf) text (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-270762A1.txt)
- Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate: .pdf (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-270759A1.pdf) text (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-270759A1.txt)
- Commissioner Robert McDowell: .pdf (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-270763A1.pdf) text (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-270763A1.txt)

[fredfa]

Thanks, dline.

[fredfa]

Critic’s Notebook
TV Talk Machine podcastapalooza.
Your Q's not A'd. Next week Ken Burns!
By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle in his TV blog “The Bastard Machine” February 23, 2007

The very first "TV Talk Machine" podcast lumbered out of the garage late last night. I think it still might be running without brakes. You can listen here:

http://cdn.sfgate.com/blogs/sounds/sfgate/chroncast/2007/02/21/Goodman-20070221.mp3

(NOTE: I could never make this link work. If you can’t either, go to the link listed at the end of this article and try there. Tim Goodman is worth the effort)

I was joined by Chronicle media writer Joe Garofoli who played the part of Question Boy. And he did it with aplomb. Joe does a superb Ed McMahon, which we might bust out next week. He's also a master at Bill Walton. We may do an entire podcast with our Bill Walton voices in the future. Or we might actually invite Bill on the show to see what the Big Man knows about TV. On second thought, that kind of defeats the purpose of doing the voices. We might also add puppets. Or mimes. It's a first class operation.

We took e-mail questions (tgoodman@sfchronicle.com; put "TV Talk Machine" in the subject field) and pre-recorded phone questions (1-415-777-8821). I'm not sure I answered any of them, but I had fun. We talked about the best comedies and dramas in the last 30 years; desert island DVDs; way too much tech stuff and some general nonsense. We'll do it again next week, but I'm also going to interview filmmaker Ken Burns separately so there may be two podcasts. One stupid, one informative. It's a great country.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=24

[fredfa]

B] TV Notebook[/B]
The Nielsen Guide To The Academy Awards
(Almost) Everything You Need To Know About Oscar®

Several Nielsen businesses – including Nielsen EDI, Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen BookScan, Nielsen Media Research, Nielsen Monitor-Plus, Nielsen//NetRatings, Nielsen BuzzMetrics, and Scarborough Research – today released a wide range of consumer and media information illustrating the enormous impact that the Academy Awards has on the U.S. (Please see full PDF download for all charts concerning this release.)
As the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences prepares to announce the Oscar winners in Hollywood, California on February 25, Nielsen has combined data on box-office receipts, album sales, television ratings, advertising trends, Internet measurement, and lifestyle information of Academy Award nominees from this year and past years. Among the findings:

• Box Office figures for Best Picture nominees show an impressive increase after their nominations are announced.
• The Academy Awards on ABC Network continues to be one of the highest rated TV events of the year, with last year’s award show attracting more than 39 million U.S. viewers.
• The cost for a 30-second advertisement reached an all-time high in 2006, while traditional advertiser categories continued to dominate the broadcast.
• Academy Award nominees saw a sharp increase in visits to their Web sites in the weeks prior to the award ceremony. Oscar related buzz on the Internet showed Best Actor/Actress nominees Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker most dominant in online conversations in blogs.
• In many cases, performances during the Oscar telecast will significantly impact album sales. With the “Dreamgirls” soundtrack already standing out as one of this year’s best selling albums, this could be one of those years.
• Fans who tune into the televised broadcast are more likely to be married and female and more ‘news savvy’, according to Scarborough Research.

Box Office Sales (Nielsen EDI)

How much of an impact do Academy Award nominations have on the distribution and ticket sales for the nominated movies? Comparing the number of theatres showing each movie and ticket sales before and after the nominations were announced on January 23rd shows significant increases in most cases.
Having very impressive gross sales are not a requirement for a nominee in the top categories. For example, Letters from Iwo Jima, in movie theaters for 8 weeks, earned only $8 million at the U.S. box office through Feb 11, while fellow nominee The Departed pulled in close to $129 million since its release.
The Best Picture award winner of 2006 Crash saw a 27.3% lift in DVD unit sales in the 7-weeks after it was nominated. Crash also saw a 143% increase in DVD unit sales in the 7-weeks after it won Best Picture (compared to the 7-weeks before its Oscar win). This year, most nominated movies were not available on DVD by the time the Academy announced its nominations.

DVD Sales (Nielsen VideoScan)

The Best Picture award winner of 2006 Crash saw a 27.3% lift in DVD unit sales in the 7-weeks after it was nominated. Crash also saw a 143% increase in DVD unit sales in the 7-weeks after it won Best Picture (compared to the 7-weeks before its Oscar win). This year, most nominated movies were not available on DVD by the time the Academy announced its nominations.

Music Sales (Nielsen SoundScan and Analysis by Billboard’s Geoff Mayfield)

If sales of the single-disc Dreamgirls soundtrack were combined with those of the two-disc deluxe version, it would be the second best selling album of 2007 with 432,000 copies sold since the beginning of the year through Feb. 11, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The single-disc version spent two weeks at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 734,000 copies since its Dec. 5 release, 348,000 of those since the start of this year. The deluxe version has scanned another 162,000 since it reached stores Dec. 5. Three of this year’s Original Song nominees appear on the Dreamgirls albums.

This year nominees, ranked by digital sales to date:

• “Listen” (Dreamgirls): 173,000
• “Love You Like I Do” (Dreamgirls): 30,000
• “I Need to Wake Up” (An Inconvenient Truth): 23,000
• “Our Town” (Cars): 21,000
• “Patience”, three versions (Dreamgirls): 6,000 (most of them Eddie Murphy's version)

The biggest selling film soundtrack of 2006: Curious George by Jack Johnson, selling 1.1 million copies from its Feb. 7, 2006 release through the end of the year. It was the fourth best selling soundtrack of the year, trailing three Disney Channel-related albums.

The best selling soundtrack in Nielsen SoundScan history: The Bodyguard, selling 11.8 million since its release, Nov. 10, 1992.

In some years, the Oscars have a negligible impact on sales. However, if it’s a year when Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young each perform songs from Philadelphia, the impact on that album can be stunning. In 1994, that soundtrack more than doubled after the Oscars (from 32,000 to 77,000 copies), which translated into a 34-12 jump on The Billboard 200.

Last year, after Gustavo Santaolalla won for Original Score, the soundtrack from Brokeback Mountain saw a 61% gain, good for a 148-83 jump on The Billboard 200, while Hustle & Flow, with the winning song by Three 6 Mafia, posted the chart’s largest percentage gain, as a 77% increase took that soundtrack 143-73.

TV Viewership (Nielsen Media Research)

In 2006, an average of 39 million Americans tuned in to the ABC Network to watch the Academy Awards. The event averaged a 23.1% household rating, down slightly from the previous years.

Over the past ten years, the most-watched Academy Award broadcast was in 1998 when Titanic was voted Best Picture, which drew 55 million viewers for an average household rating of 34.9%. The lowest rated in recent years was the 2003 Academy Awards when Chicago was voted Best Picture, with only 20 percent of U.S. homes tuned into the telecast.

In local U.S. markets, the highest overall local rating in 2006 – at nearly 37% -- was in New York. The second largest local TV audience, with an average of 34%, was in Chicago. (See TV Ratings chart at right – note that local TV ratings are based on Live+7).

Advertising Trends (Nielsen Monitor-Plus)

Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the global advertising intelligence service of Nielsen Media Research analyzed ad spending for the movies that have been nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Actor.

Best Motion Picture and Best Director

Over $83 million was spent on advertising in the U.S. for the Best Motion Picture nominees from January – November 2006. Almost half was spent on The Departed, which was also nominated for Best Director. Spending for Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen, and Babel ranged from $11.9 to $16.4 million, while Letters from Iwo Jima had no advertising activity at all in the U.S. Advertising spending for the movies in the Best Director category totaled $94.4 million. Once again, The Departed led the way with over $40 million in advertising dollars spent.

Best Actress and Best Actor

The movies nominated in the Best Actress category collectively spent $40.5 million in advertising dollars in January – November of last year. The Devil Wears Prada had more than half of the spending at $22.3 million. Volver and Notes on a Scandal had smaller ad budgets, each spending under $1 million.

The films in the Best Actor category spent even less on advertising than the Best Actress movies. In total, these films spent $33.5 million, with nearly 60% all ad dollars going to Blood Diamond ($19.9). As in the Best Actress category, two of the five nominated films spent under $1 million in advertising: Half Nelson ($331, 327) and Venus ($241,728).

The 2006 Academy Award ceremony had a total of 24½ commercial minutes during the televised broadcast on ABC Network, with General Motors airing 4 minutes of commercials (spending a total of $13.17 million).

Instead of focusing on Cadillac as it has in years past, in 2006 GM also promoted its Hummer, Saab, and Yukon vehicles. L’Oreal, which became a major advertiser in 2005, aired 3½ minutes of ads in 2006, double the amount than the year before. L’Oreal spent $11.53 million in 2006. The third largest advertiser in 2006 was Coca-Cola, which replaced Pepsi as the exclusive soft drink company. Coca-Cola spent $9.8 million to advertise their Diet Coke and Tab brands for 3 minutes. Total advertising revenue for the event was $80.7 million.

Average Cost for a 30-second Commercial

The cost for a 30-second commercial has increased 27.5% over the five-year period since 2002 ($1.29 million in 2002 to $1.65 million in 2006). Although the cost per commercial varies, total advertising expenditures during the program shows a steady increase.

Lifestyle Characteristics of Academy Award Watcher (Scarborough Research)

Scarborough Research, a media and marketing service which measures lifestyle behaviors of American consumers, found that Academy Award watchers are 16% more likely to be female than the national average, and men are 17% less likely to have watched the Academy Awards last year. More than half (57%) of those who have watched the Awards ceremony on TV last year are married, while nearly one-quarter (24%) are single or never married.

Thirty-five percent of all Academy Award watchers typically watch national/network news, and are 36% more likely to watch news magazines. The fact that they are ‘news savvy’ may further suggest their participation and involvement with voting and politics. 83% of all Academy Award watchers are registered to vote and 76% always vote in presidential elections. The political affiliations of Academy Award watchers is 35% Democrat, 28% Republican, 9% Independent, 9% Independent but feel closer to Democrat, 6% Independent but feel closer to Republican and 14% are not affiliated with any party.

• Source: The Nielsen Company

[fredfa]

Critic’s Notebook
'O.C.' and out
By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV Editor in his blog “Tuned In” Friday, February 23, 2007

Goodbye to "The O.C.," word-that-rhymes-with-"witch"-that-they-won't-let-me-use-on-a-PG-site.

The pop culture phenomenon burned bright and fast in its four years on the air, morphing from hip, trend-setting teen drama and inheritor to the "90210" throne to over-the-hill has-been in near-record time. The tastes of young viewers are nothing if not fickle.

"The O.C." started and ended strong and had two lackluster seasons in between. Though most of the audience had abandoned the show, those who stuck around for the final season were treated to a blissfully Marissa (Mischa Barton)-free, reinvigorated series that found new creative blood in the relationship between Ryan (Ben McKenzie) and Taylor (Autumn Reeser) and a newly-socially conscious Summer (Rachel Bilson).

With a (merciful) return to the show's original, more upbeat theme song, creator Josh Schwartz wrote last night's series finale that sent the series off in light, fizzy style -- the show's best tone. It's not an earth-shattering, artful series finale (not a "St. Elsewhere" or "Newhart" of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" or "Six Feet Under"), but it does honor the show's history, its characters and the desires of its fans in terms of couplings.

Six months after an earthquake, the Cohens have to search for a new home, which takes them back to the house Sandy (Peter Gallagher) and Kirsten (Kelly Rowan) lived in in Berkeley, where Kirsten goes into labor and one of the current owners, half of a gay couple, turns out to be a midwife (the other is a wedding planner, which comes in handy later). Sophie Rose Cohen is born; Seth says she looks like "a squished meatball."

Seth (Adam Brody) and Summer have become obsessed with a new TV show called "Briefcase or No Briefcase," a nod to one-time competition, "Deal or No Deal." Summer's also amazed to read that "The Valley," the teen drama within "The O.C.'s" teen drama, got picked up for five more seasons.

"You know, those teen dramas run forever," Summer says in a bit of wishful thinking.

Julie Cooper Nichol Roberts (Melinda Clarke) is about to marry The Bullet, even though she's pregnant with Ryan's father's child. Kaitlin (Willa Holland) contrives to get her mom and Frank back together again. Summer gives Julie a locket with a picture of her dead daughter, Marissa, inside. Frank, Ryan's dad (Kevin Sorbo), interrupts the wedding via cell phone.

"Awww, that woman is like nailing Jell-O to the wall," The Bullet complains.

Julie frets ("Not now, Kaitlin, you're mom's trying to figure out who to marry") and ultimately chooses to stay single and enroll in college.

In the end, Seth and Summer go their separate ways so they can each grow independently. But a future flash forward shows them marrying eventually, suggests Ryan and Taylor remain connected and that Ryan took the lessons Sandy Cohen taught him to heart: He sees a wayward teen, not unlike himself when "The O.C." began, and, concerned, asks, "Hey kid, you need help?"

It's a conclusion that brings the show full circle, not a bad way to end.

• • • • • • • • • • •

'Anatomy' of predictability: Yes, Shonda Rhimes and company are sure doing different TV, if by different you mean the same plot used on "The Sopranos" last season when Tony almost died after getting shot by Uncle Junior (which at least had the virtue of being more of a shock and lacked having an executive producer bragging about the plot twist).

Needless to say, Meredith Grey did not die and didn't even suffer brain damage from being without oxygen for a prolonged period (then again, we are talking about Meredith, so if she did get brain damage, it would be hard to tell). Her mother did pass on but that was probably best for all concerned.

So Meredith lives, the ferry disaster is forgotten (except for Karev's patient) and I'm still out three hours of my life from this three-parter. Seriously.

http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/tunedin/

[shuttermaker]

Nielsen Notebook
ABC's `Lost' can't find way to keep audience
By Phil Rosenthal Chicago Tribune Media Columnist February 23, 2007

The drama that began with a plane crash is plummeting faster than Britney Spears.

ABC's "Lost," once the darling of the television industry, almost as popular as it was impenetrable, has bled viewers since returning from a three-month hiatus. This week's episode was up 110,000 viewers from last week's all-time low of 12.84 million, but it's still a far cry from the days when the cryptic series routinely drew more than 20 million viewers.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-0702230173feb23,0,7251689,print.column



I think that all these columnists that keep dogging "Lost" for losing viewers and complicated and ever multiplying plot twists should be sent a copy of Matt Roush's last Q&A column.

I think he is right on with his views on this show. Ratings are leveling out and the committed viewers are being identified. So many columnists have commented on the clear downfall of "Lost", it makes you wonder if they read anything more than their own work.

[fredfa]

I think that all these columnists that keep dogging "Lost" for losing viewers and complicated and ever multiplying plot twists should be sent a copy of Matt Roush's last Q&A column.

I think he is right on with his views on this show. Ratings are leveling out and the committed viewers are being identified. So many columnists have commented on the clear downfall of "Lost", it makes you wonder if they read anything more than their own work.

You could be right, but I think a minor increase (well within the mragin of polling error) up from an all-time low is hardly worth saying the ratings are "leveling out".

On a week to week basis there is little reason for ptimism about the total viewer numbers, although the 18-49 demo, which is also slipping, has been staying relatively healthy.

I suspect the critics are simply reacting to the overzealousness of some "Lost" fans who have taken interest in their show to sometimes excessive levels. Not that they are alone -- check out some boards about some of the ratings-challenged CW shows. (Oops, "ratings-challenged" and "The CW" seems to be redundant.)

Personally, I get a little weary of being bombarded by PMs if I dare to post ratings news about a show which sends the email writers into a tizzy (and not just about "Lost", of course).

But to be fair, many critics (and many people on the various "Lost" blogs) do seem unhappy with the overall trend in the show over the past season and a half. And that is in the direction of the story line and the writing itself -- not just the ratings.

But posting Roush, which I love to do, as well as some of the other critics, lets readers get a range of opinions and then judge judge for themselves what seems to make sense.

(And that, in the end, is what this thread is all about. Just as I posted Rob Owen a little earlier -- with a comment about "Grey's" which I disagree with heartily.)

To get back to your comment, shuttermaker, I think there are few critics who don't keep an eye on what Matt writes.

[fredfa]

(I am giving you fair warning!)
TV Notebook
Could Sunday's Oscars Be Longest Ever?
Right Now, Show Cutting, Cutting, Cutting
By Nikki Finke deadlinehollywood.com February 23, 2007

Sunday night's Academy Awards telecast could end up the longest on record. That's the prediction I've been given by one VIP who helps oversee this 79th Oscars and is therefore in a position to know.

Sad but probably true, since this year's producer is Laura Ziskin (Spider-Man) who was responsible for bringing in the 74th show at what was then a record 4 hours and 23 minutes. Yikes, is the Academy trying to drive away TV viewers?

But I've also received a phone call tonight from an insider working on the show assuring me that today’s) rehearsal clocked in at only 3 hours, 41 minutes long.

"Right now, the show is cutting, cutting, cutting. We're chipping away at the package," the insider explained, saying the producers are determined to bring it in at under 4 hours. (Haven't we all heard that before...)

The year of Ziskin's record-setting lengthy telecast, the Academy gave away each of its three testimonial awards: the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, and the Honorary Award for lifetime achievement.

After that fiasco, the Academy decreed that no more than two testimonial awards could be presented in any year. This time around, two of the three testimonials will be handed out: Sherry Lansing, the former chairman of Paramount, will receive the Hersholt, and composer-conductor Ennio Morricone will receive the Honorary.

These ceremonies eat up broadcast time. That is what's leading some to predict a too-long show, along with the very elaborate musical production numbers built around all the Dreamgirls' songs which are nominated.

Today, a few celeb presenters attended the run-through at Hollywood's Kodak Theater. Friday, the musical numbers will be practiced. Saturday, almost all the presenters show up for their rehearsal.

(This was when stars would pick up their swag, thus ensuring their presence. But the Academy canceled its Oscar gift baskets after the IRS demanded unpaid taxes on them. This year, there are retreats and experiences for the glitterati.)

Then Sunday is the show itself.

I'm told that, although ABC would love to snip-snip, the network can't exert any real influence over the length of the show because it already has a long-term contract with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

I think ABC should pay AMPAS more to shorten the telecast. At the very least, the Academy should bring in an actual TV producer to revamp the show. (Imagine what Mr. Reality TV himself, Mark Burnett, would do: Losers leave immediately for Exile Island.)

The Emmys just hired American Idol's producers and directors for its awards show.

Little wonder that in most foreign countries, the Oscars are pared to a one-hour telecast.

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/sundays-oscar-telecast-could-be-longest-ever/

[dad1153]

TV Notebook
Could Sunday's Oscars Be Longest Ever?
Right Now, Show Cutting, Cutting, Cutting
By Nikki Finke deadlinehollywood.com February 23, 2007

Little wonder that in most foreign countries, the Oscars are pared to a one-hour telecast.

When I was growing-up in El Salvador televised American ceremonies like the Oscars, Miss Universe pageants and similar English-only programming were aired a week later with one lone off-camera announcer dubbing everything said by the participants to Spanish. For the longest time I thought that Bob Barker spoke Spanish and had the same voice as the guy hosting the local variety TV show. :rolleyes:

[fredfa]

TV Notebook
My 8 Spoilers On Oscar Telecast;
(Don't Read If You Want To Stay Surprised)
By Nikki Finke deadlinehollywood.com February 23, 2007

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD: Few things in Hollywood are more fun than revealing the surprises which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences have planned for the 79th Oscar telecast. Especially because AMPAS is such a bunch of tight-asses. So here come the secrets. But, remember, don't read further if you want to stay unspoiled until Sunday night:

1. This first secret is big. Huge. Gigantic. It's that Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and George Lucas together will be presenting the Best Director award this too-long telecast. What a gimmick. It'll be interesting for Hollywood to watch the interplay among them. (If I'm murdered overnight, then the Academy did it.)

2. I can reveal another secret which the Academy is keeping -- that Tom Cruise will be presenting the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to ex-Paramount mogul Sherry Lansing. (This year, the Academy took the unusual step of not announcing which awards the celeb presenters will give out. This was done supposedly to heighten the suspense. As if...) Having Tom and Sherry do this together is an inside joke for Hollywood. Because both were shown the door at Paramount by parent company boss, Viacom's Sumner Redstone. Trust me, Hollywood is going to get a kick out of this, even if the folks watching at home may not understand its significance. (Then again, the Oscars are always filled with inside jokes enjoyed by the Industry alone.) Of course, Lansing greenlighted many Cruise films during her years at Paramount, where Tom's production company used to have its home. So the choice makes sense. But it's also a corporate laugh riot.

3. Here's another spoiler: Oscar telecast producer Laura Ziskin and Dreamgirls director Bill Condon have planned that each of the Dreamgirls -- Beyoncé, Jennifer Hudson, and Anika Noni Rose -- will sing each others' songs from the movie. That's a cool concept: nothing's more boring than having the person you expect do the singing. Or maybe Beyoncé wants a crack at singing Jennifer's songs. Who knows... (But I can knock down right now one rumor flying around which I'll mention just because it's so assinine: that Michael Jackson will sing one of the songs from Dreamgirls. Thankfully, not even the Academy is that blind to the PR disaster of an MJ appearance on the Academy Awards. It's not happening.) Diana Ross, on whose life the Motown musical is loosely based, was asked to sing one of the Dreamgirls songs on the Oscars. But she said no, telling the producers, "I'm not interested in promoting that movie." She still claims she hasn't seen it.

4. Here's another secret: I'm told that there's a big change in the order that the awards will be presented. The Best Supporting Actor and Actress awards will NOT be presented in the up-front portion of the show, as in previous years. Instead, none of the acting awards will be given out until the last third of the telecast. The Academy is doing this, I understand, because Oscar viewership starts out strong and then wanes. Ziskin is hoping that this will keep the audience glued to the entire broadcast hour after hour. But I understand this decision was hotly disputed because it breaks with tradition. All I can say is that now there's not much reason to watch the beginning of the show, either.

5. I can also report that, after a few years absence, three members of the longstanding Oscars' comedic writing team are back together on the job: Bruce Vilanch, Carrie Fisher and Carol Leifer. This is great news for Sunday's telecast because their quick wits make the show that much more livelier and topical. They'd been individually helping -- for Chris Rock or Jon Stewart -- but not as a trio. FYI, they have not written Ellen DeGeneres' opening monologue.

6. Ellen DeGeneres is writing the opening monologue on her own and with her own team. I hear she has decreed it won't be political or mean-spirited. (But expect Vilanch & Fisher & Leifer to insert plenty of references to politics and pop culture into the rest of the show. Because Hollywood expects them.)

7. Speaking of Ellen, I can provide you with another nugget: the Oscar telecast kicks off with an expensive and "inspired piece of CGI trickery", I'm told. Along with other movie scenes from other studios in which she inserts herself, Ellen DeGeneres will be dancing with the Happy Feet penguins. You see, Ellen dances on her talk show, the birds dance in the movie, so we're supposedly talking synergy. Especially since Warner Bros., which is the producer of both the toon and Ellen's syndicated series, spent an enormous amount of money to make this segment happen and hired Happy Feet director George Miller to do it. (DVD out next month.)

8. And, the Oscar broadcast will feature some clip packages directed by top names in Hollywood. Among them, Michael Mann (Miami Vice, Ali, The Insider) looks at how America is portrayed in the movies, and Nancy Meyers (The Holiday, Something's Gotta Give, What Women Want) examines how writers have been depicted in films. I can tell you about the latter: as ink-stained wretches. (Remember Barton Fink?) Believe me, this is when the Kodak Theater audience will laugh the loudest.

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/

[fredfa]

The Business of Television
Record Fine Expected for Univision
By STEPHEN LABATON The New York Times February 24, 2007

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 — When Univision began broadcasting a show three years ago about the misadventures of 11-year-old identical twin girls who swapped identities after discovering they had been separated at birth, it characterized the episodes as educational programming for children.

That decision is expected to cost Univision, the nation’s largest Hispanic network, $24 million in what would be the largest fine the Federal Communications Commission has ever imposed against any company. The penalty is also expected to send a strong signal to broadcasters that they will be expected to meet their required quota of shows that educate and inform children, after years of permissive oversight in this area.

The commission has decided to impose the heavy fine — disclosed by Kevin J. Martin, the chairman of the commission, in an interview — as a tough rebuke to Univision for claiming to meet its obligations to broadcast educational children’s programs by showing the Latino soap opera “Complices al Rescate” (“Friends to the Rescue”) and other so-called telenovelas.

The penalty, part of a settlement that will allow the company to proceed with a buyout deal, is nearly three times the previous record fine of $9 million, imposed against Qwest Communications for violating telephone interconnection rules in 2004, and significantly more than the largest indecency penalty, $3.5 million, levied against Viacom that same year for remarks by Howard Stern and other so-called shock jocks on the radio.

It also represents an unusually aggressive enforcement of the 1996 regulations that interpreted the Children’s Television Act. Those regulations, adopted after some broadcasters characterized cartoons like “The Flintstones” and “The Jetsons” to be educational programs, imposed more substantive requirements on the networks as they comply with the mandate to broadcast at least three hours a week of programs of intellectual value to young people.

Although some television critics say it is common for stations not to comply, only a handful of complaints have been filed. An even smaller number have resulted in modest penalties of several thousand dollars for stations found to have violated the rules.

Reflecting the views of many policy leaders in Washington who were appointed by President Bush, Mr. Martin said that he was committed to deregulation “and an environment where companies can be investing and competing and driving innovation.” But he also said that he was not driven simply by ideology, and that there remain important areas where thorough regulation plays a valuable social role.

“I generally think consumers are better served by less regulation, not more,” he said in an interview. “But I also think the commission has a key role to play in some areas, such as children’s television, and I take those obligations seriously.”

The agency under Mr. Martin adopted new rules last year to make the children’s television programming requirements apply to new digital television stations.

The $24 million fine, along with a plan to show more programming that would comply with the rules, are part of a consent decree that Univision has tentatively agreed to that would resolve complaints by viewers. It covers violations at 24 Univision stations over a 116-week period from 2004 to early last year.

Mr. Martin has already signed onto the decree. Once the full commission approves it, as expected, Univision will be able to complete its $12 billion sale to a consortium of private equity firms. Those investors include Providence Equity Partners, where a senior executive is Michael K. Powell, the former F.C.C. chairman, and Haim Saban, a wealthy investor who built a major business on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers action figures.

Lawyers representing Univision before the commission declined to comment about the case.

The fine was applauded by some Democrats in Congress who have long been dissatisfied with the agency for failing to press broadcasters to provide higher- quality programming for children.

“As the prime House author of the Children’s Television Act, I am pleased the commission is pursuing serious and vigorous enforcement of violations,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat who heads the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet. “This is a particularly egregious case and the level of the proposed fine reflects it. Rather than giving kids programming that is educationally nourishing, Univision elected to give them the Spanish-language equivalent of a soap opera..”

The case dates to the summer of 2005, when the United Church of Christ raised concerns about Univision’s programming lineup, complaining that it was failing to provide adequate children’s programs. The network claimed it was meeting its obligation by repeatedly rebroadcasting the same episodes of the telenovela. The commission’s staff found that 24 stations had violated the programming guidelines over a two-year period.

Angela J. Campbell, a telecommunications expert at Georgetown University Law Center who represents the church, appeared stunned by the decision.

“Assuming it’s true, I’m pleased to see the commission finally taking action and I hope they will take action soon on other petitions we have filed in this area,” Professor Campbell said. “Broadcasters need to know that they have to take these obligations to children seriously.”

Univision had maintained that it satisfied its programming obligations for children by broadcasting several telenovelas, including “Complices al Rescate”

“A significant purpose and key educational objective of this program is to illustrate how friendship, love and kindness can help overcome life’s adversities,” the network’s lawyers said in their brief before the commission. “ ‘Complices al Rescate’ follows the lives of two 11-year-old girls, Silvana and Mariana, who have both experienced sadness, loss and injustice in their lives. Throughout the shows, the girls learn to appreciate that happiness is not found in popularity and money, but in true friendship, good will towards others and love.”

But Mr. Martin said the commission found little merit to that argument, and critics said the show, with complex subplots and occasional adult themes, had little value for young children.

In an affidavit accompanying the United Church’s complaint, Federico Subervi, a media consultant to such shows as “Dora the Explorer” and “The Misadventures of Maya and Miguel” said that “Complices” contained many adult plots and complex themes that were hardly suitable for young children.

As further evidence that the program did not comply with the rules, Mr. Subervi noted that 80 percent of the advertising during the show was geared toward adults.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/24/business/24fcc.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

[Maestro J]

TV Notebook
My 8 Spoilers On Oscar Telecast;
(Don't Read If You Want To Stay Surprised)
By Nikki Finke deadlinehollywood.com February 23, 2007

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD: Few things in Hollywood are more fun than revealing the surprises which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences have planned for the 79th Oscar telecast. Especially because AMPAS is such a bunch of tight-asses. So here come the secrets. But, remember, don't read further if you want to stay unspoiled until Sunday night:

1. This first secret is big. Huge. Gigantic. It's that Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and George Lucas together will be presenting the Best Director award this too-long telecast. What a gimmick. It'll be interesting for Hollywood to watch the interplay among them. (If I'm murdered overnight, then the Academy did it.)

2. I can reveal another secret which the Academy is keeping -- that Tom Cruise will be presenting the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to ex-Paramount mogul Sherry Lansing. (This year, the Academy took the unusual step of not announcing which awards the celeb presenters will give out. This was done supposedly to heighten the suspense. As if...) Having Tom and Sherry do this together is an inside joke for Hollywood. Because both were shown the door at Paramount by parent company boss, Viacom's Sumner Redstone. Trust me, Hollywood is going to get a kick out of this, even if the folks watching at home may not understand its significance. (Then again, the Oscars are always filled with inside jokes enjoyed by the Industry alone.) Of course, Lansing greenlighted many Cruise films during her years at Paramount, where Tom's production company used to have its home. So the choice makes sense. But it's also a corporate laugh riot.

3. Here's another spoiler: Oscar telecast producer Laura Ziskin and Dreamgirls director Bill Condon have planned that each of the Dreamgirls -- Beyoncé, Jennifer Hudson, and Anika Noni Rose -- will sing each others' songs from the movie. That's a cool concept: nothing's more boring than having the person you expect do the singing. Or maybe Beyoncé wants a crack at singing Jennifer's songs. Who knows... (But I can knock down right now one rumor flying around which I'll mention just because it's so assinine: that Michael Jackson will sing one of the songs from Dreamgirls. Thankfully, not even the Academy is that blind to the PR disaster of an MJ appearance on the Academy Awards. It's not happening.) Diana Ross, on whose life the Motown musical is loosely based, was asked to sing one of the Dreamgirls songs on the Oscars. But she said no, telling the producers, "I'm not interested in promoting that movie." She still claims she hasn't seen it.

4. Here's another secret: I'm told that there's a big change in the order that the awards will be presented. The Best Supporting Actor and Actress awards will NOT be presented in the up-front portion of the show, as in previous years. Instead, none of the acting awards will be given out until the last third of the telecast. The Academy is doing this, I understand, because Oscar viewership starts out strong and then wanes. Ziskin is hoping that this will keep the audience glued to the entire broadcast hour after hour. But I understand this decision was hotly disputed because it breaks with tradition. All I can say is that now there's not much reason to watch the beginning of the show, either.

5. I can also report that, after a few years absence, three members of the longstanding Oscars' comedic writing team are back together on the job: Bruce Vilanch, Carrie Fisher and Carol Leifer. This is great news for Sunday's telecast because their quick wits make the show that much more livelier and topical. They'd been individually helping -- for Chris Rock or Jon Stewart -- but not as a trio. FYI, they have not written Ellen DeGeneres' opening monologue.

6. Ellen DeGeneres is writing the opening monologue on her own and with her own team. I hear she has decreed it won't be political or mean-spirited. (But expect Vilanch & Fisher & Leifer to insert plenty of references to politics and pop culture into the rest of the show. Because Hollywood expects them.)

7. Speaking of Ellen, I can provide you with another nugget: the Oscar telecast kicks off with an expensive and "inspired piece of CGI trickery", I'm told. Along with other movie scenes from other studios in which she inserts herself, Ellen DeGeneres will be dancing with the Happy Feet penguins. You see, Ellen dances on her talk show, the birds dance in the movie, so we're supposedly talking synergy. Especially since Warner Bros., which is the producer of both the toon and Ellen's syndicated series, spent an enormous amount of money to make this segment happen and hired Happy Feet director George Miller to do it. (DVD out next month.)

8. And, the Oscar broadcast will feature some clip packages directed by top names in Hollywood. Among them, Michael Mann (Miami Vice, Ali, The Insider) looks at how America is portrayed in the movies, and Nancy Meyers (The Holiday, Something's Gotta Give, What Women Want) examines how writers have been depicted in films. I can tell you about the latter: as ink-stained wretches. (Remember Barton Fink?) Believe me, this is when the Kodak Theater audience will laugh the loudest.

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/


Interesting tidbits. If true, I don't like that they are rearranging the awards order. I always thought it was cool that it started out with supporting actors/actress awards - it just kind of set the tone for the evening. Now the first 2 hours are going to be a bore.

[archiguy]

Interesting tidbits. If true, I don't like that they are rearranging the awards order. I always thought it was cool that it started out with supporting actors/actress awards - it just kind of set the tone for the evening. Now the first 2 hours are going to be a bore.

DVR. It's the only way to watch this thing.

[fredfa]

Maybe even set the DVR to start at 9:30 -- if the shows DOES run 4:31, that will still give you plenty of show to see.

Frankly I have little interest this year. But then I am a very parochial guy: no TV, little interest.

[fredfa]

Here is the overview of an excellent and in-depth report on the technological state of a number of major networks.
Technology Notebook
What Networks Want To Buy
By Staff BroadcastingCable.com February 26, 2007

The industry converges at the National Association of Broadcasters Show April 14-19 in Las Vegas. A massive technology bazaar, the NAB Show is where more than 100,000 attendees will pore over the latest technology offered by 1,500 vendors.

That's why Broadcasting & Cable annually asks the top network technology executives to tell us what they will be scouting for on the exhibit floor.

This year, many networks are still trying to fill gaps in their hi-def plans. Others say they will be shopping for new equipment to extend their brands into the broadband field.

That's a sure sign of the industry's migration to new platforms—the buzzword and the reality of the media world in 2007.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6419256

[fredfa]

Technology Notebook
ABC revisits old problems
By Glen Dickson BroadcastingCable.com February 26, 2007

Although it's a new year, ABC will be tackling old problems at NAB: replacing first-generation 720-line-progressive (720p) HDTV playout gear and finding a camcorder format that can take ABC News into the hi-def future.

"Our issues are exactly the same as last year," says Preston Davis, president of ABC Broadcast Operations & Engineering. ABC will canvass the floor with some 55 staffers, he adds.

One outstanding problem is finding an HD program-playout server that can replace aging Panasonic tape decks and interface with ABC's existing Harris automation software.

Although there are numerous options on the market, Davis still finds current products lacking in key areas. "With some of the servers, timecode recognition is still an issue, and reliability is still an issue," he says. "Nothing has met our criteria yet."

ABC uses file-based systems for ingesting and editing content, but Davis isn't ready to leap into fully IT-based operations just yet.

"We're still more in the traditional space of routers and converter technologies," he says. "Part of our issue is that we have a legacy plant with some life in it. So we're not trying to force the obsolescence of our existing facility but, in a limited way, to spend capital to embrace new technologies. I think there's a comfortable marriage we can achieve between the two."

Another technology that needs to interface to existing systems is whatever camera format ABC News chooses to replace aging Sony Betacam SP, SX and IMX gear. Although the Sony cameras and tape decks still work, maintenance costs are rising, and, says Davis, "there's no question the news division is feeling the pressure to move to a later-generation technology."

ABC has evaluated systems from Panasonic, Sony and Grass Valley but still hasn't found a high-definition camcorder available today that interfaces seamlessly with the network's existing Avid editing systems.

"That hasn't moved very far in a year," says Davis. "There's been some progress made by the players, but we have not seen an end-to-end solution for any cameras with Avid. We've seen them take disc and flash memory to it, but we have not seen it working in a way that satisfies us."

He says JVC's ProHD HDV-format camera, which records in native 720p and has been used by Good Morning America and some ABC affiliates for live production, is definitely in the running.

ABC is considering whether to expand its HD news offerings beyond GMA, particularly since NBC plans to launch NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams in HD next month. So ABC will be investigating HD satellite newsgathering and microwave systems, as well as HD graphics.

The network is successfully using Snell & Wilcox Kahuna production switchers to mix SD and HD sources but will still seek new HD switchers and routers at NAB. ABC is also evaluating traffic software, in order to replace an aging, home-grown system, along with content-management tools.

"That's something I think all broadcasters are searching for," says Davis, "a media-asset–management solution from ingest to playout to archiving that tracks the movement of assets through the plant."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6419256

[fredfa]

Technology Notebook
CNN ramps up for HD launch
By Craig Kuhl BroadcastingCable.com February 26, 2007

The shopping list for CNN's newsgathering production group will be top-heavy with HDTV gear, tapeless cameras and repurposing equipment to meet the growing needs of mobile platforms.

"Each layer of our production process is on our NAB shopping list—from newsgathering to control rooms," says Bob Hesskamp, corporate VP of broadcast engineering and system technology for CNN.

Yet while CNN is continually challenged to acquire equipment for newsgathering and producing news on a global basis, nothing is more important this year than HD-related equipment. CNN intends to launch an all-HD channel this year.

"We are replacing our equipment with HD-capable or HD-ready," says Hesskamp, "and will look at the latest and greatest in HD production equipment at NAB, along with up- and down-stream converters and better tools. Those are big deals for us."

From tapeless field cameras to studio production gear, the migration to an all-HD format is deeply embedded in CNN's long-term production strategy.

It changes the way technologists think. Says John Courtney, VP of CNN's News Division Media Group, "For us, to begin working in the HD space takes lots of planning and training. We have to think long-term. HD forces you to look at everything. For example, switches. You can't just plug in switches in the HD world. The same is true with field and editing environments."

System-monitoring equipment is also on CNN's list, along with advanced monitors. "We're aware that CRTs are going away," Hesskamp says. "We want to see what monitor makers are doing with LCDs to replace CRT technology."

Courtney keeps a close eye on multiple-platform equipment as it repurposes content for mobile phones and the Internet. "The increased complexity of multiple files and codecs is a big issue," he says. "We're looking at products in those areas."

CNN's visit to NAB gives executives a chance to see where the business is headed, and Courtney and Hesskamp say it gives them the opportunity to find a technological diamond in the rough.

"We can't take steps back when moving to HD, and major vendors are offering a variety of products," says Hesskamp, "but we're also looking at new kids on the block, and that will be interesting at NAB.

"Sometimes," he continues, "we find gems within the vendor community at NAB."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6419256

[fredfa]

Technology Notebook
ESPN Dresses Up Its L.A. Facility
By Craig Kuhl BroadcastingCable.com February 26, 2007

ESPN's new facility in the Los Angeles area, scheduled to be completed by 2009, is prompting the giant sports network to take a close look at emerging technologies and equipment at this year's NAB show, particularly HDTV and graphics.

And although the network already has an HD showplace in at its Bristol, Conn., facility, it views the NAB show as an opportunity to explore new technology trends: IPTV and audio advances that may enhance its new L.A. digs.

"We're looking at HD production gear, routing and switching equipment for the new facility and will keep an eye on trends from manufacturers, especially with the 1080-progressive TV sets," says Chuck Pagano, executive VP of technology for ESPN. "We'll also be looking at production workflow in manufacturing and product processes across the board."

Graphics will be high on Pagano's list of must-see technologies. Says Pagano, "We'll look at those, along with delivering data to fans and customers as HD evolves."

For Pagano, it's as if Book One of the HD saga is complete. There are now enough producers and at-home consumers to have tested hi-def's capacity and acceptance levels. Time for a new story.

"We are very interested to see what manufacturers are coming out with at NAB for HD," Pagano says. "We're intrigued by where the next-generation production gear is headed in HD. The biggest question is where the HD production journey is going to take us."

For ESPN, part of the journey includes audio and the somewhat unheralded advances in that field that were ushered in with hi-def. Says Pagano, "New audio consoles and surround sound are always in the background but are pushing forward."

ESPN will delve further into what Pagano dubs "the age of IPTV." He explains, "We don't know if it affects our production process so there may be some products or solutions at NAB. We're keeping our eyes on IPTV as well."

The sports network will also explore trends in the convergence of computers and television, an area Pagano says should generate buzz at NAB: "This may be the show where there is movement on the convergence of PCs, TVs and the Internet. We want to see if there are production tools that can help us with that set."

Like seemingly everybody going to NAB, Pagano will be looking for the next undiscovered big thing. He says, "You never know when you'll see something tucked away on the floor that really sticks out."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6419256

[fredfa]

Technology Notebook
Fox hunts for new models
By Glen Dickson BroadcastingCable.com February 26, 2007

Now that construction is under way on a massive new playout facility in Houston that is scheduled to distribute its regional sports networks by late 2007, Fox is turning its attention to gradually upgrading the playout and control systems at its 11-year-old Los Angeles network center.

That means finding a replacement for aging Profile video servers and considering new ways of automating and monitoring content playout. Those will be two big areas of focus heading into NAB, where Fox will bring its usual complement of 50 staffers and break into category-specific teams to work the floor.

"The current plan is to replace some, if not all, of the original Tektronix Profiles," says Richard Friedel, executive VP/general manager, Fox Networks engineering and operations. "Some of them are over 10 years old. I can't complain; we'll probably get 11 or 12 years out of some of them. We had to replace a few drives and do some maintenance, but overall, I have to thank Tektronix." (That Tektronix unit is now part of Grass Valley.)

Fox has looked at server products from Harris, SeaChange, Omneon and Grass Valley. It picked Harris Nexio servers for the Houston facility, and since it already uses Harris Louth automation in its Los Angeles control rooms, going that route again might make sense.

But with so many file-based playout systems and automation vendors to choose from, he is hedging his bets: "I'm torn between, do we just build a traditional [playout] room like we have, versus, is this the ideal time to make a break and do something completely new."

Meanwhile, the automation vendor for the Houston facility, which will span 190,000 square feet with some 35-40 control rooms, is one of the few items that isn't finalized. Fox will be taking another look at those systems in Vegas.

"NAB will be the last shot for that," says Friedel.

With more cable networks, such as Fox's own business-news channel, coming down the pike, compression and multiplexing systems are always on Friedel's list. A particular focus is the overall HD expansion for the sports networks, which are slated to produce 1,000 events in 720-line-progressive (720p) HD this year.

Fox's grand plan is to connect the Los Angeles and Houston facilities via fiber and to use as many common monitoring and content-management tools as possible.

"Our philosophy is, by the time we're done, it will be as if we built one large broadcast facility, sawed it in half, and half went to Houston," says Friedel. "We're not there yet, but that's where we'll be."

With an increasing number of channels to manage, video- and audio-monitoring systems are an ongoing priority. Evertz is one of the big vendors to the Houston facility, and Fox has bought some of its monitoring systems; the network also uses Harris and Grass Valley monitoring products. But Friedel is still looking for better monitoring tools, particularly for digital audio.

"We want something that can go in every desk, but we haven't found that yet," he says. "We're trying to find the optimal thing for operators."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6419256

[fredfa]

Technology Notebook
HBO has sports on its mind
By Craig Kuhl BroadcastingCable.com February 26, 2007

High-definition equipment for its in-house studio sports productions will be on HBO's shopping list at the NAB show, but the premium channel is also looking to upgrade its HD equipment, period.

And although executives at HBO consider the show primarily a chance to stay current with the technology and equipment learning curves, it also presents the network with an opportunity to see firsthand any new developments in the production and distribution spaces.

"We'll bring people from the production and technology sides and IT people interested in integration systems," says Bob Zitter, CTO/executive VP of technology for HBO. "We use NAB more for getting up the learning curve and seeing things, not necessarily buying."

HBO is currently exploring the expanded use of MPEG-4 encoding systems, and NAB will enable the company to witness some of the new technologies in network origination centers.

Like every other content provider, HBO is also migrating to new platforms, such as cellphones and portable devices. That's prompting a hard look at advancing technologies in transcoding.

"We transcode thousands of different videos a month on various platforms, more than ever before," Zitter says, "and we're creating versions of HBO programming for mobile services, which require lots of transcoding."

The company will also explore new test and measurement equipment for HD, most notably the sync between audio and video in the HD format. And on the studio side, HD camera equipment will be high on Zitter's list of must-see products, along with archival data storage.

"We're looking for systems to store data for longer terms than one year," he says. "We're also developing a mezzanine archival file system and a data rate high enough to do post-production before distribution to help prepare us to do everything in file format."

HBO has two production studios for sports shows and is switching to HD. That requires video switches, HD disc recorders, and a full complement of HD equipment and technology.

"We plan to gradually increase our HD programming as the number of HDTV sets in the U.S. increases. We're also looking to deploy improvements as displays show better [resolution]," Zitter says.

A contingent of software, IT and billing personnel will roam the halls in Las Vegas with Zitter. "We usually operate and deploy our own proprietary systems for billing, sales, etc.," he says. "So NAB offers our IT people a great location to see where the state-of-the-art is in technology."

What Zitter and HBO really want to see at NAB, he stresses, are products and equipment "related to managing digital files, asset management, mezzanine architectures, and how we manage, store, move and change into various video formats. That's a growing part of our business on the equipment and technology sides. We have to be sure we're doing those things right."

NAB's biggest upside for HBO, however, is the valuable face time it offers. Says Zitter, "It gives us the opportunity to meet with suppliers, vendors and associates in a convenient setting and gives our technical people from around the world a place to share information. We don't go to NAB with checks to buy something. That's more of a deliberate process.”

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6419256

[fredfa]

Technology Notebook
NBC: Broadband and broad vision
By Glen Dickson BroadcastingCable.com February 26, 2007

Although NBC Universal will bring the same number of people to NAB as in past years—50 total staffers, about half from its cable and local-broadcast operations—its overall approach to the show will be different.

"We're making it a very targeted trip," says John Wallace, NBC Universal executive VP of television operations and production services. NBC has divided its staff into four distinct teams: the studio group, graphics, editing and distribution.

"In effect, we're looking at our operations and trying to figure out how we can design them with an eye on digital but with traditional production values," says Wallace. "We're really taking an enterprise approach in order to streamline the process for multi-format production. The goal is to have one technology architecture for the entire operation, both for broadcast and cable and for the distribution of content."

For studio production, NBC will examine "virtual-objects" systems from graphics and effects vendors such as VizRT that allow virtual 3D images, achieved through chroma-key (blue-screen) technology. They are variations on virtual sets, introduced in the last decade, which have now grown popular in Europe.

"You can create a whole new look and feel in a fixed studio environment," Wallace says. "It's more of a digital play than anything else."

Mainly for its O&Os, NBC is also evaluating new software-based automation systems for its production- control rooms, such as OverDrive from Ross Video and Ignite from Grass Valley, that can be used to remotely control devices and automate functions previously performed by dedicated operators.

NBC just completed a centralized graphics-production unit, called Artworks, that serves all units, including NBC News, CNBC, the O&Os, NBC Entertainment and the digital group. With Artworks, NBC has taken about 35% of the workload of traditional art departments and "pushed it out to the desktop," says Wallace. Template-based graphics and the Artbox database from Proximity Software (acquired in December by Apple) now allow producers to create "self-service graphics" for everyday needs. In Las Vegas, NBC will be shopping for more—high-end 3D, high-definition graphics systems from such vendors as VizRT, Miranda, Chyron and Pinnacle.

NBC is taking a similar approach to editing, moving basic functions such as voiceovers to desktop editing systems that use commodity-type IT storage while keeping high-end proprietary gear, such as its existing Avid systems, for high-end work. At NAB, it will be evaluating desktop editing systems from Ardendo, Blue Order and Apple and storage solutions from vendors including Isilon and EMC.

The Wallace way means NBC will need more software-based collaboration tools. "We want one enterprise-wide solution for the entire TV group," says Wallace. "We hope to meet somewhere in the middle [between the desktop-based and high-end proprietary systems]. We don't want silos; that's our objective."

On the distribution front, NBC has deferred a project to convert its Skypath high-definition satellite system to MPEG-4 compression. Wallace says the technology "is still too raw for our comfort." Instead, the network is focused on moving from a "master-control, single-source distribution-center mentality" and toward being able to handle multichannel distribution to various platforms, including video-on-demand and mobile-TV platforms.

"When you consider the O&Os and multicasting, you're looking at 300 channels or more of distribution," he says. "So we're looking at software platforms that can add distribution channels and scale. It's the encode-once, deploy-to-many mentality."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6419256

[fredfa]

Technology Notebook
TBS navigates new platforms
By Craig Kuhl BroadcastingCable.com February 26, 2007

Turner Broadcast Systems' (TBS) trip to the NAB show will be highlighted by an in-depth look at advancing forms of content distribution, such as mobile phones, video-on-demand (VOD) and the Internet.

It will also be inspecting file-transfer equipment that will allow the network to store and distribute content more quickly and efficiently.

"We're built to be a file-transfer facility and pretty advanced," says Ron Tarasoff, VP of broadcast technology and engineering for TBS. "So at NAB, we'll be looking for products from manufacturers to help us with storage files, transcoding, splicing files and repurposing them. In the past, content would just sit on shelves as videotape. Now we're converting it to a file-based format. And we're not just looking at standard- definition but at high-definition, too."

The TBS contingent to the NAB will include staffers from both the broadcast and IT sides of the network, Tarasoff says. "The NAB show is not pure IT or even pure broadcast anymore; it's a hybrid of both. So almost all the people we'll send are from those groups, since we're in the midst of transitioning to all-IT in the next few years."

The other mission is to check out new technologies that can enable TBS to enhance the growing number of ways viewers are getting programming.

"We'll be looking at any new distribution models, like VOD and cellphones," Tarasoff says. "How can our content be used in the most ways, and where will our customers see our content five years from now?"

TBS wants to know what's new in the pipeline. "We hope to meet with several vendors, suppliers and partners to get an impression of what products are coming in the months and years ahead, and we'll try to visit the floor to see the technologies," Tarasoff says. "You never know when a vendor may have just the right technology that's tucked away somewhere on the exhibit floor."

A big upside to NAB for TBS is that the one-on-one meetings with vendors, suppliers and partners give Tarasoff a way to measure where certain technologies are in their development. "It's nice because we're all in one place," he says. "It helps us plan for the coming years."

Nonlinear editing gear is also high on TBS' want list. "We're finding that with repurposing programs, editing files is becoming urgent, even byte-stream splicing," Tarasoff says. "But the technology is not very far along, and we need it. We're always interested in seeing how far the technology has come at NAB."

The bottom line is, "we want to find ways to assemble content packages faster than real time, with quality," Tarasoff says. "More and more individualized packages are being put together, so we want to manipulate, assemble and deliver them to different formats, faster than real time, and include logos, labels, promos, breaks, and send it out quickly."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6419256

[fredfa]

The HD Revolution
Programmers Ramp Up To Meet HD Demand
End of Standard-Resolution TV Is In Sight for Producers, Networks
By Wayne Karrfalt MultiChannel News 2/26/2007

When satellite provider DirecTV announced at last month’s International Consumer Electronics Show that it would use the additional capacity provided by the planned launch of two new satellites to carry 100 national high-definition channels by the end of the year, some high-resolution light was shed on issues that had taken a back seat in recent months.

The multiplatform craze has distracted distributors and programmers from tackling real issues that remain in the HDTV space: capacity, programming and price. But DirecTV’s move has made high-definition the topic du jour once again, and could force the industry to deal with these problems sooner rather than later, analysts said.

Some skeptics said DirecTV’s announcement is premature and overstated. Many cable networks aren’t ready to launch in HD yet, and DirecTV’s current offering — seven national channels and two premium services — pales in comparison to many cable HD lineups. Time Warner Cable actually sued the satellite provider over the language in its ads, claiming DirecTV lied about offering picture quality that is superior to cable and forcing it to amend its TV spots.

FORWARD PROGRESS

Nor is the cable industry standing still. Comcast is adding more linear HD channels to its lineup this year, including National Geographic HD, A&E HD and content from its owned networks, Versus and Golf Channel. It also plans to double the amount of HD content available on its video-on-demand platform to over 200 hours this year.

But the fact remains that satellite could dominate in the HD space until cable operators figure out a way to increase network capacity. Solutions such as reclaiming analog spectrum; deploying switched digital video, in which only the channels customers are watching are passed to their set-top boxes; or migrating to boxes that use the MPEG-4 standard are at least two to three years away.

“There are two different wars being fought, the battle of product, who has the best offering; and the battle of marketing, who has the best sales pitch to the customer. DirecTV is almost certainly going to win the marketing-pitch war by being able to claim they have more HD channels than everyone else, and they’re already building awareness,” said Sanford C. Bernstein senior analyst Craig Moffett.

Meanwhile former “cable cowboy” John Malone, awaiting approval of Liberty Media’s $11 billion acquisition of DirecTV, has tipped his hat that HD will be his main focus going forward.

“This year we plan to put a lot of distance between us and the cable guys and we will primarily be able to do that with HD,” said DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer.

Until now, high prices and a lack of compelling high-definition programming has slowed adoption in all but the richest homes. (HDTV owners have a mean household income of $89,500, according to a recent Leichtman Research survey). But the paradigm is shifting. Set prices dropped substantially over the holiday buying season. The average price for an HDTV set is expected to fall to $800 this year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.

And research shows consumer education is also improving. Both developments have led distributors to broaden their HD offerings and cable networks to accelerate their plans to jump to HD.

DirecTV is also using sports as an HD hook. Last season it broadcast 150 National Football League games in HD as part of its “NFL Sunday Ticket” package. “NASCAR HotPass” subscribers with high-definition set-tops can pay $99 for a subscription to see 37 races this year, including multiple HD camera views on a single screen and cameras placed inside the cars of five different drivers each week.

DirecTV took cable programmers by surprise in terms of the announcement’s timing, but executives said they were already moving in this direction. Turner Broadcasting System was the first to go on record about a new HD channel, announcing that CNN HD will be ready from September, followed sometime thereafter by TBS HD and Cartoon Network HD.

Much internal debate has preceded the order of the launches, said Turner Network Sales executive vice president of sales and marketing Coleman Breland, as each channel in the Turner family makes a compelling case to be offered in HD. But given capacity constraints, the market can only support so many new channels at one time.

“The strategy for us, in terms of HD, is to launch the right network at the right time. Given its presence, position and programming, TNT made sense at first. CNN, given its competition with broadcast news, will be next. When you have a family you want everyone to be able to play in this space, but ultimately it’s a capacity issue,” said Breland.

NBC Universal is preparing to launch HD versions of Sci Fi Channel, USA Network and Bravo later this year.

“We’re already in mode,” said USA Network and Sci Fi Channel president Bonnie Hammer.

NBCU’s HD strategy has evolved from trying to launch Bravo HD Plus as a standalone in July 2003 to offering the catch-all Universal HD from December 2004, which airs programming from across the NBCU spectrum. Like most HD networks, the NBCU channels will offer a combination of originals and acquired fare shot both in HD and upconverted from film.

EXPERIMENTAL STAGE

“Much of our content is still shot in film, but we’re experimenting with [HD] more and more,” said Hammer. “We’re even trying to shoot [World Wrestling Entertainment] in HD. That’s kind of challenging. Does a punch hit or does it just go by? You see everything in HD. You’ve got to be very careful.”

However, upconverting is not ideal in terms of image quality, according to Greg Moyer, GM of Rainbow Media’s Voom HD Networks. In Moyer’s view, the next wave of HD networks about to launch will do so as “placeholders” until programmers convert all of their production apparatus to the format.

Conspicuously absent from the DirecTV announcement, and still only distributed in the U.S. via EchoStar Communications’s Dish Network, Voom is sticking to its strategy of expanding its slate of original HD programming to differentiate itself in the marketplace.

“At some point, television will be all-HD, and this is the beginning of that,” said Moyer. “Channels that commit to broadcasting in 100% HD will be a reliable place for the viewer to turn, whereas the other networks will be catch as catch can.”

Channels that have fully committed to producing and broadcasting in HD, such as Voom’s 15 networks, HDNet, Discovery HD Theater and Nat Geo HD, are hoping their head start in terms of programming libraries and consumer loyalty will pay dividends as penetration deepens.

Like DirecTV, ESPN HD is using the format to enhance its coverage of NASCAR races, which return to the network this year after a six-year hiatus. Camera crews are experimenting with multiple point-of-view cameras, robotic cameras and cameras placed inside the cars. The medium has had as much impact on the coverage of sports since the advent of color, said ESPN executive vice president of programming and production Norby Williamson.

“You can look at movies or studio presentations in HD, but the impact of HD is by far and away the greatest on sports television,” said Williamson.

The pioneer in the space, HDNet, continues to invest in original true-HD programming. The weekly investigative news show Dan Rather Reports, which premiered last October, has lent an air of credibility to the network, whose message until now was mostly about the format. HD will soon create a new digital divide in which standard-definition feeds take a back seat to high-definition channels, according to HDNet president and co-founder Mark Cuban.

“I think we will see HD vs. non-HD programming be like FM versus AM. By default, we all go to the FM band and look for music programming, and AM has become the domain for niche and talk/sports stations. Viewers now check the HD range of channels first.

“It still comes down to having great programming or movies, but being part of the 'first 15’ that viewers browse is a huge advantage for us,” Cuban wrote in an e-mail.

Discovery HD Theater is also raising the bar by investing in high-profile original HD fare, such as the ongoing $65 million series Atlas and the 11-hour epic Planet Earth, airing simultaneously in standard and HDTV on consecutive Sundays from March 25 to April 22. Despite being in only 8 million homes, the network is willing to invest in programming that takes advantage of the medium precisely because HD converts go here first, a point not lost on its distributors, said Discovery Communications executive vice president and general manager of HDTV and new-media operations Clint Stinchcomb.

“Studies have shown that once a consumer has committed to HD by buying the HD set and upgrading to an HD set-top box, they will go out of their way to watch programming in HD only,” said Stinchcomb. “And distributors realize that every time someone buys a set, it allows them to reevaluate their video distribution relationship. Therefore, a compelling HD offer is more crucial than ever.”

BACK BURNER FOR SOME

But not every programmer is bullish on HD. Networks that tend to focus more on, say, reality shows spend much less on programming in general and don’t see the benefits of conversion. The consensus is they will have to make the jump eventually, but right now it’s not a priority.

“Long-term, absolutely,” said E! Networks CEO Ted Harbert. “We already produce the [Live from the] Red Carpet show in HD and put it up on-demand. G4 and Style have a lot of programming that would look good in HD. But not right away.”

Program suppliers are also seeing increased demand for HD programming, and market forces are helping them deliver the goods. Networks that have already committed to the format, such as Discovery Channel and HGTV, ask for budgets to be delivered with both standard and high-definition bottom lines.

National Geographic Channel has mandated as far back as February 2005 that all programs must be shot in HD, despite the higher cost. The Fox Cable Networks/National Geographic Society joint venture felt the brand demanded it. The production team of the three-hour special Galápagos, premiering in March, shot some 300 hours of footage.

“Over time, people have learned not to bring us anything unless it’s in HD,” said Nat Geo executive vice president of programming John Ford.

OVERSEAS MOMENTUM

International productions and co-productions are also shifting to HD in order to be able to sell to the U.S. Discovery’s Planet Earth series, a co-production with the BBC, became the British broadcaster’s first foray into the medium when it began production five years ago. The project is as ambitious as anything ever attempted by the channel, with over 2,000 days in the field in more than 200 locations. And despite the fact the network won’t “get credit” for the viewers who tune in to watch in HD (none of the HD channels are yet rated by Nielsen), it plans many more such productions.

“Every year we should have at least one of these tent pole events. These are the kind of shows we’re embracing now more than ever, and HD is a huge impetus to this, because you’re really seeing everything like you’ve never seen it before,” said Maureen Lemire, executive producer for Discovery Channel.

While economies of scale are lowering prices on high-end cameras and new developments — such as Sony’s introduction of a new, more compact and lighter HD camcorder — are offering alternatives, the format is still expensive, tacking on at least an additional 8% to 10% to the budget. So don’t expect producers to shoot everything in HD just yet.

“Right now, we’re still in what I would call the pick-and-choose era,” said Bruce David Klein, president and executive producer of Atlas Media. “Give them 20 shows and as a cable network, they’re going to select which ones really deserve the HD treatment.”

But on the other hand, the moment when everything must be delivered in high definition is not far off, according to Ellis Entertainment president Stephen Ellis, so producers must prepare themselves.

“The real tipping point is when over 50% of homes start receiving HD signals. Then it will shift very, very quickly,” said Ellis. “We’re not there yet, but as a producer, we’re committed to it long-term. We call it future-proofing our catalogue.”

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6419266.html

[Maestro J]

Fred: I never caught the ratings for Amazing Race: All stars premiere last Sunday. What were they and how did it compare to last fall's premiere?

[URFloorMatt]

After reading that, I'm surprised the E! networks aren't preparing a catch-all HD channel. I mean, with all PS3 and X360 games in HD and most all Wii games in 480p, you'd think that their clip reals would be pretty underwhelming in SD. I know my X360 is pretty underwhelming in SD.

I don't know. I don't watch G4 so I don't know how they fill their programming hours.

[archiguy]

Frankly I have little interest this year. But then I am a very parochial guy: no TV, little interest.

Well Fred, most movies do eventually end up on TV you know. ;)

[fredfa]

I have heard that, archiguy. Is it true? :)

[archiguy]

I have heard that, archiguy. Is it true? :)

You bet. Otherwise, I'd never see any. :D

[fredfa]

Yesterday’s fast national over night prime-time ratings have been posted near the top of Ratings News the second post in this thread.

[fredfa]

Fred: I never caught the ratings for Amazing Race: All stars premiere last Sunday. What were they and how did it compare to last fall's premiere?

I am digging through the files now, MJ. I'll have the answer in a couple of minutes.

[fredfa]

Fred: I never caught the ratings for Amazing Race: All stars premiere last Sunday. What were they and how did it compare to last fall's premiere?

CBS The Amazing Race: All-Stars Season 11 Premiere Feb. 18, 2007
Overall rating/share: 7.3/11
Total viewers: 11.74 million
18-49: 3.3 rating

CBS The Amazing Race: Season 10 Premiere Sept 17, 2006
Overall rating/share: 6.3/10
Total viewers: 10.13 million
18-49: 3.7 rating

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

[Maestro J]

CBS The Amazing Race: All-Stars Season 11 Premiere Feb. 18, 2007
Overall rating/share: 7.3/11
Total viewers: 11.74 million
18-49: 3.3 rating

CBS The Amazing Race: Season 10 Premiere Sept 17, 2006
Overall rating/share: 6.3/10
Total viewers: 10.13 million
18-49: 3.7 rating

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Interesting. Total viewers up 1.5 mill but 18-49 was down. I know there was a golf overrun but that didn't affect 1.5 mill extra from showing up.

Thanks for checking that.

[theratpatrol]

“NASCAR HotPass” subscribers with high-definition set-tops can pay $99 for a subscription to see 37 races this year, including multiple HD camera views on a single screen and cameras placed inside the cars of five different drivers each week.
Actually, NASCAR HotPass is not in HD this year, but it maybe in HD next year.

[choskyigragspa]

The HD Revolution
Programmers Ramp Up To Meet HD Demand
[B]
And despite the fact the network won’t “get credit” for the viewers who tune in to watch in HD (none of the HD channels are yet rated by Nielsen), it plans many more such productions.

I hope that I'm misinterpreting this. What does it mean to say that "none of the HD channels are rated by Nielsen"? Suppose I am a Nielsen family, and that I decide to watch ESPN Monday Night Football on my cable provider's ESPNHD channel, as opposed to the SD ESPN channel. Does that mean that Nielsen isn't counting my family as having watched MNF? I sure hope they are.

Hopefully, what this means is that HD viewer numbers (for something like MNF, which is simulcast on the regular ESPN channel) are not tabulated as a distinct category, but are instead thrown together with all the regular ESPN numbers.

[fredfa]

Welcome to the thread, choskyigragspa! :)

I spoke with a Nielsen person earlier this week about this very issue. It is true that Nielsen doesn't rate HD networks yet. But your hope is actually been realized: if a Nielsen family watches something in HD it does get measured -- and added to the SD number. Just not broken out separately. I was told the common belief that HD viewers aren't counted is simply untrue -- as long as they are watching a channel with a simultaneous SD feed.

I don't know, for example, how Mark Cuban gets ratings (and I assume he does) for HDNet.
But TiVo has been measuring ratings from some 20,000 HD TiVo boxes for quite a while now, so some HD figures are probably floating around somewhere.

Normally Nielsen doesn't provide ratings for networks with fewer than upwards of 30 million homes. And there is no HD network even close to that "magic" number yet.

I would suspect that HD-specific breakdowns will be made public by Nielsen about the time of the Febraury, 2009 digital deadline. Or when one of the HD-specific networks get carried in 30-40 millions homes.

Recent published reports have said that ESPN HD is available, at the moment, in fewer than 10 million homes, ESPN2 HD about half of that. I have no reason to doubt those numbers, but I haven't checked them either.

[homcom]

I hope that I'm misinterpreting this. What does it mean to say that "none of the HD channels are rated by Nielsen"? Suppose I am a Nielsen family, and that I decide to watch ESPN Monday Night Football on my cable provider's ESPNHD channel, as opposed to the SD ESPN channel. Does that mean that Nielsen isn't counting my family as having watched MNF? I sure hope they are.

Hopefully, what this means is that HD viewer numbers (for something like MNF, which is simulcast on the regular ESPN channel) are not tabulated as a distinct category, but are instead thrown together with all the regular ESPN numbers.
I do believe currently there is no breakdown between HD and SD viewers. It would all be counted as watching ESPN.

[fredfa]

Last night's viewer numbers have been added to the ratings news at the top of the second post in the thread (courtesy of Marc Berman taking a brief break from his sunny beach vacation.)

[fredfa]

I do believe currently there is no breakdown between HD and SD viewers. It would all be counted as watching ESPN.


According to what Nielsen specifically told me, that is correct, homcom.

[fredfa]

Interesting. Total viewers up 1.5 mill but 18-49 was down. I know there was a golf overrun but that didn't affect 1.5 mill extra from showing up.

Thanks for checking that.

There are more people viewing television in February, too, although to be honest I didn't go back and check the total viewership numbers for the two fays in question.

But in general terms, cold weather and shorter daylight hours make for higher viewership in February.

[fredfa]

(And I don't remember if back in September the AR premiere followed "60 Minutes" which does not draw well in the 18-49 demo. I think it did, but I am not sure offhand.)

[flint350]

Welcome to the thread, choskyigragspa! :)

I bet that was a cut and paste.

[fredfa]

Correct, flint350. Otherwise, with my limited typing ability, it could have taken me half an hour.

[fredfa]

The Business of Television
CBS Eyes New Deals
Network Hopes Cash-for-Carriage Pacts Set Precedent
By Linda Moss MultiChannel News 2/26/2007

Crowing about the start of “a new paradigm,” CBS appears to have succeeded in scoring cash payments from nine smaller cable companies for permission to retransmit the signals of its TV stations.

But two other broadcasters will likely face a much tougher time this week, as they try to extract cash compensation for their stations from Comcast and Cox Communications.

Those two large cable operators, ranked Nos. 1 and 4 in size, each have retransmission-consent pacts with TV-station owners that expire later this week. In theory, if new agreements aren’t reached or additional extensions are not granted, Comcast could lose carriage of Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned stations and Cox could lose the right to retransmit a New Orleans station belonging to Belo Corp. Negotiations are ongoing in both cases.

In the past, Comcast and Cox have been vocal about their reluctance to pay cash compensation to carry the signals of TV stations. In 2005, Cox lost carriage of Nexstar Broadcasting Group stations for most of the year over that issue.

NEW PRECEDENT

So it remains to be seen if the new CBS deals, which CEO Les Moonves triumphantly hailed, will set a precedent followed by larger cable operators, with millions of subscribers — or whether the deals will only have a bearing on negotiations with smaller operators, who may have just 100,000 subscribers or fewer to bargain with.

After literally years of Moonves calling for cash for his stations, last week the Tiffany Network finally announced it had new retransmission-consent deals with nine unidentified cable companies. The nine deals covered a total of 1 million cable TV subscribers who can watch CBS owned-and-operated stations.

Moonves has publicly said he would seek the equivalent of a 50 cent per-month, per-subscriber fee from cable operators for CBS stations. But, to date, there is no public confirmation from CBS or any other party of the exact amount of cash being paid by any of the cable operators under the agreements announced Thursday.

That sets the stage for this week’s events. Comcast has a retransmission-consent extension from Sinclair Broadcast Group that expires Thursday (March 1).

“We are continuing to work with Sinclair to reach a fair agreement,” Comcast senior director of corporate communications Jenni Moyer said last Friday.

As a precaution, and in line with federal law, Comcast has already notified its subscribers in Sinclair markets that they may be losing those TV stations. That negotiation involves more than 30 Sinclair TV stations reaching roughly 3 million subscribers in 23 markets, including Pittsburgh, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., Nashville, Tenn., Richmond, Va., and Tampa, Fla.

“These things, a lot of time, come down to the wire,” Sinclair general counsel Barry Faber said. “I like to think about getting deals done and that’s what I’m hoping we’ll be able to accomplish in the next week.”

Like CBS, Sinclair has been vocal about demanding cash for its stations and recently succeeded on that score. The broadcaster just concluded a very nasty, public retransmission-consent fight with Mediacom Communications.

Sinclair pulled 23 stations from Mediacom for a month before reaching a deal on Feb. 2 in which the cable operator is reportedly paying per-subscriber license fees for the broadcaster’s stations.

Cox’s looming retransmission-consent deadline involves just one market. Belo Corp. has granted Cox, with its 183,000 subscribers, an extension until Friday, March 2, to continue carrying its CBS affiliate in New Orleans, WWL-TV. The Belo-Cox retransmission-consent negotiations involve the station’s analog and HD signals, as well as a news channel, NewsWatch 15, which reruns the station’s newscast.

“The issues are consistent with those across cable and broadcast negotiations, and I think they’re going to be resolved,” said WWL president and general manager Bud Brown.

CBS tried to position its deals with the nine cable companies as establishing a template.

“Clearly, there is a new paradigm in the marketplace — one that recognizes the value of the content that we bring to our various audiences,” Moonves said in a prepared statement. “This is a trend that bodes well for us going forward as future retransmission deals are negotiated.”

CBS spokesman Dana McClintock declined to name the operators the company reached agreements with, citing “confidentiality” — a sign of how touchy retransmission-consent payments are within the cable industry.

When asked about the terms and whether cash is involved, McClintock would only say, “We’re receiving value.”

NOT SO FAST

One industry executive familiar with the negotiations said CBS was receiving cash for carriage, much as it did nearly a year ago in a retransmission-consent pact with Verizon. CBS reportedly garnered monthly license fees of 50 cents, per-subscriber, in that agreement.

But several Wall Street analysts and at least one broadcaster were skeptical that CBS was getting just cash from these operators. Part of the compensation, or “value,” could be barter advertising time, for instance.

Assuming a 50-cent license fee, the investment firm Bear Stearns & Co. estimated that will create $6 million in annual revenue for CBS and open the door for a lot more down the line.

“CBS can capture $155 million to $175 million in retrans fees, making CBS one of the broadcasting industry’s greatest retrans beneficiaries,” Bear Stearns analyst Victor Miller wrote last week.

In its report, Bank of America said “the market value for broadcast retransmission rights won’t really be determined until CBS’s agreements with the largest cable operators come up for renewal starting in ’09-’10.”

NOT SO BIG

Some Wall Street analysts believe neither the Sinclair-Mediacom deal, nor last week’s CBS deal with smaller cable companies, will set any kind of precedent for a giant cable operator like Comcast.

For example, Craig Moffett, a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co analyst, stressed that Mediacom’s position with Sinclair is very different than that of Comcast.

“The pain to the broadcasters is felt immediately, in the form of lost advertising revenue, if they’re losing a big piece of the marketplace,” Moffett said. “Mediacom’s problem was it simply didn’t account for enough of Sinclair’s distribution to stand toe to toe with Sinclair at the bargaining table. The negotiation with Comcast is completely different.”

The Sinclair stations involved in the Comcast deal represent one-third of the broadcaster’s ad revenue, according to an individual familiar with negotiations.

Faber declined to comment on what Sinclair is specifically seeking from Comcast.

Cox and WWL reached a retransmission extension Jan. 31, which kept the CBS affiliate — and Super Bowl XLI — on the air for the cable system’s subscribers. Neither Cox nor WWL’s Brown are commenting on details of their talks, but one of the hangups is reportedly the financial terms for WWL’s HD channel, which Cox isn’t currently carrying.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6419389.html?display=Top+Stories

[fredfa]

The Business of Television
Deals to Watch
Retransmisson-consent agreements about to expire:
MultiChannel News 2/26/2007

• March 1
Cable operator: Comcast
Station operator: Sinclair Broadcast Group
What happens: Retransmission-consent extension expires
TV stations involved: More than 30 in 23 markets
Cable subscribers affected: 3 million
Signals under discussion: Analog and digital

• March 2
Cable operator: Cox Communications
Station operator: Belo Corp.
What happens: Retransmission-consent extension expires
Cable subscribers affected: 183,000
Signals: CBS affiliate WWL-TV, WWL-TV HD and NewsWatch 15, a newschannel, all in New Orleans.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6419389.html?display=Top+Stories

[choskyigragspa]

Welcome to the thread, choskyigragspa! :) I bet that was a cut and paste.
What? You mean you guys don't recognize Tibetan transliteration into English when you see it?

[dad1153]

Interesting that this year there are alternatives to watching the Academy Awards on ABC rather than just repeats. Following a new 60 Minutes at 7PM ET Amazing Race All-Stars is also new, as will be a live edition of Grease: You're The One That I Want at 8PM ET and an episode of Crossing Jordan at 10PM ET (a repeat of 'Jordan' precedes the new episode at 9PM ET). It will be interesting to see how NBC and CBS' decisions pan out.

Me? I'll be DVR'ing and fast-forwarding like mad the Oscars around 10:30PM, just in time to catch-up to the live Jimmy Kimmel Live Oscar show that will follow around midnight.

[fredfa]

What? You mean you guys don't recognize Tibetan transliteration into English when you see it?

I am just happy you've joined us.

And I'll be practicing my Tibetan pronunciation for the next few weeks. :)

[fredfa]

Interesting that this year there are alternatives to watching the Academy Awards on ABC rather than just repeats. Following a new 60 Minutes at 7PM ET Amazing Race All-Stars is also new, as will be a live edition of Grease: You're The One That I Want at 8PM ET and an episode of Crossing Jordan at 10PM ET (a repeat of 'Jordan' precedes the new episode at 9PM ET). It will be interesting to see how NBC and CBS' decisions pan out.

Me? I'll be DVR'ing and fast-forwarding like mad the Oscars around 10:30PM, just in time to catch-up to the live Jimmy Kimmel Live Oscar show that will follow around midnight.

Just back from the UCLA-Stanford game, and I have a few more hours of Pac-10 hoops to watch on FSN, so I am a happy camper. I might check out the TiVo and DVR to see if there is anything I should be spending time on.

I can't remember an Academy Awards show which has interested me less than this year's version. And now it is going to run over? Yikes.

[dad1153]

I can't remember an Academy Awards show which has interested me less than this year's version. And now it is going to run over? Yikes.

Would you expect anything less from the woman that produced the Spider-Man movies (one of which was written by her 70+ year-old husband)? :confused:

[fredfa]

I obviously had a brain cramp earlier, dad -- thinking tonight was Sunday.

I'll have to re-examine my possibilitirs for tomorrow during the AAs.

[fredfa]

Critic’s Notebook
"The Black Donnellys":
"EZ Streets" without the odor of instant cancellation?
By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn” February 25, 2007

It's fitting that NBC has cleared out this time slot --