Hot Off The Press: The Latest TV News and Information - Page 2452

That's great news. 3 minutes was too long for a test.

TV Notes
TV sportscaster wins $2 million lottery on live TV
By MSNBC.com staff - November 3rd, 2011

Vancouver, British Columbia Really, it was just coincidence.

When Global TV BC broadcast the drawing of the lucky ticket for a children's hospital's grand lottery prize live on the air, little did anyone realize the winner would be someone who worked there sports reporter Barry Deley.

The drawing in BC Children's Hospital Dream Lottery took place on Monday in Global BC's lobby during the station's Noon News Hour and the name of the winner was announced live on air by Deley's longtime colleagues, Sophie Lui and Squire Barnes.

Both seemed incredulous when told that someone named Barry Deley had the winning ticket.

"How's it spelled?" Lui asked.

"D-E-L-E-Y," Global weather broadcaster Arran Henn, who was reporting on the drawing, responded.

"No it's not! You've got to be kidding!" Lui responded.

When it was confirmed the winner was indeed their sports colleague, Barns called Deley live on air to break the good news to him.

Deley was out shopping for groceries when he got the call.

"You know people are going to think this is kind of fishy, don't ya? Deley said.

It is unbelievable. I can't think straight here.

He later told Global BC in a separate interview: "Squire's a bit of a jokester so you don't really believe what comes out of his mouth the first time anyway."

The top prize was a choice between four homes worth between $2.1 million and $2.5 million or $2 million cash. Deley didn't say which one he would select.

BC Children's Hospital said the odds of winning the top prize were about 1 in 288,000. This year, the lottery made a profit of about $2.2 million from the annual drawing. The proceeds go toward medical research of children's illnesses.

Deley lives in Port Moody with his wife and three children. He said one of his daughters, Eden, was treated for leukemia at Children's Hospital seven years ago, and he has long supported the hospital's work in part by buying Dream Lottery tickets.

[CLICK LINK BELOW TO SEE VIDEO]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45152410...nderful_world/

TV Notes
Lady Gaga wants to spend Thanksgiving with you
By Hal Boedeker, Orlando Sentinel's 'TV Guy' Blog - November 3rd, 2011

First you get the turkey. Then you get the Gaga.

ABC has announced a Thanksgiving night special with Lady Gaga.

It's her show the whole way: She conceived it. She will direct it. She will perform eight songs, including The Lady Is a Tramp with Tony Bennett. She will sit for a Katie Couric interview in Sacred Heart Catholic School in Manhattan, Gaga's alma mater. Gaga will prepare deep-fried turkey and waffles with help from chef Art Smith.

A Very Gaga Thanksgiving will run 90 minutes and starts at 9:30 p.m. Nov. 24 on WFTV-Channel 9.

She is fixing that turkey for a small audience of family and friends. They will hear her sing Marry the Night, You and I, The Edge of Glory and White Christmas.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/ent...-with-you.html

Yeah but even then it would have been more of a hindrance than a help. Your major OTA stations were carrying news (for days straight) as soon as it happened. As I'm sure everyone recalls - many TV/Radio stations were knocked off the air in NYC, so it would have been pretty useless for the majority of those affected.

The constant news cycle, vs that even 20 years ago changed quite a bit - but keeping on the news was considerably more useful than a small text / audio blurb (which, if I recall the president could not even activate from Air Force One).

TV Notes
Friday's Highlights: 'Give Me the Banjo' on KOCE
By Los Angeles Times' 'Show Tracker' Blog - November 3rd, 2011

[ALL TIMES LISTED ARE PACIFIC TIME]

'GIVE ME THE BANJO': Steve Martin narrates this new special about the history of the banjo at 9 p.m. on KOCE.

SERIES

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition In two new episodes, an Iraq war veteran who has a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder triggered by, among other things, loud noises, lives near a rock quarry and a train yard. With help from Glenn Close, Ty and the team build a brand-new home in a quieter neighborhood (8 and 9 p.m. ABC).

Kitchen Nightmares: Chef Ramsay attempts to make over a Burger Kitchen in Los Angeles (8 p.m. Fox).

Supernatural: In this new episode Dean and Sam (Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki) investigate when residents in a town full of mediums start dying in gruesome ways and they soon discover that the killer is an angry ghost (9 p.m. KTLA).

Austin City Limits: In this new episode Steve Miller Band performs classic blues tunes and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band presents classic New Orleans jazz with the Del McCoury Band and Jim James (9 p.m. KLCS).

Boss: Kane (Kelsey Grammer) finds his control slipping on both the personal and political fronts as his supporters begin to lose confidence in him in this new episode (11 p.m. Starz).

MOVIES

The Invisible Man: Claude Rains made his U.S. screen debut in this 1933 horror classic as a scientist who discovers a formula that makes him disappear, but also turns him into a crazed killer. Gloria Stuart also stars (5 p.m. TCM).

Avatar: Writer-director James Cameron's Oscar-winning, visually dazzling and ecologically responsible saga uses extensive motion-capture animation as a paraplegic Marine (Sam Worthington) is brought to a planet called Pandora. Where his scientifically engineered alter ego, or avatar, is enlisted to help mine the planet for a valuable substance (7:15 p.m. Cinemax).

SPORTS

Horse racing: Breeders' Cup World Championships (1 p.m. ESPN2).

College football: Central Michigan at Kent State (5 p.m. ESPN2); USC at Colorado (6 p.m. ESPN).

High school football: Servite vs. Mater Dei (7:30 p.m. FSN).

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/show...o-on-koce.html

TV Notes
HBO's 'Treme' to end after four seasons
Simon tells New Orleans paper show will sign off
By Stuart Levine, Variety - November 3rd, 2011

It looks like the fourth season will be the last for the HBO drama "Treme."

Exec producer David Simon told the New Orleans Times-Picayune earlier this week that he and the pay cabler have agreed to the end date.

Show has never been a ratings hit but HBO programming toppers Michael Lombardo and Richard Plepler have long supported Simon's vision of the hardships the citizens of New Orleans have endured post-Hurricane Katrina.

Season two opened to 600,000 viewers in its initial airing, and 2.2 million for the week after multiple showings, on demand and DVR play. In comparison, the premiere of "Boardwalk Empire" garnered 10.2 million for the cumulative total in its first week in 2010.

Shooting began this week on season three, which will likely air in the spring if it follows previous programming patterns.

Ensemble stars Wendell Pierce, Khandi Alexander, Kim Dickens and Melissa Leo. Simon exec produces with Nina K. Noble, Eric Overmyer, Carolyn Strauss and George Pelecanos.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118045563

Oh it's not believable enough. IT'S ABOUT GHOSTS!!! This is my favorite show on TV right now. Even though it's obviously not "believable".

[bait taken]

Why should this be a problem? Broadcasters have been such busy little beavers trying to figure out how to make everyone pay for this so-called "FREE" OTA anyway.

Ya made your beds ... you know the rest.

Posted on Fri, Nov. 04, 2011 12:48 AM
By SCOTT CANON
The Kansas City Star

Google, the Internet search giant that wants to wire Kansas City like no other place, is reportedly pondering a jump into the cable TV business.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting in today’s editions that in addition to bringing ultrafast Internet to Kansas City, it may also sell television packages in this market.

That would set aside one of the great doubts about the company’s plans. Many cable industry analysts had speculated that without a TV package, even a super-fast and affordable Internet connection might not be attractive to consumers accustomed to cable-phone-Internet bundles.

The Journal also said the service could be teamed with phone service. It was unclear whether the phone service would be Internet-based or work off more conventional networks.

Kansas City was among 1,100 communities across the country that lobbied to be the first market for a test of Google Fiber — the California-based Internet behemoth’s plan to connect virtually every home with fiber optic cables. Those glass wires can carry far more data than coaxial cables or telephone lines.

In the case of Google’s project, the promise is for 1 gigabit per second uploads and downloads. That’s up to 100 times faster downloads, and 1,000 times faster uploads than usually available through conventional broadband.

A Google spokeswoman on Thursday night released the briefest of statements in response to the Journal article.

“We’re still exploring what product offerings will be available when we launch Google Fiber,” the statement said.

In fact, since announcing in March that Kansas City, Kan., and in May that Kansas City, Mo., would be the first test beds for its project, Google has shined little light on its plans.

Although Google has said the Internet service would be priced similarly to what people typically pay for far slower Internet services, it’s given no other hint at price. Likewise, it’s not signaled publicly what the service might be bundled with, if anything. It’s also not said what neighborhoods would likely be offered first crack at its service. It has said it will be available in some parts of Kansas City, Kan., in “early 2012.”

The Journal sourced its story to people “briefed on (Google’s) plans,” saying the TV package could include programming from major channels from companies such as Walt Disney Co., Time Warner Inc. and Discovery Communications Inc. The story said those possibilities appeared far from settled.

Google hired former cable TV executive Jeremy Stern for talks with production companies, the newspaper said.

Just last Friday, YouTube announced that it was developing 100 channels focused mostly on niches, such as how-to instruction, dance, pets and soccer. Google owns YouTube. That video service, like most everything Google does, runs on advertising.

While much of the selection on the expanded YouTube would come from producers with Hollywood experience, they would not include the sort of major draws that entice people to pay $100 and more a month for cable or satellite television.

If Google gets into providing sports and first-run network-caliber programming, it could prove a stiff challenge to cable operators.

A representative for Time Warner Cable, the dominant TV service in the Kansas City market, said late Thursday that he didn’t know enough about Google’s plans to comment.

Inclusion of a TV package might signal a new direction for Google as a middleman actually selling entertainment content to consumers. So far, the company has grown to a value of $180 billion-plus mostly by selling ads to people on the Internet, not by actually producing or contracting for content.

Such a move could also be a device to gain broad penetration in the Kansas City market for its gigabit Internet connections. The company has said it wants to see what applications take hold when large numbers of consumers have seemingly unlimited bandwidth.

The Journal speculated that Google might also be trying to tap into the more than $150 billion per year swept up every year from consumer fees and advertising garnered off American television.

The search company has had Google TV, a way to Integrate Web browsing on television, on the market for a while. For the most part, consumers have shown little interest in the product. A built-in selection of news, sports and entertainment channels might alter that equation.

To reach Scott Canon, call 816-234-4754 or send email to scanon@kcstar.com.

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/03...v-service.html

With an antenna you don't have to pay anything.

Even the White House of several Administrations admit they find out what is happening via TV news faster than through the official channels they have access to. To have initiated EAN on 9/11 would have crippled their ability to get information quickly.

The real concern with this test is with cable. The way the rules are written cable has to switch ALL viewers to a special channel on the system when the alert comes in. The worry is many of the cable systems will not be able to switch back to no alert mode and will have all their subs locked to this channel for hours until a human can figure out how to unlock it. No one really knows how this is going to work since this alert code has never been sent.

It is 50/50 at this point if a certain link in the chain will work. No one really knows. That is the scary part.

[bait ignored]

That has changed because last week's Blue Bloods, that was pre-empted because of the World Series, comes on tonight.

so basically the entire network freshman lineup has been dumped
c'mon man, jaded much?

Honestly. this is why I've been saying for a couple of decades that we simply don't need the system at all. The news cycle already covers these situations better, and if they aren't on the air, neither will this for the affected people.

Even if the satellites crashed to Earth, there are plenty of local TV sources of news, plus other forms of media.

If all those fail, it will come down to HAM radio.

One thing I do support, though, is phone/cell phone alerts since nearly everyone has a cell phone and is likely to have them with them. Before it will work optimally, though, we need more tower sites in major urban areas. The trend toward smaller micro sites (like towers that pretend to be flag poles, church crosses and trees) will go a long way toward easing congestion at individual sites.

9-11 is an example of an event where many people turned on the TV after they heard something was going on. At 9AM, most were likely not sitting in front of a TV unless their job allowed for or required it. Even for those that were, DVRs mean they might not be watching live TV. I heard about it in snippets that morning from the NPR radio station I wake up to because I kept hitting the snooze button. When I heard something about one of the towers collapsing, I suddenly realized I had better turn on my TV to see what was going on.

Even if an alert had taken place, I would have missed it.

Agreed. I disagreed with a lot of his assessments - but this one in particular.

He probably didn't do well in HS English with plot vs. theme.

xnappo

You're right, my bad, it's fixed. And this is not just any "Blue Bloods" episode but one that was shot a few blocks from where I live in Harlem (even saw Tom Selleck come out of his trailer when I was grocery shopping at a nearby supermarket). The scenes at the church on the corner of 116th St. and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. are the one's I'm talking about.

TV Notes
TNT Drama Pilot ‘Scent Of The Missing’ Casts Its Canine Stars
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - November 3rd, 2011



Like with women over 50, lead TV series roles for dogs are few and far between. That’s why competition among canine actors was fierce for the starring roles in TNT’s drama pilot Scent Of The Missing. After an extensive auditioning process, golden retriever Jackson landed the lead dog role of Puzzle. Executive produced by co-writers Carol Mendelsohn, Melissa R. Byer & Treena Hancock and Barry Josephson, Scent Of The Missing centers on Susannah (Tricia Helfer), a tenacious, strong-willed K-9 Search and Rescue volunteer who works with an equally determined partner — her mischievous golden retriever, Puzzle (Jackson). Saint Bernard/Australian Shepherd mix Bolt and German Shepherd San nabbed the key supporting roles of Shadow and Chaos, the canine partners of K-9 Search and Rescue team members Jake (Eric Winter) and Sedona (Summer Glau), respectively. Is it too late to pitch my master impersonator German Shepherd dog for a role? (That’s him in character on the left. I haven’t broken the news to him yet that The Playboy Club has been canceled.) Here is the official “press release” announcing the casting the four-legged stars complete with their representation information:

Jackson, a golden retriever, started his acting career as a puppy in Disney’s Treasure Buddies. He’s thrilled to be making his small screen debut as Puzzle, a rambunctious, water loving, search and rescue dog. Like Puzzle, Jackson loves to work and has his nose to the grindstone, learning search and rescue techniques and training to do his own stunts. Jackson is especially looking forward to be being partnered with Tricia Helfer.

Hot off the set of Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3, Bolt, a Saint Bernard/Australian Shepherd mix, joins the Scent of the Missing canine cast as Shadow, a rubber ball obsessed, uber energetic search and rescue dog. Being half Saint Bernard, Bolt is anxious to showcase his breed’s great affinity for saving human lives. He is excited about being partnered with Eric Winter, who plays Jake, a firefighter, and thinks they’ll make a great team.

Rounding out the canine cast is Sam, a German Shepherd, who plays Chaos, the newest member of the search and rescue team. Chaos may not be the most experienced, but his fierce drive and heroism make him an invaluable asset to the team. A Hollywood veteran, Sam appeared in Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua 1&2 as Delgado. A huge sci-fi fan, he can’t believe his luck in being partnered with Summer Glau, who plays Sedona, and is especially grateful that his love of salmon jerky was written into the script. Jackson, Bolt and Sam are all represented by Birds and Animals Unlimited.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/11/cbs-...digital-dough/

TV Notes
Best tube bets this weekend
The top draws in broadcast and cable and in sports
By Louisa Ada Seltzer, Media Life Magazine - November 4th, 2011

FRIDAY

Best bet on broadcast: NBC, "Grimm," 9 p.m. Decent premiere last week despite World Series competition, will the drama maintain in week two?

Best bet on cable: Discovery Channel's, "Fish Hooks," 8 p.m. Season premiere. Bea has to ride a scorpion for a commercial audition.

Top sporting event: ESPN, "College Football," 9 p.m. Interesting Pac 12 (it still feels weird to write that) matchup between USC and Colorado.

SATURDAY

Best bet on broadcast: Fox, "Cops," 8 p.m. The reality show returns after missing a few weeks due to baseball.

Best bet on cable: MTV, "True Life," 6 p.m. A timely look at some of those occupying Wall Street.

Top sporting event: CBS, "College Football," 8 p.m. Huge national championship implications in a game between No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama.

SUNDAY

Best bet on broadcast: ABC, "Desperate Housewives," 9 p.m. Bree finds out who dug up Gaby's stepfather.

Best bet on cable:BET, "Black Girls Rock!," 8 p.m. Performers include Jill Scott, Mary J. Blige and Erykah Badu.

Top sporting event: NBC, "Sunday Night Football," 8:15 p.m. After the Ravens ran up the score a bit in week one, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, "We don't like it, but we accept it, and we'll respond accordingly." They get that chance in the rematch tonight.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/art...kend-nov-4.asp

TV Review
'Hell on Wheels' takes a while to get chugging along
But once it does, the new AMC drama about the making of the Transcontinental Railroad, with an ensemble cast led by Colm Meaney, promises to build up steam
By Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times - November 4th, 2011

"Hell on Wheels" is the latest original series from AMC, the cable network also currently committed to shows about zombies, ad men, a meth-making former high school teacher and the yet-unsolved murder of a Washington teenager. What they all share is a certain gritted-teeth tension and an air of incipient violence, except for when violence is actually occurring. There will be blood, literally or figuratively.

The new series, which premieres Sunday, is set not long after the end of the Civil War in a tent city called Hell on Wheels at the advancing, westward edge of the Union Pacific railroad. (The Central Pacific was heading east from the West Coast; the two railroads would eventually meet near what is now Ogden, Utah, where they were famously joined into the Transcontinental Railroad with a golden spike that does not count as a spoiler.) Its name notwithstanding, Hell on Wheels is not going anywhere fast.

As things begin, we are still in the vicinity of Council Bluffs, Iowa, barely under way. Improbably hanging around the encampment, in a private railroad car parked on a siding, with a New York chef and a black butler who sings in French, is Union Pacific vice-president Thomas "Doc" Duncan (Colm Meaney). Unlike the rest of this crew a crowd of misfits, castoffs, immigrants, ex-soldiers and freed slaves Duncan was a real person of history, and a piece of work. (He had an elastic relationship with other people's money.)

As a tale of the transforming American West with a self-serving businessman at its center, "Hell on Wheels" bears some comparison to "Deadwood," but it's fundamentally a different animal, less intellectual or intimate, with all of the mud but little of the domestic detail. Closer to our familiar notions of a western, its dramatis personae includes the quiet gunslinger with a score to settle, the crooked industrialist, the preacher, the prostitute, the pretty widow, the black man fighting for respect, the Christianized Indian stretched between two worlds, the Indians in the woods determined to keep theirs. It is also, obviously, the less expensive production, though clever about it: Many scenes are set in meadows or forests; the main standing set, which (for the first five episodes, at least) is almost the only set, is made largely of canvas.

Created by brothers Joe and Tony Gayton (who co-wrote the Dwayne Johnson film "Faster" subtitled "Slow justice is no justice"), it takes its cues more from the movies than from life. Never, in the episodes I watched, did I feel as if I were actually seeing how a railroad got built, and sometimes it took a bit of squinting not to see the characters as actors in a field, reading lines. Still, for all the unlikely things the Gaytons make happen in order to get their characters into place, and the dogged refusal of a couple of those characters to become interesting at all, the show gathers steam as it goes on.

If the grim ex-Confederate played by Anson Mount seems at first so much a particular type that he might as well have been wearing a poncho and smoking a cigar he has the cigar, in fact he develops with time into something more complex and, oddly, less sympathetic. He gets enough movements of selflessness and bravery to keep him functioning as a hero, but he still carries around the prejudices of his kind. As a freed slave who becomes the Confederate's reluctant confederate, Common is hobbled at first by having to represent a racial rather a personal experience, though this, too, looks likely to change.

The dialogue runs a gamut from the realistically offhanded to didactic speechifying to the weirdly stiff, and the actors suffer or thrive to the degree they're forced to cart around big ideas or simply to get on with their lives. This means that some of the best work is done around the edges. Especially convincing are tall, sepulchral Christopher Heyerdahl as "The Swede" (the joke is he's Norwegian), who runs the town for Duncan; Phil Burke as the sweeter and less mercenary of two entrepreneurial Irish brothers; and Robin McLeavy as a prostitute with an Indian tattoo on her chin. It took me a while to recognize Ted Levine (from "Monk") behind a thicket of whiskers as the camp foreman, but it is always good to see even a little bit of Ted Levine.

HELL ON WHEELS
Premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. after a new 'The Walking Dead' on AMC

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...,1470610.story

TV Sports
Fox, UFC look for otherworldly coverage in broadcast debut
By Michael Hiestand, USA Today - November 4th, 2011

Fox Sports President Eric Shanks pinpoints the key to Fox's Nov. 12 Cain Velasquez-Junior dos Santos mixed martial arts debut: "We have to make sure it's being produced for Martians."

Not because Martians are the latest elusive viewer demographic that advertisers are trying to reach through MMA action. Shank's point is that Fox's seven-year deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, in which the broadcast network will air four events annually and its FX cable channel will air six, needs "to remember to respect the audience by remembering that we're introducing this to America."

UFC will do most of the introducing, since it maintains control of the fight coverage and will use announcers Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan, who call its pay-per-view fights. But Fox will control the pre- and post-fight shows, where it will use Curt Menefee as host and fighter Brock Lesnar who might eventually fight the Nov. 12 winner and UFC President Dana White as analysts. Or, maybe, head cheerleader?

Fox's Shanks says using White is obvious. "Dana is a big part of their (PPV) shows and why those shows are successful. There was never a question he'd be part of this it's a no-brainer."

And what would MMA action be without red-carpet interviews? Pre-fight coverage of the event in Anaheim, Calif., will be on Fox's FUEL TV cable channel. Hosted by Jay Glazer, that show will include red-carpet reports sure to include lots of purported celebs and people who just happen to appear on Fox shows.

NFL analysts need unique voices to stand out

Ex-NFL players starting out as TV analysts would always be wise to take some on-air shots to get noticed if they want to stick around. But now, says CBS studio analyst Boomer Esiason, who survived being dropped from a prominent NFL TV perch and co-hosts a New York sports talk radio show, shrillness can't always lead to a breakthrough.

And broadcast network analysts, he suggests, no longer have the luxury of staying above the fray. "It's really a beast now, with so many shows, so many things producers do to provoke controversy. And when somebody does say something, it's (publicists') jobs to get it out as fast."

Which makes sense. From ESPN to regional networks, NFL shows are proliferating talk is cheap to produce in addition to an entire channel largely devoted to NFL yak: the NFL Network. "On ESPN, there are something like 19 guys on 17 shows for crying out loud. And they throw subjects on the screen like, 'Does Tony Romo choke?' So while the guys might never say 'choke' they get associated with it anyway. It's a young producer of the 18th NFL show on ESPN or the 17th on NFL Network posing a very opinionated question as a trick to get guys engaged. (Former) players recognize if you don't have an opinion, people will see through you. It's hard for players to start out now."

Esiason arrived seemingly made for TV, going straight from 14 NFL seasons to Monday Night Football with Al Michaels in 1998. That didn't work out "I wish I knew then what I know now; I'd understand the mine fields I was stepping into but Esiason went on to radio calls of Monday night NFL games and CBS' Sunday studio show.

And everybody else turning up the volume has changed that show. "By the time it gets to Sunday, so much has been talked out that the only things that differentiates ourselves is our opinions, our personalities. We have the credibility to give legitimate criticism. How about when Matt Millen was running the Detroit Lions into the ground. Are we not supposed to talk about it because he's an ex-player? I wasn't afraid."

Esiason says he never "wanted to do anything mean-spirited to make my name" and bases his "honest analysis on fact." But in a rare case of one network TV analyst taking shots at another, ESPN's Keyshawn Johnson told The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger that Esiason said "something all the time" about him as a player and "he's still tweeting about me. It's like he's infatuated with me."

Esiason, who says he "didn't always think Johnson was a good team player" and "quit on Tampa Bay under Jon Gruden," chuckles at that: "I love it when people think I'm infatuated with them." And it shows there are still a few things to say that still stand out in NFL yak.

CBS' Wolfson used to different levels of cooperation

Tracy Wolfson's scouting report for LSU-Alabama on Saturday: "LSU will give us a body part whether a player is out. Alabama will not."

Wolfson, in her eighth season as CBS' college football sideline reporter, says teams "make up their own set of rules" about relaying news on things such as player injuries. With LSU, she'll get a heads-up from the trainer or equipment manager but with Alabama she'll talk to a sideline PR person "and I don't get much."

Not that she's complaining. TV sideline reporters face fewer restrictions than their NFL counterparts. And for what CBS bills on-air as Saturday's "Game of the Century" "millennium" was too long for an onscreen graphic Wolfson expects both teams will let her near the benches: "You have to keep moving, try to hide and be a good lip reader."

Halftime talks with coaches can be edgy. "They know even if they're down by 24 points that I'll put a mike in their face. And they know I won't throw them under the bus."

Wolfson, who started in TV as a CBS gofer, has more control at home. She has three sons including a 3-month-old whose birthdays weren't accidental: "I plan them around football."

Sunset won't affect Michigan State-UNC aircraft carrier game

The USS Carl Vinson, the aircraft carrier used for Osama bin Laden's burial at sea, will host a Michigan State-North Carolina basketball game at 7 p.m. ET on Nov. 11. And ESPN senior coordinating producer Dave Miller says sunsets shouldn't affect play on the docked ship in San Diego: "The sun sets on the side, so it won't be behind either basket."

Rain, though, would move play indoors: ESPN will also set up a hangar below deck.

ESPN, using 12 cameras rather its usual five to six, will put one on the ship's mast. But its angle, Miller says, shouldn't be unfamiliar: "It's sort of like the shot from the far corner of the (42,000-seat Syracuse) Carrier Dome."

Spice rack: For Sunday's New York Marathon, the New York City Road Runners will offer a $3 mobile app that lets runners track 10 other runners on a step-by-step basis, get local TV coverage of the race and get messages when they near sponsor Dunkin' Donuts' stores along the course. Technology can tempt as well as inspire. So far, New Orleans has the highest local TV ratings for NFL home games it's averaging 50.1% of households for Saints games. Detroit has the biggest ratings increase over last year up 25% while the Minnesota Vikings and St. Louis Rams tied for the biggest ratings drops with each down 20%.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colum...all/51065618/1

Who would have guessed 5 years ago that AMC would have 4 or 5 shows that I consider "appointment viewing".

Quote:
Originally Posted by dad1153 View Post
Critic's Notes
The DVR Dump: 14 Freshman Shows I'm Giving Up On
By Tim Goodman, The Hollywood Reporter - November 3rd, 2011

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bas...n-shows-257306
so basically the entire network freshman lineup has been dumped


c'mon man, jaded much?

I agree with him.


Most new network shows are lousy. Each year we make it a point to DVR most new series and this year we have already dumped the same shows he did. We kept Prime Suspect because we haven't seen it yet. We dumped Terra Nova after three weeks. We watch way more AMC, FX, and USA programs than we do the major nets. The big four networks are dinosaurs. Same old, same old.

Funny thing is, 'Mad Men' wasn't AMC's first trip to the original series rodeo. Back in the late 90's they produced a terrific little 30 minute comedy from Rupert Holmes called 'Remember WENN' about the goings-on at a Pittsburgh radio station on the eve of WWII. More of a dramedy, really, it had some of the most clever, witty dialog ever written for TV, IMO. A real gem.

A buddy of mine living on the east coast on 9/11 got most of his minute by minute info via the old Howard Stern radio show. Of course Stern rather famously went "serious" that morning & stayed on air taking calls from those on the scene & relayed what was happening.

Nielsen Overnights (18-49)
Fox tops CBS on a close Thursday night
Averages a 3.4 in 18-49s to CBS's 3.3 rating
By Toni Fitzgerald, Media Life Magazine - November 4th, 2011

For the first time this season, "The X Factor" went from two hours to one, but it was still enough to lift Fox to another Thursday night win.

The network just barely held off CBS last night, the second Thursday of the November sweeps, averaging a 3.4 adults 18-49 rating and 9 share in primetime, compared to CBS's 3.3/9, according to Nielsen overnights.

"X Factor" was the night's No. 3 show behind CBS's "The Big Bang Theory" (5.1) and "Rules of Engagement" (3.7), averaging a 3.6 rating at 8 p.m., likely its lowest-rated episode yet. The singing competition usually grows in its second hour.

That helped lead-out "Bones," in its season premiere, finish second in its 9 p.m. timeslot with a 3.3, holding 92 percent of "Factor's" lead-in. It was up 22 percent from last season's debut and the show's best bow in three years.

With Fox and CBS battling it out for first, ABC was a distant third at 2.4/6, NBC fourth at 1.9/5, Univision fifth at 1.3/4, CW sixth at 1.2/3 and Telemundo seventh at 0.6/2.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback, which includes shows replayed before 3 a.m. the night before. Seven-day DVR data won't be available for several weeks. Forty-two percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

CBS started the night in the lead with a 4.4 at 8 p.m. for "Bang" (5.1) and "Rules" (3.7), followed by Fox with a 3.6 for "Factor." NBC was third with a 1.9 for "Community" (1.7) and "Parks and Recreation" (2.0), Univision fourth with a 1.6 for "Una Familia con Suerte," CW fifth with a 1.5 for "The Vampire Diaries," ABC sixth with a 1.2 for "Charlie's Angels" and Telemundo seventh with a 0.5 for "Mi Corazon Insiste."

ABC moved to first at 9 p.m. with a 3.5 for "Grey's Anatomy," while Fox remained in second place with a 3.3 for "Bones." CBS was third with a 2.7 for "Person of Interest," NBC fourth with a 2.6 for "The Office" (3.1) and "Whitney" (2.1), Univision fifth with a 1.6 for "La Fuerza del Destino," CW sixth with a 0.9 for "The Secret Circle" and Telemundo seventh with a 0.6 for "Flor Salvaje."

CBS regained the lead at 10 p.m. with a 2.9 for "The Mentalist," with ABC second with a 2.6 for "Private Practice." NBC was third with a 1.2 for "Prime Suspect," Univision fourth with a 0.8 for "Protagonistas" and Telemundo fifth with a 0.7 for "La Casa de al Lado."

Among households, CBS was first for the night with an 8.0 average overnight rating and a 13 share. Fox was second at 6.3/10, ABC third at 4.9/8, NBC fourth at 2.9/5, CW fifth at 1.7/3, Univision sixth at 1.6/3 and Telemundo seventh at 0.8/1.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/art...sday-night.asp

No the writer didn't list Person of Interest so that's still on his DVR list.

THURSDAY's fast affiliate overnight prime-time ratings -and what they mean- have been posted on Analyst Marc Berman's Media INsight's Blog.

Or Tim Goodman is watching some shows live because he can't wait to see them. Those would also qualify as 'not being dumped from the DVR' because they were never DVR'ed to begin with, just watched live as they aired.