Hot Off The Press: The Latest TV News and Information - Page 2489

Then you would be mistaken. Just what was the point I'm supposedly ignoring?

Uh, no. We definitely do not have a la carte channels up here in Canada. All carriers group channels into tiers, which seem to be carefully designed such that the majority of viewers will want one channel from every tier.

TV/Nielsen Notes
Friday Night Dead Zone: Where Nerds Keeps Shows Alive
By Tim Molloy, TheWrap.com - December 9th, 2011

Friday night remains a ratings dead zone, where shows go to either die or compete, "Hunger Games" style, in a final, desperate bid for survival.

Once in a while, a show can surprise there, as NBC's "Grimm" has done this season. But survival demands that shows find favor with the lords of this land, who -- can we be honest? -- tend to be nerds. Or have some nerdish tendencies. (Your humble correspondent says this as someone who owns many, many boxes of comics and played oboe in junior high.)

In TheWrap's look at this season's biggest ratings gainers and losers, four of the 10 shows that have posted the biggest losses did so after a move to Friday -- and one, CW's "Supernatural," was already there. We compared ratings for this season through the week of Nov. 13, compared to the same period last year. (See chart, left).

No show on television has slid more than "Chuck," which is down 55 percent as it serves out its final season in the dead zone.

The slides are no surprise. Because Friday night draws so few viewers, it has become a place for shows that skew older, or for sci-fi and fantasy tinged shows whose fans would follow them to hell.

Or even Fridays.

Shows like "Supernatural," "Chuck," and Fox's "Fringe" might not be able to survive elsewhere. But they are a gift to TV executives on Friday nights, because they offer small but die-hard followings on a night when little is guaranteed.

"You're not going to give Friday the weight you might give other nights on your schedule, so it's always good if you use shows that have built-in audiences," said Preston Beckman, Fox's executive vice president of strategic program planning and research. "We're not going to go dark, so you've got to put something on. Better to put on something that has a built-in audience."

Beckman, let it be noted, did not once use the word "nerds."

Only one new show has debuted strong on Friday nights this season -- and would you believe one of its lead characters is a wolf? "Grimm" has averaged a 1.8 rating in the 18-to-49 demographic -- a low number any other weeknight, but an impressive one for a Friday.

The show's ratings were good enough to earn it its first Thursday tryout last night. It scored a low 1.6 rating that was nonetheless NBC's best in the timeslot in 11 weeks.

If it makes a move to another weeknight, "Grimm" will be the rare show that not only survives on Friday, but escapes it.

CBS tried moving its Friday night series "Blue Bloods" to Wednesday last season, but opted to keep it in place.

It proved to be a wise move: The show is one of only two that have posted gains on Fridays this season, gaining 5.6 percent in the demo. NBC's "Dateline," the only other show to gain on Friday, is up 7.1 percent.

http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/fr...ws-alive-33474

Thanks for the info. That's exactly what I fear would happen. Spread out some fairly popular content among a number of tiers so that I end having to get everything just as I now do. Who knows, maybe they'll put ESPN with CBS.

I've noticed, I studied some of the satellite pkgs and they definitely seemed to have common channels(news, sports, etc) grouped and you ended up still being forced to get several news channels in a pkg, same for a lot of the other packages. The packages looked perfect, if if you could pick 1 or two out of each one and assemble a lineup, but it didn't work that way.

That sounds very much how Star Choice was setup when I had it several years ago.

TV Notes
‘CBS Sunday Morning’ Re-Signs Osgood and Promotes Rocca
By Brian Stelter, The New York Times' 'Media Decoder' Blog - December 9th, 2011

CBS News said on Friday that it had renewed its contract with Charles Osgood, the long-time anchor of “CBS Sunday Morning,” and had promoted one of the show’s contributors, Mo Rocca.

A CBS spokesman confirmed that Mr. Osgood had signed a new contract, but declined the specify the length of it. Earlier this fall, when the correspondent Lee Cowan, 46, returned to the network from NBC, he was named a substitute anchor for Mr. Osgood, who has anchored “Sunday Morning” since 1994.

Mr. Rocca, a satirist who has contributed to the program since 2006, will become a full-time correspondent, the network said in a news release. He will also report for other CBS News broadcasts. Separately, he will remain a panelist on NPR’s “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” and the host of the Cooking Channel’s “Food(ography).”

Mr. Rocca’s most recent segment for “Sunday Morning,” on Nov. 27, looked at pet custody battles. Its title: “Bone of Contention.” He’ll be back on the broadcast on Sunday with a segment about warm-up comics for television shows like “Hot in Cleveland,” “The Martha Stewart Show” and CBS’s “The Late Show with David Letterman.” Mr. Rocca knows the topic well, having spent four seasons each on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.”

Earlier this week, the evening complement to “CBS Sunday Morning,” “60 Minutes,” named Andrew Cohen to be the program’s first legal analyst.

CBS said Mr. Cohen, who will remain the senior legal analyst for CBS Radio, would “help ’60 Minutes’ correspondents, producers and executives with law-related stories, including deciphering legal documents, providing sources from the legal community, and otherwise guiding the program’s coverage of legal events and issues.”

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.co...ref=television

I'm pretty sure the cableco's have algorithms already worked out so that in the event of, say, an executive order mandating a la carte (not possible, but work with me here), individual channel carriage fees would be adjusted based on popularity and advertiser desirability such that their overall income would remain intact. That means there would be individual winners and losers among customers, but the cableco's would be certain not to lose a penny of profit. People may feel better about it though and maybe defections would drop off, which would also benefit the providers.

So instead of paying $60 for 80 channels, you wouldn't mind paying $50 for 40 channels, knowing that the 40 channels you didn't watch were no longer getting any of your money, correct?

I would like a debit system: I pay $60 for 80 channels now (hypothetically), but get to deduct x.xx amount for each channel I don't want. [I can dream, can't I?]

TV Sports
Albert Pujols, C.J. Wilson deals enabled by TV revenue
The Angels' new deal with Fox Sports, said to be worth at least $3 billion and expected to cover 20 years, serves the team and the network. Deal has yet to be officially announced.
By Bill Shaikin and Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times - December 8th, 2011

Albert Pujols, brought to you by Frank McCourt and Kobe Bryant.

With a combination of shrewd business sense and fantastic timing, Angels owner Arte Moreno parlayed an escape clause in his television contract into the billions that enabled his team to sign Pujols and C.J. Wilson on Thursday, for almost twice what Moreno paid to buy the team.

The Angels have agreed to a new deal with Fox Sports worth at least $3 billion and expected to cover 20 years, two parties familiar with the deal said Thursday. The parties declined to be identified because the deal has yet to be officially announced.

Spokesmen for Fox and the Angels declined to comment.

Moreno last year opted out of a 10-year, $500-million contract with Fox, according to sports media consultant and former NBA TV President Ed Desser.

Desser, testifying Thursday in the Dodgers' bankruptcy case, said the Angels and Fox agreed at the time to a one-year extension while the parties negotiated a new deal.

In February, the Lakers bolted Fox for Time Warner Cable. In June, Commissioner Bud Selig rejected a proposed 20-year, $3-billion deal between the Dodgers and Fox, a decision that McCourt said pushed the team into bankruptcy. McCourt has since agreed to sell the team.

The possibility of the Dodgers' following the Lakers to Time Warner Cable left Fox facing the dilemma of satisfying the Angels or trying to run Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket with no baseball team that is, no major summer programming on either channel. The Lakers are set to leave Fox after this season.

Fox owns the Dodgers' rights through 2013. However, in recent weeks, as McCourt pushed for an accelerated auction of the Dodgers' television rights, Fox increased the value of a new Angels deal beyond what the company had offered the Dodgers.

That clinched the deal, giving the Angels a checkmate to the rising economic clout of the Texas Rangers, their American League West rival and the defending AL champion.

The Rangers agreed with Fox last year on a new contract worth an average of $80 million per year. The Angels' deal is expected to top that in average annual rights fees the rejected Dodgers' deal had an average annual rights fee of about $85 million and include an ownership stake in FSW.

Such a stake can be held as an investment, sold for more money or leveraged as a hypothetical example to finance a new or renovated stadium. Fox would have provided the Dodgers with a stake in Prime Ticket as part of their deal. However, the Rangers' new contract does not include an ownership share of their Fox Sports affiliate.

Moreno spent $183.5 million to buy the Angels in 2003. On Thursday, he spent $331.5 million on Pujols and Wilson.

In addition to funding the Angels' free-agent shopping spree, Fox is likely to benefit from it as well. To sustain interest in Southern California's crowded sports market, the Angels need star power and in Pujols they have a superstar.

"It's sort of like the Mets versus the Yankees," says Adam Swanson, a media analyst with SNL Kagan. "You have fans on both sides of the fence. [Pujols] is going to draw more viewers and draw higher ticket sales. So the opportunities are there."

The Angels had the second-lowest local television ratings among major league teams last year, according to Sports Business Journal. In addition to the potential for high ratings with Pujols and the Angels, the new TV deal also gives Fox guaranteed programming and prevents Time Warner Cable from running the table with Southern California's top franchises.

"It sort of secures Fox for a little bit," Swanson said. "They don't have to worry about the team going somewhere else. And they have access, then, to a whole lot of content."

"Time Warner [Cable] is definitely putting their footprint on the L.A. market."

Fret not, Dodgers fans. The bidding between Fox and Time Warner Cable for the Dodgers' television rights is about to start, and the over-under is $4 billion.

Times staff writer Joe Flint contributed to this report. Shaikin reported from Wilmington, Del. Baxter reported from Los Angeles.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...,4052777.story

Cable used to be a regulated entity, but was freed when "competition" emerged. But even regulated utilities get to pass along increased costs. My G&E company increases rates when its fuel prices increase. The answer now is to "cut the cord if you don't like the costs." Ala carte would modify that somewhat, but not to the extent most people imagine.

Yep i can deal with that.

I would rather pay more per channel & get ALL the channels i want then pay less per channel & be MISSING channels i want.

Thanks to Syfy forgetting about science-fiction it's easier for geek shows to survive on networks on Friday night. Sci-Fi Channel used to own Sci-Fridays until Syfy canned everything and changed the schedules so that Friday night is now wrestling.

No genre ratings competition there.

TV Notes
AMC Acquires Off-Network Rights To CSI: Miami', Boosting Series' Renewal Chances
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - December 9th, 2011

This is an odd pairing Don Draper and Horatio Caine will now be on the same network! In its first off-network acquisition, AMC, home of Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, has picked up off-network rights to CBS' veteran procedural CSI: Miami. The deal with CBS Television Distribution, said to be worth tens of millions of dollars, covers the existing 10 seasons of CSI: Miami as well as Seasons 11 and 12 if produced. (Today's deal certainly increases the chances of the show continuing on CBS beyond the current 10th season). With the exception of Seasons 11 and 12, which AMC would get exclusively, the pact is non-exclusive. A&E, which had been the exclusive cable home of CSI: Miami, will continue to air the show from 6 AM-4 PM. AMC is getting fringe and primetime rights with a 4 PM-6 AM window. The drama starring David Caruso will make its debut on AMC on January 2 at 5 PM and will air in the hour Monday through Friday.

CSI: Miami is part of the hugely popular CSI franchise and one of the most-watched series in the world. As a procedural, it also is highly repeatable, which is key for cable networks looking for ways to enhance their lineups. As an hourlong, CSI: Maimi will also give AMC flexibility scheduling-wise. So far, the network had been able to complement its original series only with movies, which are harder to schedule because of their varying length. Still, CSI: Miami, a meat-and-potatoes procedural that has never been nominated for major awards, seems like an odd companion to AMC's lineup of acclaimed originals. Additionally, it is interesting that in its evolution, AMC is taking a direction opposite to the conventional one. Most cable networks start with off-network product and gradually expand into originals; AMC established itself as a strong original series player before venturing into off-network acquisitions.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/12/amc-...-on-csi-miami/

Of course, Showtime (if I remember correctly - and I have one of the posters) copyrighted the name "Sci-Friday" when it had the Stargate SG1, Jeremiah, Odyssey 5 lineup - until they decided they were tired of science fiction and abandoned them all also.

That they did. I always thought that decision puzzling. At the time, they were trying to catch HBO with their own early efforts at original programming. What better way to lock up a particularly loyal demographic that might gratefully become Showtime subscribers for life? The Dexters and Tudors and all the rest could then have followed and continued to expand the brand.

Me too, but for me it's my money going to the channels I watch. Plus, like with union dues, I want to support only the channels I watch and not the others, just like political candidates.

You have that right. I was THIS close to subscribing to premium channels when they dropped them. I had been watching a friend's BetaMax copies of the shows when he was in town and was tired of waiting indefinitely to catch up on episodes.

TV Notes
Saturday's Highlights: '2011 Heisman Trophy Presentation' on EPSN and ESPN2
By Los Angeles Times' 'Show Tracker' Blog - December 9th, 2011

[ALL TIMES LISTED ARE PACIFIC TIME]

BEST OF THE BEST: College football's top individual award is presented to the most outstanding player of the year at the 2011 Heisman Trophy Presentation (5 p.m. ESPN; 9:30 p.m. ESPN2).

SERIES

Saturday Night Live: Katy Perry hosts with musical guest Robyn (11:29 p.m. NBC).

SPECIALS

Republican debate: GOP presidential candidates discuss issues in Des Moines; moderated by Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos (6 p.m. ABC).

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The reindeer with the incandescent nose guides Santa's sleigh through a bad storm on Christmas Eve in this holiday classic based on the song by Johnny Marks (8 p.m. CBS).

The American Giving Awards: Bob Costas hosts this new special, which honors the United States' most deserving charities. Bob Costas hosts (8 p.m. NBC).

Extreme Christmas Trees: This new special focuses on over-the-top Christmas trees (9 p.m. TLC).

MOVIES

Annie Claus Is Coming to Town: When Santa's daughter (Maria Thayer) takes a vacation in Los Angeles her first time away from the North Pole she finds friends, adventure and a chance at love that could lead to an elf's takeover of Santa's operation. Vivica A. Fox and Vicki Lawrence also star in this new romantic comedy (8 and 10 p.m. Hallmark).

Snowmageddon: Michael Hogan, David Cubitt and Magda Apanowicz star in this new tale of a snow globe that makes bad things happen when it is shaken (9 p.m. Syfy).

Appropriate Adult: A volunteer (Emily Watson) listens to the confessions of serial killer (Dominic West) in this new drama (10 p.m. Sundance).

SPORTS

College basketball: Duke vs. Washington (9 a.m. CBS); Cincinnati at Xavier (9:30 a.m. ESPN2); Ohio State at Kansas (12:15 p.m. ESPN); Kentucky at Indiana (2:15 p.m. ESPN); Pennsylvania vs. UCLA (4 p.m. FSN); New Mexico at USC (4 p.m. FSN2).

College football: Montana State at Sam Houston State (9 a.m. ESPN); Army vs. Navy (11:30 a.m. CBS).

Hockey: The Ducks visit the Nashville Predators (5 p.m. KDOC); the Dallas Stars visit the Kings (7:30 p.m. FSN).

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/show...and-espn2.html

TV Reviews
'Bag of Bones' dull; 'Appropriate Adult' gripping
By Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - December 9th, 2011

'Tis the season ... for a Stephen King miniseries? A&E believes so and will debut the four-hour "Bag of Bones" at 9 p.m. Sunday and Monday.

Once upon a time this miniseries would have aired on ABC, home to King-based projects for years. But as broadcast networks put their marketing dollars toward weekly series, miniseries like this one have to find new homes on cable.

Directed by Mick Garris, who previously helmed TV productions based on Mr. King's "The Stand" and "The Shining" remake, "Bag of Bones" rarely scares but frequently induces unintentional giggles.

Pierce Brosnan ("Goldeneye") stars as Mike Noonan, a successful novelist who grieves the death of his wife (Annabeth Gish, "The X-Files"). She's hit by a bus during one of his book signings. Noonan retreats to the family's lake house in rural Maine where he spends a lot of time being alone and sad. Then he's alone and terrified as he suffers nightmares and waking ghostly encounters.

You can imagine how an author's interior life might make a gripping read in book form but in a miniseries, it's too much of Mr. Brosnan reacting solo in long, slogging sections of the production.

Eventually Noonan acquires an adversary in town impresario Max Devore (William Schallert), which might have given "Bag of Bones" some life if the character wasn't such a stock villain.

If Sunday's episode is dull, Monday's conclusion is laughably bad as Mr. Brosnan's character suffers multiple indignities:

Attacked by a raccoon.

Vomits while feeling up a tree.

An old woman pushes him into a lake and throws rocks at him.

And then there's the finale that brings to mind the singing bush from "Three Amigos," which is never a good thing in a purported drama. Suffice it to say, this climax is worse than the spider at the end of "It."

Superb 'Adult'

"Bag of Bones" may be a bust but Sundance Channel's "Appropriate Adult" (10 p.m. Saturday) succeeds as a mostly taught psychological thriller. The three-hour film, a British import based on a true story, stars Dominic West (aka McNulty on "The Wire") as serial killer Fred West, who committed gruesome crimes with his wife, Rosemary, between 1967 and 1978.

Set in 1994 following West's arrest, the movie's title refers to a person appointed by the court to sit in during questioning to safeguard the interests of the accused. Emily Watson ("War Horse") plays Janet Leach, a mother of five and a first-time "appropriate adult" who's had training but is still unprepared for the mind games West plays.

In some respects "Appropriate Adult" brings to mind the Hannibal Lecter-Clarice Starling relationship from "Silence of the Lambs," although there's no edge-of-your-seat ticking clock element in this story. But it's still a gripping tale of police investigation and a criminal's mischief-making.

In describing one of his crimes, West calmly says he closed his daughter's eyes after killing her but before dismembering her body.

"You're not going to take a saw to your own daughter when she's sitting there looking at you, are you?" he says with chilling matter-of-factness. This is just a few minutes before he claims he made up the whole scenario and claims his daughter is working for drug lords in Bahrain.

Ms. Watson and Mr. West are well-matched and whenever they're on screen together, "Appropriate Adult" mesmerizes. But the film is overly long and runs out of steam about a half-hour before it ends after West and Leach are separated. It's a common problem with dramatic re-creations of true-life stories that don't allow the writer to concoct a way to keep the dramatic momentum alive throughout. A necessary allegiance to truth gets in the way of taut storytelling.

Check with your cable or satellite company for the Sundance channel position in your area.

'Millionaire' rates

WPXI's decision to air "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" with news anchors David Johnson and Peggy Finnegan playing for charity may have frustrated fans of NBC's "Community," which was pre-empted last week and aired on Saturday, but it turned out to be a smart programming move.

On Dec. 2 at 8 p.m., "Millionaire" beat all the competition in the time slot, garnering a 10.4 rating and 16 share of the viewing audience in households, ahead of CBS's "The Big Bang Theory" on KDKA-TV (9.9/15) and ABC's "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" on WTAE (5.0/8). "Millionaire" also had double the rating of all the NBC shows that followed it on WPXI.

Even in demos, "Millionaire" did well, placing second (3.7/8) to "The Big Bang Theory" (4.6/11) in the adults 25-54 demographic.

'Dance Moms' returns

Lifetime's "Dance Moms," filmed at Abby Lee Miller's Penn Hills dance studio, will be back for a second season at 9 p.m. Jan. 10.

The network touted the show as its youngest-skewing program with a median age of 37.

Channel surfing

Bob Costas hosts "The American Giving Awards" (8 p.m. Saturday, WPXI) with musical acts Leanne Rimes, Rodney Atkins and Richland's own Jackie Evancho. ... Fox's "Bones" spinoff, "The Finder," debuts Jan. 12 and last season's "Bones" episode that set up "The Finder" will re-air at 9 p.m. Thursday. ... Showtime has renewed the Lisa Kudrow-starring summer comedy "Web Therapy" for a second season to air next year. ... ABC Family has ordered a third season of "Pretty Little Liars" to air next summer. ... Can't wait to see this one: Next June Syfy will debut the Saturday night movie "Jersey Shore Shark Attack," starring "Jersey Shore" regular Vinny Guadagnino. The movie also will have a character called "The Complication," not to be confused with "Jersey Shore's" "The Situation."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11343/1195580-67.stm

Business Notes
Performers' union negotiates new TV contract
By Richard Verrier, Los Angeles Times' 'Company Town' Blog - December 9th, 2011

Actors and other performers who appear on such shows as "Saturday Night Live," "Days of Our Lives" and "Dancing with the Stars" would get modest pay raises under a new contract secured by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

AFTRA said Friday night it had negotiated a television contract that provides a 6% increase in wages over three years and a 1% increase in employer contributions to the union's health and retirement funds. The contract covers actors, talk show hosts, singers, dancers and others who work on soap operas, sports programs, talk shows, non prime-time dramas and variety shows.

The agreement with the major broadcast networks and producers replaces a contract that expired last month and had been extended for one year. If ratified by AFTRA members, the new contract would run through Nov. 15, 2014.

The so-called network code is the union's largest national collective bargaining agreement and accounts for more than $250 million a year in member earnings. AFTRA represents more than 70,000 performers, recording artists and broadcast journalists.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ente...contract-.html

Jim Mora Jr leaving NFL Network & FOX.

He is the new head football coach at UCLA.

Just of note - that article title (on the site) is quite misleading. Makes it sound like Verizon is dropping all of their customers and service, while they are just not going to be building out anymore. They "could" sell it off in the future, but that is pure speculation.

I think Vegas would set the odds well in favor of them eventually selling off the existing operations at some point. You don't halt expansion to your business if you intend to continue it. It's like taking a TV show off the schedule - the chances of renewal are slim to none at that point and you'll be lucky if the unshot scripts go into production.

Even if there's still time, I wouldn't plan on seeing any major channel, feature or equipment investment. If they aren't going to draw in any new customers, there's no reason to do the things that make people want to switch to their service. The goal now will likely be to collect as much monthly subscriber money as they can without laying out any more money than they have to for as long as those people are willing to stick with the service.

In other words, this is likely to become another Voom.

On what basis do you believe this? TV is not important enough to regulate, utility-wise. Yes, there is limited basic regulation today but I don't see the FCC going farther in on TV because there is effective competition for it.

On the internet side, well that's a *big* maybe. The only way I can see that happening is if the cableCos are stupid enough to impose restrictive caps, usage-based billing, or jack up HSI rates enough to make the FCC take a look again. And that *might* happen only because wired HSI is a monopoly/duopoly market in most areas (TV is not except for rural areas that can't get cable, but the FCC has no interest in regulating satellite TV).

In a perfect world, this is true.

However, in the real world, we have lobbyists. Lobbyists with deep pockets that throw money at their government representatives (and make no mistake, they are theirs, not ours) like Santa throwing candy in the holiday parade.

So, the first part of your argument is correct, but only because big media will pay enough to keep the government from coming in and messing with the system.

With the internet, you have a lot of companies that would benefit from regulation that affects the status quo with the big ISPs. They have enough deep pockets that they can bend the ears of the fat cats to make the case that the internet is too important to be controlled by a few big companies.

In a way, their right. After all, unlike with TV, the internet is essential to those who don't have the resources that others do. For example, a community without a library can obtain those resources online. Someone wanting to further their degree without having to pack off to school somewhere can attend classes online. The ability to sell products, work remotely and videoconference with people around the world is essential to growth and innovation. When paired with a mobile device, the internet can be more essential than TV in providing emergency information. It can even take the place of traditional TV for some people.

The key is, that big, giant ship known as the content companies needs to start turning that beast around to embrace it, rather than fighting it. Eventually they will, but they always take things as slowly as possible until things like piracy and lack of profits forces them to try something new.

Then they go completely overboard and bail on what previously worked and leave their "old" customers hanging.

TV Notes
Duggar miscarriage: '19 Kids' star miscarries, plans funeral
By Patrick Kevin Day, Los Angeles Times - December 9th, 2011

Sad news for Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, stars of the TLC reality show "19 Kids and Counting." Michelle has had a miscarriage. The child would have been their 20th.

"We rest in knowing that even though our child has departed this life that we will one day see each other again in heaven," the Duggars wrote on the family website.

According to Jim Bob, the news of the loss of the baby came during a routine doctor's appointment. "Michelle is resting comfortably at home with the support of the entire family," the Duggar patriarch said in a statement.

The Duggars say they plan to have a funeral service and to give the child a name once they learn what its sex would have been, according to a report in People.

"I feel like my heart broke telling my children," Michelle told the magazine. "They have all been so excited about this baby and looking forward to April coming around and having a new little one in our arms."

The couple had announced they were expecting their 20th child on the "Today" show in November. This was the Duggars' second miscarriage. The first came during Michelle's second pregnancy.

The couple's 19th child was born three months premature in December 2009. The baby spent nearly four months in the hospital before going home in April 2010, only to be readmitted two days later. The child, Josie Brooklyn Duggar, is now doing fine.

In an interview with Radar Online in May, Michelle said, "We would love more!... I'm 43 almost 44 this September, I know that my mommy years are probably numbered and I don't know how many more children God will see fit to give me."

The couple said at that time they were considering adopting.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/goss...scarriage.html

TV Notes
Lifetime Cancels Drama Against The Wall'
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - December 9th, 2011

Neither of Lifetime's freshman series will make it to a second season. Following the September cancellation of The Protector, Lifetime recently quietly opted not to renew Against the Wall. The cop/family drama, which drew largely positive reviews, premiered with soft 1.8 million viewers, on par with The Protectors 1.9 million. Neither series showed growth throughout their freshman run, leading to Lifetime's decision not to go forward with either of them.

In light of that, the network recently ordered 10 more episodes of veteran Army Wives to use as a launching pad for new shows, along with Drop Dead Diva. Lifetime has on tap The Client List, based on the successful movie, with Jennifer Love Hewitt reprising her role, as well as pilots Modern Love starring Eric Stoltz, American Housewife starring Melanie Griffith and movie/backdoor pilot Sworn To Secrecy starring Neve Campbell.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/12/life...inst-the-wall/

* * * *

TV Notes
Harpo's Nate Berkus Show' To End Its Run

Syndicated daytime talker The Nate Berkus Show will end its run at the end of this season, its second. The show, hosted by Oprah Winfrey protege Nate Berkus, is produced by Winfrey's Harpo Studios and Sony Pictures TV. After careful consideration, we have decided that The Nate Berkus Show will not return for a third season in the fall, the two companies said in a joint statement. We are grateful for the hard work and heart that Nate, (exec producer) Corin Nelson and their entire team have poured into the show, and we're very proud of what they've delivered.

The end of Nate Berkus, first reported by Broadcasting & Cable, comes two years into a three-year deal with the show's core NBC station group. The group has already committed to two new talk shows for fall hosted by Jeff Probst and Steve Harvey. Nate Berkus never took off in the ratings, averaging 1.4 million viewers this season. I'm incredibly proud of my hard working and talented staff, and proud of the show we were able to produce every day, Berkus said in a statement.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/12/harp...o-end-its-run/