Hot Off The Press: The Latest TV News and Information - Page 2638

Nielsen Notes
Cable Loses 2.9M Subscribers As 1.5M U.S. Households Cut Cord In 2011
By The Deadline.com Team - May 5, 2012

For all the talk about cord-cutting in the digital era, movement in that direction is relatively slow, as many viewers switch from cable to satellite or telepone providers rather than drop multichannel service altogether. Nielsen reports that 98% of viewing remained on traditional TV in Q4 2011. Cable lost more than 2.9 million subscribers as viewers switched to telephone or satellite providers. U.S. homes subscribing to cable, satellite or telephone providers for their TV service declined 1.5% or about 1.5 million last year, according to figures Nielsen released this week. Subscribers adding telco (about 1.9 million) or satellite service (roughly 280K) weren't enough to make up the difference.

Additionally, households with broadband and only free, over-the-air broadcast TV increased by 631K over the last year, climbing 14% to 5.1 million. Broadcast-only homes dropped 1%, to about 11 million households versus 11.15 million a year earlier, according to Nielsen's Cross-Platform Report for the fourth quarter of 2011. Americans still watch a lot of TV. The average viewer watched 46 minutes less TV in the fourth quarter, an overall drop of 0.5%. Most of that shift is attributed to DVR use, which was up 12,3%, Nielsen says, but viewing of internet video, which is up 4.2%, is beginning to have an impact. Video game consoles have become a significant factor. More than 45% of US homes have consoles that can also be used to watch movies or internet video. Average time users spend on game consoles was up 30% in Q4 over the same period in 2010.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/niel...-cord-in-2011/

TV Review
My 'Sherlock 2' Review: Complimentary, My Dear Watson
By David Bianculli, TVWorthWatching.com

Season 2 of the imported Sherlock series begins Sunday on the PBS Masterpiece Mystery series (check local listings for time and station) - and once again, this modern-day updating of literature's most classic sleuth is as clever as its protagonist

Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, who first worked together (just as inventively) on Doctor Who, return with another trio of tales, just as they did when introducing their sly reboot of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson and his intriguing mystery stories.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Sherlock as an impatient, antisocial super-geek, much more at home with technology than people. He prefers texting to talking, when he can get away with it, and is just as comfortable surveying a crime scene via a portable laptop as visiting in person. And his Watson, played by Martin Freeman from the original British version of The Office, is younger, more fit, and more feisty than the one in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories, and in most movie and TV versions.

And this Watson, instead of publishing stories about his exploits with Holmes, writes a blog. How 21st century - especially for characters who first appeared in the 19th, in Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet novel in 1887.

But my, how superbly Holmes and Watson, and these stories, translate to our times.

Holmes sees himself as a bit of a human computer now - a highly functioning brain whose memory banks need not be cluttered with useless information or bothered with social niceties. And the adaptations, rather than avoiding modern technologies and complications, embraces them fully.

The Season 2 premiere, A Scandal in Belgravia, is based on Conan Doyle's A Scandal in Bohemia, the first of more than 50 short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes to be published by Strand magazine after the success of the author's first two Holmes novels. Both the original story and the new TV adaptation, shown Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings), feature Holmes investigating a blackmailing beauty named Irene Adler - but most other similarities end there.

In the short story Bohemia, Irene Adler is an American opera singer, in possession of a photograph that documents her illicit liaison with an heir to the Bohemian throne. In the new TV version, Irene Adler, played by Lara Paulver, is a dominatrix whose website's slogan is Know when you are beaten. She, too, has evidence of a politically explosive affair - and when Sherlock and Watson visit her to gather information, she greets them in the nude.

Why? Because it's an unsettling power move, of course - one that makes Sharon Stone's leg-crossing in Basic Instinct looks like an Amish slow dance from Witness. But also - and here's what makes it more great than gratuitous - by stripping down to her bare skin, this Irene is stripping Sherlock, too, of his ability to deduce clues from what a person is wearing.

In the Sherlock's eye view of this mystery woman, instead of producing a superimposed read-out of factual information, the hyper-observant detective gets only a baffling series of question marks. So, naturally, he falls instantly in love - so much as Sherlock Holmes can.

After which, eventually, she steals and replaces his cell phone, but not before swapping out his ring tone for her number with her sexily recorded moan - so that whenever she calls or texts, his phone responds instantly, even if he doesn't. These are the playful moments, the attention to detail, that make Sherlock so entertaining. Well, that's one element. Add to that the performances by Cumberbatch and Freeman - both of whom, coincidentally, are starring in the new Hobbit movies - and script adaptations that, no matter how well you know and love the original stories, will have you guessing. And smiling.

Thursday on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, I interview Steven Moffat about the new season of Sherlock - and, as well, about Doctor Who. He credits Sherlock Holmes, in a way, as being the inventor of television, a fantastic claim I've never heard before, but accept unreservedly. After 5 p.m. ET Thursday, visit the Fresh Air website HERE for the full interview.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/coug...f-abc-cancels/

Nielsen Overnights
'Fringe,' 'Grimm' Down, 'Nikita' Holds Steady
By Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter - May 5, 2012

ABC eked ahead of CBS in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demo on Friday night, earning an evening average of 1.5, versus CBS' 1.4. But CBS was the clear winner with total viewers, averaging an audience of 8.4 million against ABC's 5.2 million.

The final Fringe before next week's season finale slipped to a .9 rating in the 18-49 demo, down from last week's 1.0, and an audience of 2.9 million viewers. Lead-in The Finder also slipped a tenth, down to a .9. It had a total viewership of 4 million.

NBC saw similar drops of one-tenth across its lineup: Who Do You Think You Are ? scored a .9, down from 1.0 last week, and 4.8 million viewers. Dark, fairytale procedural Grimm earned a 1.3 in 18-49, down from 1.4, and a total audience of 4.8 million.

Only ABC saw audience gains in adults 18-49, both with their enterpreneurial reality show Shark Tank -- which scored a 1.7 in adults 18-49, up from last week's 1.4 -- and Primetime: What Would You Do?, which scored a 1.4, up from last week's 1.1.

CBS saw losses across the board in the 18-49 demo, with Undercover Boss dipping from a 1.6 to a 1.4, and a total audience of 6.6 million viewers, and CSI: NY dropping two-tenths to a 1.5, with 8.6 million viewers. But those older-trending audiences won the night for the network in overall viewers.

Perpetual bubble series Nikita on The CW, meanwhile, was dead-even with last week, earning a .4 in adults 18-49. Supernatural held steady at .7, too.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...mm-down-320595

Obituary
Legendary TV game shows producer Bob Stewart dies at 91
By PanArmenian.net Staff - May 5, 2012



Bob Stewart, the creator and producer of such legendary TV game shows as The Price Is Right, To Tell the Truth and Password, died Friday, May 4 of natural causes at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 91, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Stewart created the formats for these long-lasting game shows as a producer with Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions.

In 1964, Stewart started his own production entity and during the next 28 years created and produced 15 network series, highlighted by the Pyramid franchise. Hosted by Dick Clark, The $10,000 Pyramid and its various bigger-money incarnations collected nine Emmys for best game show.

A native of Brooklyn who entered the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2009, Stewart landed his first show business job after World War II as a writer for WNEW-AM New York. He entered television in the early 1950s, writing, producing and directing for several New York broadcasters.

Stewart's big career break came during a 1956 meeting with Goodson, during which he pitched the concepts for Price Is Right and To Tell the Truth. He created Password five years later. Price Is Right premiered on NBC in November 1956 with Bill Cullen as host and lasted seven years before a retooled version, still running and now hosted by Drew Carey, debuted on CBS in 1972. Bob Barker hosted the show from 1972 to 2007.

CBS' To Tell the Truth, emceed by Bud Collyer, debuted in December 1956. The show featured a panel of four celebrities attempting to correctly identify a contestant with an unusual occupation or experience. Password was hosted for nearly two decades by Allen Ludden, the late husband of frequent panelist Betty White.

Password was the first game show to pair celebrities and civilians as teammates. It also was the first to test the intelligence of a celebrity, Stewart said during a 1998 interview with the Archive of American Television.

Stewart also described a particularly funny moment when famous cheapskate comedian Jack Benny was on the show.

The card [with the word the contestant has to guess off a clue from Benny to win the game] comes up on the screen: miser,' Stewart recalled with a smile. When he got this, Jack didn't say a word. He just looked at the camera with that look of his. The audience was falling apart. Finally, he says [as a clue] to his contestant partner: Me.' The contestant says, Comedian?' And the game went on.

Services will be private with a memorial to be announced.

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/106140/

TV Notes
'Best Friends Forever' Returning To NBC On June 1
By HuffingtonPost.com Staff - May 5, 2012

"Best Friends Forever" is returning to NBC. But don't get rid of those sad khakis just yet, it's for one night only.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the comedy created by and starring Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair will return to the Peacock's schedule on Fri., June 1, starting at 8 p.m. ET.

The show debuted in April to critical acclaim and about 4 million viewers, decent numbers for NBC. However, the show slipped in ratings in subsequent airings. Its last episode in its original Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. timeslot has 2.7 million viewers. The show was yanked from the schedule and replaced with additional episodes of its lead-in, "Betty White's Off Their Rockers."

Fans have rallied behind the show on social media using the term #SaveBFF on Twitter and circling a petition to save the show from cancellation. Co-creators Parham (@lennonparham) and St. Clair (@jessica_stclair) are also involved with the effort to save the series.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...07.html?ref=tv

Voluntary (for Now) Effort Heads Beyond Texas
by Karl Bode yesterday

With their rather disastrous 2009 attempt to forcefully impose low caps and high per-byte overages well in the rear view mirror, Time Warner Cable recently revamped their metered ambitions by launching a new cap & overage model in limited markets in portions of Texas. Unlike their original effort, this option to incur overages is voluntary, though like their original effort there's fairly little real value to consumers underneath the coat of PR paint. While some customers might want a truly usage-based tier where light users like grandma pay very little, once again that's not what's on offer here.

As it stands now, users on Standard, Basic and Lite tiers in those markets can switch to the cap and overage model (known as Internet Essentials) and back again at will. Once they do, they'll face a 5 GB cap, with $1 per gigabyte overages not to exceed (for now) a maximum of $25/month. According to Time Warner Cable, switching to these plans may wind up saving users up to $5 per month, though we've not seen users confirm this, and you'll have to bundle several services to net this supposed savings.

Speaking on their recent earnings call, Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt stated the CEO would soon be expanding the voluntary option to additional markets, but unlike their first plan -- they'll continue to offer users an unlimited consumption tier: ...we do think over time, there will be consumption element to the tiers. What we've done in South Texas...a few months ago, we announced people there who want to save money could buy a tier that had a consumption element to it. But we retained our unlimited tier with no cap. I actually don't like the term cap. And I think we should always have that. So this was not in any way coercive, people who wanted to save money, could. People who wanted to keep what they had, have kept it, and they still have unlimited. So our plan is to roll that out further across our footprint as the year goes on.

While Time Warner Cable may keep their unlimited option, they'll obviously make it less and less attractive as an option by making it prohibitively expensive. As we've seen in Canada, those monthly cap ceilings also have a way of magically rising as time goes on. It's fairly clear Time Warner Cable hopes to slowly shift everyone to the cap and overage pricing model, though it will be up to consumers if they want to play a role in the broadband version of the boiling frog metaphor.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/T...Pricing-119336

TV Notes
Sen. Marco Rubio, Alex Trebek on Fox News Sunday'
By Hal Boedeker, Orlando Sentinel's 'TV Guy' Blog - May 5, 2012

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek will be interviewed separately this weekend on Fox News Sunday. The program airs at 9 a.m. Sunday on WOFL-Channel 35. The panel will be Bill Kristol, Juan Williams, Liz Cheney and A.B. Stoddard of The Hill.

Also on the Sunday guest list:

Vice President Joe Biden talks to NBC's Meet the Press. The program starts at 9 a.m. on WESH-Channel 2. The panel will be Tom Brokaw, Chuck Todd, economist Diane Swonk and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Obama senior adviser David Axelrod talk to ABC's This Week. The program starts at 11 a.m. on WFTV-Channel 9. The panel will be George Will, PBS host Tavis Smiley, Fox News host Greta Van Susteren, Bay Buchanan and former Obama economic adviser Austan Goolsbee.

Former Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann are guests on CBS' Face the Nation. The program starts at 10:30 a.m. on WKMG-Channel 6. Another guest is Howard Dean. A panel on politics features Peggy Noonan of The Wall Street Journal, David Corn of Mother Jones, Michael Gerson of The Washington Post, John Dickerson of CBS and Zbigniew Brzezinski.

Gingrich is also a guest on CNN's State of the Union. The program starts at 9 a.m. and noon. Former Gov. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, and former Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., discuss politics. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., discuss Afghanistan.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/ent...ws-sunday.html

TV Notes
The Summer Season
This year's crop of new and returning shows include a series with Broadway star Sutton Foster, a TV news drama by Aaron Sorkin on HBO and a return to Southfork Ranch
By Wall Street Journal Staff

BUNHEADS (ABC Family, June 11)

Tony-winner Sutton Foster, who recently left Broadway's "Anything Goes," plays a Las Vegas showgirl who settles down with a job at a small-town dance school. The cable channel is hoping an audience of both mothers and daughters will line up for the show, executive produced by "Gilmore Girls" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino.

DALLAS (TNT, June 13)

Producers say they're going for dramatic intensity, not camp, in the sequel to the '80s smash. Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy are still playing brothers J.R. and Bobby Ewing, but now their sons are butting heads over oil. Unlike the original L.A.-based production, this version was shot in Texas.

THE NEWSROOM (HBO, June 24)

After films such as "The Social Network" and "Moneyball," writer Aaron Sorkin pivots back to televisionand yet another frenetic, behind-the-scenes milieuwith this drama about a cable news operation and seesawing journalistic standards. Jeff Daniels, in his first leading role on television, stars as a firebrand news anchor.

EPISODES (Showtime, July 11)

In this satire of the entertainment business, a pair of British comedy writers sees their marriage falter and their clever material pulverized by the Hollywood sitcom machine. Their fictional show stars former "Friends" doofus Matt LeBlanc, who plays a caricature of himself. In real life last year, Mr. LeBlanc won a Golden Globe for his season-one performance.

THE CLOSER (TNT, July 9)

Kyra Sedgwick enters her seventh and final season as witty detective and master interrogator Brenda Leigh Johnson. The show gave TNT its biggest scripted hit and helped energize the summer programming of cable TV. In a spin-off premiering after the finale, a police captain played by Mary McDonnell stays on the case in "Major Crimes."

LOUIE (FX, June 29)

Going into its third season, Louis C.K.'s raw, loosely autobiographical series has helped elevate him to comic laureate status. FX has built a Thursday block of comedy around it, including the returning "Wilfred" (starring Elijah Wood) and the coming premieres of "Anger Management" (post-meltdown Charlie Sheen) and the late-night "Strangely Uplifting," hosted by Russell Brand.

BREAKING BAD (AMC, July)

The story of a teacher-turned-meth chemist (Bryan Cranston) and his manic sidekick (Aaron Paul) has managed to maintain its speedy paceand pick up a load of awardswithout losing love from viewers and critics. Now series creator Vince Gilligan must stick the landing with a fifth and final season, which will air in two batches of eight episodes each.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...estyleArtEnt_6

It seems that there were supposed to be 13 episodes, yet number 4 is missing from the list.

0001: Pilot 4/15/2012
0008: Firebomb 4/22/2012
0011: Thugs & Lovers 4/29/2012
0010: Lost And Found 5/6/2012
0012: Self Cleaning Oven 5/27/2012
0013: Crossing Rubicon 6/3/2012
0009: Block Party 6/17/2012
0007: Schooled 6/24/2012
0003: Playing God 7/1/2012
0005: Jumpers 7/8/2012
0002: Ransom 7/15/2012
0006: Turf War 7/29/2012

Like most schedules, it is subject to change.

yeah - and the least amount of commercial interruptions

This outta be interesting - haven't seen either of these two on TV in years.

I don't know when it was shown last, but it was airing on Soapnet within the last year or so.

The Avengers $200.3 million biggest weekend EVER !!

yes we know inflation adjustment,ticket prices,3D,imax etc etc.

George Lindsey, of The Andy Griffith Show's Goober fame, has died:

http://www.tmz.com/2012/05/06/george...griffith-show/

It's not too far a stretch to pick AMC (Cablevision/The Dolan family) as the culprit in any fight. They are constantly fighting with just about every provider. It's just another normal day with these chumps.

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

TV Notes
Larry King, Reba McEntire, Stevie Wonder Honor Dick Clark at Private Memorial
By The Hollywood Reporter Staff - May 6, 2012

Dick Clark’s private memorial service was a celebratory affair, says Sam Rubin, longtime entertainment reporter at Los Angeles’ KTLA. He was one of some 300 guests who received an invitation by phone to gather on the grounds of Clark's ocean-side Malibu estate on Thursday, May 3 and honor the television pioneer who died on April 18 of a massive heart attack.

The guest list included Pat Sajak, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Chubby Checker, Bob Eubanks, Jerry Weintraub, Marie Osmond, Reba McEntire, Berry Gordy and Larry King, the latter who recalled Clark’s words of wisdom: that “the secret to broadcasting is to completely be yourself.” Disciple Ryan Seacrest was not in attendance as he was due on the American Idol set one hour after the memorial started, according to reports.

Clark’s three children spoke first, says Rubin, with “eloquence and affection … less about all the professional accomplishments, more about what Dick was like as a dad.” They were followed by Clark’s widow Kari, who read a list of “65 reasons I love Dick Clark,” composed for his 65th birthday.

Eulogies by King, McEntire and Osmond followed as well as performances by David Foster and Paul Anka, singing “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” and Stevie Wonder, who delivered a few measures of the American Bandstand theme, originally sung by Barry Manilow.

Watch Rubin’s recap at the KTLA website.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...centire-320676

I chose an antenna and I'm finding plenty to watch for free and in HD. Saturday I watched 14 hours of TV and Sunday I watched 7 hours of TV. My DVD player and my Xbox 360 hasn't ran much lately.

TV Notes
Monday's Highlights '2 Broke Girls' on CBS
By Los Angeles Times' 'Show Tracker' Blog - May 6, 2012

[ALL TIMES LISTED ARE PACIFIC TIME]

MARTHA STEWART guest stars in the one-hour season finale of 2 Broke Girls at 8 p.m. on CBS. With Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs.

SERIES

The Voice: Finalists Tony Lucca, Chris Mann, Jermaine Paul and Juliet Simms perform one last time (8 p.m. NBC).

Bones: While in Los Angeles to consult on a film based on her latest book, Brennan (Emily Deschanel) discovers the prop cadaver is actually a murder victim (8 p.m. Fox).

Two and a Half Men: An outpouring of affection awaits Alan (Jon Cryer) when he's released from the hospital, but Zoey (Sophie Winkleman) wonders if he really deserves it. Jason Alexander guest stars as Alan's cardiologist in this new episode (9 p.m. CBS).

House: House (Hugh Laurie) is missing, but the team must convince a patient that he's still calling all the shots in this new episode (9 p.m. Fox).

Mike & Molly: Mike and Molly's (Billy Gardell, Melissa McCarthy) wedding rehearsal, held two days before the real thing, is an unmitigated disaster. Reginald VelJohnson guest stars in this new episode (9:30 p.m. CBS).

Hawaii Five-0: In this new episode, McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin) finally catches up to his archnemesis, Wo Fat (Mark Dacascos), only to discover that the Japanese Yakuza is after them both. Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park also star (10 p.m. CBS).

Castle: Castle (Nathan Fillion) tries to protect Beckett (Stana Katic) as she pursues the man who shot her in the season finale (10 p.m. ABC).

SPORTS

Hockey: IIHF World Championships: USA vs. Slovakia (10 a.m. NBCSP).

Baseball: The Chicago White Sox visit the Cleveland Indians (10 a.m. WGN A); The New York Mets visit the Philadelphia Phillies (4 p.m. ESPN); the Angels visit the Minnesota Twins (5 p.m. FSN); the San Francisco Giants visit the Dodgers (7 p.m. KCAL).

Hockey: NHL Playoffs: The Washington Capitals visit the New York Rangers (4:30 p.m. NBCSP); the Nashville Predators visit the Phoenix Coyotes (7 p.m. NBCSP).

Basketball: NBA Playoffs (5 and 7:30 p.m. TNT); the Memphis Grizzlies visit the Clippers (7:30 p.m. FS Prime).

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/show...ls-on-cbs.html

TV Sports
Feud KO'd between Mayweather, Merchant
By Michael Hiestand, USA Today - May 7, 2012

HBO's Larry Merchant on Sunday said it was "understandable people could be skeptical or cynical" about his supposed feud with boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. evaporating before there was any showdown.

Mayweather injected extra hype into his $60 HBO pay-per-view fight against Miguel Cotto by saying there was no way he'd give Merchant a postfight interview. That woofing was a follow-up to a Mayweather fight in September when Merchant questioned him on-air about whether he'd fought fairly. Mayweather then offered free advice to HBO — that it should fire Merchant — and told the analyst, "You don't know (expletive) about boxing."

Merchant responded with something rarely heard from sportscasters: "I wish I was 50 years younger, and I would kick your (expletive)."

But Mayweather was all smiles on-air with Merchant on Saturday and told HBO's Jim Lampley that he was wrong about Merchant.

Merchant, in a phone interview with USA TODAY Sports, said he didn't think the brouhaha was hype. "His September thing was spontaneous. And I just responded spontaneously because I wasn't smart to think that up," he said. "If I was smart enough to figure out something that would go around the world three times before I left the ring, I'd be doing something else. … He's the star. He made a big gesture. We'll move on."

Merchant, 81, whose communication jobs date to using Morse code in 1951 while he was an Army radio operator, said the Mayweather flap was sort of an old story. "Athletes, like all of us, want love," he said. "They think you're great and know everything when you give them love. Once you don't, they're not so enamored."

What's new, he said, was today's news media echo chamber: "In September, I had TMZ meeting me at airports. I had no idea what TMZ was."

Spice rack: Swimmer Michael Phelps, on CBS' 60 Minutes on Sunday, on why he sleeps in an altitude chamber meant to simulate oxygen at a 9,000-foot elevation: "I'm 26. I don't recover as fast as I have in the past." … Fox's NASCAR coverage Sunday had an in-race interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief, Steve Letarte. Later, Fox aired a radio conversation in which Earnhardt asked his crew chief: "Where you been, man?" Letarte's reply: "I was doing my media duty." First things first.

Running numbers: NBC's Kentucky Derby race coverage (6-7 p.m. ET) drew a 9.0 overnight, translating to 9% of households in the 56 urban TV markets. That's down 7% from last year, but a pretty amazing rating for a two-minute event in a sport whose mass appeal has declined for decades. … NBC's NHL playoff games heading into the weekend, averaged 1.6% of U.S. households — up 45% from last year. NBC's New York Rangers-Washington Capitals game Saturday drew a 1.6 overnight. The NHL playoffs got a TV ratings break in not facing early competition from the lockout-delayed NBA playoffs and caught another in having no Canadian teams left.

On tap: Who'll replace college basketball analyst Hubert Davis on College GameDay at ESPN? With Davis becoming a North Carolina assistant coach, possible GameDay replacements include ESPN's Jay Williams and Seth Greenberg, likely to join ESPN after recently being fired as Virginia Tech's coach. … Sirius XM Radio on Monday will formally announce it will add more channels to stream MLB game radio broadcasts on its Internet radio app and at SiriusXM.com. Now, after only offering home teams' broadcasts, it will also offer visiting teams' broadcasts.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...centire-320676

TV Notes
Microsoft Dropping DVD/Blu-ray Playback Support in Windows 8
By Chloe Albanesius, PCMag.com

In an effort to keep costs down, Microsoft will ditch DVD playback support for Windows Media Player in Windows 8, though there will be the option to purchase Windows Media Center to get DVD functionality.

Windows Media Player will be available within all editions of Windows 8, but users won't be able to use it to play DVDs. Why? It's too expensive, Microsoft said in a blog post.

Playing DVDs on PCs, as well as watching broadcast TV, "require a specialized set of decoders (and hardware) that cost a significant amount in royalties," wrote Bernardo Caldas with the Windows Business Group. "With these decoders built into most Windows 7 editions, the industry has faced those costs broadly, regardless of whether or not a given device includes an optical drive or TV tuner."

Given that Windows 8 will be available on a variety of form factors, Microsoft's partners have expressed concerns about codec licensing costs, prompting the DVD playback decision.

Caldas said Microsoft felt comfortable ditching the feature thanks in large part to the growth of online video. Consumers today are more likely to watch video via streaming services like Netflix or Hulu than by placing a DVD in their PC's optical drive.

For those who are still partial to DVDs, however, Windows 8 will offer the option to purchase Windows Media Center with DVD playback functionality via an "Add Features to Windows 8" menu.

"This ensures that customers who are interested in Media Center have a convenient way to get it," Caldas wrote. "For optical discs playback on new Windows 8 devices, we are going to rely on the many quality solutions on the market, which provide great experiences for both DVD and Blu-ray."

The option will be known as the Windows 8 Media Center Pack for those with Windows 8 Pro and as the Windows 8 Pro Pack for those with Windows 8. Pricing will be announced closer to the launch date, Caldas said, but "will be in line with marginal costs."

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced that it would also ditch the "Windows Live" branding in favor of an over-arching Microsoft account.

For more, see PCMag's hands on with the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 and the slideshow below. [CLICK LINK]

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403983,00.asp

Well that sux, native Windows has never supported Blu-ray playback, has it?

TV Notes
Checking the Vital Signs of Reality TV's Oldest Shows
By Josef Adalian, New York Magazine's 'Vulture' Blog

The modern era of reality TV began twelve years ago this summer, when Survivor debuted right after Memorial Day and instantly became a pop-culture phenomenon. Its first episode brought a healthy 15 million viewers, and when season one wrapped up three months later, more than 52 million folks were glued to their sets for the finale. A slew of unscripted shows followed in Survivor's wake; most lasted a few seasons and then burned out. But some members of the reality tribe's torches have proved unsnuffable, and they've been soldiering on for years and still draw a crowd.

Vulture decided to check in on these unscripted warhorses, defined by us as any post-Survivor show that has lasted ten or more cycles, including all-star editions. (Sorry, Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef: At nine seasons each, you're tasty, but not crusty enough. And we didn't include The Celebrity Apprentice, since its "all-star" version is really its own, weird thing, as opposed to a special version of the original.) Which stalwarts are weakening? Which will outlive us all? Can anything short of Los Angeles crashing into the ocean stop Big Brother?


Survivor

On the air since: 2000
Current cycle: 24
Season one audience: 28.3 million
Year-ago audience: 12.6 million (For all twice-a-year shows, we will be comparing the current spring run to last spring's run, not the immediately preceding fall run.)
Current audience: 11.6 million
Legacy: The granddaddy of modern reality. Helped make CBS the No. 1 network and turned the network into a force on Thursdays during the first part of this century. Gave Mark Burnett and Jeff Probst their careers.
Where it stands: Remarkably true to its name, Survivor remains a key part of the CBS arsenal. A move back to Wednesdays (its original time slot) in fall 2010 could've spelled doom, but instead, the show has become a midweek anchor for the Eye, holding its own against American Idol and generally walloping ABC's comedies and The Biggest Loser.
Prognosis: It's currently renewed through its 26th edition, with two seasons booked for next year, though it's possible that if Probst's upcoming daytime talk show takes off, he may only have time to do one season per year after that. (He's the rare reality host without whom it's hard to imagine a show continuing.) Cutting back to once a year could also help extend the show's life, as it will seem like more of an event. At this point, however, Survivor's strong enough to warrant its year-round status.


The Bachelor

On the air since: 2002
Current cycle: 16
Season one audience: 10.7 million
Year-ago audience: 10.8 million
Current audience: 8.9 million
Legacy: Invented the modern dating reality show format. Spawned countless imitators, most of which have faded away. Provided endless fodder for tabloid magazines, which turned the staged relationships of the show's contestants into countless stories. Recently prompted a lawsuit from African-American men upset that there's never been a Black-chelor.
Where it stands: After audiences sank significantly, ABC made the smart choice to limit the show to one cycle per season, saving it for a January debut starting in 2009 (and airing spinoff The Bachelorette in the summer). This resulted in stronger ratings overall and allowed ABC to establish a soapy stranglehold on Mondays. However, numbers have slipped this spring: It's down about 20 percent over last year. Having to face off against NBC's relatively strong The Voice hasn't helped matters much.
Prognosis: With no other network or cable dating shows commanding nearly as many viewers, there's no reason The Bachelor can't keep handing out roses for as long as gardeners keep growing them. Yes, ratings have slipped, but that's happened to most shows this spring, so it's all relative, and this is still a cheap property for the network (though, owing to age and producer Mike Fleiss's lucrative production deal, it's not that cheap). There's nothing formal yet in terms of a renewal for 2013, but the show will be back. If ABC manages to have a really good development season and suddenly needs real estate on Mondays, it's possible The Bachelor could shift to summer in a year or two. In the meantime, ABC could probably boost buzz (and settle a lawsuit) by finally diversifying the ranks of the Bachelor brotherhood.


Dancing With the Stars

On the air since: 2005
Current cycle: 14
Season one audience: 16.8 million
Year-ago audience: 22 million
Current audience: 18.2 million
Legacy: Made ballroom dancing hip (at least for a minute). Gave B-list celebrities a classy way to revive their careers instead of humiliating themselves on a VH1 celebreality train wreck. Supplied ABC with a much-needed ratings boost early in its run, when the network literally had no successful sitcoms on its schedule. Turned lead-out Castle into a solid success.
Where it stands: ABC has never really replaced the eyeballs it lost when Monday Night Football decamped to ESPN, but thanks to DWTS, the network still has a populist success to kick-start the beginning of its weekly schedule. DWTS has always appealed to older viewers, and among those under 50, it's still a hit. But younger folks have been disappearing rapidly this year: While ratings are down 19 percent among all viewers, they're off by a whopping 34 percent with those under 50. A big part of this, of course is casting: The lack of a Bristol Palin or even a Chaz Bono makes a big difference.
Prognosis: With more than 18 million viewers watching each week, ABC isn't going to stop Dancing anytime soon. The show's format means every cycle brings an opportunity to invite more interesting names, and if DWTS can still do well even with a boring cast like this spring's roster, it can survive for years to come. But like Survivor, we wonder if ABC might ultimately try to make do with just one cycle per year, making the show an event once more.


America's Next Top Model

On the air since: 2003
Current cycle: 18
Season one audience: 3.7 million
Year ago audience: 2.6 million
Current audience: 1.6 million
Legacy: Pumped life into UPN after Buffy, the Vampire Slayer departed. Helped build and launch the CW network. Transformed Tyra Banks from supermodel to TV star and resulted in her brief career as a talk-show host.
Where it stands: After this season launched to record-low ratings (barely one million viewers watched the premiere the night it aired), changes started taking place. Banks announced that all of her on-air comrades would be leaving the show next cycle, a sign that CW execs either want a creative reboot or are trying to save money on the show. The show has also lost virtually all of its buzz: You're more likely to hear folks talking on Twitter about RuPaul's Drag Race than Top Model.
Prognosis: The CW has already renewed the show for one more cycle. The cast changes will bring down the cost of production, but unless they result in a ratings surge, Top Model seems ready to sashay off the runway and into the history books.


American Idol

On the air since: 2002
Current cycle: 11
Season one audience: 12.7 million
Year-ago audience: 26 million
Current audience: 20 million
Legacy: The show that delayed the decline of broadcast TV by at least a decade. Turned Fox into TV's No. 1 network among viewers under 50. Made Simon Cowell a superstar and briefly revived the career of Paula Abdul. Launched dozens of talent competition imitators, including Cowell's own The X Factor and America's Got Talent. Introduced or popularized words such as pitchy and dawg. Oh, and it launched more true stars (including Grammy and Oscar winners) than virtually all other reality shows combined.
Where it stands: It took ten years, but 2012 is the Year American Idol Became Human. Execs at rival networks have for years been praying for and predicting the show's demise, but no matter what others threw at it, Idol remained untouchable. It even survived its first season sans Simon. That changed this year, as Idol has lost about 25 percent of its audience from last season. Early episodes (always among Idol's best rated) took a big year-to-year hit, but were still drawing 20 million or so viewers. The declines have since stabilized, but because the show always loses some steam as the weather heats up, in recent weeks results shows have averaged under 15 million viewers (performance shows are still averaging around 17 million). It's also way down compared to its peak, in season six, when the show averaged a whopping 30 million viewers most nights. The combination of time, competition from NBC's The Voice (the shows air on different nights, but serve a similar need), and Simon Cowell's decision to launch The X Factor on Fox all helped diminish Idol's dominance. But guess what: Despite some late-winter chatter suggesting NBC's The Voice had emerged as the hot new singing show, when the season ends later this month, Idol will remain the more popular show (unless you count January's special post-Super Bowl edition of The Voice, which we don't). Idol is also still a top five show in viewers and key demos, and it's by far the biggest show on Fox's schedule. It may not be the Death Star anymore, but Idol is still a power player.
Prognosis: A given to return next season, there's no way Idol won't remain strong enough to last at least two more years. After that, a lot will depend on how The X Factor is doing (or whether it lasts beyond next fall's season two) and whether The Voice manages to survive its transition to fall. Idol is also a very expensive show to produce, thanks to its age and high talent costs. At some point, Fox may decide to rest Idol and reboot. But that day is not yet nigh.


The Amazing Race

On the air since: 2001
Current cycle: 20
Season one audience: 8.8 million
Year-ago audience: 10.3 million
Current audience: 10.2 million
Legacy: The critical darling. The reality show even reality-TV haters can safely admit to watching. Virtually owns the Emmy for competitive reality show. Took reality TV on the road. Never a ratings monster indeed, iffy ratings early on prompted rumors of cancellation but has been a consistent performer throughout its eleven-year run.
Where it stands: Like its lead-in 60 Minutes, Amazing Race has become a Sunday staple for CBS. There's nothing flashy about its performance, but its stability is stunning. Take a look at the numbers above: Race attracted just under 9 million viewers in its inaugural run. It struggled a bit in its first few seasons, only breaking 10 million viewers during one of its first four cyles. But after getting a bump from Big Brother during the summer of 2004, the show has lured between 10 and 12 million viewers almost every cycle since. That's ... amazing.
Prognosis: As of now, it's been renewed for at least one more cycle next season. Converting to HD a few seasons ago definitely made the show a bit more compelling, and it's clear the show has kept a core audience, or perhaps brought in new viewers over the years curious to check out the show that keeps getting the Emmy (it's won the reality competition race eight out of the nine years that the award has existed). The show has shown some signs of desperation, synergistically casting popular or infamous alumni from CBS's other reality shows. (A celebrity edition seems inevitable, though it is destined to be D-list, because who else has the time to run around the world? No offense, Mike White!) And the fact that producers have refused to alter the core format same yelling/hugging, different airport has caused more than a few longtime fans to grow tired of the Race. That said, maybe tweaking the formula is out of the question: Remember the family edition?


Project Runway

On the air since: 2004
Current cycle: Cycle 11 debuts later this year
Season one audience: Roughly 1.5 million
Most recent audience: 2.9 million (Fall 2011)
Legacy: Along with The Amazing Race and Survivor, it's one of the rare reality shows that has generated nearly equal amounts critical acclaim and audience acceptance. Brought the fashion world to Main Street. Made Tim Gunn a household face. Spawned countless riffs on "Make it work." Along with Queer Eye, helped transform Bravo from sleepy cultural net to pop-culture powerhouse. Led to nasty war between NBC Universal (Bravo's owner) and producer Harvey Weinstein after Weinstein sold the show to Lifetime. Provided a good promo platform for Lifetime to hype then-nascent dramedy Drop Dead Diva.
Where it stands: A solid player for Lifetime, Runway nonetheless failed to be the game-changer the network might have hoped. After debuting on Lifetime with 4.2 million viewers in 2009, it soon saw ratings decline by double digits (particularly among younger women). Subsequent seasons have been all over the map, with some episodes of the recent All-Star edition generating fewer than 2 million viewers and last summer's regular edition often averaging around 3 million viewers. Given how much more intense cable competition has become, these are not awful numbers. But rather than transform Runway, the show instead seems to have seen its buzz and hip factor evaporate within the decidedly mainstream bubble that is Lifetime.
Life expectancy: Another cycle has already been ordered. Assuming Weinstein is no longer charging Lifetime the arm-and-leg rates he forced the network to shell out to land Runway, it seems likely the franchise should survive in some form for at least two or three more years. Soon, however, it might be time to blow up the show's format and reinvent it. Is it too much to hope that Bravo might buy it back and reboot?


The Biggest Loser

On the air since: 2004
Current cycle: 13
Season one audience: 10.3 million
Year-ago audience: 8.5 million
Current audience: 7.1 million
Legacy: Most successful makeover show ever on network TV. For a couple of years, one of the few shows on NBC with any pulse at all. Briefly made Jillian Michaels a star.
Where it stands: This week's season finale was the least-watched capper in the franchise's history, down 30 percent from a year ago. Given the wreckage of NBC's prime-time schedule, Loser is still a relative winner in the younger demo, often outperforming much of the network's schedule. Expanding it to two hours during the 200708 season ago hurt the show's storytelling and may have chased away audiences. But the show still has a little Nielsen heft left.
Prognosis: If NBC, as expected, launches a fall edition of The Voice, it seems certain the network will either save Loser for midseason or shrink it to an hour. And if NBC finds success with scripted programming, it's easy to see Loser shifting to once a year or maybe even becoming a summer show. However, as long as NBC has major holes with scripted fare, it's hard to not see this show surviving in some form for at least a few years to come, even if it's on Friday nights.


Big Brother

On the air since: 2000
Current cycle: 14 (begins in July)
Season one audience: 9.1 million
Year-ago audience: 8.3 million
Legacy: The show critics love to hate. Guilty pleasure for millions of addicts unable to walk away. Gave the world the Chenbot.
Where it stands: As viewership for other network summer programming keeps shrinking, CBS's summer tentpole remains amazingly steady and looks bigger each year compared to its competition. The network gives very little promotional time or budget to the show (winners who devote three months to living in this house and starring in three weekly hours of prime-time programming get a paltry $500,000 prize), but last summer, it almost always won its time slots with viewers under 50. It hardly ever generates buzz outside of its core circle of fans, but CBS couldn't care less: It generates solid tune-in on a dirt-cheap budget, thus adding millions to the Eye's bottom line.
Prognosis: For the first time in a dozen years, Big Brother has some real competition in the wired house reality show genre. ABC just announced it is launching something called The Glass House on June 18 (contestants live under constant surveillance in a plush house and hope to win an even stingier $250,000 in cash). It will only air once per week (for now), so it's unlikely to make much of a dent in the loyal Big Bro followers, but BB is showing its age. CBS has stubbornly refused to let producers do much tweaking to the format over the years: While there are always "expect the unexpected" twists, almost everything about the show has remained constant, from the musical cues to just about everything that comes out of Chen's glittery mouth. The Eye annually refuses to give the show a big promotional push, perhaps assuming that everyone who would be interested in this kind of thing is already watching, and it's hopeless to try to win over anyone who isn't already hooked. So when the show's dastardly hypnotic hold is broken with longtime fans who suddenly realize they've heard all the cries of "It's on!" that one pair of ears can tolerate, there will likely be no new viewers coming in to replace them. Considering that CBS seems to pretend this show isn't squatting in the middle of their summer schedule, they will likely be quick to sever ties. That said sorry, crumbling society! all signs point to BB hanging tough for years to come.

http://www.vulture.com/2012/05/how-l...hows-last.html

Other articles on the subject and reports from other tech blogs indicate that it applies to Blu-ray as well as DVD. But you're right, it was up to the manufacturers of Blu-ray computers to include playback software (like Toshiba did with a stripped-down Corel Win-DVD/BD version for my year-old Blu-ray laptop) to get them to accept/play back Blu-rays.

Does it really matter though? Windows 8 will work on computers but its mainly for tablets, which aren't devices meant for disc playback of any kind.

TV Sports
Jack Whitaker Was Always Camera Ready
By Richard Sandomir, The New York Times - May 6, 2012

From the 1960s through the '90s, Jack Whitaker specialized in reports and essays that brought elegance to CBS's and ABC's coverage of golf, horse racing and the Olympics. Among the few other similarly evocative commentators were two of his colleagues, Jim McKay and Heywood Hale Broun.

When Ruffian broke down in a match race at Belmont Park against Foolish Pleasure in 1975, Whitaker said: A false step here and the years of planning and breeding and training and loving came to an end. A horse with speed and stamina and heart. A horse, like the Bible says, whose neck is clothed in thunder.'

Whitaker is 87 and retired. He sometimes must search his internal archives to recall names. Still, he looks almost camera ready. He is easily recognizable: white hair, craggy features, twinkling eyes and a voice that was born in Philadelphia and bred around the world.

As he sat in a Manhattan hotel room last week, one foot tapping the carpeted floor, it was easy to visualize him as he once was: a golf cap topping his head, a network microphone in his hand, offering his thoughts from Turnberry or Churchill Downs that he had just set down on a legal pad.

I miss the big things, the major golf tournaments, the Derbys, he said dressed in a blue blazer with red pocket square, a patterned tie, houndstooth pants and soft shoes. But I don't miss the travel.

A big thing came his way that night: the Life Achievement award at the annual Sports Emmys ceremony. Sportscasters and executives of his and later vintages had already received the award. He was long overdue. McKay got his in 1989 while he was still active at ABC Sports.

As he prepared to introduce Whitaker at the Rose Theater in Manhattan, Jim Nantz of CBS devised a plan: he would ask the nominees for outstanding play-by-play announcer and studio host to come to the stage in time for Whitaker's speech. We're all descendants of Jack's and his generation, Nantz, a friend, said Tuesday. I wanted this to be perfect for him. You're talking about a poet, a wordsmith, a lyricist.

As Whitaker spoke, Nantz, Bob Costas, Dan Patrick, Mike Emrick, James Brown and Joe Buck stood to his left. Approbation, it appears, is the greatest gift you can have, Whitaker said.

When he finished, the group surrounded him in a scene that was reminiscent of the major leaguers who massed around the ailing Ted Williams on the field at Fenway Park before the 1999 All-Star Game.

That swept me away, Whitaker said. I was just blubbering. I don't even know what I said.

Whitaker's career began in news but moved into sports, as McKay's had. At WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, he worked with a baritone news anchor, John Facenda, who became a vocal deity as the narrator of tundras at NFL Films, and a showbiz commentator named Ed McMahon.

Whitaker said that a turning point in his career that pointed him toward commentary, came at Facenda's suggestion. One night, he recalled, John said, Put a little more of yourself into the reports.' He pushed me. So I started fooling around. I always looked up to people of erudition, like Alistair Cooke.

Years later, at CBS, he worked with Broun, a sometime Broadway actor who could turn a phrase, with rhetorical flourishes, while wearing distractingly outlandish attire.

I'd say to Woodie: Let me look at your script. How did you do this and that?' Whitaker said.

At the 1966 Masters, Whitaker displeased Clifford Roberts, the chairman and co-founder of the tournament. CBS carried the golf major then, as it still does, under a series of one-year contracts that made it eager to satisfy Roberts. During a three-way playoff that Jack Nicklaus won, Whitaker described the gallery as a mob scene as it moved to the 18th hole. Roberts did not appreciate the characterization any more than he did when McKay used the same term years before when he was at CBS.

But Roberts had other problems with Whitaker's reporting, according to the 1965 and '66 critiques of the broadcasts that Roberts wrote to CBS, which David Owen revealed in his book The Making of the Masters (Simon & Schuster, 1999).

He didn't like the work I did, Whitaker said. It was pretty petty.

A month before the 1967 Masters, Jack Dolph, CBS's director of sports, told Whitaker that he was off the crew. He was kind of embarrassed, Whitaker said. Owen surmised that Bill MacPhail, CBS's vice president of sports, exiled Whitaker to please Roberts but that Roberts probably did not order it.

The banishment ended a few years later when MacPhail invited Whitaker to the Masters only as his guest. But when Henry Longhurst took ill, Whitaker was asked to replace him at the 16th hole.

I saw Cliff Roberts, and he said, Young man, I'm delighted to see you here.' I'm not sure he remembered our previous encounter.

Whitaker moved from CBS to ABC in 1982, where he worked for the sports and news divisions.

At one point while covering the British Open at St. Andrews, he said: Nobody designed this course. Nobody with a pencil and $2 million and five bulldozers. This was made by nature. It comes out of the ground. It was done with wind and rain and sun and the help of a few sheep. And so, while for most Americans and other people, it's not love at first sight at St. Andrews, St. Andrews's Old Course is like a dry martini an acquired taste, and, as such, it remains with you forever.

By the late '90s, his career was winding down. TNT hired him for its 1998 Winter Games coverage from Nagano, Japan. He wrote an autobiography. He did some work for ESPN. But nothing since.

The renown of his 40 years in network sports has not resonated as strongly as McKay's did even if much of their work was similar. Jim had Munich, said Costas, referring to McKay's anchoring of ABC's reporting about the murders of 11 Israelis at the 1972 Summer Games by Palestinian terrorists. He had the designation as Olympic host and he had Wide World of Sports.' Jack didn't have as obvious a peg.

At a small gathering after Whitaker received the life achievement award, McKay's son, Sean McManus, who runs CBS Sports, said that Whitaker really started to cry when he told him that my father felt like a kid in a candy store on the day Jack joined ABC Sports.

He was so excited knowing that they could work on the two sports they loved most, golf and horse racing, McManus said. There was no one my father respected more.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/sp..._r=1&ref=media

TV Review
'Undercover Stings,' you won't feel a thing
New Spike series makes undercover police work look pretty boring
By Tom Conroy, Media Life Magazine

Disclaimer: Saying that a show makes police work look routine and rather inconsequential isn't the same thing as saying that police work is routine and rather inconsequential.

Spike's new documentary series "Undercover Stings" fails to find anything new or significant in undercover police work. Even the officers and detectives themselves feel the need to explain that the arrests they're making may have a greater importance than they seem to. Moreover, the smarmy treatment of one sting operation is exploitative and sad.

Although at the beginning of the premiere episode, which airs this Monday, May 7, at 9 p.m., a narrator says that police sting operations "have rarely been seen by the public until now," the footage looks and feels awfully familiar.

The first segment is both the most involving and the most troubling. A group of male detectives and some inexperienced female officers set up a fake prostitution ring in Savannah, Ga. As they discuss their plans, the men leer and the women giggle.

"My name is Brandy already," says one young officer, "so I figure my mom gave me a hooker name already, so I was born to do this."

The women go to what looks like a lingerie shop and goof around as they try on outfits. But when we see them actually awaiting their customers in a hotel, they're wearing simple tops and shorts.

First viewed via grainy hidden-camera footage, the clients get ample face time when the detectives and the camera crew rush into the room. Although the suspects' names are withheld, they will be easily identifiable. In the age of YouTube, this isn't the sort of thing that goes away after two or three airings.

One suspect tearfully says he's a pastor. "You don't play with God," a detective says. "Obviously he tried to straddle the fence." The presence of cameras seems to have fooled the detective into thinking he's on an episode of "Law & Order."

The other segments are less sensational and less interesting. In order to fight the thievery of expensive metal, two detectives plant a huge spool of copper wiring, which they say could be sold for as much as $1,000, on the property of an electric company, then wait in the dark for crooks to cut the fence and try to carry the spool off. Although this time we see night-vision and infrared footage rather than hidden camera, nothing surprising happens.

Then a female cop buys a small amount of marijuana from some youths selling it in their own neighborhood. After the arrest, one of the boys' mothers says she warned him not to hang out on that corner. A detective tells the boy his mother is going to be harder on him than prison will be.

The detectives seem concerned that on TV their work will appear to be rather pointless. One says that prostitution often involves drug use. The copper-wire thieves and drug dealers, we are told, will be questioned about other crimes.

It would be better if "Undercover Stings" could show us, rather than tell us, why it's worth watching. When it's not straining for titillation, it's underwhelming.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/art...el-a-thing.asp

Well, I guess it doesn't matter, since I'll be sticking with Windows 7, they seem to be deserting what I'm sure is a fairly large portion of their user base(users who do utilize Windows Media Center and disk playback). I think they'll definitely lose some sales on Windows 8 because of this. I'll be sticking with Windows 7, unless the add-on is very cheap.

Streaming is nice, but when we have basically no choice but to stream, then the hammer will drop and we'll be gouged endlessly with bandwidth caps and we'll be hung out to dry with the requirement to sub to a slew of different services to get a decent selection of programming.

Of course these are my opinions only, but the road ahead looks like we're(the consumer) gonna get continuously nickled and dimed(if not dollared) until we just throw in the towel and let them have it. We can only hope their eternal greed and arrogance will bankrupt a few of them, because someone that loves TV as much as I do and subs to all the premium channels is about ready to just scrap the whole thing and go for some basic programming.