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Critic's Notes
Bianculli's Best Bets
By David Bianculli, TVWorthWatching.com - Jan. 15, 2013

PIONEERS OF TELEVISION
PBS, 8:00 p.m. ET
SEASON PREMIERE: This documentary series about TV returns tonight with Funny Ladies, the first of four installments devoted to specific television subjects and dramas. (For a full rundown, and an interview with the documentary’s producers, see Tom Brinkmoeller’s Raised on MTM below.) I have the same polar reaction to this new season as I have in years past: I love the subject matter, but usually end up disappointed or frustrated by the specific inclusions and omissions. It feels like these hours are written backward: booking interviewees first, then crafting the program to fit. How else to explain that Marla Gibbs, a supporting player on The Jeffersons and spinoff star of 227, gets lots of screen time, while Gertrude Berg, the truly pioneering star and writer of The Goldbergs, is dismissed in a sentence or two? It’s valuable, truly, to have Carol Burnett and Mary Tyler Moore on tap, and they’re duly honored, as is Lucille Ball. But if we’re talking pioneers in female TV comedy – and we are – you can’t elevate Phyllis Diller above, say, Our Miss Brooks star Eve Arden and expect to be taken too seriously. Check local listings.

PARENTHOOD
NBC, 10:00 p.m. ET
Time flies when you’re having crises: The season’s almost over for Parenthood, as this is the show’s penultimate episode. And it’s a pivotal one, with Mark (Jason Ritter) returning to try and patch things up with Sarah (Lauren Graham), who’s torn between Mark and Hank (Ray Romano).

FRONTLINE: "INSIDE OBAMA'S PRESIDENCY"
PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET
As Barack Obama’s second term as President is about to begin, Frontline assesses his first, in a profile that is critical as well as complimentary. In any event, with Obama drawing lines in the sand, this month, about debt ceilings and gun control, it’s certainly a timely halftime show. Check local listings.

JUSTIFIED
FX, 10:00 p.m. ET
In this second episode of the new season, Patton Oswalt continues his delightful recurring role as Constable Bob Sweeney, who becomes the newest and most comically entertaining sidekick of Timothy Olyphant’s Raylan Givens. But while they’re fun to watch, there’s a lot of serious stuff afoot as well, as this year’s major antagonists and plot lines continue to be introduced.

COUGAR TOWN
TBS, 10:00 p.m. ET
This week’s episode may as well be a tribute to Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott: the guys decide to sport major moustaches, as a way of proving, well, something. I'm not sure what, exactly -- and I've seen the show.

http://www.tvworthwatching.com/

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Critic's Notes
'Pioneers of Television' Continues its Look at TV's Best
By Tom Brinkmoeller, TVWorthWatching.com - Jan. 14, 2013

Fans of this website surely understand an enthusiasm for extraordinary television programming and the excitement of sharing that enthusiasm with others. Writing and reading about TV Worth Watching is what brings us here.

That's the best part of Pioneers of Television, which begins its third season on PBS Tuesday, Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. ET (check local listings). The people who put these shows together are genuinely excited about sharing some of the history of television with viewers who want to know more about that subject. They have fun telling and we can have fun watching. Or not. A couple of loud objections came from some who watched the previous two seasons, and the loudest gripe was that each subject didn't cover enough eligible subject matter.

The subjects chosen for the previous seasons were: late night, sitcoms, variety, science fiction, westerns, crime dramas and local children's television. This season begins with TV's female comedy stars, followed in subsequent weeks by primetime soaps, superheroes and miniseries. Each has an hour to do the job. The producers of these programs know they can't compile museum completeness into a slot that size. They just want to offer an overview of some of the highest points and give anyone in the audience who might want more scholarly detail some directions on where to find it.

"We're not trying to be an encyclopedia," Mike Trinklein said in a recent phone interview. He and Steve Boettcher are executive producers of the series. "We have had to make some choices. To us, that means we're focusing on the people and not on the shows. We don't try to be a comprehensive look at anything.

"We're not guided by the concept of just nostalgia, either. What we want to accomplish is to provide an insight into the people who shaped our media."

As a result, viewers may not see clips of and interviews with a favorite comediennein the Funny Ladies season opener this week. But they will get to see legends like Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball and Betty White (left) in some very memorable moments and see segments of interviews that give added depth to a TV era that increasingly more people who like television didn't have a chance to witness as it happened.

This year's four Pioneers installments entertain, enlighten more than a little and perform a function no other productions have had the resources, love of the medium and the time to do. (The two producers have been doing this since 2004, and Trinklein assessed what they've done till now "a very large investment of our time.")

Next week's program about nighttime soaps focuses mostly on Dallas, Dynasty and Knots Landing, but puts them into a larger context. Superheroes gets similar treatments, with closeups of a couple of series supplemented by a briefer overview. The best part of the final week's focus, miniseries, is its retelling of how, in 1977, Roots captured the country's interest like nothing else before it, set ratings records and raised awareness of racial history and relationships in this country.

Trinklein told how the process begins with PBS agreeing on topics. Once that is completed, getting agreements with people who they want to interview is a sometimes-difficult task. (Boettcher, his partner said, has even slipped notes to the barista who regularly serves the person they want to interview, asking that the request be passed on in person.) It took "a few years," he said, to get Carol Burnett to agree to be interviewed. David Carradine died days before he was to be interviewed. And the Phyllis Diller (right) and Larry Hagman interviews were done shortly before each died.

The next-largest obstacle, he said, is getting rights to the show clips and photos that help make watching Pioneers so much fun.

"There are hundreds and thousands of stills and clips, and each one takes negotiations," Trinklein said. Some people they have approached have adamantly refused to help, while others took a bit more convincing than normal. "You quickly end up knowing who you have to avoid and who you have to be nice to."

And some ideas have not be approved because not enough visuals exist. He said PBS did not approve a segment on early TV drama series for that reason.

Hard as it has been, at times, to put the three seasons together, the partners and PBS are convinced the results have been worth it. They already have proposed four episodes for the next series, though it's too early for final approval from PBS: medical shows, people who transitioned from stand-up comedy to sitcoms, ones that have broken barriers and character actors.

The subject matter has yet to be tapped out, he said, and their enthusiasm has remained high. And with each new season, he added, "I think we're getting better at it."

http://www.tvworthwatching.com/BlogPostDetails.aspx?postId=4075

TV/Business Notes
‘South Park’ Creators to Start Company, Important Studios
By Andrew Ross Sorkin and Amy Chozick, The New York Times - Jan. 14, 2013

The creators of “South Park” are branching out beyond the underpants business.

Taking after the Gnomes on the animated series who ardently practice American capitalism, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have wooed investors and raised money to form their own production studio, which they plan to announce on Monday.

The new company is to be called Important Studios and hopes to be just that. With an estimated value of $300 million built on revenue from “South Park,” now in its 16th season on Comedy Central, and the Broadway megahit “The Book of Mormon,” the studio will have the power and money to approve television, movie and theater projects, including a big-screen version of “The Book of Mormon.”

On Friday, Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone were putting together the final news release to announce their studio. They settled on this quip: “Having worked with several different studios over the years, we came to realize that our favorite people in the world are ourselves.”

The pair will join a short line of Hollywood players who have formed their own studios as a way to gain control over the creative, production and distribution process.

Merv Griffin created a television empire that he parlayed into real estate and other ventures. Dick Clark created Dick Clark Productions, which continued after his death last year. In 2006, the “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest created Ryan Seacrest Productions, which produces reality shows including “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and related spinoffs.

Lately, those independent studios have become ripe for acquisition as media conglomerates look to expand their library of intellectual property and consumer products. In October, Disney said it would pay $4.05 billion in cash and stock for Lucasfilm, the production studio created by George Lucas, and the company that produced “Star Wars” and its lineup of lucrative sequels and prequels.

Mr. Stone initially said he hoped Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks or Mr. Lucas’s Lucasfilm could serve as a model for Important Studios, then paused for a moment. “In some ways it’s a stupid comparison because they are gargantuan,” he said. “We want to be a smaller, more humble version of that.”

He continued: “If DreamWorks is Walmart, we are over here knitting sweaters.”

The “South Park” creators have made millions and attracted both fans and detractors in satirizing everything from Christmas (celebrating the holiday with singing fecal matter) to Islamist extremism (depicting Muhammad in a bear suit) and race relations (naming one of the only black characters on the series Token).

Important Studios will incorporate revenue from “South Park” and “The Book of Mormon,” as well as revenue from future projects. “The Book of Mormon,” one of the highest-grossing Broadway musicals in recent years, received nine Tony Awards in 2011 and has grossed more than $200 million.

That amount continues to grow because the New York production makes $1.6 million a week, according to the producers. A touring version of the show makes about $1.6 million a week, and another production in Chicago grosses $1.5 million a week. And the show is about to go into production in London.

Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker, who created the musical, are the largest shareholders in “The Book of Mormon,” followed by the film producer Scott Rudin and others. Among the first projects that Important Studios is likely to develop is a movie version of the musical.

Mr. Stone said he and his partner had been considering forming an independent studio for almost two years. “At first we thought we’d get some money from a hedge fund or a Russian oligarch or something,” Mr. Stone said, seemingly half-joking.

Instead, they teamed with a nascent Hollywood oligarch. Through their relationship with Ariel Z. Emanuel at the talent agency William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, they met Joseph Ravitch. Mr. Ravitch heads the Raine Group, a boutique merchant bank that focuses on entertainment, digital media and sports. (William Morris is an investor in Raine.)

Mr. Ravitch, a former Goldman Sachs banker who advised on the sale of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and helped the N.B.A. set up its business in China, hit it off with the two men. Raine invested about $60 million in Important Studios in exchange for a stake of just under 20 percent. Mr. Stone called Raine “big brains with big Rolodexes” and said “the money has some intellect with it.”

For his part, Mr. Ravitch said, “Our bet is they will create some exciting stuff over the next five years, and this allows them the creative and financial flexibility to own their future.”

Invariably, Mr. Ravitch and his investors will eventually want to sell their stake, raising the prospect that Important Studios could ultimately be sold to a larger media company like Viacom.

In the meantime, the deal speaks to a huge shift in power in the entertainment industry, thanks to the Internet and the changing ways people watch television. Creators like Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker have the opportunity to have a more direct relationship with their millions of fans, potentially bypassing the traditional Hollywood machinery to promote new projects and make old ones available.

“South Park,” in particular, is an early pioneer of making television available through online streaming. Even as Viacom, which owns Comedy Central, filed a lawsuit against Google over the unauthorized posting of clips of its shows on YouTube, factions within the company pushed to make episodes of “South Park” available free almost immediately after their initial broadcast.

In a meeting in 2007 on online piracy, Erik Flannigan, executive vice president for digital media at the Viacom Entertainment Group, typed “South Park” into Google on a giant screen in a conference room. The first several Web sites that came up offered illegal pirated versions of the series. That put the impetus on the media company to make “South Park” available online, which sharply cut down on piracy.

Its early and robust online presence gave “South Park” a more direct relationship with fans, which Mr. Stone said would help in introducing future projects.

“Ten years ago, you needed that studio machinery to start cranking its marketing muscle,” Mr. Stone said. “Now we could market a movie-size project. We bring a lot of heft.”

Mr. Stone said he and Mr. Parker hoped to use the new money to allow them to “be more prolific with less struggle.”

“We want to have a little control over our life,” he explained. “We used to walk into a studio and try to become an employee. We’re done with that. We are too grown up for that.”

Important Studios’ balance sheet will also probably give Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker more leverage when negotiating with other studios. Doug Herzog, president of the MTV Networks Entertainment Group, who brought “South Park” to Comedy Central, said of the new studio: “Bringing money to the table goes a long way. Money talks.” He said the studio would allow the two men “to pursue their vision in as pure a way as possible. Matt and Trey with a lot of money. Be afraid.”

Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker have had an unlikely journey to moguldom. After meeting at the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1992, the two introduced a stop-motion animated short called “The Spirit of Christmas” (known as “Jesus vs. Frosty”). A second Christmas-inspired short film, known as “Jesus vs. Santa,” had its debut in 1995 and further built the team’s cult following.

In 2007, Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker, with the help of their lawyer, Kevin Morris, cut a sweetheart deal with Comedy Central: a 50-50 joint venture on all revenue not related to television. That meant the two men have had a huge stake in the all-important digital rights to “South Park” as well as movies, soundtracks, “Oh my God! They Killed Kenny!” T-shirts and other merchandise. That deal was said to be worth $75 million for the two men. Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker are at work on a second “South Park” video game.

Despite their goofy characters and collaborations, Mr. Stone said, “We’re closet responsible.” Of course, even with a couple of hits under their belts, nothing is foolproof. “We could fall flat on our faces,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/business/media/south-park-creators-to-start-company-important-studios.html?ref=media&_r=0

Winter TCA Tour Notes
Philip Roth & Mel Brooks Swap Stories, Talk Jewish Writers On PBS Panel
By The Deadline.com Team - Jan. 14, 2012

Diane Haithman is contributing to Deadline’s TCA coverage.

Two venerable creative forces held journalists enthralled for more than an hour and a half – no easy task – at today’s TCA PBS panel. Novelist Philip Roth, who turns 80 in March, and Mel Brooks, 86, are both subjects of upcoming American Masters documentaries this year (Philip Roth: Unmasked premieres March 29 and Mel Brooks: Make a Noise premieres May 20).

Mel Brooks showed up late, so the session began with Roth, speaking via satellite. Introducing the two artists, American Masters series creator and executive producer Susan Lacey said that the Roth documentary is the first film biography of Roth.

The two men spoke separately, but both addressed the issue of whether or not they considered themselves “Jewish” writers. Both said no. “I don’t write in Jewish, I write in American,” Roth said. He said he considers himself a “regionalist” when it comes to his work. “Bellow and Faulkner were regionalists, they write about the place they come from. So did Joyce,” said Roth. “I write about the locale I come from, and that particular locale was full of Jews, including me and my family.”

Brooks started out with a Jewish joke of sorts: “I’m not such a comedy giant, I’m 5-foot-6″, he said. “There are guys who aren’t as funny, but they’re taller.” He said growing up he once heard his mother talking to his friend about a woman leaving her husband. “She said: ‘How could she leave him? He was so tall,’ ” Brooks recounted. “This is the way Jews think.”

But on a more serious note, he agreed with Roth. “I think I missed the Jew boat by one generation,” he said. “When I worked in the Borscht Belt in the mountains, I spoke in English. A generation before me, they spoke in Yiddish,” he said. “I think it’s New York comedy, it is urban, it is sophisticated, it is street corner comedy.”

Roth was asked about his recent retirement, unofficially announced news in November. He said that the “announcement” came when he made the off-hand comment “I think I’m finished” to an interviewer for an obscure French magazine. “This obscure magazine got picked up in a barbershop or something, and mistranslated on Google. That was the beginning of the earthquake,” he said.

That being said, the author says retirement is “great so far. Every morning I get up, go to the kitchen, get a large glass of orange juice and then go back to bed for half an hour,” he said. “After that, I go back to bed for half an hour. I’m doing fine without writing. Someone should have told me about this earlier.”

As to why he agreed to participate in his first filmed bio, Roth said: “Time is running out, you know? If I didn’t do it now, when would I do it? I also put it off because nobody asked me ” he joked.

Brooks, on the other hand, is never one to shy away from attention, and he kept his audience in stitches when he showed up. “What do you want to know? I’ll tell you what I think is appropriate and what is none of your business,” he said.

Brooks spun showbiz tales too numerous to recount. Among them was trying to sell the movie The Producers to Lew Wasserman at Universal under its original title: Springtime For Hitler. “He said, I’ll do it, but not Hitler, Mussolini – he’s more likeable. -I said- ‘You don’t really get it.’ ” He said it was difficult to sell The Producers because it was so heavily plotted:”The secret of that movie was 10 minutes of exposition very early in the movie, it’s not really funny.” Despite that handicap, he said, he finally got the funding for it and “it was one of my very best movies.”

Another selling-a-movie story: Brooks described taking Young Frankenstein to Columbia Pictures. He said they were fighting about the price: The studio said $1.75 million; Brooks wanted $2 million. But the deal breaker for Columbia, he said, was that Brooks wanted to do the movie in black and white. According to Brooks, Columbia protested: “Peru just got color!”

The problem was solved when Fox executive Alan Ladd supported the black and white concept. So when Columbia nixed the idea, Brooks said, “we said all right, because we knew we had Fox, we knew we had Laddie.”

Brooks said that he was vindicated when Michel Hazanavicius, director of The Artist, last year’s Oscar winner for Best Picture, said he could not have done The Artist in black and white if Brooks had not done Young Frankenstein that way. “That’s praise from a very talented fella, indeed,” Brooks said.

In a more sober moment, Brooks declined to recount some of his favorite moments working with his late wife Anne Bancroft, saying it is “a little too painful and private.” He did tell the story of them singing “Sweet Georgia Brown” in Polish together in the film To Be Or Not to Be. “Anne diligently learned it in Polish,” he said. “I was very lucky for 45 years. It is difficult to go on, I can tell you, without her.”

Want more stories? Brooks joked: “I’ve got it all in my box set that just came out. It’s like 5½ hours.”

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/philip-roth-mel-brooks-swap-stories-talk-jewish-writers-on-pbs-panel-tca/

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Winter TCA Tour Notes
PBS Chief Says “No Negative Impact” From Elmo Scandal, Big Bump From Big Bird

PBS president Paula Kerger’s Q&A session with reporters at TCA included a lot of talk about Sesame Street. The pubcaster’s chief was asked about the show’s darker side: The controversy over former Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash, who resigned in November after accusations of having underage sex. “Elmo is larger than any individual; I have not seen any negative impact,” Kerger said today. “Time will tell; we will watch it very carefully.” Kerger reminded that the character of Kermit the Frog has survived the loss of original voice Jim Henson. As to casting a new Elmo, Kerger said that some of the series’ characters have multiple puppeteers and that there was already an effort underway to get some “additional help” for Elmo. She said she did not expect there would be any formal announcement of a new Elmo puppeteer.

Kerger also said Big Bird’s unlikely key role in the presidential election during the fall brought welcome attention to PBS. GOP candidate Mitt Romney’s pledge during the campaign to end federal funding for the big yellow bird’s home network became a rallying point for PBS defenders. The mention of Big Bird during the October 3 debate between Romney and Obama generated more than a quarter million tweets, and the next month about 1,000 marchers took part in the ‘Million Puppet March’ in Washington DC to save public broadcasting. Karger explained today that without federal funding about one-third of PBS stations would “go dark”, so the flap brought needed attention to the importance of public funding. “It was an opportunity to try to explain to a much wide audience, people on the Hill and the American people, who we are,” she said.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/pbs-elmo-scandal-paula-kerger-tca/

Winter TCA Tour Notes
CW weighs renewal odds: 'Supernatural,' 'Beauty,' more
By James Hibberd, EW.com's 'Inside TV' Blog - Jan. 13, 2012

What are the chances Supernatural, Beauty and the Beast, Hart of Dixie and other CW shows will return next season?

The network’s president Mark Pedowitz was asked about the renewal odds on several programs at the network’s press tour session in Pasadena on Sunday. Here’s what we learned:

– Supernatural. Firmly bullish. “We are pleased with how Wednesday night completely has worked out with Arrow being a bona fide hit and Supernatural actually gaining viewers back again. I think creatively the show’s in a great place and there’s always a good shot that that [a renewal] could happen.”

– Beauty and the Beast. Sounds very likely. “We’re very pleased in terms of where it’s going creatively,” he said. “It’s basically on par with Secret Circle in the fourth quarter with total viewers. We believe the show has a very long run in front of it. We’ve made no announcements about a second season. But based on the passion of the fans both on the E! Online and the People’s Choice Awards, we think we have something in this epic love story between Cat and Vincent.” But wait, a critic pointed out: The CW cancelled Secret Circle! “I believe the show has more growth potential [than Secret Circle] in terms of its creativity and because we’re centered around that love story,” the executive explained.

– 90210. No determination yet, but Pedowitz said fans won’t be left hanging on a series ending one way or another. “I’m a big believer in giving fans, as you can tell by what we did for One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl, of giving fans a very satisfactory conclusion between a retrospective and a satisfactory ending,” he said. “I think it’s something that we, as a television industry, need to do, because people who stick with a show for that period of time and invested that time deserve that sort of a gift.” Amen to that.

– Hart of Dixie. The executive was a bit tough to read on this one, but was generally positive. “One of our fun shows. It stands out there on a very tough Tuesday night. It has a very strong DVR presence and VOD, as well as online. Very pleased with the creative direction.”

– Nikita. Pedowitz sounded subdued (as, really, he should be, given the show’s performance). ” When we moved it to 8 o’clock [Fridays], it actually started to perform better … it’s performing on par to our expectation. I’m a fan of the show. Like the show. But again, it’s performing at par.”

Also: Pedowitz was asked about the Vampire Diaries spinoff that EW was among the first to break last week. No firm new details (he hasn’t seen the script yet), though the show will take full advantage of its New Orleans setting — including the use of voodoo.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/01/13/cw-renewal-odds/

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Winter TCA Tour Notes
'Battle Royale' TV show not happening at CW

You probably already figured this out. But The CW’s fleeting interest in the ultra-violent Japanese cult novel Battle Royale isn’t going to result in a show.

The CW’s president Mark Pedowitz previously reporters last year he’d “love” to do a series version of the Hunger Games-style novel, where a high school class is dropped on an island and forced to kill each other with various weapons (including guns). On Sunday at the network’s Pasadena press tour, Pedowitz said the single phone call he made inquiring about the book’s rights — a moved that was leaked to the press and blew up in the media — hasn’t amounted to anything.

“We were not able to do anything,” said Pedowitz, who noted his interest in the project predated the Colorado and Connecticut mass shootings. “We are not planning to do anything with Battle Royale … nothing occurred … there’s nothing to talk about … nothing happened.”

The network still has The Selection in the works, a project that’s been compared to Hunger Games, but lacks a violent edge. Pedowitz said the new script for The Selection just came in and it’s very well done, but obviously the network has not yet made its pilot picks.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/01/13/cw-battle-royale/

TV/Technology Notes
CBS Chief Leslie Moonves Involved in Decision to Revoke CES Award to Dish Network's Hopper
By Kimberly Nordyke, The Hollywood Reporter - Jan. 14, 2013

CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves signed off on a decision for its technology subsidiary CNET to re-vote its Best in CES Awards after Dish Network's set-top box Hopper With Sling took the top prize, a source confirms to The Hollywood Reporter.

Moonves, who didn't make the decision to revoke the award, nonetheless strongly supported the decision to pull the honor after CBS Corp. executives briefed him on the pending announcement, the source said. Moonves believes the technology puts CBS' business at risk, the source added.

News of the top office's involvement in the award snafu was reported Monday by the technology news site The Verge. As a result of the incident, CNET reporter Greg Sandoval tweeted Monday that he had resigned.

"I no longer have confidence that CBS is committed to editorial independence," he wrote.

CNET, whose staff votes on the award winners, posted a notice on its "Best of CES" web page last week that the device "was removed from consideration due to active litigation involving our parent company CBS Corp. We will no longer be reviewing products manufactured by companies with which we are in litigation with respect to such product."

CBS, along with NBC, ABC and Fox, are embroiled in litigation against Dish over the device, which allows viewers to skip commercials automatically. The networks have said that the device would undermine their business model and make it impossible for them to buy the content that attracts viewers, so it would literally destroy their business.

On Monday, technology news site The Verge broke the news that Hopper had actually been voted as best in show before the re-vote was forced.

CNET Reviews editor-in-chief Lindsey Turrentine confirmed that Monday in a post on the CNET site, writing that she and her management staff voted on the awards Wednesday and had already notified the winners when they got word of the legal conflict from CBS.

"All night and through to morning, my managers up and down CNET and I fought for two things: To honor the original vote and -- when it became clear that CBS Corporate did not accept that answer -- to issue a transparent statement regarding the original vote," she wrote. "Ultimately, we were told that we must use the official statement and that we must follow corporate policy to defer all press requests to corporate communications."

She added: "We were in an impossible situation as journalists. The conflict of interest was real -- a legal case can impact the bottom line of our company and introduce the possibility of bias -- but the circumstances demanded more transparency and not hurried policy."

Turrentine added that she and CNET senior vp/GM Mark Larkin told the staff "the only thing we were allowed to say, which was and is the truth as far as I know: That because of active litigation between CBS and Dish, we had to disqualify Dish and that the only fair thing to do in this new reality was to revote and inform Dish about what had happened. That is what we did."

According to The Verge, Larkin received that message directly from Moonves' office. As the site points out, Moonves has been very outspoken against Hopper, once telling investors: "If Hopper exists, we will not be in business with [Dish]."

It should be noted that the statement on CNET's site was later amended to note that the Hopper was "the original pick for best home theater and audio product and best of show."

CBS responded Monday with the following statement:

"CBS has nothing but the highest regard for the editors and writers at CNET, and has managed that business with respect as part of its CBS Interactive division since it was acquired in 2008. This has been an isolated and unique incident in which a product that has been challenged as illegal was removed from consideration for an award. The product in question is not only the subject of a lawsuit between Dish and CBS, but between Dish and nearly every other major media company as well. CBS has been consistent on this situation from the beginning, and, in terms of covering actual news, CNET maintains 100 percent editorial independence, and always will. We look forward to the site building on its reputation of good journalism in the years to come."

In her post, CNET Reviews editor-in-chief Turrentine apologized to the CNET staff and readers for not being able to override the original decision not to reveal that Hopper had won the first vote. She also noted that she "could have quit right then" but decided that would be the equivalent of "abandoning the ship" and chose to stay to "fight the fight from the other side."

Added Sandoval on Twitter after announcing his resignation: "CNET wasn't honest about what occurred regarding Dish is unacceptable to me. We are supposed to be truth tellers. Please know no one in News or Reviews editorial did anything wrong. I believe CNET's leaders are also honest but used poor judgement."

Sandoval, who spent seven years at CNET, previously wrote for the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.

Meanwhile, the Razer Edge tablet ended up taking best in show in the CES awards.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cbs-chief-leslie-moonves-involved-412448

Business Notes
OWN turnaround good news for Discovery, analyst says
By Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times' 'Company Town' Blog - Jan. 14, 2012

Improved ratings at OWN has Sanford C. Bernstein media analyst Todd Juenger bullish on Discovery Communications, which co-owns the cable channel with Oprah Winfrey.

In a Monday report, Juenger raised his target price for Discovery shares to $76 and pointed to OWN and smaller Discovery networks including Animal Planet, ID and Science as key reasons. Ratings for those networks are up.

Although those channels are still not nearly as popular as Discovery or TLC, Juenger notes that, "we feel much better about a company with a portfolio of a half-dozen solid networks as a opposed to a company of hyper-important flagship networks."

With regards to OWN, Juenger said it is becoming a "go-to destination for celebrity personalities to address PR issues." Indeed, Lance Armstrong is expected to come clean about doping in an interview with Winfrey on OWN on Thursday.

Part of the appeal of Discovery for Juenger is that most of its programming is low-cost unscripted fare. While content such as "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" on TLC may have limited long-term value, it is not nearly as expensive to produce as traditional sitcoms and dramas.

Interestingly though, while OWN is finding success with Winfrey's interviews and its own unscripted shows, it is pushing ahead into scripted shows via a production deal with Tyler Perry. Discovery is also working on its first scripted project -- a miniseries called "Klondike" about gold mining.

On Monday, Discovery was trading at $67.40.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-own-discovery-20130114,0,2707692.story

TV Sports/Nielsen Notes
Playoffs: Good but not as good as last year
NFL postseason ratings are down on CBS, Fox and NBC
By Toni Fitzgerald, Media Life Magazine - Jan. 14, 2013

The NFL postseason seems to be following the regular-season ratings trend.

Though viewership for the playoffs has been huge, it’s down from last season, just as it was during the regular season on CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN.

Ratings fell for three of four divisional playoff games over the weekend, one week after the wild card round of the playoffs saw viewership fall 2 percent.

The declining viewership is largely because last year’s games drew huge, often record, ratings.

Fox’s Saturday night game between the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers was off 9 percent, according to Nielsen, to an 18.7 household rating from a 20.6 for last year’s equivalent game between the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos, which was the highest-rated Saturday divisional game on any network in more than a decade.

Similarly, CBS’s Sunday afternoon game between the New England Patriots and Houston Texans was down by 13 percent, to a 23.8, from last year’s New York Giants-Green Bay Packers matchup, which drew a huge 27.4.

Last year’s game was the highest-rated divisional matchup on any network since 1997.

CBS saw strong ratings for Saturday afternoon’s double-overtime contest between the Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens, which averaged a 20.1, the best for an AFC divisional game in more than 25 years. But it was still down from the NFC game that aired in the timeslot last year, which averaged a 20.5.

The Broncos’ loss also knocked Peyton Manning, one of the game’s top ratings draws, out of the playoffs.

One game did see gains over last year. Fox’s Seattle Seahawks-Atlanta Falcons contest on Sunday was up 3 percent to a 21.3.

Even with Manning’s absence, the AFC still has a compelling matchup in next Sunday’s final on CBS. The Ravens and Patriots, old foes who have met before in the postseason, will play for a spot in the Super Bowl, which would be the sixth appearance in the big game for New England quarterback Tom Brady.

That matchup should draw very strong ratings unless one team pulls ahead early. Last year’s game, won by the Patriots, averaged 48.7 million total viewers in the early timeslot, the second-best for any AFC title game in 30 years.

The NFC matchup between the Falcons and 49ers is not as promising. The Falcons do not have a strong a national following, and the 49ers haven’t been to the Super Bowl in almost two decades, which has dampened their fan base’s enthusiasm.

Last year’s NFC championship averaged 57.6 million viewers in the primetime slot, third-best in history.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/playoffs-good-but-not-as-good-as-last-year/

Winter TCA Tour Notes
PBS On ‘Downton Abbey’ Schedule: “We’re Not Punishing Viewers”
By The Deadline.com Team - Jan. 14, 2012

Diane Haithman is contributing to Deadline’s TCA coverage.

PBS president Paula Kerger said today that the pubcaster has considered the idea of synching the U.S. broadcast schedule of its hit series Downton Abbey with the earlier British schedule on ITV, but so far it has not found that such a change would best suit the American viewers (she added that in Britain the show airs with commercials; in the U.S. it does not). The idea, she told critics during a PBS session at TCA, has been to avoid pitting Downton against the glut of new fall programming on U.S. networks and cable channels. She compared the experience to watching the Olympics: “People knew the outcome but watched them every night,” she said.

A questioner pointed out that American viewers accept the Olympic broadcast schedule but find it “annoying.” “We’re not punishing our viewers,” Kerger responded with a laugh. “At the end of the day, I want to make sure we are putting the series in a place where the most people can find it.”

Asked for her take on Downton Abbey’s formula for success, Kerger cited casting — in particular the “brilliant” choice of Maggie Smith “Can you imagine Downton Abbey without Maggie Smith?” she asked rhetorically. (She noted that casting is also a key to the success of another PBS hit, Sherlock). Kerger was quizzed about how casting changes on Downton might affect its continuing popularity: It has been announced that Dan Stevens will not return for a fourth season. While teasing that she would not provide plot spoilers, she said: “Casting evolves. I think with any series that runs over a period of some years, characters come in and out, actors have opportunities to do other things.” She said that losing characters could be offset by adding characters, such as Shirley MacLaine joining Downton for Season 3.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/downton-abbey-schedule-pbs-no-changes/

* * * *

Winter TCA Tour Notes
PBS To Air Newtown Tragedy Special Programming

PBS announced that it will respond to Newtown by airing a week of special programming February 18-22 focusing on December’s Connecticut school shooting. The “After Newtown” programming will begin each evening with a PBS Newshour report on topics raised by the tragedy. The series will include a Frontline special report in collaboration with The Hartford Courant profiling the shooter; a NOVA documentary about violence and the brain, a Need To Know report on the “ripple effects of the shooting incident”, and an update on political action surrounding gun control from Washington Week With Gwen Ifill.

PBS also said today during TCA that its three part-mystery series The Bletchley Circle will premiere April 21. The series, which aired in the UK in September 2012 on ITV, will run Sundays through May 5. The series, set in 1952, follows four women trained in intelligence work during WWII, who have returned to civilian life but are called back into duty after a series of murders targeting women.

Also, coming on the heels of the success of BBC’s Sherlock, the pubcaster said it will premiere How Sherlock Changed The World, a two-hour special about Sherlock Holmes. The show, which will examine the impact the fictional detective has had on the development of modern-day forensics, will premiere in the fall.

Other announcements: PBS will offer its second Online Film Festival beginning March 4, and will offer a multiplatform Independent Film Showcase this fall. Both will feature films from POV and ITVS’ Independent Lens.

The PBS series Latino Americans, a three-part, six-hour documentary series narrated by Benjamin Bratt, is set to air nationally in the fall.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/pbs-newtown-shooting-programming-february-18-22/

TV Notes
Shows Go On, Under New Proprietors
By Dave Itzkoff, The New York Times - Jan. 14, 2013

CULVER CITY, Calif. - Since he became the show runner of “Cougar Town” last spring, Ric Swartzlander does not often use his personal office at that comedy’s bungalow headquarters here, preferring to work alongside his colleagues in a shared writers’ room.

A visit to Mr. Swartzlander’s office in the fall suggested reasons he avoids it: its thin walls do not suppress the sounds of laughter (or singing) from other rooms; it is a frequently traveled path to a bathroom; and it is sparsely decorated, with few adornments other than a jar of pens and pencils left over from a previous regime.

“I ought to get rid of it,” Mr. Swartzlander said. “At the very least send the glass off to be washed.”

Yet for Mr. Swartzlander these inconveniences are more than fair trade for the top creative post at “Cougar Town,” which on Tuesday began its fourth season, after moving from ABC to uncertain basic-cable turf on TBS.

And while he arrives with the endorsement of the show’s creators, Bill Lawrence and Kevin Biegel, Mr. Swartzlander’s ideal situation at “Cougar Town,” an ensemble comedy about a divorcée (Courteney Cox) and her wine-sipping friends, is one in which no one notices his predecessors have left.

“I don’t care if anybody ever knows my name,” said Mr. Swartzlander, whose credits include unlamented comedies like “Samantha Who?” and “Man Up.” “Honestly the thing that worries me is whether or not anybody knows the difference — that it’s as consistent as the show has always been.”

These same circumstances are being repeated at several established series across the broadcast and cable networks, where their show runners — the people in charge of hiring, firing, budgeting, overseeing the writing and making the significant creative decisions — are leaving, sometimes by choice and sometimes not.

To their successors they bequeath popular programs with spelled-out rules, characters and formats — and often the understanding that their shows should continue to operate as if no change in leadership had occurred.

The incoming show runners accept such seemingly restrictive conditions, usually hoping that the success of their inherited series rubs off on their own résumés.

But these days new show runners face more scrutiny and pressure than ever, from savvy audiences that have become increasingly connected to the creators and producers of their favorite shows and who interpret these behind-the-scenes transitions as omens of doom.

“The reality of what we’ve stepped into we could not be prepared for,” said Moses Port, who took over as a show runner of the NBC comedy “Community” with his writing partner, David Guarascio, in May. “The rabid fans, you don’t know how rabid they are until you step into it.”

Mr. Guarascio and Mr. Port, who have written, produced and consulted on shows like “Happy Endings” and “Mad About You,” were vilified by part of the “Community” fan base when they took over from that comedy’s creator, Dan Harmon.

(Writing on his blog after he was let go by Sony Pictures Television, the studio that produces “Community,” Mr. Harmon said, “I’m not saying you can’t make a good version of ‘Community’ without me, but I am definitely saying that you can’t make my version of it unless I have the option of saying ‘it has to be like this or I quit’ roughly eight times a day.”)

Mr. Guarascio said he and Mr. Port faced “massive hesitation” about replacing Mr. Harmon at “Community,” about a group of misfit students at a community college and a show that has built a loyal following but struggled in the ratings over its first three seasons.

On the one hand, Mr. Guarascio said, the “hard part” of the show was done: “Dan really set down the rules for this universe, and everyone else has put their blood, sweat and tears into the show,” he said. On the other hand, the show’s devotees “are very protective,” he said, “and you want to do right by them.”

“It’s like, ‘Who are these new guys coming in?’ ” Mr. Guarascio said. “Wait, we’re the new guys.”

“Community” may be the most notorious case this season of a series changing show runners midstream, but it is hardly the only example. When “Smash,” the NBC comedy-drama about the making of a Broadway musical, returns in February, it will have replaced its creator, Theresa Rebeck, with Joshua Safran, a former producer of “Gossip Girl.” He is adding several characters, excising others and introducing new plotlines.

The NBC comedy “Whitney” changed show runners between its first and second seasons, and a similar switch is happening at that network’s “Up All Night,” whose creator is leaving, and which is moving from a single-camera to a multicamera format and adding a live audience.

Elsewhere the cable channel AMC has announced a change in show runners for a coming third season of its historical drama “Hell on Wheels.” And when it ordered a fourth season of its hit zombie-apocalypse thriller, “The Walking Dead,” in December, AMC said it was parting ways with the show runner Glen Mazzara, who had taken over from the original show runner, Frank Darabont. (AMC said the network and Mr. Mazzara had “a difference of opinion about where the show should go moving forward”; Mr. Mazzara said simply that he had “told the stories I wanted to tell and connected with our fans on a level that I never imagined.”)

Ken Levine, who, with his writing partner, David Isaacs, was a head writer on “M*A*S*H” and a creator and show runner of several other comedies, said these kinds of transitions were not unusual in television, and not necessarily bad signs for the health of a show.

Mr. Levine said that show runners leave because they want to pursue other projects, or they become burned out by the demanding job.

Citing a line he attributed to the “Happy Days” creator Garry Marshall, Mr. Levine said: “What good is all the money? You can’t spend it at Cedars” — that is, the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

What has changed over the years, Mr. Levine said, is that television viewers have become increasingly knowledgeable about the creators and producers of their favorite shows, from Steven Bochco (who helped create “Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law” and “NYPD Blue”) to David Chase (at HBO’s “Sopranos”) to Matthew Weiner (at AMC’s “Mad Men”).

In some cases a show runner is inseparable from the voice of a series. But given the huge costs needed to get a series off the ground and keep it afloat, the people backing it have compelling reasons to keep it going, even in the absence of these signature talents.

Mr. Levine said: “A network would say: ‘Yeah, even if the quality goes down, we have an investment. The show won’t be as good, but that’s not our big concern.’ ”

At the same time journeyman show runners can be valuable players at series they did not create. “Networks and studios can ill afford to have a show implode because the show runner isn’t organized, because the scripts aren’t ready, because the budgets are unrealistic,” Mr. Levine said. “If you get a reputation as being a good, professional show runner who can deliver the show on time, on budget, then you’re certainly a sought-after commodity.”

At “Community” Mr. Port and Mr. Guarascio were eager to prove they could maintain that show’s idiosyncratic spirit, though they stopped short of agreeing that theirs was essentially a caretaker role.

“Our mission is to keep the show what it was,” Mr. Guarascio said. “If that’s caretaking, then the answer is yes.” (In the weeks since Mr. Guarascio uttered those words the season premiere of “Community” was delayed to Feb. 7 from Oct. 19, and Chevy Chase left the series.)

As he moves on from “Cougar Town,” Mr. Lawrence, who also helped create shows like “Spin City” and “Scrubs,” said he saw Mr. Swartzlander as someone who was hungry and ambitious and not “necessarily a person that can cruise in and run a thousand other shows and, good or bad, just goes home at the end of the day.”

“The upside,” Mr. Lawrence said, “is that if Ric turns in a creatively respected show, and TBS likes working with him, it is going to catapult his career forward.”

Before he was offered the job of “Cougar Town” show runner, Mr. Swartzlander said, he had seen only a few episodes of the series. He was divorcing his wife and helping to raise their teenage daughters and not necessarily interested in the demands of being in charge of a series.

But after catching up with “Cougar Town” in weekend-long cram sessions, he said, he was ready to put his nose back to the grindstone and help execute other people’s creative visions.

“I know what my job is supposed to be, which is delivering Bill and Courteney and TBS what they want,” Mr. Swartzlander said. With a laugh, he added, “Going through a divorce, it’s really hard to hurt my feelings now.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/arts/television/cougar-town-and-community-with-new-leaders.html?ref=television

TV Sports
Stuart Scott battling cancer, praises Lance Armstrong
By Michael Hiestand, USA Today - Jan. 14, 2012

ESPN anchor Stuart Scott said on Monday that he will undergo more chemotherapy treatments for cancer.

On Twitter, the ESPN anchor said, "I'm back in the fight. C reared its head again. Chemo evry 2 weeks, but I'll still work, still work out."

Scott was not available for immediate comment. ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys said Scott "plans to continue to work the best he can around his treatments."

Scott also has some pretty strong feelings about Lance Armstrong.

In a word, he's "grateful." But it has nothing to do with the controversy swirling around the famed cyclist. Instead, it's about Scott's battles against cancer.

On the same day that Armstrong confessed to doping in a taped interview with Oprah Winfrey, Scott paid homage to Livestrong, the charity Armstrong founded to support cancer patients.

Asked how he feels about Armstrong now, Scott responded via Twitter that he felt "the same as before."

"I'm 1 of millions of (cancer) survivors he's helped. #grateful."

Scott fell ill in 2007 and underwent an emergency appendectomy during which doctors found a malignancy. He later underwent chemotherapy. At the time, doctors indicated they were confident they had removed the cancerous tissue. Scott said at the time that he's "not the type of guy to let this eat up my life."

In 2011, Scott announced on Twitter that he was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, but he did not disclose more details.

Armstrong, a cancer survivor himself, founded Livestrong in 1997. It provides cancer support services to help people cope with the financial, emotional and practical challenges that accompany the disease, according to the foundation.

Armstrong stepped down from the Livestrong board in October after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a huge file of evidence against him that said he used performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions to gain an edge in cycling. Previously, Armstrong denied it for years and attacked those who accused him of it.

Prior to his confession with Winfrey, which airs Thursday, Armstrong met with Livestrong staffers Monday and apologized to them for any hardship the controversy had caused them.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2013/01/14/stuart-scott-espn-cancer/1834995/

CES/Technology Notes
4K TVs Have Arrived—Now Where’s the Content?
By Carolyn Giardina, The Hollywood Reporter - Jan. 14, 2012

The expansive 2013 International CES that wrapped Friday in Las Vegas saw continued developments in smartphones and tablets, but 4K was the biggest buzz word among many of the attendees from the Hollywood community.

Stunning imagery generated from "Ultra HD" displays ranging from 55-inch to 110-inches dazzled CES attendees and are on the way to retail, but the steep price of the displays coupled with the challenges of delivering 4K to the home has numerous stakeholders betting that their adoption will be limited, at least for the foreseeable future.

The first 4K TVs—among them 84-inch displays from Sony and LG priced between $20,00-$25,000—are out of reach for many consumers, though the Consumer Electronics Association projects that the average wholesale cost of a 4K TV will drop from $7,000 in 2013 to $2,800 in 2014 and will continue to fall in 2015.

The production and delivery of a steady flow of 4K content—offering four times the amount of picture information that is found in today’s HD content—also needs to be addressed.

As a starting point, today Ultra HD TVs from certain set makers including Samsung, Sony and Toshiba include some sort of upscaling technology, allowing consumers to watch today’s HD in 4K whether it originates from anything including broadcast TV, streaming, downloads or Blu-ray. These developments alone might contribute to 4K TV sales.

But getting native 4K to the home is more technically challenging.

At CES, Sony previewed a media player for 4K content; the company plans to reveal details in the spring.

It could support, for example, content shot with 4K cameras, including upcoming features such as Sony’s After Earth, Sony/TriStar’s Elysium and Universal’s Oblivion. Other potential content includes productions that were mastered in 4K during postproduction, such as Skyfall or The Amazing Spider-Man.

Any content archived on film already offers high resolution, so 4K delivery also opens the door for classic films. Sony Pictures for instance has already restored and remastered in 4K a list of titles including Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai.

While consumers rely on upscaling, Sony is also planning for a “Mastered in 4K” Blu-ray program offering library and new titles sourced from 4K masters and presented at 1080p. “When upscaled via the Sony 4K Ultra HD TVs, these discs serve as an ideal way for consumers to experience near-4K picture quality,” Sony stated.

Numerous stakeholders agree that due to the bandwidth required to move 4K content, packaged media makes the most sense as a delivery format, at least for the time being. With that strategy in mind, the Blu-Ray Disc Association recently formed a task force that will study the technical requirements and market opportunity of bringing 4K support to the Blu-ray format.

Other organizations have shown interest in the potential of 4K and have started limited amounts of experimentation in other areas. Last week, satellite operator Eutelsat Communications launched a demonstration 4K channel for Europe. An experimental Ultra HD channel is also being planned in Korea.

BSkyB in the UK, Sky Deutschland in Germany, Japan’s Sky Perfect Jsat, and Brazil’s TV Globo have all started to explore the potential of 4K, which would include coverage of events such as sports. One insider told The Hollywood Reporter that a team from TV Globo was examining 4K at CES with an eye toward offering the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympics (both of which will be held in Brazil) in the format.

Beyond 4K, at CES Sharp demonstrated its prototype 85-inch 8K TV with a staggering 16 times the resolution of today’s HD. Last year, Japanese broadcaster NHK—which plans to skip 4K and go straight to 8K with its developing “Super Hi-Vision” system—teamed with the BBC to test 8K during the London Olympics. Super Hi-Vision trials are expected to begin in Japan no later than 2020.

There is currently a lot of attention being placed on studying the technical feasibility of Ultra HD delivery to the home, but stakeholders are examining all necessary parts of the equation that must come together, including standards and importantly a workable business model—and this is reflected in the comments of Bryan Burns, vp of strategic business planning and development at ESPN.

“By the time we get [to 4K] we will be on to 8K or whatever,” Burns warned during a panel discussion at CES. “I don’t want to make the capital investment [in 4K]. There might be a gradual evolution. … but I don't see us heading to 4K production or an ESPN 4K channel.”

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ces-2013-4k-tvs-wrap-412181

TV/Business Notes
Netflix Nabs Cartoon Network, Adult Swim Programs in Deal With Warner Bros.TV
By Greg Gilman, TheWrap.com - Jan. 14, 2012

Netflix's library of television titles continues to grow after reaching another exclusive licensing deal with the Warner Bros. Television Group.

Starting this spring, a variety of titles from Cartoon Network and Adult Swim will become available to subscribers, while a deal with Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. will bring seasons one and two of TNT's "Dallas" reboot to the streaming service in January 2014.

"We are delighted that Netflix will become the exclusive over-the-top streaming subscription destination for past seasons of favorite Cartoon Network and Adult Swim titles," Ted Sarandos, chief content officer of Netflix, said in a statement. "We're also thrilled to be able to offer the latest seasons of 'Dallas,' one of the greatest all-time guilty pleasures."

The latest deal between Netflix and Warner Bros. Television comes just a week after the two parties reached agreement to make programs like "The West Wing," "Chuck," "Fringe," "Political Animals" and eventually, "The Following" exclusively available on the streaming service.

Complete past seasons of Cartoon Network shows such as "Adventure Time," "Ben 10," "Regular Show" and "Johnny Bravo" will join Warner Bros. Animation's "Green Lantern" in the "Just for Kids" section of Netflix Instant on March 30. Adult Swim's "Robot Chicken," "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," "The Boondocks" and "Children's Hospital" will also become available at that time.

"We are thrilled to continue our great relationship with Netflix giving their subscribers access to more and more of our programming," Ken Werner, president of Warner Bros. domestic television distribution, added. "This represents another evolutionary step in the TV ecosystem working with Netflix, on the SVOD platform, to improve the consumer experience while being respectful of existing business models."

http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/netflix-nabs-cartoon-network-adult-swim-programs-deal-warner-bros-tv-73036

It will be on BDs for a long time, because it will take a long time just to switch out mpeg2 for 4 or whatever comes after that. Given the massive installed base of TVs, STBs, DVRs etc. that can only handle mpeg2 either OTA or via cable, it might even have to wait until IP delivery takes over for everything except satellite.

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

Nielsen Overnights (18-49)
CBS surges to season best on Monday
Posts top rating on the night for this season, a 3.3
By Toni Fitzgerald, Media Life Magazine - Jan. 15, 2013

CBS had its best Monday night of the season yesterday, driven by season highs for “How I Met Your Mother” and “2 Broke Girls.”

The network averaged a 3.3 rating and 8 share on the night, according to Nielsen, a season best on the evening.

“Mother” led off the night with a 3.8 at 8 p.m., up 12 percent from its most recent original outing on Dec. 17.

“Girls” also hit a season high, 4.1, 17 percent better than its most recent original, while lead-out “Mike & Molly” averaged a 3.5, up 6 percent and tying its second-best number this year.

In a reminder of how strong the show has become, an 8:30 repeat of “The Big Bang Theory” averaged a 3.6, easily winning the timeslot.

Meanwhile, the much-hyped premiere of the new CW drama “The Carrie Diaries” drew 1.6 million viewers at 8 p.m., becoming the network’s most-watched show in the slot since May of 2011. Its demo ratings were unimpressive, averaging a 0.7 in adults 18-34 and a 0.6 in 18-49s, but the CW usually sees big DVR viewership for its shows in those demos.

Elsewhere last night, ABC’s “The Bachelor” grew by 4 percent over last week’s debut to a 2.4 in 18-49s from 8 to 10 p.m. It tied its reality competition in the timeslot, NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” which was flat to last week with a 2.4.

At 10 p.m., the new show “Deception” tumbled 20 percent from last week’s debut, from a 2.0 to a 1.6.

On Fox, the network posted its best Monday of the season as well with back-to-back episodes of “Bones,” which both averaged a 2.1.

CBS led the night among 18-49s with a 3.3 average overnight rating and an 8 share. ABC was second at 2.2/6, NBC and Fox tied for third at 2.1/5, Univision was fifth at 1.7/4, Telemundo sixth at 0.6/2 and CW seventh at 0.5/1.

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-six percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

At 8 p.m. CBS was first with a 3.7 for “Mother” (3.8) and a repeat of “Bang” (3.6), followed by ABC with a 2.4 for “Bachelor.” NBC was third with a 2.2 for “Loser,” Fox fourth with a 2.1 for “Bones,” Univision fifth with a 1.7 for “Por Ella Soy Eva,” and CW and Telemundo tied for sixth at 0.6, CW for “Carrie” and Telemundo for “Rosa Diamante.”

CBS was first again at 9 p.m. with a 3.8 for “Girls” (4.1) and “Molly” (3.5), while NBC moved to second with a 2.5 for more “Loser.” ABC was third with a 2.4 for more “Bachelor,” Fox fourth with a 2.1 for another hour of “Bones,” Univision fifth with a 1.9 for “Amores Verdaderos,” Telemundo sixth with a 0.6 for “La Patrona” and CW seventh with a 0.4 for a re-airing of “Carrie.”

At 10 p.m. CBS led with a 2.4 for “Hawaii Five-0,” with ABC second with a 1.9 for “Castle.” NBC was third with a 1.6 for “Deception,” Univision fourth with a 1.4 for “Amor Bravio” and Telemundo fifth with a 0.6 for “Pablo Escobar: El Patron del Mal” (0.7) and “El Rostro de la Venganza” (0.5).

CBS was also first for the night among households with a 6.7 average overnight rating and a 10 share. ABC was second at 5.2/8, Fox third at 4.8/7, NBC fourth at 3.5/5, Univision fifth at 2.0/3, CW sixth at 0.8/1 and Telemundo seventh at 0.7/1.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/cbs-surges-to-season-best-on-monday/

TV Notes
Apple To Offer Three ‘Downton Abbey’ Episodes On iTunes Ahead Of PBS Broadcast
By Nancy Tartaglione, Deadline.com - Jan. 15, 2012

At a TCA panel yesterday, PBS president Paula Kerger said, “We’re not punishing our viewers.” The comment was made with regard to the lag time between when Downton Abbey airs on the UK’s ITV and in the U.S. on PBS. Well, here’s good news for folks who can’t get enough fast enough of the Crawley clan – and for those trying to avoid the spoilers that have been whizzing around the Web. Apple said yesterday that North American subscribers to iTunes who purchase a season pass for the show will get a jump on the last three episodes of season three before they air on PBS. The episodes, including the special season finale which airs on February 17, will be available for download on iTunes beginning January 29. The period drama’s second season was the best-selling TV series on iTunes last year and the exclusive season three Downton preview is said to be a first for the company.

Season three’s regular run ended in the UK in November with a special episode on Christmas Day. It was the highest-rated of the show’s seasons so far and when it began airing on PBS on January 6, it pulled in 7.9M viewers, almost doubling the season two PBS premiere. ITV has ordered a fourth season of the show with filming to kick off next month. Whether there’s more in store beyond that likely won’t be known until the end of the year, although PBS Masterpiece executive producer Rebecca Eaton recently told me, “I hope it goes forever. As long as Julian (Fellowes) can lift a pen, I hope it continues.”

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/apple-preview-offer-final-3-downton-abbey-episodes-itunes-before-pbs-broadcast/

TV Notes
Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah to air over two nights
By Sandra Gonzalez, EW.com's 'Inside TV' Blog - Jan. 15, 2012

Oprah Winfrey’s much-anticipated interview with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong will air over two nights instead of one, starting Jan. 17, Winfrey’s OWN network announced today.

The move comes as curiosity over the contents of the interview continues, and Winfrey herself went on CBS This Morning Tuesday and confirmed that Armstrong confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs during their sitdown in Austin, Texas. However, she added, “he did not come clean in the manner I expected.”

“It was surprising to me. I would say that for myself, my team, all of us in the room, we were mesmerized by some of his answers,” she added.

Armstrong’s episode of Oprah’s Next Chapter will air Thursday, Jan. 17 from 9-10:30 p.m. ET, and Friday, Jan.18 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The interview will be simultaneously streamed live worldwide both nights on Oprah.com.

This is Armstrong’s first televised interview since the seven-time Tour de France champ was stripped of his titles and endorsement deals upon allegations of doping.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/apple-preview-offer-final-3-downton-abbey-episodes-itunes-before-pbs-broadcast/

Winter TCA Tour Notes
Ken Burns tells story of 'Central Park Five'
By Gary Levin, USA Today - Jan. 14, 2012

In April 1989, a woman jogging in New York's Central Park was brutally beaten and raped.

The incident sparked a public outcry over random, senseless violent acts, popularized the term "wilding" and raised calls for New York to reinstate the death penalty. Five Latino and black teenagers were caught. Under duress and without lawyers, they confessed, were convicted and served a decade in prison. Except they were innocent: Another man, imprisoned rapist Matias Reyes, confessed in 2002, and his DNA later linked him to the crime.

Sarah Burns, the daughter of documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, was six at the time of the incident, but used it as the basis for her undergraduate thesis about racism and media coverage. Later, her outrage led her to drop plans to attend law school and instead to write a book on the five wrongly accused teenagers. She and her father collaborated on a two-hour documentary, The Central Park Five, that has played film festivals, was released in theaters in November and will be seen on PBS April 16, nearly 24 years after the incident.

"I couldn't really let it go," she says. "There was so much more to the story. This was a story about human dignity, what had happened to these men and how it happened."

Ken Burns says the media was at fault both in 1989 and when the five were cleared of the crime after they had already served their sentences. (The five have filed a $250 million civil suit against New York City, which has resisted a settlement and unsuccessfully sought to subpoena the outtakes from the film.)

"The press is so complicit in the original bias of the story that (even) when exoneration came, they weren't willing to accept their culpability in this," he says. "Most press shrunk from the mea culpa that the case deserved."

Sarah Burns says neither police nor press cooperated in making the film.

That "made us be more skeptical, and to not trust the media," says Raymond Santana Jr., one of the accused. Their words were largely unheard, apart from their false confessions, so the film "was the perfect opportunity to put our voices out there … and present ourselves as human beings." (One of the five, Antron McCray, refused to appear on camera but is heard in voiceover.)

Santana says supportive responses to film-festival screenings has been "therapeutic." Even after Reyes was identified, "I was very much in denial," Santana says. He assumed the district attorney would "sweep it under the rug."

Ken Burns argues that police "ignored exculpatory evidence. Once they decided the five had done it, they plowed toward that" with singlemindedness, and coerced the confessions. For the media and the public, "this was the apotheosis of crime in New York City. It was a fantastic narrative because it fit in with all of their worst fears. So rather than question anything, we permitted this improbable story of five kids who'd never been in trouble before, and that's what made them vulnerable. No cop, no prosecutor, and no reporter challenged it."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2013/01/14/central-park-five-pbs/1834187/

TV Review
‘Real Husbands of Hollywood,’ amusing
BET show's title would seem to promise a spoof of 'Wives' shows
By Tom Conroy, Media Life Magazine - Jan. 15, 2013

Labels are important. People who think they’re being served chicken when they have a sandwich made with Chicken of the Sea are in for an unpleasant surprise. But if they know they’re getting tuna, it’s fine.

BET’s new series “Real Husbands of Hollywood,” starring the comedian Kevin Hart, is seriously mislabeled. Viewers expecting a parody of Bravo’s “Real Housewives” franchise will be disappointed. But as a black knockoff of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” the show is like a tuna sandwich: nothing special, but satisfying enough.

Premiering tonight at 10, “Real Husbands” stars Hart as himself, a Los Angeles-based comedian with a lot of showbiz friends. Also appearing in the show are the rapper Nelly, the actors Boris Kodjoe and Duane Martin, the comedians J.B. Smoove and Nick Cannon and the singer Robin Thicke.

Most of the stars are married to actresses or singers. The show opens at a kids’ party at the huge home of Nick Cannon, who points out to Hart that he bought the house himself, before he married Mariah Carey. Hart, who is divorced, says that he would never remarry, unless it was to Carey, or to Kodjoe’s wife, Nicole Ari Parker, or to Thicke’s wife, Paula Patton. Patton, by the way, is the only one of the wives who appears in the premiere episode, and she’s shot from a distance.

“Real Husbands” fails to fulfill the promise of its title: that it will skewer the ripe-for-parody “Real Housewives” shows and their imitators. Like those shows, “Real Husbands” is full of pointless arguments and trash-talking sound bites, but they don’t capture the futility and stupidity of the originals. Many other potential targets for satire survive unscathed.

The show functions better as a looser “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” a semi-improvised sitcom with Hart playing the Larry David role of a showbiz figure who can’t stop himself from wading into awkward situations. In the opening scene, he criticizes a pie baked by Cannon’s young nephew, who promptly kicks Hart in a sensitive area.

In the second half of the episode, Hart hosts a poker game at his house, which he says is “a wife-free zone.” The others have invited Thicke to play. Hart lets him stay because Patton is going to return to pick him up.

Thicke wins all the money, tells long anecdotes about snowboarding with Mick Jagger and brags about playing poker with Prince. When the fed-up Hart throws him out, Thicke gets everyone to head over to Prince’s house.

Although none of the lines or situations are knee-slappers, the performers all seem to be relaxing and having a good time. J.B. Smoove, a recurring character on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” is particularly charming.

One of the favorite clichés of “Real Housewives” cast members is “People either love me or hate me.” People won’t love or hate “Real Husbands of Hollywood,” but it’s likable enough.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/real-husbands-of-hollywood-amusing/

which is Why I feel no need at the moment to jump on the 4K bandwagon by buying a new 4K display. When content , content providers,Sat/cable companies, media & output devices finally catch up to broad use of 4k by then the prices will fall on the 4K displays .... sounds like a win - win for myself as I sit & wait

It depends on how much youre really into it.

You can have the 4K set upscale what your watching & while it isnt true 4K it should still be better than 1080p.
Kinda like how non 3D stuff you can have your 3DTV do a 2D to 3D conversion & while it obviously wont look as good as true 3D alot of things especially blurays do look cool that way.

So Fosters a lez & Armstrongs a doper ?? if i next find out that water is wet then that will just totally blow my mind this week.

Yea thats really the problem in that the last few years have been insanely high its impossible to keep improving on them.
Even the super bowl up until 2009 had never broke 150,000,000 total viewers but now the last 4 have all beaten that including last years record 166,800,000.

TV Notes
‘The Killing’ to Live Again on AMC
By Dave Itzkoff, The New York Times' 'Arts Beat' Blog - Jan. 15, 2013

In one of the more surprising turns of events for a show known for outlandish plot twists, the cable network AMC announced Tuesday that it had made a deal with Fox Television Studios to produce a third season of “The Killing,” which the channel had said last summer it was canceling.

“The Killing,” a crime drama adapted from the Danish series “Forbrydelsen,” drew early praise for its stylish debut season in 2011 — praise that turned into frustration and criticism of its show runner, Veena Sud, when the resolution of the central murder mystery was put off until Season 2.

AMC said in a statement on Tuesday that the lead performers, Mireille Enos (who plays the homicide detective Sarah Linden) and Joel Kinnaman (who plays her partner, Stephen Holder), will return for Season 3, as will Ms. Sud, who will remain the show runner. The network said the coming season “will focus on a new case, which will be resolved over the course of 12 episodes,” and that production will begin in Vancouver on Feb. 25.

The channel went on to further describe Season 3: “A year after closing the Rosie Larsen case, Sarah Linden is no longer a detective. But when her ex-partner Stephen Holder’s search for a runaway girl leads him to discover a gruesome string of murders that connects to a previous murder investigation by Linden, she is drawn back into the life she thought she’d left behind.”

In July, AMC said that it was canceling “The Killing,” as viewership for the show declined from an average of about 2.2 million viewers in its first season to just under 1.6 million in the second. Fox Television Studios said then that it would “proceed to try to find another home for the show,” and reports surfaced in the months following that it was talking to other broadcast partners, including Netflix, the streaming video service. On Tuesday people familiar with the discussions said the talks with Netflix were continuing.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/15/the-killing-to-live-again-on-amc/?ref=television

TV Notes
‘Happy Endings’ & ‘Don’t Trust’ Pulled From Sunday But ’666 Park Ave’ Not Returning
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - Jan. 15, 2013

ABC’s comedies in the Sunday 10 PM hour experiment was short lived. The network had scheduled new episodes of Happy Endings and Don’t Trust The B—- In Apt. 23 from 10-11 PM on Sunday on January 6, 13 and 20. But after two low-rated airings, ABC is taking the comedies, which continue to air on Tuesday, off Sunday. To make room for the extra airings of Happy Endings and Apt. 23 on Sunday, ABC pulled cancelled freshman drama 666 Park Ave, which was to continue in the Sunday 10 PM time slot until it finishes its 13-episode run.

The comedies are now gone from Sundays permanently but fans of 666 Park Ave shouldn’t get their hopes up — ABC won’t be bringing the spooky drama back to the hour either. Instead, a Shark Tank rerun will air at 10 PM this coming Sunday, with a decision on future substitutes TBA. ABC has a Hallmark movie scheduled for January 27, will air Modern Family repeats on Feb. 3 and is yet to book February 10 and 17. The Academy Awards air on February 24, followed by the premiere of midseason drama Red Widow, which will take over the Sunday 10 PM slot the following Sunday.

In the second of their two Sunday outings last week, Happy Endings matched a series low in 18-49 with a 1.0/2, while Apt. 23 hit a series low of 0.8/2. The comedies will continue to air originals of the comedies in their Tuesday 9-10 PM slot until ABC phases out its Tuesday comedy block in March. That would leave five unaired episodes of Happy Endings and one of Apt. 23 whose future is unclear.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/happy-endings-dont-trust-pulled-from-sunday-but-666-park-ave-not-returning/

... which is why I watch Al Jazeera English, where all of the news is "actual news".


(Note to FOX fans: don’t even think about it… lest I should feel obliged to repost stories about what Fox News Sunday did when FOX last aired the Super Bowl.

Google is a wonderful thing, and I can find those stories faster than Jon Stewart can find video clips.)

Well said!

TV Notes
'Drop Dead Diva' Canceled by Lifetime
By Tim Kenneally, TheWrap.com - Jan. 15, 2013

"Drop Dead Diva" has been dropped.

The series has been canceled by Lifetime after four seasons, the last of which ended in September.

An individual familiar with the situation told TheWrap that the cost of producing the series had become prohibitive, and that Lifetime had approached Sony Pictures Television, which produced the series, about coming up with creative ways to keep the series on the air, apparently to no avail.

Ratings-wise, the series had performed well. In combination with "Army Wives," "Drop Dead Diva" helped push Lifetime to the number one cable position on Sundays from 9 to 11 p.m. among the women 25-54 demographic last year.

"Drop Dead Diva" revolved around a shallow model who dies in a car crash and comes back to life in the body of a recently deceased lawyer who had led an altruistic life. Brooke Elliott, Margaret Cho and Jackson Hurst starred on the series.

Deadline first reported the news of "Drop Dead Diva"'s cancelation.

http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/drop-dead-diva-canceled-lifetime-73251

Winter TCA Tour Notes
Jeremy Piven on his return to TV as shopping pioneer Harry Selfridge
By Laura Hertzfeld, EW.com's 'Inside TV' Blog - Jan. 15, 2013

With its biggest hit show Downton Abbey in full swing on air this winter, PBS is looking to Mr. Selfridge, which is shaping up to be a hit across the pond on ITV, to continue to bring in the viewers come spring. A far cry from his famous portrayal as talent agent Ari Gold on HBO’s Entourage, Jeremy Piven goes back a hundred years or so to play Harry Selfridge, an American businessman who founded the famous Selfridge’s department store in London.

Piven told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena that while he was not thinking TV would be his next move, Mr. Selfridge was the right project. “There was no way to not do this, really,” he said. “Being on Masterpiece is like telling a Jewish mother you’re going to be a doctor. I’ve made it.”

While the show has not yet been renewed for a second season – and won’t air the first until March 31 here in the U.S. – prospects for season 2 are looking good.

Writer and showrunner Andrew Davies told reporters he’s already written part of the second season on spec. “We should hear very soon,” Davies said. “It’s done such good numbers in the U.K. that I’m very confident.”

The show follows the life and loves of Harry Selfridge, who pioneered department store design and customer service. He is attributed to famous slogans like “the customer is always right.” The fictionalized show is based on the non-fiction biography of Selfridge, Shopping, Seduction, and Mr. Selfridge by Lindy Woodhead.

As a midwesterner, Piven said he grew up going to famous Chicago department store Marshall Fields, where Selfridge got his start. . “We have a history with that place. He [Selfridge] made Marshall Fields what it is today. He saw it as theater. He loved P.T. Barnum, he was a performer.”

Piven’s costar, British actress Zoe Tapper, plays Selfridge’s mistress, and says she sees the shopping experience portrayed in Mr. Selfridge as one of new freedoms for women at the time. ”It was quite an empowering scenario for them. It was a time of a lot of change, and Harry was the man to embrace that change and run with it,” Tapper said.

But the making of the show itself – most of which is shot in a warehouse in London — does seem to bring out the Ari Gold in Piven. When asked about the differences between making a show in the U.S. compared to in London, Piven said the British “just get it done.” “They do something that’s insanely magical – they get all of their work done in 12 hours. That’s just the way they work. We had to do a scene together and I remember we had 28 minutes to rehearse it shoot it and finish it.”

Mr. Selfridge airs March 31 through May 19 on PBS.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/01/15/jeremy-piven-mr-selfridge/

TV Notes
Shane Brennan's Private-Eye Drama Lands Series Order at TNT
By Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Live Feed' Blog - Jan. 15, 2013

TNT has a new legal duo joining its roster.

The network handed out a series order Tuesday for 10 episodes of the untitled private-eye drama (previously known as King and Maxwell) from NCIS executive producer Shane Brennan.

The hourlong effort, which will premiere in the summer, revolves around crime novelist David Baldacci's characters Sean King (The Closer's Jon Tenney) and Michelle Maxwell (X-Men's Rebecca Romijn) and is based on his best-selling novels. Sean and Michelle are ex-Secret Service agents who have unique skill sets that give them an upper hand on suspects and law enforcement.

The drama hails from CBS Television Studios and Shane Brennan Productions, with Brennan on board to executive produce alongside Karen Spiegel (Absolute Power) and Grant Anderson (Third Watch). Baldacci will consult.

The Brennan drama joins Frank Darabont's upcoming L.A. Noir, David E. Kelley's Monday Mornings and returning series including Rizzoli & Isles, Southland, Dallas, Perception, Major Crimes, Franklin and Bash and Falling Skies at the network.

With the series order, Brennan will have three dramas on the air and the potential for a fourth, with CBS plotting a spinoff of NCIS: LA, which is in contention for next season.

The TNT drama was one of three pilots the Turner-owned cable network ordered in September and originally was set up at CBS.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/shane-brennans-crime-drama-lands-412741