Hot Off The Press: The Latest TV News and Information - Page 2837

TV Notes
USA Network To Air ‘Schindler’s List’ On February 23 With Intro By Steven Spielberg
By the Deadline.com - Feb. 6, 2013

Schindler’s List will air on USA Network at 8 PM Saturday, February 23 as part of USA’s public service campaign Characters Unite, a program created to promote greater tolerance and acceptance. It will be presented commercial-free with a personal introduction by director Steven Spielberg. The broadcast is in commemoration of USA’s third Character Unite month and coincides with the film’s 20th anniversary.

“Without question, Schindler’s List is one of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen,” NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Chairman Bonnie Hammer said today in a statement. “It’s the ultimate example of the profound difference an individual can make when he takes a stand against hate and intolerance.”

The Oscar-winning film tells the true story of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson). Initially a member of the Nazi party, the Catholic Schindler risks his career and life to save over 1,100 Jews in his factory during the Holocaust. The February 23rd broadcast also happens to be on the eve of the Academy Awards, in which Spielberg’s latest film Lincoln is a leading contender with 12 nominations.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/usa-network-to-air-schindlers-list-on-february-23-with-intro-by-steven-spielberg/

TV/Business Notes
Time Warner to increase original programming on TNT and TBS
By Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times - Feb. 6, 2013

Time Warner plans to dramatically boost the amount of original programming on its TBS and TNT cable channels.

In a call with analysts Wednesday morning to discuss the media giant's fourth quarter and year-end results, Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes said TBS and TNT would increase the number of episodes for its original shows by more than 40%.

The move comes as Time Warner prepares to ask pay-TV distributors for hefty increases in license fees to continue carrying the two channels. Bewkes has said he expects double-digit growth in subscription fees from the Turner channels, which also include CNN.

TNT has struggled lately. On Monday, its new medical drama "Monday Mornings" premiered to very disappointing ratings.

"We have more work to do," Bewkes said of TNT.

Perhaps in anticipation of News Corp.'s plans to launch as many as two national sports channels in the coming years, Bewkes also noted TBS and TNT have deals with Major League Baseball and NCAA and NBA basketball. The Turner channels, he said, have the "strongest lineup of national sports rights than any other network other than ESPN."

Bewkes ducked a question about whether there will be more executive changes at Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. unit in the wake of home entertainment head Kevin Tsujihara being tapped as the successor for Barry Meyer as chief executive of the Burbank movie and television studio.

Also in the running for the job at Warner Bros. was TV executive Bruce Rosenblum and movie chief Jeff Robinov. There has been speculation that one or both may bolt because they were passed over in favor of Tsujihara.

"Kevin will be a great leader," Bewkes said. He added praise for Rosenblum and Robinov, but also noted there is a solid bench of executives under both of them. "We've got a really strong next generation." Bewkes has been criticized in some circles for his handling of the Meyer transition, which played out over two years and created a lot of tension at Warner Bros.

Bewkes also downplayed speculation the studio is at risk of losing its relationship with production and financing outfit Legendary Entertainment, which has become a source of hit movies, including "The Dark Knight" and "The 300." Legendary's deal with Warner Bros. is up at the end of the year.

"There is not contentiousness, there is problem-solving going on," he said, before adding "we're confident in our ability to generate a robust slate of films regardless of Legendary."

For the fourth quarter of 2012, profits rose at Time Warner by 51% to $1.17 billion compared to $773 million for the same period in 2011. Revenue for the quarter was flat at $8.2 billion. Struggles at Time Inc., which is cutting its staff by 6%, led to a $60-million charge at that unit.

Time Warner's cable programming unit saw a 5% increase in revenue to $3.7 billion for the quarter. Subscription fees were up 7% and ad revenue improved by 3%. At Warner Bros., revenue fell 4% to $3.7 billion. The fourth quarter of 2012 included the home entertainment release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2."

Time Warner also said it would buy back $4 billion in stock in 2013. Last year, it bought back $3.3 billion of its stock.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-time-warner-original-programming-on-tnt-and-tbs-20130206,0,4965221.story

TV Review
Same Classroom, New Curriculum
‘Community’ Returns on NBC, Without Dan Harmon, Its Creator
By Mike Hale, The New York Times - Feb. 7, 2013

One of the many reasons to watch the first three seasons of “Community,” the fiercely quirky and unapologetically smart NBC sitcom, was that you actually had to watch it. Every offhand remark, every reaction shot, every bit of physical business communicated something (usually something funny). More than any other show in prime time it demanded that you pay attention.

The sad simulacrum of “Community” that checks in Thursday for Season 4 makes no such claim on your concentration. Send a few e-mails, look at the television, order a pizza, look back at the TV. You won’t miss anything important, because there’s nothing important to miss.

Dan Harmon, the man who created “Community” and its misfit collection of community-college study partners, was cut loose after last season, a victim of low ratings — the series averaged four million viewers and finished 144th among prime-time shows — and of having a reputation for being difficult to work with. Rather than cancel the show, which finished a more encouraging 102nd in the crucial 18-to-49 demographic, NBC handed it to a new pair of producers, David Guarascio and Moses Port. Replacing an original show runner has been in vogue lately, and it’s not by definition a bad thing. “The Walking Dead” did fine when Frank Darabont was replaced by Glen Mazzara (who has since been replaced as well), and the jury is still out on “Smash” after Theresa Rebeck’s departure. But with “Community” the drop-off looks startling.

The show has been dumbed down, its humor broadened past recognition, and the two episodes provided for review — Thursday’s season premiere, “History 101,” and the Feb. 21 entry, “Conventions of Space and Time” — have fewer laughs between them than a single good scene from the old “Community.” (If you’re not already a fan of Seasons 1, 2 and 3, you can see for yourself online at Hulu, Amazon Instant Video, iTunes or Vudu.)

“History 101,” reintroducing the series after the highly publicized contentiousness surrounding Mr. Harmon’s departure, is busy enough to distract you for a while from the new lack of substance. The study group arrives to start its final year in school, and the high-strung Abed (Danny Pudi) is so freaked out by events that he keeps retreating into his mind, where he imagines several alternate TV shows starring his friends.

There’s a metaphor here for the tribulations of “Community” itself — we’re told that “Abed was having some anxiety about all the changes this year” — and when one of the shows Abed imagines is a lamebrained laugh-track sitcom, it reads as Mr. Guarascio and Mr. Port’s winking assurance to the audience that it’s not as bad as all that.

It’s not good, though. Exactly one line in the episode — when the louche college dean played by Jim Rash is told he smells like the floor of a movie theater and he replies, “Yeah, but not for the usual reasons” — sneaks up on you the way the old show’s writing always did.

A tossed-off sendup of “The Hunger Games” evokes Mr. Harmon’s fondness for pop-culture homage but is otherwise pointless. The new show is also louder (Mr. Harmon’s version was surprisingly quiet for a sitcom) and visually blander, with a heavy reliance on close-ups.

The title “History 101” ties the episode to the Season 3 opener, “Biology 101,” but that’s not a comparison the show’s new minders should be encouraging. Like them Mr. Harmon had a statement to make: Flouting criticism that his humor was too obscurantist and pop culture obsessed, he began the season with a hilarious — as well as dynamic and tuneful — production number that proclaimed, “We’re going to have more fun and be less weird than the first two years combined.” Fortunately, he didn’t mean it.

“Biology 101” was also the episode in which Britta (Gillian Jacobs) introduced Abed to “Inspector Spacetime” (a thinly veiled copy of “Doctor Who”), telling him, “It’s a British sci-fi show that’s been on the air since 1962.” So fans of the old “Community” may be puzzled by the Feb. 21 episode, largely set at an “Inspector Spacetime” convention, in which Britta seems to be learning about the show for the first time, asking, “Wow, there are 50 years of these, huh?”

It’s a small detail, but those matter in a show like “Community,” and not remembering or caring is another break of faith.

Which comes back to the idea of paying attention. The world of libraries and classrooms and off-campus apartments that Mr. Harmon created was highly detailed and fully realized, as were the crackpots and misanthropes who inhabited it. They might have been nut cases who negotiated reality through bad puns and movie references, but they were substantial and complex nut cases. In the new season they’ve been flattened and, especially in a story line in which Annie (Alison Brie) imagines marrying the bad boy Jeff (Joel McHale), sentimentalized. Also, they’re just not very funny.

There’s no reason Mr. Guarascio and Mr. Port should be expected to reproduce Mr. Harmon’s style or sensibility. And their assignment wasn’t easy. Taking over a quirky comedy like “Community” is probably more difficult than taking over a more formulaic drama — hourlong shows from “NYPD Blue” to “NCIS” to “The Walking Dead” have survived changes in show runners, and even thrived. Being asked to take a show with a distinctive, delicate chemistry and increase its audience is definitely a more difficult proposition than being asked to maintain an already highly rated franchise.

But the changes in “Community” feel like a total surrender. What the new episodes often resemble is the type of post-“Friends” sitcom that is defined by a jokey solipsism, in which the humor comes not from anything we’d recognize as real life but from the barely distinguishable characters’ constant battle to one-up one another. As it happens, Mr. Guarascio and Mr. Port worked together on one of those shows, “Happy Endings.”

The self-reflexiveness of the season premiere, with its “changes” theme, continues in the Feb. 21 episode, which includes an odd sequence in which Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) and the contrarian Pierce (Chevy Chase, who has said this is his last season) are in a focus group discussing an American remake of “Inspector Spacetime.” Pierce favors dumbing down, saying, “It’s funny because it’s clear.” Given Mr. Chase’s public unhappiness in the past with his character and the show in general, that’s some sort of in joke, though it’s not clear who’s the target.

Shirley, meanwhile, argues for sensitivity: “It’s smart, complicated and doesn’t talk down to its audience, so if you’d like to make a really good American version, you should stay true to that.” How should a “Community” fan read that: apology or taunt?

Apparently the new producers know what we want, but they won’t, or can’t, give it to us.

COMMUNITY
Thursday at 8 p.m. on NBC

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/arts/television/community-returns-on-nbc-without-dan-harmon.html?ref=television

TV Review
‘Touch’: Keifer Sutherland is back to save the world again, or at least his gifted son's world, in 'Touch'
By David Hinckley, New York Daily News - Feb. 7, 2012

So finally it’s here, fans, the new season of “24,” with Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer racing to save his family and the world from the calamitous consequences of evil global conspiracies.

Oops, my mistake. This isn’t “24.” It’s “Touch,” with Kiefer Sutherland’s Martin Bohm racing to save his family and the world from the calamitous consequences of evil global conspiracies.

You can see where I got confused.

The second season of “Touch” nominally picks up where the first season left off, with Martin and his silent, gifted son Jake (David Mazouz) on the run from malignant forces. Because Jake can see the interconnectivity of everything in the universe and tie it all together with numbers, these forces want to seize him, enrich themselves and dominate the world.

In Los Angeles, Martin and Jake run into Lucy Robbins (Maria Bello), the mother of a girl named Amelia (Saxon Sharbino) who has the same extraordinary powers as Jake.

Amelia has already been captured and pressed into service by the bad guys. So our heroes must rescue her while protecting Jake.
Good for them. But it creates two problems with the show.

First, I’m making this way easier to understand than the show does. It blitzes us with characters like popups in a video game, and keeping them straight almost requires a wall chart.

Second, as the action ramps up, Jake’s gift recedes. It feels as if it’s been downsized into the prize for a game of keepaway.

The show still has some interesting things happening, and there are worse things on TV than a fast-paced action drama. But making it into “Son of 24” doesn’t feel like the right touch.

TOUCH
Network / Air Date: Friday at 8 p.m., Fox
Rating: ★★ (out of five)

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/tv-review-touch-article-1.1257086

TV/Technology Notes
Cartoon Network wants you to watch and play
By Jefferson Graham, USA Today - Feb. 6, 2013

ATLANTA — Ask Cartoon Network executive Chris Waldron how kids want to interact with their TV, and he's got a quick answer: by watching and playing games at the same time.

In late 2012, Waldron took a chance on his hunch by releasing a groundbreaking, updated Cartoon Network app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, which let kids watch TV clips and play games.

On the smaller devices, you can flip between watching video and playing. On the iPad, you can use the split screen to watch and play at the same time.

The result: "millions and millions of downloads," says Waldron, Cartoon's vice-president of digital. "It was much bigger than we anticipated."

As Waldron looks into a future in which his audience — primarily, boys ages 6 to 11 — are growing up spending more time on digital devices, he's looking at more ways to keep them engaged:

— Gaming. Most of the six games on the Cartoon app are based on TV shows, notably, the network's popular Adventure Time. In a twist this year, Waldron plans to go the other way. He's going to use the massive audience built up for Cartoon games to introduce new animated characters, see which ones click, and look to build shows around them. "Let's start it as a game, and build it to be even bigger," he says.

— The app. Cartoon offers clips from more than 50 TV shows. It will add more shows and features this year. The watch-and-play feature isn't expected until next year for the network's Android app.

Cartoon doesn't break out specific usage on its app, but in 2012, 1.3 billion games were played on CartoonNetwork.com and mobile, and it has amassed 412 million views of clips and shows. Mobile usage for Cartoon grew 24% in 2012.

On TV, Cartoon is the No. 5 basic cable network for total viewers, reaching 1.2 million people per day in January, according to Nielsen. But online, its audience is huge. It's the second-most-liked TV network on Facebook, with 16.5 million likes. (MTV is tops, with 41.7 million.) Its online audience dwarfs others in the Turner Broadcasting empire (CNN gets 4.4 million likes; TBS, 200,000.) Its website averages 16 million unique visitors monthly.

The online response, all the more impressive, considering that Facebook targets the over-13 crowd, "shows how passionate the fans are," says Waldron. "They want to interact with the content all the time; they want to talk about it. They feel they have a direct line with us."

The trend in homes is that folks are spending more time with their digital devices, which has the potential to cut into TV viewing. (A recent study by Nielsen said that, while watching TV, 40% of homes have at least one device in operation by adults 18 and older at least once a day.)

Cartoon dealt with this by enabling live viewing of its channel on tablets for registered cable subscribers.

James McQuivey, an analyst with Forrester Research and author of Digital Disruption: Unleashing the Next Wave of Innovation, says Cartoon's app is a great way to combat declining TV ratings.

"If they start getting massive views for their shows on the iPad, they can start pressuring Nielsen to count iPad views in the TV ratings. It's a smart bet for the future," McQuivey says.

From where he sits, Waldron sees TVs remaining prominently in the picture. As he looks into the future living room — say, circa 2018 — kids are still sitting with their tablets, and the TV is still on. "There are a lot of people doing both at the same time now, but there will be more of that. TV manufacturers are introducing apps into their TVs, and that world where you seamlessly move back and forth between interactivity and watching TV will only increase."

The bottom line: "If I were a kid, I'd be blown away right now," he says. "The difference between just having shows on Saturday morning, vs. being able to watch these cartoons whenever you want is amazing."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/talkingtech/2013/02/06/cartoon-network-online-audience/1894645/

Critic's Notes
“House of Cards” and the Decline of Cable
By Tim Wuu, New Yorker - Feb. 4, 2013

“House of Cards” may not be the best show on television, but it is in the same league as the best shows, and that makes all the difference. The series, about a scheming Congressman, is basically “The West Wing” meets “Breaking Bad,” with a healthy dose of Shakespeare—particularly, as Ian Crouch wrote, “Richard III.” It’s a typical product of our current golden age of television—dark, expertly directed and acted, and about five times better than the average Hollywood film. “House of Cards” was produced by Netflix, and the New York Times, Wired, and others have written about the company’s panache, especially its decision to release thirteen episodes in one day, all of which could be downloaded and watched by anyone with a computer or an Internet-connected TV. But that misses what makes “House of Cards” a significant moment in media history.

An Internet firm like Netflix producing first-rate content takes us across a psychological line. If Netflix succeeds as a producer, other companies will follow and start taking market share. Maybe Amazon will go beyond its tentative investments and throw a hundred million at a different A-list series, or maybe Hulu will expand its ambitions for original content, or maybe the next great show will come from someone with a YouTube channel. When that happens, the baton passes, and empire falls—and we will see the first fundamental change in the home-entertainment paradigm in decades.

As competition, “House of Cards” is surely not great news for traditional producers such as HBO or CBS, but it’s not an existential threat to them, either. What the show really does is question the existence of the current king of home entertainment, the cable industry. The cable companies make close to a hundred billion dollars a year off our viewing. But if you don’t need cable TV to get good shows when they come out, just what are you paying for?

Like any real startup industry, cable was once a scrappy outsider of questionable legality. In the late nineteen-seventies and early eighties, cable attacked broadcast’s domination of the television market with a value proposition that depended on signal quality (compared to rabbit ears), more choices (thirty channels!), timely news (CNN), and access to exciting new types of content, like MTV, ESPN, and the Playboy Channel.

Over the years, as cable’s prices have increased, each part of that value proposition has withered. In an age of too much information, offering more channels has come to feel like more of a bug than a feature. The Web and Twitter have definitively replaced cable as the breaking-news source of record (recall CNN’s report that the Supreme Court had struck down Obamacare). You can get most television shows—after some delay—on DVD or from an Internet site. You can also get them right away on pirate sites. Pornhub bought the Playboy Channel in 2011. So, to repeat the question, just what are Americans spending a hundred billion dollars on?

Before last week, the precise answer was live sports and up-to-date, convenient delivery of the best shows. But if “House of Cards” proves a workable model, cable television will, over time, be down to one thing: live sports. Sports programming is, to be sure, a Gibraltar. But sports, and the power of inertia, are the last two refuges for the cable industry and its increasingly unwatched channels.

That doesn’t mean the cable industry has no prospects. But this year or next, cable companies will have to accept that they are no longer the gatekeepers for the best content. It means, eventually, that the industry will probably have to embrace the idea of simply carrying the content of others (which was its original business model), and essentially function as what used to be called an “Internet-service provider.” That’s not exactly what cable wants to be doing, though there’s still plenty of money to be made in that line of business.

For geeks, it has been long been clear, as a technological matter, that the Internet’s delivery models ought to eventually make cable TV obsolete. But the best technologies don’t always win. It takes breakthrough moments for things to happen; for, ahem, the house of cards to fall.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/02/house-of-cards-and-the-death-of-cable.html

TV Notes
Altoona native prepares 'Community' for what may be its final season
By Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Feb. 7, 2013

Altoona native Moses Port faced an unenviable task last summer: Stepping into the shoes of Dan Harmon, fan-adored showrunner of NBC's "Community" (8 tonight, WPXI).

When NBC and Sony parted ways with Mr. Harmon, creator of "Community," Mr. Port and writing/producing partner David Guarascio were asked to take over for what may be the show's final season.

Last May NBC renewed "Community" for a shortened, 13-episode fourth season and slotted the comedy in an inhospitable Friday night time period. In the fall NBC changed its mind, delaying the show's return and moving it back to Thursday night as part of the network's traditional comedy block.

Mr. Port and Mr. Guarascio had spent eight months developing a pilot that was not picked up and days later executives from Sony, the production company that makes "Community," asked them to take the reins of Mr. Harmon's creation. Mr. Port said his first reaction to being asked was, why is Dan Harmon not doing this?

"As fans of the show, which we were, you want him there," he said. "Our heads were spinning from thinking about something else in general. At first we said 'No,' a couple times just in the sense that do you really want to step into this guy's shoes and also you feel like he cast a very large shadow. We asked, 'What's the win-win of this? People won't like it as much and we'll be blamed for it.' "

Ultimately, the writing team signed on.

"It's very rare to get the opportunity to play in this sandbox, to have these characters and an unbelievable collection of actors. Also, we never really wanted to make a decision based on fear, which is easy to do."

Stepping into an established, cult TV show also is different from creating your own series. Mr. Port and Mr. Guarascio previously wrote for ABC's "Happy Endings" and NBC's "Just Shoot Me," and they created the short-lived but well-reviewed CW comedy "Aliens in America," about a Muslim exchange student from Pakistan.

"Anytime you come into something, the creative part of you feels like, how do you make that your own?" Mr. Port said. "In this case, we were very much determined to carry on the tradition Dan had started."

Mr. Port said the new team traded a few emails with Mr. Harmon, who carries an executive consultant title on the new season (a contractual obligation) but was not involved in writing any of it.

"I think he felt he didn't want to be partially involved," Mr. Port said. "He wanted it to be a clean break."

Mr. Port estimates about half the show's 14 writers are returnees from previous seasons of "Community," including the writers of the new season's first two episodes. Putting the veterans on early episodes was by design.

"This show has a very unusual relationship with its audience," Mr. Port said. "It's very intimate and personal and the fans know the [writing] staff. [The writers are] on Twitter and [fans have] a direct line of communication. We wanted the first names that appeared to be familiar to them to make it as smooth a transition as possible."

Before writing started on the new season, Mr. Port and Mr. Guarascio met with the returning writers to "talk through their anxieties and fears."

"We wanted to assure them that it wasn't us coming in and saying, 'This is the way things are going to be done.' We wanted 'Community' to be 'Community,' " he said. "We were open to the fact that we'd be learning as we go and relying on the writers who were returning. They'd been in this world a while and we were going to lean on them heavily. And we opened a creative dialogue with the cast as well."

Although many observers expect this will be the final season of "Community," Mr. Port said the writers built the season to function regardless of a renewal or cancellation. The characters refer to this as their final year of college but Mr. Port said if "Community" is renewed for a fifth season, they have a plan and Greendale Community College will not go away.

"Should this be the final year, we want it to be able to serve that purpose," Mr. Port said. "But we're not approaching it like it is the final year. We open up possibilities for future seasons."

One change that's in store should "Community" get renewed: Chevy Chase, who plays Pierce, has quit the show. He'll have a presence in 12 of the 13 episodes (appearing in 11, voicing a puppet in another one), including the season finale.

"We weren't there for previous seasons, so I can't speak to all of what happened beforehand, but working with him this season he seemed reenergized and he did really well," Mr. Port said. "There are things in this season so you'll understand what will have happened to him."

With "Community" facing a murky future, Mr. Port said the season finale is designed to operate as a potential series finale.

"It offers closure with possibilities," he said. "That was the needle we had to thread."

Mr. Port, a 1987 graduate of Altoona Area High School, attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1991.

"After college my mother convinced me to break into show business by moving to Pittsburgh," he said, noting that he stayed for only three months. He waited tables and tended bar at Tessaro's in Bloomfield and worked for a few days as a production assistant on a Tony Danza TV movie. "Ultimately, I told my mother if I want to break into Hollywood, I'd have to move to Los Angeles, with all deference to George Romero."

Mr. Port's parents -- Stephen and Phyllis -- still live in Altoona, and he tries to make it to at least one Steelers game a season in Pittsburgh, bringing his son along with him.
Mr. Port's brother, Joe, also writes for TV, most recently on NBC's "1600 Penn." Joe Port and writing partner Joe Wiseman have a pilot at NBC for fall, "Joe, Joe and Jane" about a children's book author caught in a tug-of-war between his wife and his co-author/best friend.

For Moses Port, ratings for "Community" may well determine his next step. If the show stages a ratings comeback and gets renewed -- admittedly a long shot -- he said he and Mr. Guarascio intend to stick with it.

"We're excited about all the episodes," he said. "It's a shame we don't do the Netflix model where you can get the whole season at once. We're excited about so many different episodes; we wish everybody could sample them. We just hope people are patient with the anachronistic network model and watch week-to-week."

COMMUNITY
When: 8 tonight, NBC.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/tv-radio/tv-preview-altoona-native-prepares-community-for-what-may-be-its-final-season-673704/

Live sports, first-run quality cable shows, and Tivo+Windows Media Center keep me on cable. I don't think that House of Cards is a bellwether for what can happen to current programming because that requires a complete shift in how it's delivered by the content providers, and as we know they LIKE the status quo. House of Cards may be the future or it may be an outlier, but IMO cable and the networks will do everything they can to keep the gravy train rolling the way it is until newcomers force them to change. And cable will NEVER accept that they're just going to be dumb IP pipes, that's not going to happen without some sort of government intervention (I wish).

This plus ease of use. I love my sports, I like the fact that if it's on Thursday, I can watch it Thursday without having to wait months or even years to see it another way (or in some cases never). Netflix is nice, don't get me wrong, but I doubt it will ever be a true contender.

This article hit the nail on the head, especially the part concerning rising prices and "part of that value proposition has withered (That's the decline of quality for those of you in Rio Linda!)". If you are a rabid Sports Fan and/or News Junkie then fine, you are getting what you pay for. But not all of us are these kinds of people, and we're seeing less value in what we are paying for, and consequentially are seeking our programming from other sources.

We love to pronounce things based on one success. One only has to look at the success of using 3D "Avatar" to realize that one big hit doesn't indicate the way the winds are blowing.

It's taken years and dozens of series to be able to say the trend is running toward quality original programming on cable. It will take at least that before we can say that Netflix really is a destination for that as well.

Right now, all we're seeing is the potential.

A little birdie has informed me that tonigth's episode runs about 45:30. With ABC starting 2 minutes after the hour, WTF are they going to do, cut 4 minutes of commercials/promos (not likely) or compress the Hell out of this episode? Normal length is about 43:30.

ABC is notorious for compressing the shows they air.

WEDNESDAY'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)
‘Idol’ paces Fox to win on a down night
Reality show averages a 4.6 in 18-49s, off 15 percent
By Toni Fitzgerald, Media Life Magazine - Feb. 7, 2013

Several top broadcast shows fell to season lows last night, including Fox’s “American Idol” and ABC’s “Modern Family.”

“Idol,” the night’s top show, paced Fox to yet another Wednesday win despite the decline.

The reality program drew a 4.6 from 8 to 10 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, off 15 percent from last week and its lowest Wednesday outing this season.

“Idol” won every half hour against the other broadcast competition.

It was hardly the only show to see ratings fall last night. “Family,” the evening’s top scripted series, drew a 3.8 at 9 p.m., down 10 percent from its most recent original episode two weeks ago.

Another strong Wednesday show, CBS’s “Criminal Minds,” dipped 13 percent week to week to a season-low 2.7.

There were a few programs to buck the trend. ABC’s “The Neighbors (1.8) and “Suburgatory” (2.1) both grew, though they faced easy comparisons to last week, when they both fell to season lows.

And the CW’s “Arrow” was up 11 percent week to week to a 1.0

Fox led the night among 18-49s with a 4.6 average overnight rating and a 13 share. ABC was second at 2.2/6, CBS third at 2.1/6, NBC fourth at 1.5/4, Univision fifth at 1.4/4, CW sixth at 1.0/3 and Telemundo seventh at 0.4/1.

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-seven percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

At 8 p.m. Fox was first with a 4.4 for “Idol,” followed by ABC with a 2.1 for “The Middle” (2.3) and “Neighbors” (1.8). Univision was third with a 1.5 for “Por Ella Soy Eva.” CBS and NBC tied for fourth at 1.2, CBS for a repeat of “Person of Interest” and NBC for “Whitney (1.2) and “Guys With Kids” (1.2, up 9 percent from last week). The CW was sixth with a 1.0 for “Arrow” and Telemundo seventh with a 0.4 for “Pasion Prohibida.”

Fox was first again at 9 p.m. with a 4.7 for more “Idol,” while ABC remained second with a 3.0 for “Family” (3.8) and “Suburgatory” (2.1). CBS was third with a 2.7 for “Minds,” Univision fourth with a 1.6 for “Amores Verdaderos,” NBC fifth with a 1.5 for “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” CW sixth with a 0.9 for “Supernatural” and Telemundo seventh with a 0.5 for “La Patrona.”

CBS moved to first at 10 p.m. with a 2.4 for “CSI,” with NBC second with a 1.8 for “Chicago Fire.” ABC was third with a 1.7 for “Nashville,” Univision fourth with a 1.2 for “Amor Bravio” and Telemundo fifth with a 0.4 for “El Rostro de la Venganza.”

Fox also finished first for the night among households with an 8.4 average overnight rating and a 13 share. CBS was second at 6.5/10, ABC third at 4.5/7, NBC fourth at 3.4/5, Univision fifth at 1.9/3, CW sixth at 1.6/2 and Telemundo seventh at 0.6/1.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/idol-paces-fox-to-win-on-a-down-night/

* * * *

TV Notes
‘Community,’ more gaffes than giggles
There's been a lot of discord on the returning NBC sitcom
By Louisa Ada Seltzer, Media Life Magazine - Feb. 7, 2013

You’d be forgiven for thinking that “Community,” the offbeat NBC sitcom that returns for season four tonight at 8 p.m., had turned into a drama.

It has not. But the past year has been rife with dramatic turns for the low-rated comedy.

Last year showrunner Dan Harmon got into a feud with series star Chevy Chase, culminating in Harmon posting online an expletive-laced voicemail that the actor left him. Harmon was later fired by NBC.

The network then moved “Community” from Thursdays to Friday, which have long been a wasteland for scripted shows.

But just days before “Community’s” scheduled debut last fall, NBC pulled the show from the schedule and delayed its return until February.

The move may have been a blessing, the only one “Community” has seen during these dramatic months. The network also moved it back to Thursdays.

The show probably would have seen ratings plunge on Friday nights, and it would have been a hit the show could little afford.

“Community” averaged just a 1.6 adults 18-49 rating last year, though it did get a 38 percent bump from seven-day DVR playback, according to Nielsen.

“Community’s” fate is uncertain beyond this year. NBC’s comedies are in disarray, with veterans “30 Rock” and “The Office” ending their runs and ratings for new sitcoms “Go On” and “The New Normal” plunging this winter without their hit lead-in, “The Voice.”

NBC will need to renew at least a couple of sitcoms so that it’s not starting from scratch. But even if “Community” comes back for season five, it will be without a key cast member.

Chase is in his final season. The actor, who has complained for months about how much he hated the job and how terrible the writing was, will appear in just four episodes this year.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/community-not-exactly-an-apt-title/

TV Notes
Cedric The Entertainer To Succeed Meredith Vieira As Host Of Syndicated ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - Feb. 7, 2013

Following some chatter during NATPE last week, I have learned that Cedric The Entertainer has closed a three-year deal to replace Meredith Vieira as host the syndicated version of quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. I hear the multi-million pact will pay Cedric close to what Vieira was making in the final years of her 11-season stint on the Disney-ABC show, which she’s hosted from its launch in 2002. Millionaire, which tapes in advance, will continue to air Vieira-hosted originals through May and repeats through the summer, with Cedric expected to take over in September.

The Millionaire gig won’t interfere with the actor-comedian’s TV Land comedy series Soul Man, which is slated to begin filming its second season in March. Cedric will shoot his first season of Millionaire in September. CAA-repped Cedric is the second member of The Original Kings Of Comedy standup troupe to be recruited to host a syndicated game show, joining Steve Harvey who has been on Family Feud since 2010.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/cedric-the-entertainer-to-succeed-meredith-vieira-as-host-of-syndicated-%E2%80%98who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire%E2%80%99-series/

I look at NetFlix as just another premium cable channel , here's how " I " gauge a premium channel if it is worth the extra $$$ monthly charge to ME,

One show : no matter how good not worth it ( I can always pick up the BluRay after the season is over ) {Dexter IE; did that for 4 seasons }
Two shows : I really want , still not worth it but getting close as the BluRays to 2 show's seasons nears the expense of a year's costs
Three shows : I really will watch weekly , I then sign on , it now is cost effective .

I now have Showtime following this rule Dexter , Homeland , Shameless , House of Lies , tipped MY cost effective balance .

Everyone will have a difference in what balance they have to tip over into a " IS this Really worth the extra coin to ME " experience .

Right now Netflix is not anywhere near that ,

I used to be a Netflix customer for years but when they raised rates, lowered service levels on posted DVD's I bailed Big Time !

Redbox & Amazon works better & cheaper for me + plus I control my own costs ( Amazon , I buy so much from them , the prime shipping is a no brainer ,the streaming is just FREE icing on MY cake )

anything else I can find on HTPC for free if i try hard
Not saying this is how everyone should be ,just how I do it

Cool , Cedric needs the work & the exposure .
his latest outings have been real stinkers.
Hey it worked for Drew Carey !

The Networks are getting desperate. They are scheduling their programs "off the clock" hoping the viewers won't switch channels after the shows are over, They also have shows run "nose to tail" with no "End Theme" and/or an in-between commercial, as I mentioned before they're trying to hold viewers, especially those who don't have DVRs.

Really? How about 4th season premiere?

I'm sure that's what his agent told him.

"The answer is moot; the money's mine!"

A line from (game-show host) Rev Jesse Jackson on SNL's...."The Point is Moot".

BTW, Carey, despite being a comic by trade, doesn't have 1/2 the charisma of Barker.

My bad, I was updating HOTP after a 12 hr. non-stop workday that ended at 4:30AM.

My solution? Watch it on Apple TV. I paid about $25-$30 for the whole season, no commercials, about 43 minutes per episode, hi definition Dolby Digital, no fast-forwarding, good, good, good.

Nielsen Notes
A month later, Jimmy Kimmel is holding his own
By Yvonne Villareal, Los Angeles Times - Feb. 7, 2013

A month later, Jimmy Kimmel is unpacked in his new time slot digs — and giving his neighbors on the late-night block something to talk about.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live's" move to 11:35 p.m. has paid off big for ABC and added bounce to the battle for late night, long a predictable tug-of-war between Jay Leno and David Letterman.

In its most recent week (Jan. 28-Feb. 1), the late-night talker was second to "The Tonight Show" in total viewers (3.745 million versus 2.544 million) and viewers 18-49 (1.081 million viewers versus 911,000 for "Kimmel") — with "Late Show" trailing behind.

Kimmel’s inroads over Letterman have been felt since the beginning of the move. Its Jan. 8 bow in the time slot brought in 3.1 million viewers (a 59% jump over its usual audience at midnight) over Letterman's 2.9 million viewers. And in the advertiser-cherished 18-49 demo, Kimmel outpaced Letterman by 30%, a pattern that hasn’t changed much. Over the span of the "Kimmel's" first four weeks in the new slot, it has on average out-delivered Letterman by 154,000 in adults 18-49. In total weekly viewers, the race between the two is tighter.

A highly publicized visit from Matt Damon on Jan. 24 also brought a boost for "Kimmel," pushing him to No.1 among all-late night programs in households and adults 18-49.

Could late-night's regular viewers be turning in the old for the new? It's too soon to tell. But versus a year ago in the same month, Letterman has taken the biggest hit in the 18-49 demo with the addition of Kimmel — down 21%. In total viewers, "Late Show" was down 7%. Leno's drop-off was less significant, down 6% in the 18-49 demo and 4% in total viewers.

But Kimmel doesn’t seem to want to pay too much attention to it all. Last month during a stop on the set of his show during the Television Critics Assn., the 45-year-old host likened the extra attention being paid to the Late Night wars to a sporting event — saying people like the “drama.” He also told reporters he expects to settle into third place eventually, behind hero David Letterman.

“Johnny Carson retired with the crown," he said. "There’s no king of late night."

http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/cedric-the-entertainer-to-succeed-meredith-vieira-as-host-of-syndicated-%E2%80%98who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire%E2%80%99-series/

Nielsen Notes (Cable)
TV Ratings: FX's 'The Americans' Suffers Week 2 Drop, Still Garners Record DVR Growth
By Michael O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Live Feed' Blog - Feb. 7, 2013

The Americans hit a slightly steep setback in its second outing. The new FX Cold War drama, which pulled a sturdy 3.22 million viewers in its premiere episode, brought in just 1.97 million during Wednesday's follow-up.

That's a 39 percent drop for the cable series. And while its typical for a drama to get a substantial dip in its second outing, the loss far outweighs the fall's week-two drop for American Horror Story (23 percent).
TV REVIEW: 'The Americans'

Among adults 18-49, The Americans' drop was less harsh (32 percent), falling from 1.57 million to 1.57 million. Direct cable competition from Discovery's Moonshiners and Comedy Central's Workaholics both eclipsed its demo showing rating.

In the series' defense, it had a considerably less formidable lead-in during week two, growing 67 percent from Tron: Legacy. (The Americans premiere grew only 43 percent from Tom Cruise vehicle Knight and Day.)

But there is some good news for the freshman drama: The Americans premiere posted record DVR growth for FX, rising 49 percent with adults 18-49 (1.57 million to 2.34 million) and 44 percent with total viewers (3.22 million to 4.63 million) in Live+Three Day.

The Americans is now on track to easily top Justified (4.94 million total viewers) as the most-watched premiere in FX history once Live+Seven Day returns come in.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-fxs-americans-suffers-419320

I just bought this movie on DVD at Walmart for $7 and watched it last week. The movie was over 3 hours long and I was thinking it was nice not having any commercials. Its surprising that USA is showing this movie commercial free. Most cable channels would show it over a 5 hour period and saturate it with commercials.

TV Notes
BBC To End ‘Being Human’
By the Deadline.com Team - Feb. 7, 2013

Joe Utichi contributes to Deadline’s UK coverage.

The current series of BBC Three hit Being Human, about a trio of supernatural roommates, will be its last. The characters will face the Devil himself in the program’s “apocalyptic end”, the BBC said.

The show, which started airing its fifth series February 3, was created by Toby Whithouse and began life as a stand-alone pilot starring Andrea Riseborough, Russell Tovey and Guy Flanagan. Only Tovey carried over to the series, which has featured revolving main players like Lenora Crichlow, Aidan Turner and Sinead Keenan. Season 5′s cast of Michael Socha, Damien Molony, Kate Bracken and Steven Robertson will see the show out.

A U.S. adaptation is currently airing an all-new third season on Syfy; the original has been a hit on BBC America since debuting in 2009.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/bbc-to-end-being-human/

Given it's subject matter this isn't a movie meant to be watched with commercials that would benefit from interrupting the narrative. If anything audiences might be turned off against a brand of detergent or airline that pushes their product contrasted with the movie's historical plight. USA is doing it as a public service, a 'we're about more than just the bucks' show that 'Cable TV cares.'

Business Notes
'Simpsons' Syndication Deal Might Be Getting Closer
By Jon Lafayette, Broadcasting & Cable - Feb. 7, 2013

In between dodging questions about a new sports network during News Corp.’s earnings call with analysts Wednesday, COO Chase Carey hinted that a deal to expand the syndication of The Simpsons could be a few pen strokes away.

The Simpsons‘ original syndication deal limits distribution to local broadcasters. Selling the animated series’ more than 500 episodes to cable could generate between $1 million and $2 million an episode, or about $750 million.

On Wednesday’s call, an analyst asked when second-cycle syndication of The Simpsons might happen.

“We’re hopefully getting close to a place where we can sort of try and add a dimension to it, but we still got a, I guess, call it a couple of i’s to dot and t’s to cross to try and get there, so I’m not going to get ahead of it,” Carey replied.

“I would think any probably to sort of speculate ahead of time what it’s worth, it is obviously as unique a franchise as exists in the television world now,” Carey said, praising the show. “I don’t think there’s anything else out there that has whatever it is, 500, 600 episodes, and it’s headed towards its 25th year. Animation’s great, because nobody ages.”

In addition to planning to turn its Speed channel into Fox Sports 1, News Corp. also is working on creating a second FX channel-FXX-that would focus on comedies for young adult viewers. The Simpsons might look good among Archer, Louie and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/blog/Currency/33734-_Simpsons_Syndication_Deal_Might_Be_Getting_Closer.php

TV Notes
ABC Family Greenlights Two New Dramas
By R. Thomas Umstead, Multichannel News - Feb. 7, 2013

ABC Family will debut two new scripted drama series this summer, The Fosters and Twisted, the network announced Wednesday.

The Fosters, executively produced by singer/actress Jennifer Lopez, is a one-hour drama about a multi-ethnic family mix of foster and biological kids being raised by two moms, according to network officials. The series stars Teri Polo (Meet the Parents), Sherri Saum (In Treatment) and Jake T. Austin (Wizards of Waverly Place).

The second series, Twisted (formerly Socio), centers on a 16 year-old (Avan Jogia, star of Nickelodeon's Victorious) with a troubled past who becomes the prime suspect in the death of a fellow student.

Production on both series will begin this Spring for Summer premieres. Additional series pick-ups will be announced later this month, according to network officials.

“ABC Family is synonymous with groundbreaking storytelling and iconic characters,” said Michael Riley, president, ABC Family in a statement. “These new shows will bring the same depth, heart, close relationships and authenticity that our viewers have come to expect and will pair nicely with our already established pop culture hits.”

http://www.multichannel.com/cable-operators/abc-family-greenlights-two-new-dramas/141599