CBS CEO Les Moonves said that NBC’s decision to put Jay Leno on in prime time will help his company’s bottom line. “We were the No. 1 network at 10 o’clock last year,” Mr. Moonves told analysts and investors during CBS’ quarterly earnings conference call Thursday. He estimated that CBS took in 38% of...
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Thu, May 7 2009
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Filed under: Broadcast, Cable, Digital, Advertising, CBS, NBC, Syndication, Jay Leno, Earnings, Les Moonves
A rarity in syndication is arriving next season, as Twentieth Television’s “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” is making pod-busting commercial options available to stations. Podbusters, the short bits of entertainment content sandwiched between commercials to frustrate ad-skipping via digital video...
Investment firm Sanford C. Bernstein on Wednesday released a new pessimistic report on media company earnings. “The recent run-up in media stocks suggests investors are looking past the horrid near-term trends to a happier place off in the horizon,” said analyst Michael Nathanson in a report. “However...
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Wed, Apr 8 2009
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Filed under: Broadcast, Cable, Digital, Advertising, CBS, Viacom, Syndication, Research, Earnings, Time Warner, News Corp., Economy, Walt Disney Co.
Live viewing on television still is the dominant form of video consumption in the United States. A new study conducted by Ball State University’s Center for Media Design and Sequent Partners for the Nielsen-funded Council for Research Excellence, found that 99% of video consumption on televisions, the...
President Barack Obama made it official today, nominating Julius Genachowski to be chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. “I can think of no one better than Julius Genachowski to serve as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission,” the president said in a statement. “He will bring...
The House of Representatives today rejected an attempt to immediately pass legislation delaying the digital TV transition, likely putting off a final House vote on the DTV delay until next week. While the stall robs the Obama administration of some momentum in its effort to delay the switch from Feb...
Federal Communication Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin used his last agency meeting as chairman to announce he will leave the commission, rather than staying on in the Obama administration. Mr. Martin’s departure was expected, but he had previously declined to disclose his plans. President-elect Barack...
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Thu, Jan 15 2009
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Filed under: Broadcast, Cable, Digital, Advertising, Syndication, Barack Obama, FCC, Kevin Martin, Politics, Julius Genachowski
For television, there seem to be more questions than answers as 2008 comes to a close: How many industry pros will lose their jobs? How long will the recession last? How badly will the advertising market that is TV’s lifeblood falter? Wave after wave of anxiety-provoking headlines don’t help matters...
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Sun, Dec 14 2008
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Filed under: Broadcast, Cable, Digital, Fox, Emmys, DTV, Advertising, CBS, NBC, YouTube, Google, Viacom, Syndication, MSNBC, The Doctors, Katie Couric, CBS Evening News, Print Edition, Ben Silverman, Web Video, TV Ads, CNN, Kevin Martin, Project Runway, Friday Night Lights, Dr. Oz, DirecTV, American Idol, Dr. Phil, Oprah, Bill O'Reilly, Sumner Redstone, Chris Matthews, Rosie Live, Larry King, Oscars, Subchannels, Grammys, Harvey Levin, Ellen DeGeneres, John Roberts
Ad spending dropped 2% in the third quarter from the previous year despite the Olympics and presidential election, TNS Media Intelligence reported Thursday. For the first nine months of 2008, total spending was down 1.7%, but most national TV categories showed gains, with network up 3%, cable up 3.7...
CBS Corp. reported a third-quarter net loss of $12.5 billion, or $18.58 per share, despite a slight uptick in revenue that came mostly from syndication growth and the acquisition of CNET. CBS had said earlier in October that it would be taking a $14 billion writedown because of the diminished market...
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Thu, Oct 30 2008
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Filed under: Broadcast, Cable, Showtime, Advertising, Syndication, Katie Couric, Earnings, Leslie Moonves, CBS Corp., CNET, CBS College Sports Network, Sumner Redstone