SHONDA RHIMES JOINS B&C's "WOMEN OF HOLLYWOOD"

Shonda Rhimes, creator and executive producer of ABC's Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice and executive producer of ABC's upcoming Off the Map, has been named a speaker at B&C's "Keynotes & Cocktails: Women of Hollywood." She joins previously announced speakers CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler and WME agent Nancy Josephson in the "Powerhouses of Primetime" roundtable discussion.

Shonda Rhimes"Shonda Rhimes"As previously announced, Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney/ABC Television Group, will provide the event's featured keynote Q&A.

Connected Devices: Boon for Cable?

Cable operators have generally considered "connected devices," including broadband-enabled set-tops, Blu-ray Disc players and TVs that can seamlessly bring Internet content to the living-room TV, with trepidation. They fear that such devices, which already offer access to online movie services from Netflix, Amazon and others, will damage their existing video-on-demand businesses and lead to eventual "cord-cutting"-subscribers dropping their pay-TV subscriptions and relying solely on broadband video delivered "over-the-top" to the set.

But announcements made last week by two technology firms with close ties to the cable industry may signal a shift in cable's thinking.

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