WHO: John Nogawski, President, CBS Television Distribution
WHERE: One Pico, Shutters on the Beach hotel, Santa Monica, CA
WHEN: Monday, Nov. 17, 2008, lunch

THE DISH: CBS TV Distribution President John Nogawski sits back in a chair at One Pico in Santa Monica, with the Pacific Ocean lapping not far behind him. He looks pretty serene for a guy who is responsible for a company with billions of dollars in annual revenue and a staff of about 1,100 people including overhead and production, and who is undeniably feeling the heat of an economy in peril. 

His station clients are struggling so badly that he anticipates some will start to have trouble paying CBS the license fees they owe. CBS, after a...Read More

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John Nogawski, President, CBS Television Distribution, says during a recent Mel’s Diner interview that he believes orator and syndication hopeful T.D. Jakes may have what it takes to break through in daytime.

CBS TV Distribution is out selling a show headlined by Jakes for Fall 2009. The show is sold in about 50 % of the country, including the Tribune station group.

By the end of year Nogawski says he expects to know if the show will be moving forward, once they get a sense of the rest of the clearances, a cable window and international sales.

...Read More

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Food Network may be looking for a sixth Iron Chef for its culinary face-off series. Cat Cora, the show's only female Iron Chef, says the network has another competition in the works.

"I know they're gearing up to do another competition, to maybe bring on a sixth Iron Chef," she tells Mel's Diner before going into "An Evening With Cat Cora" at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills on Nov. 19.

Food Network declined to comment on the possibility of another installment of "The Next Iron Chef."
The first and only installment debuted Oct. 2007 with eight chefs battling each other for the title of Next Iron Chef. Cleveland, Ohio-based Michael Symon won the competition ...Read More

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WHO: Brian Frons, President, Daytime, Disney-ABC Television Group
WHERE: Madeo, West Hollywood, Calif.         
WHEN: Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008 lunch

THE DISH: Madeo in West Hollywood is all but empty when I arrive just before 1 p.m. for lunch with Disney-ABC TV Group Daytime President Brian Frons (my online tardy reform school is paying off). But somehow as soon as Brian sits down, the room fills up. I should have known, this guy can draw a crowd – in daytime afterall.

The day Brian and I meet at Madeo in West Hollywood, the 10,000^th epi...Read More

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Brian Williams certainly leads an adventurous life as anchor of NBC Nightly News, but his taste in food is decidedly unexotic. He was not raised an adventurous eater, and has never eaten Ethiopian or Korean food, he tells Parade in their report this weekend What America Really Eats.

Says Williams:

It doesn’t help that I am blissfully in love with mall food courts. My problem is limiting the choices. I will do a slice at Sbarro, or I’ll go to A&W—their cheeseburgers are unde...Read More

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• David Beckham dined at Madeo in West Hollywood Wednesday night (11/12), according to a Super Fly Correspondent who sent in a tip via Blackberry message and asked to remain anonymous. At the same time, producer Phil Gurin and his agent, William Morris Agency's John Ferriter, were also spotted dining there together. Our tipster couldn't tell exactly who Beckham was with but said "it looked like he was with his kid." Coincidentally, I was there for lunch earlier Wednesday with 

...Read More

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• Wonderchef Eric Ripert, who has appeared on Bravo’s Top Chef, strolled into brunch Sunday at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Westchester, NY, according to Super Fly Correspondent and B&C Deputy Editor Michael Malone. “It’s this beautiful working farm that has a 3-star restaurant that draws much of its product from the farm,” Malone says, adding that it may be “Westchester’s best restaurant and certainly its most unique setting.” Malone says for him a sighting like this is a rari

...Read More

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We may not all be casting the same vote Tuesday, but we should be able to agree on one thing: Event TV and good eats make as good a pair as chocolate and peanut butter. Even if you didn’t grow up like me, posting countdowns on the fridge to the “family picnic in the TV room” (aka Super Bowl Sunday). 

That’s why I tracked down some info on the Presidential candidates' favorite food. Many of you have told me you are attending election night parties and rallies Tuesday – official and unofficial. Why not plan ahead and eat like your candidate while watching the coverage?

Republican presidential candidate John McCain once told the Associated Press, "I eat almost everything. Sometimes I don't do too well with vegetables," according to a ...Read More

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Who: Paul Buccieri, president-CEO, Granada America
Where: Bel-Air Bar & Grill, Bel-Air, Calif. 
When: Monday, Oct. 27, 2008

The Dish: Everybody I meet in television knows Granada America President-CEO Paul Buccieri. His reputation as a top TV exec and producer, not to mention a genuine, standup guy, precedes him.

Buccieri’s not the kind of guy who is profiled to death, or who pops off in the press about every thought to cross his mind. Rather, he’s the rare person in this great business who you will generally see quoted only when there is an actual transaction for him to address (though he is becoming a familiar face on reality-TV power lists).

Call him an an...Read More

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By Stephanie Robbins

While Giada De Laurentiis is known for her innovative Italian recipes (who doesn’t love a Nutella-based dessert?) and popular Food Network show Everyday Italian, the author and chef is also recognized for her precise Italian pronunciation of the ingredients used in her dishes.

But we at B&C heard that in the pilot for Everyday, Giada pronounced the ingredients like your average American, so we have been wondering if her strong Italian accent when saying words like “mozzarella” and “spaghetti” is just for the cameras. 

We got the chance Tuesday night to ask her what gives -- and whether she’ll pronounce ingredients th...Read More

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Via email Tuesday evening from an anonymous tipster:

Hey Mel –
Psyched to see the Diner back!
Apparently the tanking economy isn’t hurting The Grill like the writers strike did, as it was hopping at lunch Tuesday. Basically in a row all eating separately, I spotted Fox Reality’s David Lyle, CBS’s Bob Madden, MGM’s Jim Packer and ex-Lakers coach Pat Riley.
Just thought I’d pass it along since I guess that’s what you do in this place!

BE A SUPER FLY CORRESPONDENT, tip us off to where the TV biz eats -- industry bigwigs, talent, anybody working in TV in your town -- with a note t...Read More

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The B&C Hall of Fame dinner last last week was pretty much a Mel’s Diner dream come true: About 900 of the most interesting and accomplished members of the TV industry gathered at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City to induct 12 greats of the biz. There was humor (Roger Ailes killed), insight from the industry’s visionaries, good causes (a portion of the proceeds benefits the Broadcasters Foundation of America and Cable Positive) … and of course good food. This is no rubber chicken event.

The menu started with pane rustica and a roasted Mediterranean veggie tart, accompanied by an olive straw aka a delicious, cheesy breadstick with a tape...Read More

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