BC Beat
Commentary, analysis and observations on the business of television from the staff of Broadcasting & Cable. Edited by Senior Editor Joel Topcik.
Nickelodeon Pronounces the Generation Gap Closed
Comedian Jim Breuer understandably struggled to explain when one of his three young daughters asked him about the premise of the pro-substance, pro-couch surfing late ‘90s cult hit Half Baked, which he starred in alongside Dave Chappelle. Breuer’s daughter had found out about the movie online. In stark contrast to his goofy, everyman-next-door public persona, Breuer, speaking as par ...... Read More
Comments (0)Lou Dobbs Topped By Decomposing Golf Ball
Lou Dobbs’s exit from CNN made the top five news links on the blogosphere last week (Nov. 9-13), according to the latest Project For Excellence in Journalism New Media Index report. It came in at number five with 8% of the links, though it was beaten by a story about the exit, ecologically speaking, of a golf ball, a CNN report about Danish researchers who concluded it would take a golf ba ...... Read More
Comments (0)Palin's Media Tour Continues
Sarah Palin’s media tour continues tonight on Fox News’ Hannity. The former vice-presidential candidate has already given The Oprah Winfrey Show its highest ratings in two years. (That means Palin was more popular than Whitney Houston and Mackenzie Phillips, both of whom unloaded heaps of personal baggage on Oprah’s couch.) Palin is promoting her best-selling book Going Rogue, ...... Read More
Comments (0)Migliozzi Is "Foamsourcing" for Pabst
Just think of it as “foamsourcing.” Ad agency exec Michael Migliozzi, perhaps best-known to B&C readers as the guy who rebranded the Prayer Channel using the Devil as a spokeserpson, says in a release making the rounds Wednesday that his ad agency, Forza Migliozzi, in tandem with the Ad Store, has raised $3 million in its crowdsourcing bid to buy Pabst Brewing Co. Migliozzi alrea ...... Read More
Comments (0)Industry Tweets That Caught Our Eye: Nov. 18, 2009
Below are B&C’s picks for the top five industry tweets of the day. @shondarhimes (Exec Producer, Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice) I made a cake that Justin called “a doorstop” - not good. Jessica Capshaw was very respectful and ate quietly. Stacy McKee won the trophy. @gavinpurcell (TV Producer) My favorite fan sign at the “New Moon” premiere ...... Read More
Comments (0)CBS News Investigation Gets Action
A CBS News report about a backlog of rape kits awaiting DNA testing in cities across the country has spurred a change of policy in at least one city. The San Antonio Police Department announced that it will now test all rape kits in stranger rape cases, CBS News reported on its web site. A five month CBS News investigation by correspondent Armen Keteyian and producer Laura Strickler found that 20, ...... Read More
Comments (0)Industry Tweets That Caught Our Eye: Nov. 17, 2009
Below are B&C’s picks for the top five industry tweets of the day. @TedatACA (VP, Communications, American Cable Association) NAB’s new chief, sounding like NCTA’s boss, takes a stand on Net Neutrality: “It is a solution looking for a problem.” http://bit.ly/8u9WN @ShawnRyanTV (Writer, The Shield/The Unit/Lie To Me) In 22 eps of Unit last year and ...... Read More
Comments (0)'Boardwalk Empire' Set Brings Atlantic City to BK
Emmy award-winning Sopranos screenwriter Terence Winter said he felt like “a girl going to the prom” when he arrived for diner at Martin Scorsese’s house to discuss a series adaptation of Boardwalk Empire, a book about the political underbelly and cultural history of Atlantic City. But the director, who Winter was deeply inspired by after seeing Taxi Driver as a teenager, was ...... Read More
Comments (0)Industry Tweets That Caught Our Eye: Nov. 16, 2009
Below are B&C’s picks for the top five industry tweets of the day. @badgate (Research Director at Horizon Media) For the 16th season opener of Inside the Actors Studio—-James Lipton is interviewing…..Bon Jovi–HUH? @ActuallyNPH (Neil Patrick Harris, Star, How I Met Your Mother) My first tweet, peeps. I apologize in advance for my slow learning curve. Nice to (sort of ...... Read More
Comments (0)Comcast/NBC U Domain Déjà vu: An Update
Since I noted the problem of website cyber-squatting as it relates to the NBC Universal-Comcast acquisition two weeks ago, the deal has marched slowly forward, while the name of the new venture remains a mystery. But a Twitter conversation, started by Variety’s Michael Schneider (@franklinavenue) and former B&C‘er turned Los Angeles Times media maven Joe Flint (@jbflint) has spur ...... Read More
Comments (0)Industry Tweets That Caught Our Eye: Nov. 12, 2009
Below are B&C’s picks for the top five industry tweets of the day. @JohnKingCNN (Chief National Correspondent, CNN) Thanks for all the kind words about soon to be new gig. And to the skeptics, hope you will watch before judging. @shondarhimes (Creator/EP, Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice) I can’t convince anyone to join twitter. Am not a magic-twitter-joiner-fairy perso ...... Read More
Comments (0)Hannity to Address 'Daily Show' Claims on "Tea Party" Video
Fox News host Sean Hannity has said that he will address charges tonight on his self-titled primetime show that a recent segment used misleading video footage to inflate the attendance of a recent anti-Obama rally in Washington. The decision comes after a Nov. 10 segment on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show With Jon Stewart presented apparent evidence that Hannity’s Nov. 5 report on an ...... Read More
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