Monday, Oct. 23
What do Michael Bloomberg, Peter Chernin, Irwin Gotlieb, Nancy Tellem, Chris Albrecht, Tim Russert, Harry Pappas, Betty Cohen and the lovely Susan Lucci have in common? All will be members of the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame as of tonight. The black-tie wingding goes down at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, with Al Roker and Ann Curry emceeing and a special tribute to Entertainment Tonight. Elsewhere in New York, the National Association of Broadcasters kicks off NAB New York at the Jacob Javits Center. And where’s a good Mechanic when you need one? In Northampton, Mass., in fact, as the Cable Center’s Mavericks series features Carol Mechanic, senior VP of programming at Showtime, at Smith College.
Tuesday, Oct. 24
NAB New York offers its Sports Tech Summit, with seminars on Investment Opportunities in Broadband and Marketing Sports to Generation X and Y. Then it’s over to the Stony Awards at B.B. King’s in Times Square, as High Times gives out its film and TV honors. Surprise surprise, Weeds leads with eight nominations, and faces off with Entourage and Chappelle’s Show for Best Series. And this is much less fun, but the Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association holds a teleconference about media-company liability—like if a kid gets hooked on reefer from watching Weeds.
Wednesday, Oct. 25
Since we too seem to be hooked on Weeds, we’re off to the Museum of Television & Radio in New York for the season finale of Showtime’s sleeper hit. And what do you do when the man of honor at your annual luncheon gets, well, fired? Toast him anyway! Tom Freston is celebrated for a stellar career at MTV Networks when the Center for Communication gets together at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan. There’ll be commentary from Bob Wright, Jeffrey Bewkes and—look for this on YouTube tomorrow—Stephen Colbert. Back at NAB NY, the Radio-Television News Directors Association hosts its News & Technology Summit. B&C Editor in Chief Max Robins moderates “Thriving in an On-Demand News World,” with insights from Michael Clemente of ABC News Digital, Susan Grant of CNN and other news luminaries.
Thursday, Oct. 26
Do you find yourself missing Sharon Osbourne and her super-sweet ways since The Osbournes ended? See the Princess of Darkness as she speaks with Today contributor Dr. Gail Saltz about beating cancer and being the matriarch of the first family of freakdom at the 92nd Street Y’s Steinhardt Building in Gotham. And what about the future of broadcast news? Find out when a panel kicks it around at the News Technology Summit at the Renaissance Con- course in Atlanta. B&C Executive Editor Mark Robichaux moderates.
Friday, Oct. 27
Quick—who’s our ambassador to Belgium? If you answered Frans van Daele, you deserve to join him and Baroness van Daele at the premiere of PBS documentary Last Best Hope. It’s about the Belgian Resistance in WWII, and it’s at the Naval Heritage Center in D.C. And that Andre 3000 cat from OutKast sure keeps busy. He’s got the music thing. He’s got the film thing. He’s got the dressing-up-in-crazy-outfits thing. Now he’s got the TV thing, as a sneak peek at his animated show, Class of 3000, plays on Cartoon Network. Look for mockumentary Sunny Bridges: From Bankhead to Buckhead at 7 p.m., with guest appearances by the Hives and Serena Williams—because ’dre likes the way she moves.
