For the Record
by Staff -- Multichannel News, 12/7/2009 2:00:00 AM
Mark Burnett to Produce New 'HGTV Design Star’ Season
Knoxville, Tenn. — Mark Burnett will help design the fifth season of HGTV Design Star.
The Scripps network has inked a deal for Mark Burnett, executive producer of reality shows such as Survivor and The Apprentice, to produce the fifth campaign of its primetime competition series.
Viewers and online users who want to be considered can visit HGTV.com/designstar to find out how to apply. Submissions must be postmarked by Jan. 19, 2010.
Burnett said in a release: “We look forward to rolling up our sleeves and making HGTV Design Star even bigger, better and more exciting than it has been in seasons past.”
Previous HGTV Design Star winners include hosts David Bromstad and Kim Myles, as well as season-four winner Antonio Ballatore. Ballatore is currently in production for his new series, The Antonio Treatment, which is slated to premiere in March.
SeaChange Says Strong VOD Orders Will Boost Finances
Acton, Mass. — SeaChange International expects to see sales for its fiscal year ending January 2011 to increase by as much as 17% over the current fiscal year, driven by strong video-on-demand software shipments and additional wins in its media services group.
The VOD software and hardware vendor provided the forecast last Wednesday in reporting results for the quarter ended Oct. 31. SeaChange had $53.3 million in total revenue for the period, up 2.8%, while net income fell to $700,000, compared with $3.4 million a year ago.
SeaChange shares closed up 2.9% on Thursday, to $6, after jumping more than 12% in earlier trading.
Chairman and CEO Bill Styslinger, providing a preliminary outlook for fiscal 2011, said the company is targeting revenue for the next fiscal year to be $225 million to $235 million. For the fiscal year to end Jan. 31, 2010, SeaChange expects revenue to be roughly flat with the previous year’s $201.8 million.
ID Orders Second Season Of 'On The Case With Paula Zahn’
Bethesda, Md. —Investigation Discovery renewed On The Case With Paula Zahn, the newsmagazine hosted by the former CNN anchor, for a second campaign.
Only six episodes into its first season, the series is the highest-rated in network history, averaging 402,000 total viewers, according to Nielsen data.
“After the premieres of only half of the original thirteen episodes of On The Case With Paula Zahn, it is apparent that ID’s audience is flocking to the fascinating stories and gripping interviews that Paula and the stellar production team Scott Sternberg and Scott Weinberger have secured,” ID president and general manager Henry Schleiff said in a statement.
Zahn signed a development deal with Investigation Discovery in January, with On The Case the first project to come out of the pact.
Hollinger Named to Head Discovery Networks International
Bethesda, Md. — Chief Operating Officer and long-time Discovery Communications executive Mark Hollinger has been named president and CEO of Discovery Networks International, and Greg Ricca, current chief of DNI, will leave the company following a period of transition.
International operations have become increasingly important to U.S. content providers, including Discovery, amid the challenging domestic advertising market. In the most recent quarter, Discovery said international networks’ revenue decreased 2% to $293 million due to a $22-million hit from foreign currency fluctuations. Otherwise, international revenues in the third quarter rose 6%, with 9% advertising revenue growth and 5% affiliate revenue growth, led by subscriber gains in Latin America and Asia-Pacific.
Hollinger will continue as COO at CEO David Zaslav’s Discovery Communications until a successor is named.
MSG Media Hires David Clark, Ex-Joost Exec, as EVP of Sales
New York — MSG Media named former Joost.com and MTV executive David Clark its executive vice president, sales, overseeing ad-sales activities at the MSG networks, Fuse and digital assets.
He will be responsible for all advertising sales initiatives, including sponsorships, co-promotions and partnership opportunities for MSG Media’s multiple platforms: music network Fuse, sports and entertainment network MSG, regional sports network MSG Plus, and MSG Interactive, which oversees all of Madison Square Garden’s wireless and online initiatives.
Prior to joining MSG Media, Clark was a founding member of Joost.com, an online aggregator of premium video entertainment, where he held a variety of leadership roles, including general manager and executive vice president, marketing and advertising. Joost recently sold its remaining assets to online-advertising firm Adconion Media Group.
Before Joost, he was vice president, global marketing partnerships for MTV Networks.
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