Picture This
Tom Umstead focuses on TV programming in his column.
Boxing Takes Jab At Instant Replay
Saturday’s Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight will be historic in at least one sense: it will be the first pay-per-view boxing event that will feature the use of instant replay to settle a potentially controversial fight conclusion. While the sports world over the past few weeks has been debating about instant replay playing a greater role in Major League Baseball games, the Nevada At ...... Read More
Comments (0)Weathering The Storm
The National Association of Multi-Ethnicity in Communications kicks off day two of its 23rd Annual Conference in Denver this morning amidst the potential threat of a major snowstorm that is projected to drop up to a foot of snow in the city. The diversity-tinged organization is already trying to weather a business storm created by the slow recovering economy and the conference’s move out of ...... Read More
Comments (0)Sports Gets Ratings Game On
During a recent industry luncheon, I overheard a lively discussion between two cable-sports executives regarding the reasons behind the knockout ratings live sports telecasts have generated for cable so far this fall. One exec said sports, unlike any other genre, provides unique, unscripted and in-your-face home-entertainment value to consumers looking to maximize their leisure dollars in a still- ...... Read More
Comments (0)BET, Mo'Nique Wake Up Late Night
BET may have found itself a late night ratings queen in actress/comedian Mo’Nique. BET’s late night variety series The Mo’Nique Show drew 1.5 million viewers in its Oct. 5 debut, increasing the network’s audience from a year ago in the 11 p.m. to midnight time period by a whopping 188%, according to Nielsen. More impressive for the series is that the second night’ ...... Read More
Comments (8)The Cosby Show: A Quarter Century Of Laughs
TV Land tonight (Sept. 23) will pay homage to the 25th anniversary of The Cosby Show with a three-hour retrospective of the comedy show’s most memorable episodes. It’s impossible to ignore the influence that the series, which debuted Sept. 20, 1984 on NBC and focused on the lives of an upper income African-American family, has had on the TV comedy sitcom genre and on American c ...... Read More
Comments (2)Reclaiming Pay-Per-View's Crown
Undefeated ex-boxing champion Floyd Mayweather steps into the ring Sept. 19 to fight Juan Manuel Marquez in the cable industry’s first big pay-per-view boxing match since May. Mayweather, who retired in 2007 after drawing more than 3.4 million PPV buys, the most ever for a boxer in a year, is looking to reclaim his crown as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, as well as the indus ...... Read More
Comments (1)VMAs: Great Ratings And Sour Notes
As I mentioned in a previous blog, live awards show telecasts can provide a great ratings boost for a cable network, but can cause indigestion for network executives due to often controversial antics acted out on stage by performers. Last night’s MTV Video Music Awards ceremony proved to be no exception. The Awards show, which is known for its eye-opening performances, drew nearly 9 million ...... Read More
Comments (1)Award Shows Hit Sour Notes At Times For Nets
Music-themed awards shows can give cable networks a big ratings push, and Sunday’s star-studded MTV Video Music Awards show shouldn’t be an exception. Last year’s VMAs averaged 8.4 million viewers for MTV and played well among the network’s target 12 to 34 demo. With a tribute to the late Michael Jackson on the docket – Michael’s little sister Ja ...... Read More
Comments (2)The NFL's Fantasy Score
Thursday (Sept. 10) marks the kickoff of the 2009 National Football League season as the defending world champion Pittsburgh Steelers face their AFC rivals the Tennessee Titans. For Steelers and Titans fans as well as die-hard football aficionados, the game is the only thing happening in their lives from 8:30 p.m. until about midnight. But the game is also significant for fantasy football competi ...... Read More
Comments (0)Cable Nets Celebrate MJ’s Birthday
Several cable networks over the weekend will mark what would have been music legend Michael Jackson’s 51st birthday on Aug. 29 with a slew of musical specials and documentaries. Since the King of Pop’s untimely death June 25, cable news and entertainment networks have generated strong ratings for just about any Jackson-related programming, and undoubtedly networks like BET, TV One, E ...... Read More
Comments (0)AMC's 'Mad Men' Ratings Sell
From AMC’s standpoint, Mad Men jumped out to a great start on the ratings front for its Aug. 16 season three premiere. Last year’s Emmy-winning series for best drama and arguably this year’s favorite in the category (Mad Men is actually nominated for a whopping 16 Emmys) drew a series record 2.8 million viewers in its third season debut – a 34% gain over the season two ...... Read More
Comments (2)Roku Stepping Up To The Plate
Don’t look now, but Roku is quickly becoming a key player in the home entertainment industry and a formidable competitor to cable, satellite and telco companies. Already a growing threat to cable’s linear video-on-demand business with its instant video streaming of movies and TV shows from DVD-by-mail company Netflix, the company earlier this week reached a deal with Major League Bas ...... Read More
Comments (4)
