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Tom Umstead focuses on TV programming in his column.
Pacquiao Win Sets Up Potential Mayweather Matchup
Now that Manny Pacquiao has disposed of former welterweight champ Miquel Cotto, the drumbeat has already begun for a 2010 showdown between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. At the end of Pacquiao’s 12-round decisive TKO of Cotto last night, which gave Pacquiao an unprecedented seventh title in seven different weight classes, much of the sold out crowd at the MGM Grand Arena at Las Vegas beg ...... Read More
Comments (0)Big Month For VOD Pix
November’s video-on-demand movie lineup, featuring nearly a dozen titles premiering on the same day and date as their home-video release, is close to the business touchdown that cable operators have always envisioned for the platform. With big box-office titles like Sony’s The Da Vinci Code sequel Angels and Demons ($133 million at the box office) and The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 ($64 ...... Read More
Comments (0)Viewers Still Watching Television At Record Levels
So much for viewers ditching the television set for the computer. Nielsen today (Nov. 10) reported that Americans spent an all time high four hours and 49 minutes a day on average in front of the TV during the 2008-09 television season. According to the report, the amount of TV viewing per individual was up four minutes from the prior TV season and up 20% from 10 years ago. The average household w ...... Read More
Comments (1)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 (8)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 (10)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
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