Programming

Dish Network subscribers in six cities could lose access to local programming if the satellite giant does not reach a retransmission consent agreement with Schurz Communications by midnight Friday.

Mishawaka, Ind.-based Schurz owns TV stations KTUU (NBC) in Anchorage, Alaska; KY3 (NBC), KCZ (The CW) and KSPR (ABC) in Springfield, Mo.; WDBJ (CBS) in Roanoke, Va,; WSBT (CBS) in South Bend, Ind.; WAGT (NBC) in Augusta, Ga.; and KWCH (CBS) and KSCW (The CW) in Wichita, Kan.

HBO has elevated Otto Berkes, one of the original creators of Microsoft’s Xbox game platform, to the position of chief technology officer to take over the reins from longtime CTO Bob Zitter, who is stepping down from the post in March 2013.

As CTO and executive vice president of technology, Berkes will be responsible for overseeing all technology efforts worldwide, including consumer technology, distribution, origination, production operations, engineering and IT.

Just under a month since it announced the formation of its production arm, 3net,the joint venture of Discovery, Sony and IMAX, revealed its initial slate of original 3D and 4K TV fare, highlighted by its first native 4K series.
The series, Space, will be produced in what 3net Studios is billing “TotalD,” which means it will be show in native 3D 4K, 2D 4K, 3D 2K and both 3D/2D HD formats.

The Supreme Court, in a one-line rejection Monday, declined to hear the appeal of a class-action suit filed by cable and satellite subs, who had argued that channel bundling violated antitrust laws, and had asked the courts to compel programmers and distributors to offer single channels for purchase.

The Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing will lay off about one-fourth of its employees by the end of 2012, after the group’s decision to discontinue its CTAM Summit and Insights Conference flagship events and shift away from individual memberships.

CTAM will eliminate eight position at year end, out of 33 total employees currently, president and CEO Char Beales said. Most of those are staffers who have worked on the conferences and individual memberships. Beales confirmed she will remain with CTAM.