• Martin’s Cable Agenda Hits A Wall
• AT&T Expands ITV Rollout
• NBC Cuts TiVO Deal
• Food Cuts Emeril
• MSNBC’s Doc Block
• Cable Details TCA Schedule
• ICTV Finds Way to San Jose

• CNN Picks 'Heroes' Finalists
• Gall Joins BBC
• Ion Gets Drew Carey
• Subs Dig IPGs

• Worth Watching
• Writers Rally in NYC

Martin’s Cable Agenda Hits A Wall
Washington – FCC chairman Kevin Martin’s attempt to saddle the cable industry with an array of new regulatory burdens collapsed Tuesday night as the beleaguered young Bush appointee effectively lost control of his agency, forcing him to accept either outright defeat or hastily arranged face-saving compromises. Martin -- who didn’t start the agency’s public meeting until 9:13 p.m., a nearly 12-hour delay – did walk home with one prize: rules that will force cable operators in 90 days to slash their leased access channel rates by 75%, to about 10 cents per month, per subscriber. But Martin, 40, had to rely on FCC Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein to pull off his leased access feat, because the other FCC Republicans, Robert McDowell and Deborah Taylor Tate, wanted no part of price-slashing blueprint.Martin’s plans for cable started to unravel on Monday when Adelstein, McDowell and Tate rebelled and refused to support Martin’s conclusion that cable penetration had reached 70% of U.S. households, triggering a provision in federal law that could bury cable in an avalanche of new regulations. On Tuesday, Martin had to accept a quickly arranged compromise in which cable operators will have 60 days to provide the FCC with their subscriber and homes-passed data to determine whether the 70% test has been met. click to read more...
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AT&T Expands ITV Rollout
AT&T is rolling out its suite of interactive TV features to U-verse TV customers in the Houston area, hoping that mah-jongg on television will give it an edge against incumbent cable operator Comcast. click to read more...
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NBC Cuts TiVO Deal
NBC Universal inked a multiyear deal with TiVo that will allow the entertainment conglomerate to sell interactive ads for TiVo’s digital video recorders, and under which NBCU will subscribe to its DVR ratings research. As part of the agreement, NBCU’s 14 television networks and 10 owned-and-operated stations will be able to sell TiVo Interactive Tags in conjunction with existing commercial spots. NBC becomes the first broadcaster to sign on to TiVo’s StopWatch DVR ratings and PowerWatch demographic research services. click to read more...
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Food Cuts Emeril
Food Network is taking one-time signature show Emeril Live off its menu. The show, which has been on the Scripps Networks’ service 1997, will tape its last episode on Dec. 11, with encores of the Emeril Lagasse-starrer expected to remain on the schedule for some time. Food will continue to produce Essence of Emeril, its daily, in-studio show and air other specials with Lagasse. click to read more...
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MSNBC’s Doc Block
MSNBC has lined up more than a dozen new documentaries, on topics ranging from sex slaves in America to maximum security prisons, to premiere in its primetime “Doc Block” in December. The “Doc Block,” which runs weeknights 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. ET/PT, includes standalone documentaries and several returning MSNBC series. Premiering this December are Conviction, a new series, MSNBC Undercover: Sex Slaves in America, and Journey to the Center of the Brain. click to read more...
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Cable Details TCA Schedule
Cable TV networks plan a full schedule of promotion during four days at the January meeting of the Television Critics Association, with some new faces (Retirement Living TV, Reelz) in the mix and some old faithfuls (Showtime Networks) pulling out of the schedule. NBC took a pass on the Los Angeles meeting, but its cable siblings are committed to a four-hour block, including breakfast for the scribes. Traditional anchor HBO will host a three-hour presentation, but Turner Networks will present for only 90 minutes and that will include CNN. NBC Universal Cable Networks will kick off the tour on Jan. 8, followed that day by GSN, HDNet, BET and Hallmark Channel, with The Travel Channel hosting an evening event. click to read more...
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ICTV Finds Way to San Jose
Interactive television company ICTV has relocated its corporate headquarters to downtown San Jose, Calif., after being based in nearby Los Gatos since 1995. The 90-person company is moving about 60 of its employees into the River Park Tower in San Jose. click to read more...
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CNN Picks 'Heroes' Finalists
Culminating a five-month nomination process, CNN has revealed the 18 finalists for its first-ever awards program, “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,” which celebrates ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary things. The show, hosted by CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Christiane Amanpour will air live globally on CNN/U.S., CNN International and CNN en Espanol on Dec. 6 at 9 p.m. click to read more...
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Gall Joins BBC
BBC Worldwide America, tapping a veteran of The Weather Channel to lead the effort, will bring its ad sales fully in-house next April. Mark Gall, senior vice president at Weather since 2003, where he headed the company's cable and integrated platform ad sales, has been named senior vice president BBC America and BBC Digital Media. click to read more...
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Ion Gets Drew Carey
Ion Television has bought the rights to air The Drew Carey Show, and will launch the sitcom with a New Year’s Eve marathon. Through a deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution, terms of which were not disclosed, Ion Television will kick off the show with a 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. stunt Dec. 31, and then add the sitcom to its weeknight primetime lineup beginning New Year’s Day. click to read more...
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Subs Dig IPGs
Some 80% of interactive program guide users consider the electronic listings a “necessity” for viewing, according to the results of a study released Tuesday. The “engagement’ study regarding IPG’s was commissioned by Gemstar-TV Guide International and Comcast Spotlight, the ad-sales division of Comcast Cable, and was conducted by Lieberman Research Worldwide. click to read more...
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