• Senate Republicans Slam Martin’s Cable Plan
• Discovery To Rename Times Channel
• Conyers Wants Answers From Martin
• ‘Ben’ Movie Sets Record
• Moffet Upgrades DirecTV
• Cable Works With TiVo
• NCTA Fights Email Mandate

• Time Warner Promotes Gillman
• Charter Adds Wealth TV
• HBO Sets Pavlik-Taylor Rematch
• Univision Runs DTV PSAs
• Edwards Hits WGA Rally
• Malibu Fire Hits Charter System
• Hunn Joins Sundance

• TV Guide Renews ‘Making News’
• Wonder Women Deadline
• Worth Watching
• By Stealth, WealthTV Lobbies The FCC

Senate Republicans Slam Martin’s Cable Plan
Washington – Four Senate Republicans on Monday expressed “deep concern” with Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin’s ongoing effort to impose new regulatory burdens on cable operators. “It is clear to us that it was Congress’s intent that the marketplace, and not regulatory fiats, should govern wherever possible. If there is to be a fundamental shift or adoption of new regulatory policies, it is up to Congress, not the [FCC], to implement it,” the GOP lawmakers said in a Nov. 26 letter to Martin, a Republican appointee of President Bush. The letter was signed by Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Kay Bailey Hutchinson (Texas), Gordon Smith (Ore.) and John Sununu (N.H.), all members of the Commerce Committee, which oversees the FCC and holds hearings on the individuals nominated by the president to run the agency. click to read more...
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Discovery To Rename Times Channel
Discovery Times Channel is getting a new I.D. Discovery Communications plans to rename its 50-million subscriber, documentary-based network Investigation Discovery (I.D.) beginning Jan. 27, and will develop new original series and specials emphasizing forensics and investigative-oriented content. Launched in 2003 as a partnership between The New York Times and Discovery, the network expects to develop more than 100 hours of new content in 2008 that it hopes will continue to drive audience and viewership gains, said John Ford, president and general manager of the channel. The move comes nearly 20 months after The New York Times exercised a put in the agreement to sell its 50% share of the network back to Discovery. click to read more...
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Conyers Wants Answers From Martin
Washington – Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is asking FCC chairman Kevin Martin to defend his management of the agency and his support for the a la carte sale of cable networks despite broad opposition from civil rights and other minority organizations. In a lengthy letter, Conyers complained that the Martin-led FCC has been lax in keeping the public informed about rules and regulations that might be adopted, and that Martin has not been vigilant in seeing that interested parties have ample opportunity to express their views. Martin, a Republican nominee of President Bush, has tarred the cable industry as a bad actor because nominal rates have doubled in a decade. Although Martin has said he would not force a la carte rules on cable, he continues to demand that cable go a la carte on a voluntary basis, claiming consumers deserve more individual options. click to read more...
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‘Ben’ Movie Sets Record
Cartoon Network’s Nov. 21 original live-action movie Ben 10: Race Against Time drew a network record 3.9 million viewers. The 90-minute movie, based on Cartoon Network’s action-adventure series Ben 10 about a young boy who can turn into 10 different, powerful aliens with a flick of a special wristwatch, also posted drew record viewers among boys 2-11 (1.6 million) and tied a 2001 Dragon Ball Z telecast for most watched show among boys 6-11 (1.2 million). click to read more...
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Moffet Upgrades DirecTV
Sanford C. Bernstein Monday upgraded DirecTV’s stock to “market perform” from “under perform,” raising its 12-month price target to $26 a share from $19 for the direct-broadcast satellite provider. click to read more...
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Cable Works With TiVo
Major cable operators in the second quarter of 2008 expect to offer an adapter to customers of TiVo’s digital video recorders that will give the DVRs direct access to switched digital video channels, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and TiVo announced Monday. click to read more...
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NCTA Fights Email Mandate
Washington – The cable’s industry largest trade group is opposed to rules that would require Internet Service Providers to forward email to the new email address of a former customer for a period of six months. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association said such rules were unnecessary, expensive, and beyond the regulatory authority of the FCC to impose. “Not only is the requested rule unnecessary, it is fundamentally at odd with the ‘hands off’ approach that Congress has established for the Internet and Internet-based services and the [FCC] has followed as a matter of course for decades,” NCTA said in a Nov. 26 FCC filing. click to read more...
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Time Warner Promotes Gillman
Time Warner Cable said late Monday that it promoted Joan Gillman to executive vice president and president of media sales. Gillman had previously served as senior vice president and president of media sales. click to read more...
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Charter Adds Wealth TV
Charter Communications added WealthTV’s HDTV network to its lineup in 11 Louisiana cities. click to read more...
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HBO Sets Pavlik-Taylor Rematch
HBO’s pay-per-view arm will distribute the Feb. 16 rematch between current middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and former champion Jermain Taylor from Las Vegas. Pavlik won the middleweight title by knocking out Taylor in their Sept. 29 bout, which ran on HBO. But his 160-pound title will not be on the line for the rematch -- the two fighters will battle as 166-pound super middleweights. click to read more...
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Univision Runs DTV PSAs
Spanish-language broadcaster Univision next month will air the first in a series of public-service programs entitled, “TV Digital Que Tal?,” which means “Digital TV … What is it?,” informing viewers on the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico about the digital transition in 2009. click to read more...
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Edwards Hits WGA Rally
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards is slated to speak at the rally the striking Writers Guild of America is holding Tuesday in Manhattan, according to union officials. The WGA East is expecting almost 1,000 people to be at its lunchtime Solidarity Rally in Washington Square Park, with Edwards on the roster as a speaker. click to read more...
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Malibu Fire Hits Charter System
Charter Communications has suffered fire damage for the second time this season in Malibu, Calif. The cable TV operator’s primary fiber optic cable was burned in this weekend’s Corral Canyon fire. About 12,000 feet of fiber will have to be replaced, according to the company. click to read more...
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Hunn Joins Sundance
Sundance Channel Monday named Andrew Hunn vice president of affiliate sales. Hunn comes to Sundance Channel from Rainbow Media Programming, where he worked since 1991, most recently as director of national accounts. click to read more...
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TV Guide Renews ‘Making News’
TV Guide Network renewed its original summer reality show Making News for a second season with 13 episodes. click to read more...
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Wonder Women Deadline
The Multichannel News deadline to submit nominees for the tenth class of Wonder Women is Tuesday. For more information, visit multichannel.com/wonderwomen2008.