• NBCU Touts Ratings Win
• Vonage to Pay AT&T $39 Million
• WealthTV Files FCC Complaint
• Cable Ad Spending Grows
• X-Mas Stunt Scores for ABC Family
• Carlyle to Buy French Cable Op
• AMC Banks on Originals

• ESPN Kicks Off Bowl Coverage
• Sportsman Channel Expands
• USA Promotes McCumber
• Sci Fi Promotes Execs
• Broadstripe Cuts Scorecard Deal

• Worth Watching
• Liftime Backs Reality Shows Online

NBCU Touts Ratings Win
When Nielsen closes the books on 2007, it will mark a four-peat for the NBC Universal Entertainment Cable Networks with primetime viewership among key demos. NBCU officials claim that 2007 will be the fourth consecutive year that USA Network, Sci Fi Channel and Bravo set the primetime pace as the leading entertainment cable group (excluding Oxygen which was not acquired until late November) in primetime among viewers 18 to 49 and 25 to 54. Through Dec. 9, an NBCU analysis of Nielsen Galaxy Explorer data (live + 7 day through Nov. 25 and live + same day through Dec. 9) indicated that the three networks averaged 712,000 18-to-49 watchers, up 5.4% from the 2006 period. The NBCU Entertainment Cable Group registered a 4.2% advance to 736,000 with the 25-to-54 set, versus 683,000 for second-place Turner. Last year, the three NBCU entertainment cable services averaged 707,000 of those viewers. Moreover, USA, Sci Fi and Bravo have now delivered 18-to-49 and 25-to-54 growth during all four years since the NBC/Universal merger created the group in 2004, according to Universal Television Group president and chief operating officer Jeff Gaspin. Behind only USA, TBS and TNT, Sci Fi was on pace to finish fourth among cable entertainment services with adults 25 to 54 in the fourth quarter. click to read more...
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Vonage to Pay AT&T $39 Million
Vonage said that it reached a definitive agreement settling AT&T’s patent lawsuit against the Internet phone company, under which Vonage will pay the telco giant $39 million over five years. The companies had agreed in principle to a settlement on Nov. 7. AT&T filed suit against Vonage Oct. 17, alleging Vonage infringed on U.S. Patent No. ,487,200, titled “Packet Telephone System.” Vonage -- which has been fighting off patent attorneys for more than a year and a half -- in October settled lawsuits with Verizon for up to $120 million and Sprint Nextel for $80 million. click to read more...
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WealthTV Files FCC Complaint
WealthTV filed a carriage agreement complaint against Time Warner Cable at the Federal Communications Commission, alleging that the operator unlawfully discriminated against it in favor of In Demand’s Mojo service. The complaint, filed with the FCC Dec. 20, maintains that the nation’s second-largest cable operator unlawfully discriminated against Wealth TV by refusing to carry the independent programmer or negotiate in good faith for distribution while it carries the affiliated Mojo, which is similar in content and also targets affluent males 25 to 49. click to read more...
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Cable Ad Spending Grows
National cable was one of just six measured media that posted advertising gains during the first nine months of 2007, according to preliminary data from Nielsen Monitor-Plus. Edging up 1.5% for the period, national cable ranked fifth of the 16 measured media, a list that was topped by the Internet, which registered a 15.9% advance, according to data from Nielsen Online and AdRelevance. Total advertising spending slipped 0.1% over the span in question, according to Nielsen. National magazines, up 7.7%, were second over the nine-month span, ahead of national Sunday magazines and outdoor, which were up 6.0% and 5.7%, respectively. click to read more...
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X-Mas Stunt Scores for ABC Family
It looks as if Christmas came a little early for ABC Family this year. Through the first 19 days of the network’s annual “25 Days of Christmas” programming event, the stunt was pacing as the best in its 10-year history among total viewers, adults 18 to 34 and adults 18 to 49. From Dec. 1 through Dec. 19, ABC Family averaged 2.70 million viewers from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., a 2% increase over the 2.66 million watchers through the same point last year, according to Nielsen Media Research data. Among that total: 528,000 adults 18 to 34, up 15% from 460,000 of those viewers in the year-ago span; and 1.19 million adults 18 to 49, 7% more than 1.11 million in the 2006 period. click to read more...
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Carlyle to Buy French Cable Op
Private equity giant The Carlyle Group has agreed to pay $1.5 billion (1 billion euros) for a 35% stake in French cable operator Numericable and corporate telecommunications service provider Completel. Numericable, formed from the merger of nearly all of the cable operators in France in 2005, is the largest cable operator in that country with about 4.5 million television, Internet and telephony subscribers. click to read more...
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AMC Banks on Originals
AMC, having received critical acclaim for vintage advertising show Mad Men and poised to launch Breaking Bad next month, is looking to continue its original series momentum with new shows in development. The network, which began to complement its slate of theatricals in 2006 with western miniseries Broken Trail, which set network ratings marks and won four Emmys, is mining that genre again with a couple of the shows it has in development. Fort Smith, written by Robert Cochran (24), comes in the wake of the Civil War and follows Isiah Parker and his posse who police the Five Points, a lawless territory comprised of five different Indian tribes. In an untitled entry written by Alison Anders (Things Behind the Sun, Gas Food Lodging) and Terry Graham, the series centers on Quanah Parker, the leader of the Comanches, and their fight against the U.S. Army for the right to their land. Elsewhere, AMC is developing Uninvited Guest, a series that tracks a character hampered by his uncontrollable multiple personality disorder. click to read more...
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ESPN Kicks Off Bowl Coverage
ESPN kicked its coverage of the college bowl season Dec. 20 with its presentation of Utah’s 35-32 victory over Navy in the Poinsetta Bowl in San Diego. Through Jan. 1, sister services ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC will televise 23 college football bowl games, highlighted by the “granddaddy of them all,” the Rose Bowl on the alphabet network on New Year’s Day. All 23 of the match-ups will be offered in the enhanced format on ABC HD, ESPN HD and ESPN HD. Factoring in ESPN Radio, broadband portal ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV, The Walt Disney Co.’s sports properties will cover 27 bowl games. click to read more...
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Sportsman Channel Expands
The Sportsman Channel received some holiday cheer on the distribution front, launching on a number of systems owned by Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Charter Communications. Comcast added the fishing and hunting proponent -- which counts some 15 million subscribers on a full- and part-time basis -- to its systems in Michigan, Elkton, Md., Huntington, W.Va. and Indianapolis. click to read more...
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USA Promotes McCumber
USA Network has upped marketing executive Chris McCumber. The “characters’ network’s senior vice president of marketing and brand strategy since 2004, McCumber is now serving as executive vice president of marketing, digital and brand strategy. click to read more...
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Sci Fi Promotes Execs
Sci Fi Channel augmented its original programming unit, promoting two of its executives and adding a new vice president. The network promoted Erik Storey and Tony Optican to senior vice president of original programming, and announced the hiring of Chris Sanagustin as vice president of development. click to read more...
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Broadstripe Cuts Scorecard Deal
Broadstripe has selected Scorecard Systems to provide the operator with more accurate subscriber and service analysis. Scorecard’s solutions, which drive more accurate analysis of customer activity that reduce commission and acquisition costs, will provide such capabilities to all of Broadstripe’s regions and corporate departments. click to read more...
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