• announced by Matt Bond

announced by Matt Bond
Brownback to Push TV-Content Regulation Sen. Sam Brownback (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6344305.html) (R-Kan.) is hoping that the Senate Appropriations Committee will adopt language Thursday to give the Federal Communications Commission more power to regulate indecent and violent content on broadcast television. Brownback prepared an amendment that would allow the FCC to punish the fleeting broadcast of the “F-word” and the “S-word,” overturning a federal court ruling in June that said the FCC’s crackdown on isolated profanity violated the law (http://www.multichannel.com/article/ca6449023.html). "Broadcasters should not be allowed to use the public airways to disseminate violent or obscene material," said Brownback, a GOP presidential candidate, in a prepared statement Tuesday. "The abundance of indecent material on television is one indication of the coarsening of our culture." FCC chairman Kevin Martin reacted strongly to the court ruling, saying that a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit was condoning the broadcast of foul language when children are watching TV in large numbers. A second Brownback amendment would empower the FCC to regulate for first time in agency history “excessively violent video programming” on broadcast TV. According to the text of the amendment, Brownback would require the commission to regulate excessively violent cable content, something Sen. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6455752.html) (D-W. Va.) feels strongly about. “Parents should not have such a difficult time protecting their children from broadcast television. The FCC's ability to restrict the gratuitous use of obscene, violent and indecent content on broadcast television is essential to the protection of children and families,” Brownback said. In a TV-violence study by the FCC in April, Martin said the a la carte sale of TV channels would meet less resistance in court than other forms of content regulation, such as limiting indecent and violent content to late-night hours. Last year, in an effort led by Brownback, Congress enacted a law that increased maximum broadcast indecency fines from $32,500 to $325,000 per offense. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458975.html Game Over for Cronin at GSN GSN CEO Rich Cronin (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6458112.html) is resigning and will leave the network at the end of the month. Cronin, head of GSN for the past six years, will continue to work closely with the network’s team and with clients to insure a smooth transition until he leaves, GSN said. The network is co-owned by Liberty Media and Sony Pictures Entertainment. GSN issued a press release saying that Cronin was announcing his resignation, and that the company expects to name a successor within the next few weeks. “I am honored to have led a great team of creative businesspeople in pioneering interactive-television games and in growing GSN so dramatically,” Cronin said in a prepared statement. “Together we have built a strong business that combines GSN television, GSN.com [http://www.gsn.com], mobile/text participation and other digital media.” Cronin joined GSN as president and CEO in 2001 after Liberty bought one-half of the company from Sony Pictures Entertainment. During Cronin’s six years as chief executive, he brought GSN to profitability; it expanded its distribution from 31 million homes to 64 million; the network pioneered interactive-TV games and participation TV in the United States; and GSN.com was transformed from a promotional site into a destination for interactive play-along and online casual and cash games. Under Cronin’s watch, GSN’s programming was expanded to include new originals such as interactive game show Lingo (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6323208.html). “We appreciate everything Rich has done to build GSN and bring it to profitability in a very competitive environment,” GSN board member Steve Mosko (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA478519.html), president of Sony Pictures Television, said in a prepared statement. GSN’s highest-rated show is High Stakes Poker (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6449782.html), with a 0.4 Nielsen Media Research household average, and the network recorded a 0.3 household rating in primetime during the second quarter. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458874.html images/cronin180.jpg Martin Supports Some Google Auction Rules Some winners in a pending federal spectrum auction (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6456963.html) would need to comply with network-neutrality mandates and other open-network conditions, according to controversial rules endorsed by Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6455199.html). As a Republican appointee of President Bush, Martin has strongly resisted net-neutrality mandates favored by Silicon Valley giants Google, Yahoo, eBay and Amazon.com (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6456123.html). But he evidently decided to shift gears, upsetting free-market advocates that say regulation is unnecessary unless the FCC can demonstrate market failure. Congress is expecting the 700-megahertz auction -- which has to begin by Jan. 28, 2008 -- to bring in at least $10 billion, but Martin’s rules run the risk of depressing the value of the airwaves. “Any rules that require a portion of the spectrum to be used only on an open-access/net-neutrality basis will diminish the value of the spectrum to be auctioned. Because the license holder will be restrained in putting the spectrum to its highest-value use, it will be worth less at auction than it would be in an unrestricted auction,” said Randolph May, president of The Free State Foundation (http://www.freestatefoundation.org), a free-market think tank based in Potomac, Md. According to an FCC official, auction winners of a 22-MHz block would be required to allow end-users to run any application and attach any device that wouldn’t harm the network -- proposals designed to give consumers more choices than wireless carriers currently offer. These conditions would not apply to the remaining 38 MHz being put up for sale, the FCC official said, confirming comments Martin published in USA Today. “While details are not yet available regarding the specific proposals he plans to make to his FCC colleagues, I commend chairman Martin for his recent statements, which recognize that the wireless marketplace is insufficiently competitive and innovative today due to current market structures and practice,” said Rep. Edward Markey (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6442081.html) (D-Mass.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. Some reports billed Martin’s proposals as a victory for Google. But in a filing Monday, Google told the FCC it wanted Martin’s rules to cover all 700-MHz licensees, in addition to requiring them to provide wholesale access to their spectrum and to interconnect with third-party Internet-service providers. Martin’s rules don't appear to meet Google even halfway. In the filing, Google said that if the FCC failed to endorse all of its policy prescriptions, AT&T and Verizon Communications would dominate the auction. “Without the introduction of open broadband platform, Google’s auction analysis strongly suggests that incumbents almost invariably will succeed in procuring the larger commercial-spectrum blocks,” Google Washington telecommunications and media counsel Richard Whitt (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6452620.html) said. Whitt added that although Google hadn't decided whether to bid in the auction, the company was weighing post-auction business arrangements, including "joint partnerships and anchor tenancy.” http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458959.html images/martin180.jpg Analyst Report Boosts DirecTV, Liberty Capital Stock Shares of DirecTV Group and Liberty Capital were on the upswing Tuesday after Citigroup analyst Jason Bazinet (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6454830.html) issued a report speculating that Liberty could launch a $22 billion tender offer for the remaining shares of the direct-broadcast satellite giant it does not acquire through a separate deal with News Corp. (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6453110.html) Liberty reached an agreement in December to swap its 19% voting stake in News Corp. for cash and News Corp.’s 38.5% interest in DirecTV (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6402321.html). That deal, valued at about $11 billion, is expected to close this year. But Bazinet, in his research report, said Liberty’s aspirations to own 100% of DirecTV -- and enable it to consolidate all of the satellite company’s cash flow -- are high. He estimated that Liberty could launch a $30-per-share tender offer for the remaining 61.5% of DirecTV, perhaps by creating yet another tracking stock for the deal. And he believes that $30-per-share tender offer (a 23% premium to DirecTV’s July 9 close of $24.39 per share) could happen within the next 12 months. Shares of both stocks responded in kind in early Tuesday trading. DirecTV shares were up as much as 2.5% (61 cents per share) to $25 and Liberty Capital shares rose 2.6% ($3.10 each) to $123.40 per share. Liberty Capital, which trades under the symbol LCAPA, was formed last year after Liberty Media decided to split itself into two tracking stocks (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6333693.html): Liberty Capital, which houses Starz Entertainment Group and its passive interests in several media companies; and Liberty Interactive, which includes home shopping giant QVC and several new-media assets. According to Bazinet, Liberty Capital could split itself into two separate trackers -- which the analyst called “Son of LCAPA” and “OpCo” -- to do the deal. Bazinet believes the OpCo entity would be used to acquire the rest of DirecTV, offering a mix of cash and OpCo stock. The benefit of the OpCo structure is twofold: It removes the holding-company discount from LCAPA shares (which Bazinet estimated to be about 15%) by separating out its hard assets from its minority stock interests. And it lets Liberty do a deal without parting with much of its value -- Liberty can primarily use DirecTV’s balance sheet and OpCo stock (which would be made up mostly of DirecTV) to fund the deal, according to Bazinet. While Bazinet admitted that the OpCo structure would appear to have little upside for DirecTV shareholders, he said the opposite is true. “At first blush, DirecTV shareholders may scoff at receiving ‘OpCo’ currency,” Bazinet wrote. “However, we believe there is a strong possibility that ‘OpCo’ shares are rerated once the holding company discount is removed. As such, we think DirecTV shareholders should embrace a mix of cash and ‘OpCo’ stock.” http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458895.html MavTV to Launch HD Feed MavTV (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6449263.html) will add an HD feed to its growing stable of services beginning in the first quarter of 2008. The move was made since the vast majority of the network’s original content is being shot in HD and interest both domestically and internationally in HD programming targeting men has been in great demand. The independent network has been marketing its men’s brand and original series internationally in markets such as Australia, New Zealand and now India. The original HD content being produced by MavTV is also being snapped up by international distributors eager to reach the HD consumer throughout the world. In addition, MavTV is very close to finalizing an international distribution agreement for the men’s brand that will cover five continents. MavTV president Steve Smith said the “bottom line is we have some exciting male content on the air and international markets and U.S. distributors seem very interested in what we have to offer. Moving into a full HD signal will only help us grow the brand faster internationally and in the United States.” MavTV is an independently owned cable network and video brand created specifically to appeal to the interests of men. Launched Oct. 1, 2004, the network features a mix of original sports and gaming programming, as well as general content related to the male demographic. The network can be seen in more than 55 key markets via cable in the United States, and it has distribution agreements on mobile platforms in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and India. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458889.html ION Rides RHI’s Killer Wave ION (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6439421.html) will debut the first of 12 original productions from RHI Entertainment (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6439200.html) -- miniseries Killer Wave, starring Tom Skerritt -- Aug. 5. The four-hour miniseries, airing all in one night, also features Angus Macfayden (Braveheart, Alias, Saw 3), Steven McHattie (A History of Violence, Seinfeld) and Karine Vanasse (Head in the Clouds, Set Me Free). Last fall RHI and ION Media Networks announced a new partnership, a primetime destination called RHI Movie Weekend, whereby RHI would serve as the exclusive television-programming supplier on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights for an initial two-year period. The relationship kicked off the weekend of June 29 with a digitally remastered edition of critically acclaimed Lonesome Dove, which is airing on four consecutive Saturday nights. RHI expects to debut five additional original movie premieres on ION this year. Killer Wave is an action-disaster miniseries about a conspiracy theory regarding the manufacture of fear for profit. In the story, a large corporation hatches a scheme to devastate American cities on the East Coast with the intent of winning a multibillion-dollar contract from the government to build a sea wall along the Eastern Seaboard. Killer Wave was filmed in more than 45 locations throughout Canada last summer. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458887.html EchoStar Stocks HD Roster EchoStar Communications (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6448926.html) is boosting its roster of HDTV offerings, boasting Tuesday that its Dish Network has the largest national HD lineup in the United States. Dish will launch eight regional sports networks in HD Wednesday that feature game-only baseball content: FSN Arizona, FSN Northwest, FSN Cincinnati, FSN Pittsburgh, FSN Detroit, SportsTime Ohio, FSN North and SportsNet New York With the launch of nine HD RSNs earlier this year, these new additions bring Dish’s total lineup of HD RSNs to 17, with more channel launches planned for Aug. 15. Also Aug. 15, Dish will add seven national HD channels to its DishHD programming package: MHD, featuring music programming from MTV, VH1 and CMT; Golf/Versus HD; Animal Planet HD; The Science Channel HD; TLC HD; Discovery HD; and History HD, which will debut Sept. 1. With these additions -- plus more planned for mid-September -- DishHD subscribers will continue to have access to the largest national HD lineup in the United States. “No one currently has more national HD channels than Dish Network, and we’re committed to maintaining that edge by enhancing DishHD with channels that exemplify the top-quality programming our customers enjoy,” Dish senior vice president of programming Eric Sahl (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6412976.html) said in a prepared statement. “When it comes to high-definition, Dish Network offers not only the best programming, but the best technology and value, as well, including the only free HD DVR [digital-video recorder] in the industry and, starting Aug. 15, six months of DishHD programming for free.” DISH Network’s DishHD currently offers customers more than 200 hours per day of HD content from the nation’s top programmers and is a $20 add-on to digital programming packages, including the DishDVR Advantage. The HD RSNs are available to customers who subscribe to Dish’s America’s Top 100 Plus programming with DishHD. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458855.html Comcast’s Eastern Division Set to Get Local Comcast expanded its Get Local (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6398565.html) initiative, which focuses on local video-on-demand content, within its Eastern division. The MSO said it will expand its local VOD offerings in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia by more than 200% over the next two years, offering approximately 20,000 unique programs. Comcast formed a Get Local team for the region, led by Eastern-division vice president of programming Michael Ortman, with day-to-day operations managed by Noah Kodeck (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6260374.html) in the newly created position of director of local VOD programming and production. Kodeck had been director of production for CN8, The Comcast Network (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6438323.html). http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458789.html Motorola to Buy Triple-Play Startup Keeping up its buying binge, Motorola announced plans Tuesday to acquire privately held Leapstone Systems (http://www.leapstone.com), a developer of software for delivering bundled video, voice and data services across multiple networks. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Leapstone would be the third company Motorola’s Home & Networks Mobility group has acquired this year -- after Terayon Communication Systems (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6456551.html) and Modulus Video (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6442965.html) -- and its seventh in one year. Leapstone’s customers include AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Its Communications Convergence Engine (http://www.leapstone.com/products.php) product suite provides content-management and multimedia-service delivery for both fixed and wireless operators. “Leapstone will contribute its leading intelligent service-delivery and content-management platform to Motorola, which will serve as our new engine for enabling seamless mobility experiences across applications, devices and domains,” Motorola Home & Networks Mobility president Dan Moloney (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6443848.html) said in a prepared statement. According to Leapstone, the CCE system is “aligned” with the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) architectural framework and can support Internet-protocol-TV, voice over IP, high-speed-Internet and converged fixed-mobile services. The product’s service-brokering capabilities works in multivendor networks and can use different protocol interfaces, the company added. Based in Somerset, N.J., Leapstone has 75 employees, all of whom are expected to join Motorola. Motorola said the acquisition -- subject to usual closing conditions, including the approval of Leapstone’s shareholders -- is expected to be completed in the third quarter. Investors in Leapstone, founded in 2001, include Accel Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Oak Investment Partners, Mayfield Fund, Soros Private Equity Partners, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Redwood Venture Partners. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458815.html EchoStar, Ensequence Dish Out Interactivity for Bravo’s Top Chef 3 Miami EchoStar Communications’ Dish Network subscribers will be able to interact with, and vote on, Bravo’s Top Chef 3 Miami (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6452415.html) through an interactive application developed by Ensequence (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6436525.html). Ensequence’s work for NBC Universal’s Bravo marks the first-ever satellite synchronized-voting and polling interactive-TV application for Top Chef 3 Miami, which currently airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Dish Network channel 129. Dish, through its use of Ensequence's iTV application, will allow viewers with compatible interactive receivers to interact with the program with a single click of the remote. The application will give viewers the ability to vote, view fun facts and answer trivia questions that are synched to each episode of Top Chef 3 Miami. For each episode, Dish viewers go interactive directly through the TV remote -- without requiring another device -- to answer polls about which chef should "pack their knives" each week. They can also participate in trivia questions about the judges and specific episodic content. Viewers get real-time notification of correct answers, and voting results are tallied and broadcast to viewers in real-time, enhancing their experience with the show. Ensequence provides software used to create, manage and distribute interactive content across TVs, PCs and mobile devices. The vendor’s award-winning on-Q (http://www.ensequence.com/products) software suites and professional services deliver multiplatform interactive capabilities to advertisers, programmers and operators worldwide. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458803.html Broadband Emmys to Go On Despite ATAS-NATAS Flap Despite a turf war over the awarding of Emmy Awards for broadband content, the East Coast-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (http://www.emmyonline.org) will proceed with its previously announced awards for news and documentary programming made specifically for that platform. The awards could have been blocked by an injunction sought by the West coast-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (http://www.emmys.tv). That trade group filed a federal suit, seeking outside arbitrators to decide what group has responsibility for broadband Emmys -- an issue that arbitrators are not expected to take up until October. In the meantime, ATAS asked for an injunction on the presentation of awards until the legal wrangle has been fully decided. But a panel of arbitrators declined to issue an injunction Monday, so NATAS will present its broadband awards Sept. 24. NATAS already announced nominees for categories including current news coverage; documentary/nonfiction broadband programming; arts, lifestyle and culture programming; and regional news coverage. Nominees include Frontline/World (http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld); The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com), the Detroit Free Press (http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage), the San Francisco Chronicle (http://sfgate.com), MediaStorm (http://mediastorm.org), Song of Songs (http://songofsongs.tv), Stagework (http://www.stagework.org), National Geographic (http://nationalgeographic.com) and Newsweek.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032542/site/newsweek). NATAS will announce nominees in 28 more categories July 17. Both ATAS, which is responsible for the Primetime Emmy Awards, and NATAS, which selects Daytime Emmy winners, have entered the broadband-award arena. ATAS filed its legal challenge after NATAS announced in May that it was forming the National Academy of Media Arts & Sciences, chaired by former NBC Universal chairman Bob Wright (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6433462.html). That peer group is soliciting members from the new-media community. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458789.html Netflix: 5M Online Views in Six Months Netflix subscribers have watched 5 million movies and TV episodes on their PCs since the DVD-by-mail company launched its Watch Now service in January (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6408775.html). With more than 6 million subscribers, Netflix tallied an average of less than one view per subscriber for the six-month period. However, the company staggered the rollout of Watch Now, making the service available to additional groups of about 250,000 subscribers per week through June. Netflix currently offers a library of 2,000 titles available for “instant watching” and promises to provide 5,000 by the end of the year. The company has said that it is spending $40 million in 2007 on Watch Now. Among the most popular titles Netflix users have clicked on are NBC’s The Office, as well as films The Matrix, The Prince and Me, Super Size Me, The Sum of All Fears, Jackass: The Movie and Sherrybaby. Hours available for instant watching vary based on a subscriber's monthly plan. The most popular Netflix plan -- $17.99 per month for three DVDs out at a time -- allows up 18 hours of online viewing. Eventually, Netflix plans to bring videos directly to TV sets. The company recently hired Anthony Wood, founder of digital-video-recorder company Replay TV, as vice president of its Internet-TV group (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6434099.html). http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458780.html ABC-Owned Stations Launch Mobile Video ABC-owned TV stations will now offer free video content for cellular phones. The network’s owned-and-operated stations launched free mobile-video services in all 10 of their markets, offering advertiser-supported streaming news clips. The 10 ABC-owned TV stations offering this new advertiser-supported news service are: WABC-TV in New York; KABC-TV in Los Angeles; WLS-TV in Chicago; WPVI-TV in Philadelphia; KGO-TV in San Francisco; KTRK-TV in Houston; WTVD in Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; KFSN-TV in Fresno, Calif.; WJRT-TV in Flint, Mich.; and WTVG in Toledo, Ohio. “The launch of this mobile-video service offers a win-win opportunity for both viewers on the go and advertisers who want to remain connected to them,” William Burton, executive vice president of digital media for the ABC-owned television-stations group, said in a prepared statement. “As a free and easily accessible service with compelling content, the service is designed to successfully meet the growing demand for news video on video-enabled mobile devices in our markets.” The free mobile video is being powered by Local Wireless (http://www.localwireless.com/wap), the nation’s largest wireless aggregator of local television-news content. Local Wireless also powers the ABC owned television-stations group’s ongoing text-based mobile services, offering news, weather, financial information, traffic and other information. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458962.html TVGuide.com to Use Maven's Video Players Gemstar-TV Guide International (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6458646.html) will manage more than 300 video players on TVGuide.com (http://www.tvguide.com) using a hosted service from Maven Networks (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6421303.html), a startup that provides publishing tools for broadband video. TVGuide.com hosts more than 2,500 video clips, including segments from television shows, behind-the-scenes footage, reviews and celebrity interviews. The site provides different video players tailored to different sections, such as those dedicated to individual TV shows, like HBO’s The Sopranos (http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/sopranos/100522). Gemstar-TV Guide spokeswoman Bo Park said TVGuide.com will replace its current video players, which were developed in-house, with those managed by Maven’s system at the end of July. But, she added, “The placement and content will remain the same as it is on the current site.” TVGuide.com received 4.1 million unique users in March, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. Other Maven customers include 20th Century Fox, CBS’ CSTV, Hearst, Sony Pictures Television and Univision. TNT Tops Weekly Primetime Charts TNT (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6458142.html) won the primetime-ratings battle for the week of July 2, averaging a 2.5 household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research. Bumped by the success of The Closer (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6453580.html), the network beat out USA Network and Disney Channel (1.9 apiece); Lifetime Television, ABC Family and Hallmark Channel (1.2); TBS, Nick at Nite and Court TV (1.1); and Cartoon Network, Fox News Channel, A&E Network, FX and AMC (1.0). Nickelodeon edged out Disney in total-day ratings, with the two networks earning 1.7 and 1.5, respectively. Close behind were Nick at Nite (1.4); TNT (1.2); and Adult Swim and USA (1.1 apiece). TNT’s The Closer was the top show of the week, earning a 2.5, followed by its coverage of Nextel Cup Racing from Daytona, Fla. (2.2), and USA’s WWE Monday Night Raw (1.8). http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458952.html CSG Wraps ComTec Deal CSG Systems International completed its acquisition of ComTec (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6451001.html), announced June 11. CSG is a provider of customer-care and billing solutions, and Fairfield, N.J-based ComTec has more than 100 employees and processes approximately 10 million billing statements per month for customers throughout the United States. CSG said at the time of last month’s announcement that the acquisition “builds upon CSG's goal of maximizing customer interaction for clients by expanding its statement-processing footprint and capabilities through the addition of enhanced statement-production and electronic-statement-presentation hardware and software technologies, as well as additional plant capacities.” http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458809.html Sky Angel to Spread IPTV Wings via NeuLion Sky Angel (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6455921.html) will use NeuLion’s (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6425044.html) Internet-protocol-TV platform to distribute multiple channels of Christian-centered and family-friendly programming. Sky Angel chose NeuLion’s IPTV service for the quality of the experience and broadest market reach and because NeuLion’s proven, pre-existing IPTV networks are in production with sizable consumer bases. Sky Angel plans to transition its subscriber base in the United States to IPTV over the next year. It currently delivers more than 30 television and radio channels to customers across the contiguous United States using direct-broadcast satellite and reaches consumers in homes, churches, prisons, shelters, hospitals and nursing homes. “We believe the Sky Angel service, using the NeuLion platform, will be more economical than our current satellite system and will provide our viewers more options,” Sky Angel CEO Rob Johnson said in a prepared statement. IPTV provides viewers value-added services and conveniences such as the ability to set up their own equipment to retrieve programs that have already aired, much like a digital-video recorder, and to use video-on-demand. NeuLion’s multiplatform service allows Sky Angel to reach viewers anywhere at any time, whether through the television, Web or mobile device. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458779.html Comcast Announces Several Promotions Comcast shuffled the deck at its programming and content-acquisition groups Tuesday. One of the major changes came at the Comcast Programming Group, the unit with the company’s cable networks, which is led by president Jeff Shell (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6323442.html). Bill Bridgen (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6250364.html), who previously served as executive vice president of network distribution for Comcast Programming, will now move over to Comcast SportsNet, reporting to that network’s president, Jon Litner (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6429073.html). Bridgen will help to develop the company’s growing roster of regional sports networks, which collectively serve more than 27 million viewers in leading sports markets across the country. Alan Dannenbaum (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA403472.html) will succeed Bridgen as executive VP of network distribution. Dannenbaum, who previously served as senior VP of content acquisition for Comcast, will oversee the distribution team for the company’s programming entities, including E! Entertainment Television, Style, The Golf Channel, Versus, G4, AZN Television, PBS Kids Sprout, FEARnet, ExerciseTV and the regional Comcast SportsNets. He will report to Shell. Shell also named Earl Marshall VP of business development for the programming group. Marshall, who previously served as senior director for Comcast’s corporate-development group, will lead a team responsible for the expansion of the company’s current network properties and will work with the company’s existing networks in evaluating new-media opportunities. Marshall will report to Joe Donnelly, chief financial officer of the programming group. “We’ve promoted several senior leaders to new roles where they are now positioned to help grow Comcast’s networks,” Shell said in a prepared statement. “Bill’s expertise in sports, network management and affiliate relations will contribute tremendously to our growing SportsNet businesses; Alan’s expertise and reputation in affiliate relations will expand distribution opportunities; and Earl’s business-development acumen will enable us to continue to leverage new cross-platform development opportunities.” There were also changes and promotions (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6439938.html), Comcast’s executive VP of content acquisition. Jennifer Gaiski (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA414343.html) was promoted to senior VP of content acquisition. Gaiski, who most recently served as VP of content acquisition, will continue to negotiate and administer programming contracts and coordinate the company’s nationwide field operations and financial commitments, as well as managing programming for Comcast’s partnership properties. Allan Singer (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6250932.html) will succeed Dannenbaum as senior VP of content acquisition. Singer will license programming content for distribution on Comcast cable systems, including cable networks and broadcast-television stations. In addition, Matthew Strauss (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA318450.html) was named senior VP of new media. Strauss, who most recently served as senior VP of content acquisition and development, will continue to manage the development and acquisition of nonlinear video-programming services, and will also assume responsibility for developing content for Comcast’s Internet properties. “Allan, Matt and Jennifer are exceptional leaders and respected throughout our industry,” Bond said in a prepared statement. “They are a dynamic team with unsurpassed experience, which will be invaluable as we continue to develop and deploy cross-platform features and services.” Gaiski, Singer and Strauss will all report to Bond. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458879.html Bunda Promoted at CNN CNN (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6456421.html) news executive Susan Bunda (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6361891.html) was promoted to the newly created position of executive vice president of content development and strategy for CNN Worldwide. In her new role, Bunda’s responsibilities will include developing programming for CNN consumer platforms and marshaling CNN talent, resources and experience on wide-ranging business initiatives. Bunda also will focus on identifying demographic trends and opportunities, strengthening the organization’s ties to consumer communities and connecting the CNN brand with appropriate philanthropy. As senior vice president of news for CNN/U.S., Bunda oversaw the network’s Atlanta-based programming and all editorial content from CNN’s domestic bureaus, as well as the medical and science and technology units. Previously, Bunda was senior VP of talk shows and guest bookings for CNN/U.S, an executive producer with the CNN special-events unit and executive producer of legal-analysis show Burden of Proof. She joined CNN in 1987 as a producer and writer. Earlier in her career, she was with WWMT in Kalamazoo, Mich., and WMAQ in Chicago. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458775.html Big Ten Network Taps Wegener Big Ten Network (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6456798.html) will use Wegener’s (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6423794.html) satellite-receiving equipment to deliver programming to its affiliates. The regional sports network -- a joint venture between subsidiaries of the Big Ten Conference and Fox Cable Networks -- will launch Thursday, Aug. 30. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458813.html Universal HD to Air Microsoft-Sponsored Sundance Block Universal HD (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6456310.html) will begin airing a weekly programming block from Sundance Channel (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6447112.html) Wednesday, Aug. 1 at 8 p.m. (EST). Microsoft will be the presenting sponsor of the block, which will air through Dec. 26 and feature Sundance original series including Iconoclasts (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6358956.html), Big Ideas for a Small Planet (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6429793.html) and Live from Abbey Road (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6453093.html). Universal HD is currently available in more than 54 million homes. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458968.html Poison Rocker Joins VH1 Reality Lineup Poison (http://www.poisonweb.com) frontman Bret Michaels was tapped by VH1 (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6456400.html) for a new reality show, Rock of Love with Bret Michaels. Premiering on the channel Sunday, July 15 at 9 p.m. -- and currently airing on broadband channel VSPOT (http://www.vh1.com/vspot) -- the series follows the singer/songwriter as he searches for a woman who can tolerate his rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. Rock of Love joins another reality bachelor series, Scott Baio Is 45 … And Single (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6448559.html), also running on VH1’s VSPOT. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458972.html Outdoor Channel Adds Fishing Fare The Outdoor Channel (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6450999.html) is bolstering its lineup of fishing shows this year and in 2008. Ultimate Match Fishing and Ultimate Fishing -- College Edition are returning shows. New shows are: Western Sportfishing, hosted by actor Lee Horsley (Matt Houston); Offshore Adventures, in which hosts Chris and Melissa Fischer set out with a crew to explore life at sea; Outfitters Almanac, with tales from outfitters and guides; and Ultimate Outdoors, hosted by Wayne Pearson, which uses a magazine format to include fishing, hunting and clips of general outdoor recreation in each episode. http://multichannel.com/article/CA6458974.html Fox, HBO Re-Up Distribution Deal All future Die Hard movies released through the next decade will have their premium run on HBO (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6456568.html). The premium channel Tuesday announced a long-term extension of its domestic movie-output deal with Hollywood studio 20th Century Fox. Terms of the deal -- an extension of a distribution agreement between the two parties that began in the early 1980s -- were not disclosed, but HBO and Fox executives said the agreement extends well into the next decade. The deal includes digital-media rights including broadband and video-on-demand within the HBO movie premium window. In past years, HBO has distributed such Fox movies as the Die Hard trilogy, the Star Wars franchise and Independence Day. “This year marks the 25th anniversary since HBO entered into a continuous output deal with Fox, making it our longest-running output relationship with a studio,” HBO co-president Harold Akselrad (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6449129.html) said in a prepared statement. "Films from Fox have been a part of the HBO offering since the early days of the network, and their consistent success at the box office has made them a valuable part of our programming lineup.” click to read more...
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