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POPSNBC's Zucker: The Industry's Punching Bag Though Zucker's resume includes far more successes (cable, news, today show) than it does failures (prime-time), he is most associated with NBC' prime-time problems and will remain a press pinata until the network climbs out of the ratings basement -- or Comcast brass replace him, whichever comes first.
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POPSWhat Oprah Did Right A study in what Oprah has done (and continues to do) right, reports the NY Times. Will signing off after 25 years to focus her efforts on OWN be added to the list? If history is any indication, the answer is yes.
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POPSBBC-Ya Garth Ancier’s list of impressive positions he formerly held just got longer. Before joining BBC America as President 3 yrs ago, he held chief roles at Fox, NBC and the since-shuttered WB. During his tenure at BBC, he’s credited with doubling the networks ratings, raising the company's profile and increasing profits nearly 80%. No reason for his replacement has been provided.
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POPSFinally, Some Late-Night Stability As NBC tests the waters with another (risky) hour of late-night fare (in prime-time) CBS is wise to hold on to its stable alternative. After a decade-plus at no. 2, the tiffany network's veteran host has a real shot at poaching former Leno viewers and winning the ratings war.
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POPSFringe Forges Ahead In an era of sagging ratings and increased competition, FOX should be reveling in its ability to score 13 mil-plus viewers in two back-to-back hours of prime-time real estate. Looks like JJ Abrams and his first-place network home are back on track.
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POPS'Entourage' in the Sky While the HBO/Virgin deal has some scratching their heads --an Entourage first-class ride complete with champagne and Entourage-branded eye masks is, after all, a bit over the top-- the licensing agreement has some obvious benefits for both parties. For HBO, in flight showings offer a captive audience. And for Virgin, its a way to differentiate itself from rivals and appeal to its core savvy, sophisticated demo.
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POPSSeinfeld's Latest Gig Microsoft is shelling out big on the belief Seinfeld can make it cool -- as in Mac cool. But here's the $10 million flaw in this logic: Microsoft will never be cool. And that's okay so long as it continues to be successful.
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POPSHBO's New Visionary Though her star dimmed post-Sopranos, Carolyn Strauss leaves big shoes to fill, not to mention several hit programming gaps. Put another way, the pay cable net needs a new stable of hits -- and quickly.
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POPSBritney Spears Scores Britney's camero proved a boon for both parties. How I Met Your Mother saw a ratings spike (promising as a pick-up should come soon if it comes at all) and Spears got attention for something other than her tabloid lifestyle. In fact, several critics were even impressive and applauded the stuggling starlet's performance.
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POPSNBC Splits After one too many HR mishaps, Zucker played this one wisely. There's little doubt Hammer would have been swooped up had he not served up something big - and fast. (Many think Hammer was the obvious --and better-- choice for Silverman's job.) On the other hand, the move greatly scales back Katherine Pope's responsibilities -- Unfortunate given her refreshing outlook and talent.
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POPSSkipping TV Long awaited research from Information Resources Inc displays the much-debated effects of DVR. The reality: the ad-skipping technology doesn't wreak the kind of havoc many feared it would.
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POPSEconomy tanks, Movies Soar Looks like there's some good news admist the otherwise bleak economic scenario, at least as far as movie studios are concerned. If history is any indication, the movie biz will thrive as the market takes a hit. Put it this way: when times are tough, a $10 movie ticket certainly beats a $50 sporting event or a $100 concert.
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POPSMurdoch, Part 2 An interesting look at Murdoch's daughter, a media heavyweight in her own right. Long touted as the one responsible for FOX' American Idol pick up, the TV exec is busy trying to land more shows -- and more accolades.
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POPSTV's Reality More doom and gloom from Zucker. The takeaway here: unless you're up a week heavy on American Gladiators, click over to cable.
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POPSAmerican Idol Makes a Winner Once again reality TV has proved the golden ticket for the News Corp owned network. But without Idol on the airwaves in the fall, don't count on FOX to remain on top for long.
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POPSSitcoms Soar This should come as great news for broadcasters who feared post-strike returns would be met with rating declines. Apparently America didn't find preferable ways to spend its time after all.
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POPSA Sopranos Movie? According to Gawker -- a sometimes reliable source -- HBO may have another big screen splash in store: A Sopranos Movie. And can you blame the pay cable net for trying to stretch out the incredibly successful franchise still more? The net hasn't exactly been setting the world (or the ratings) on fire with post-Sopranos fare like Flight of the Conchords. And hey, at least now we'll get to know what happened after the fade to black.
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POPSOscars, Oscars, Oscars Apparently it's never too early to start planning for gold-plated statues. But if history is any indication --this year, a host of films made explicitly with awards in mind struck out-- all of the plotting and planning in the world (never mind the multi-million dollar marketing campaigns) can't guarantee Oscar love.
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POPSReady for Laughs? The box office is serving up a heavy dose of popcorn comedies ... but are viewers ready to laugh?
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POPSCNN Wins Go figure: as soon as CNN stopped trying to be FOX, it started to gain on FOX. The news net is staging a comeback thanks to its coverage of an ever-competitive --and ever-entertaining-- political race.
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POPSCable's Bold Move Cable is increasingly offering daring (and often highly entertaining) content and viewers have taken notice. Now the Turner network group is hoping advertisers will too.
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POPSA Quiet Hollywood Looks like the pencils really were down during the 3-month stoppage. Despite all of the buzz about a post-strike spec boom, Hollywood has been surprisingly quiet on the script front since the strike ended.
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POPSAnother Hollywood Strike? The writers' strike put hundreds out of work and took a $3 billion toll in direct and indirect costs to the LA county economy. Issues aside, the last thing Hollywood needs is more labor strife.
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POPSQuarterlife Wants its MTV (fans)! A savvy move by NBC's controversial boy wonder, Ben Silverman. In today's cluttered landscape, networks can't assume viewers will seek out their shows. That's why NBC is doing just the opposite: seeking the viewers out.
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POPSThe Return of Desperate Housewives and Doctors If all goes according to plan, beginning in April viewers will be able to find fresh episodes of Grey's, CSI and House again ... sadly, they'll have to scroll through similarly fresh episodes of the strike's finest --Farmer Wants a Wife and My Dad is Better than your Dad-- to find them.
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POPSAnother Funnyman takes on the President For President Bush, here's hoping Ferguson is kinder than 2006 presenter Stephen Colbert, who's nasty (yet hilarious) quips had white house folk up in arms. * For the ratings-starved Ferguson, here's hoping he isn't --Colbert's performance became a viral blockbuster.
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POPSHollywood's Return Looks like their could be a star-studded Oscar ceremony after all -- not to mention a return to normalcy for the entertainment industry. Though negotiations have not yet concluded, if Guild brass strongly endorses the deal at Saturday's meeting, membership will likely back it too.
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POPS24's struggles On and Off the Screen A fascinating piece on the struggles of a show that has risen and fell against a real-world backdrop. And much like that real world, what the next iteration of this show will look like --and how it will fare-- is not yet unknown.
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POPSA star-less Oscar show? Nonsense. Why do people watch the Oscars? To see the stars: what they wear, what they say and how they win --and lose. Bottom line: Without the stars, there is no Academy Awards show.
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POPSGood News for Tom Cruise More good news for the controversial star and his fledging studio. And further proof that signing the interim agreement with the writers guild was a smart move for UA.
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POPSThe Heath Ledger Story An interesting piece on the minute by minute coverage of Heath Ledger's tragic death. Rather than focus on the Fed rate cuts, the election or the day's Oscar noms, viewers tuned in to hear the up-to-minute details - accurate or not -- from outlets ranging in scope from the New York Times and the evening news to celebrity weekly websites and blogs like TMZ.
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