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To Save NBC, Rethink Leno Strategy
 To Save NBC, 
 Rethink Leno Strategy 
technical difficulties

To Save NBC, Rethink Leno Strategy

CEO Jeff Zucker to blame for slump

(Newser) - Cable giant Comcast wants to buy a controlling interest in NBC Universal. Sure, the company's movie business and cable channels are appealing, but what about the broadcast network? NBC is floundering, and CEO Jeff Zucker is to blame, Mark Harris writes in New York. One big problem is The Jay ...

Say Goodbye to NBC as We Know It
 Say Goodbye 
 to NBC as We Know It 
Matthew Greenberg

Say Goodbye to NBC as We Know It

It's probably going be more like a cable network

(Newser) - Monday was a milestone for NBC’s misbegotten Leno experiment: only 4.6 million tuned in, the worst Monday of the year, writes Matthew Greenberg. This is getting so bad it may signal the beginning of the end of NBC as we know it. The network’s rationale for putting...

It's Stephanopoulos vs. Cuomo to Replace Sawyer

The two are the leading candidates for 'Good Morning America'

(Newser) - Diane Sawyer's impending departure for ABC's evening news leaves two top contenders for her post at Good Morning America: George Stephanopoulos and Chris Cuomo. Stephanopoulos has the edge, writes Howard Kurtz, because he's got the bigger name and has performed well as host of This Week. But he has one...

30 Rock in Danger of Growing Stale
 30 Rock in Danger 
 of Growing Stale 
tv review

30 Rock in Danger of Growing Stale

Tina Fey's show starts new season tonight

(Newser) - Tina Fey and crew return tonight with the season premiere of 30 Rock, and critics are worried that the show is losing its edge:
  • Todd VanDerWerff, AV Club: "30 Rock is still nowhere near a bad show, but it risks turning into a show where one-dimensional people spend a
...

'Pathetic' Seinfeld Reunion Invades Curb
 'Pathetic' Seinfeld 
 Reunion Invades Curb 
tv preview

'Pathetic' Seinfeld Reunion Invades Curb

HBO show resuscitates Larry David's other brainchild 10 years later

(Newser) - Tonight's episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm will go farther than usual to satisfy your Seinfeld craving, but it's hardly the real thing—nor is it meant to be. The eagerly awaited reunion arc kicks off with Jerry Seinfeld himself deeming the very idea "desperate" and "pathetic,"...

3-D TV Shows Promise, But Those Glasses Still a Must

You'll have stuff to watch next year—but you still need specs

(Newser) - Admit it, your heart skips a beat at the prospect of a 3-D high-definition TV in your own home. And by this time next year, Sony and Panasonic will have ‘em on the market. But—and it’s a big one, even after the cost—you’re going to...

Modern Family Is 'Startlingly Good'
 Modern Family 
 Is 'Startlingly Good'  
TV REVIEW

Modern Family Is 'Startlingly Good'

(Newser) - ABC's Modern Family is a critics' darling, who generally think it's a clever update of the family sitcom, and one that doesn't sacrifice the tenderness we've come to expect from the classics of the genre. A sampling:
  • The series, "with its multifamily approach and semi-documentary form, redefines, updates and
...

Leno Ratings Doomed...as Is the Future of Network TV

Ratings may stink, but bottom line will be strong for NBC

(Newser) - No one expects the Jay Leno Show to maintain the pumped-up ratings it got this week—not even NBC. But the low-key talk show might represent the future of network TV anyway, simply because it’s so darn cheap, writes Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age. With viewers breaking from broad...

Cancer Treatment Derails Tierney's Return to TV

Breast cancer will take more treatment than initially thought

(Newser) - Treatment for breast cancer has forced a "deeply disappointed" Maura Tierney to withdraw from a leading role in the NBC series Parenthood, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The show was originally scheduled to start airing this month, but production was pushed back to allow Tierney, 44, to undergo treatment....

Networks Complain About Obama Hour
Networks Complain About Obama Hour

Networks Complain About Obama Hour

Broadcasters say 'overexposed' prez wastes valuable time

(Newser) - Networks are not happy about the primetime hour that President Obama's July 22 news conference took up, reports Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post. Rahm Emanuel called the top brass at all three networks to ensure they carried the event. The networks both resent the pressure and complain that they’...

White House Strategy: All Obama, All the Time

(Newser) - By now, we’ve gotten a pretty good look at the White House’s PR playbook, and as you may have noticed, Barack Obama gets the ball a lot. The president is everywhere, Politico reports. He’s given more interviews than any other recent president had at this point in...

Boyle Bumps Obama Presser
 Boyle Bumps Obama Presser 

Boyle Bumps Obama Presser

(Newser) - Susan Boyle may have lost in the final of Britain's Got Talent, but the Scottish spinster prevailed in an even bigger battle—with Barack Obama. When the White House told TV networks it was scheduling the president's news conference for 9pm Eastern time, NBC refused on the grounds that it...

For Struggling TV Networks, Obama's a Cash Cow

(Newser) - The right might complain that television networks are in thrall to Barack Obama, but they have a good reason to be: the president is good for business. As Politico reports, Obama-related programs send ratings spiking—when he appeared on the Tonight Show, it had its best Friday night in 17...

Little People Ask FCC for Ban on the Word 'Midget'

Group spurred to action by Celebrity Apprentice episode

(Newser) - The Little People of America have filed a complaint with the FCC in an attempt to get the word “midget”—which people of exceptionally small stature see as demeaning—banned from broadcast television, Newsday reports. The LPA was moved to action by a segment on NBC’s Celebrity ...

World Series Games Get Earlier Start Time

Games to start before 8 in the East

(Newser) - For the first time in 34 years, World Series games will start before 8pm in the East, USA Today reports. First pitches will be thrown at 7:57 (except on Sundays, due to broadcaster Fox’s NFL coverage); in recent years, the average was around 8:30, and games often...

Viral Marketing Stunt Puts TV Actor on ... TV

(Newser) - A mysterious bald audience member turning up on various live Fox broadcasts is a viral marketing plant—as well as an actor on the show he’s subtly promoting. Michael Cerveris, in character as “The Observer” from the sci-fi drama Fringe, has so far been spotted, well, observing football,...

ER Finale Did What Show Did Best: Critics
ER Finale Did What Show Did Best: Critics
OPINION

ER Finale Did What Show Did Best: Critics

Show ends doing what it does best

(Newser) - ER capped 15 seasons last night with a finale that satisfied many critics happy with cameos by original cast members and the series’ trademark fast pace.
  • Alan Sepinwall, Star-Ledger: "The finale worked hard to bring as many elements from that pilot full circle as they could, while showing that
...

Stewart's Right: Screeching CNBC Is Whacked
Stewart's Right: Screeching CNBC Is Whacked
OPINION

Stewart's Right: Screeching CNBC Is Whacked

Shouting heads are so very far off base

(Newser) - It should come as no surprise to fans of Jon Stewart, but CNBC is as hysterical as he says—and worse, Gabriel Winant writes in Salon. After 12 hours watching the network "I was huddled in the corner of my couch, wondering why the angry faces were yelling at...

Conan Trades Up to Tonight But Can't Shake Leno

As 'Late Night' winds down, the landscape of network television moves as well

(Newser) - As Conan O'Brien gets ready to move from Late Night to the Tonight Show—tomorrow is his last post-midnight show before he decamps for LA—the value of the coveted 11pm slot has been seriously undercut. With current Tonight host Jay Leno heading not into the sunset but into the...

NBC Denies Channeling $1M to Octuplet Mom

NBC denies any money was exchanged

(Newser) - When octuplet mom Nadya Suleman's reps named the price for footage of the birth—$1.2 million—NBC was the only outlet to indicate interest. The network denies paying for her exclusive sit-down with Ann Curry, but an insider tells the New York Post NBC used an intermediary to deliver...

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