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Despite the fact that no basic cable network has had a tremendous success with an original, 30-minute sitcom, a handful of networks are in the process of trying to create one.
In recent years, media observers have declared that the sitcom is dead, but that hasn’t stopped cable nets from trying to develop them, writes Mediaweek. In Nov., for example, TBS plans to debut two scripted comedies. My Boys, a 13-episode series, follows a 20-something female sportswriter and her circle of male friends. It will debut Nov. 28 at 10 p.m. following Sex and the City.
The second show, 10 Items or Less, is a five-episode “improv hybrid” about a quirky grocery store manager. It debuts Nov. 27 at 11 p.m., following The Family Guy.
My Boys is costing Turner about $1 million per episode, and Steve Koonin, executive vp/COO, TBS/TNT is quoted as saying, “This is a big, ambitious endeavor. The chance of failure is high but the opportunity to learn from this is even higher.”
FX’s comedy, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, managed to grow its audience by 30 percent last year, but didn’t deliver as well as dramas Nip/Tuck and Rescue Me, according to the article. The show may not return, but if it does, it will not be paired with another comedy.
Comedy Central doesn’t have any particular sitcoms for 2007, but an upcoming program starring Sarah Silverman shares some of the sitcom genre’s DNA, according to Lauren Corrao, exec. vp, original programming/development.
Meanwhile, media buyers are still looking for a comedy with mass appeal, according to the article.
TargetSpot has acquired online streaming ad rep firm Ronning Lipset Radio in a move that will form the largest audio advertising network and streamline the buying of online radio spots, the companies say.
TargetSpot is an online system for creating,…
FT Group, publisher of the Financial Times, saw total revenue leap 11% for the first nine months of 2008. Circulation and ad revenue grew, as did revenue from interactive data.
Ad revenue was up 1% over the first nine months…
Location-based services that allow marketers to connect with consumers wherever they are have long been considered the ideal in advertising. eMarketer is predicting that the opportunity will grow significantly in coming years, with the number of consumers using such services…
Comedy Central is building on the success of its two wildly popular fake-news programs, The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, adding a show called Chocolate News.
The new show will star David Alan Grier as the pompous host of…
Prices of list rentals are declining across the board and – for the first time ever - show a downward trend in every B2C and B2B category tracked, according to Worldata’s Fall 2008 List Price Index (see table), writes MarketingCharts.
Permission-based email…
Custom publications are being increasingly produced by specialty editors and designers (73%) rather than by those in communications roles, according to a study conducted by the Custom Publishing Council (CPC) in cooperation with Publications Management, writes MarketingCharts.
The survey, “Staffing and Compensation:…
