NBC Nonstop, the digital cable channel serving major markets, will debut Hit Music Central USA (HMC) in April. This one-hour music series will include live performances by musicians in all genres. As All Access Music Group describes it, HMC will be a broadcast and “social TV” experience, with the audience engaging online and through mobile devices. HMC will push its conent out to fans through hitmusiccentral.com, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
Producer NFocus Entertainment has released a 10-minute “sizzle reel” of the show’s first recording, featuring rock band “Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.” The reel shows a bottom-screen ticker of enthusiastic viewer comments (“OMG! I SAW THEM PLAY AT WILTERN LAST NIGHT!”) and the show’s mechanism for submitting those comments via text message or the HMC site. The reel went on to a live interview with R&B artist C.J. Hilton, then a performance. Production values are flashy and clean, and the broadcast moves along at a rapid clip. Reflecting its interactive content, 20-something co-hosts actor Bryton James and fashion model Patricia Kara enthuse that “Hit Music Central USA is about to…plug you in!”
The show will initially air on NBC Nonstop in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco, among 10 major markets, and NFocus is claiming 20 million potential households.
NBC, Panasonic Team Up for 3D Olympics
NBC and Panasonic will broadcast the 2012 Summer Olympics from London in 3D, the companies announced yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Multichannel News speculates that Comcast (which owns NBC Universal) will of course be among the 3D providers, but likely DirecTV as well. This means 200+ hours of 3D programming, including the opening ceremony, produced by Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS).
If all goes well for Panasonic, this will push 3DTV into the mainstream. Despite tepid sales thusfar, and limited programming, Panasonic announced its 2012 line of Smart Viera Full HD 3D HDTVs and Full HD 3D Blu-ray Disc players. The gamble seems a good one: sports broadcasting is among the most popular of 3DTV offerings. ESPN launched ESPN 3D in June, 2010, and both the National Football League (NFL) and National Hockey League (NHL) have dabbled in the technology, chiefly at ticket-based live theatre events.
“NFL Honors” To Launch on NBC, Pre Super Bowl
NBC will premiere NFL Honors on Saturday night, February 4th, the night before Super Bowl Sunday. The broadcast will be 9-11pm ET on NBC, and be preceded by a one-hour red carpet show on the NFL Network from 8-9. NFL “will salute its best players and plays from the 2011 season,” said the League in its announcement. The Associated Press will present seven more awards, including the AP Most Valuable Player and AP Coach of the Year. Alec Baldwin will host the awards broadcast from the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis, with Lenny Kravitz providing a live performance. NFL Network is producing the NBC broadcast, along with Dick Clark Productions.
ABC, Prospect Park Agreement Keeps Soaps Alive | TNT to Revive Dallas
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ABC has licensed its iconic soaps, “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” to Prospect Park. The agreement, brokered by Disney/ABC Domestic Television Group, enables Prospect Park to continue production of “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” keeping up the story lines after they leave ABC. In the exclusive multi-year, multi-platform deal, Prospect Park will produce and deliver the two long-running programs to consumers via online formats and additional emerging platforms including internet enabled television sets. Under the terms of the arrangement, the programs will continue to be delivered with the same quality and in the same format and length, writes Deadline Hollywood.
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TNT has ordered 10 episodes of a new series based on the 1980s drama, Dallas. The new show will carry on the bitter rivalries and family power struggles within a Texas oil and cattle-ranching dynasty. The original Dallas series ran on broadcast network CBS from 1978 to 1991. The new series will include feature several original cast members, including Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray and Larry Hagman, who will reprise his role as J.R. Ewing, reports MultiChannel News.
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A federal court today prohibited common ownership of newspapers and TV or radio stations in the same market. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit struck down a 2008 ruling by the Federal Communications Commission that allowed cross-ownership in certain cases. The court also upheld other ownership limits imposed by the FCC in 2008, including those applying to local TV and radio stations and networks, writes Radio World.
Newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership was banned since 1975 when the FCC relaxed it three years ago, granting permanent waivers in five markets; for Gannett in Phoenix, Ariz.; and for Media General in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Columbus, Ga., Panama City, Fla., and Tri-Cities Tenn./Va. Other companies with newspaper-TV combos include Tribune’s in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Miami and Hartford, Conn.; and News Corp.’s in New York, among others.
CBS Fall Premiere Schedule | Zucker Promotes Katie, the Brand | Nexstar Partners with ABC
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CBS will open the 2011-2012 season on Monday, Sept. 19, highlighted by the special series debut of its new comedy, 2 Broke Girls, which premieres at a special time behind the season premiere of Two and a Half Men. CBS will launch the majority of its new and returning programming during premiere week (Sept. 19-25). Survivor premieres one week earlier (Wednesday, Sept. 14) for the ninth time in the past 10 seasons, and the comedies Mike & Molly (Monday, Sept. 26) and How to be a Gentleman (Thursday, Sept. 29) will debut one week later, reports TVbytheNumbers.
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Jeff Zucker, former NBC Universal president and CEO, shed light on the in-the-works Katie Couric daytime program he's helping produce for ABC, saying the syndicated show will feature “the effervescent Today-era Couric and the hard news-minded anchor of more recent vintage,” reports Broadcasting & Cable. Zucker said Couric possesses one of the great brands in television - the rare individual who's identified by a first name alone.
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Nexstar Broadcasting Group has entered into a long-term agreement with the ABC Television Network for nine of its owned or operated stations. The Nexstar owned ABC affiliated stations include KMID in Odessa-Midland, Texas; KSVI in Billings, Montana; WDHN in Dothan, Alabama; WJET in Erie, Pennsylvania; and KQTV in St. Joseph, Missouri. In addition to WFXW, the stations to which Nexstar provides services to include KAMC in Lubbock, Texas; WTVO in Rockford, Illinois; WUTR in Utica, New York; and KODE in Joplin, Missouri. As part of the agreement, Nexstar also announced that WFXW-TV in Terre Haute, Indiana will become that market’s ABC affiliate, launching as WAWV-TV on September 1, 2011.
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Univision said that its Spanish-language coverage of Saturday night’s USA vs. Mexico final match – part of the 2011 CONCACAF Copa Oro (Gold Cup) – has broken records as the highest-rated primetime sports broadcast ever on Univision across all key demographics. Additionally, it was the top-rated Copa Oro tournament broadcast in the network’s history with approximately 20 million unduplicated viewers tuning in to some or all of Univision’s Copa Oro 2011 coverage through the semifinal game.
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Three percent of pay-to-view customers report having "cut the cord" and canceling their television service in favor of other viewing options, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 U.S. Residential Pay-to-View Study released today. While a minority of customers overall have canceled their cable television service, rates of cord-cutting vary significantly by generation, for example, 6% of Generation Y customers (ages 17-34) say they no longer subscribe to a residential television service, compared with only 2% of Baby Boomers (ages 47-65).
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Verizon FiOS and Music Choice announced that SWRV — an interactive music video network — has launched in all FiOS TV markets. The SWRV channel is available to FiOS TV Extreme HD and Ultimate HD customers nationwide on channel 1799. SWRV is currently available through providers including Cox Communications and AT& T U-verse.
The Cable Show: 67% Broadband Adoption | Mad Men, Modern Family Critics’ Choice
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FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Wednesday that the current broadband adoption rate is too slow and called on cable operators to step up their efforts. For his part, National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Michael Powell said the industry was committed to being a partner in that effort, reports MultiChannel News. "Sixty-seven percent is so far from good enough, that we can't be satisfied with slow, step-by-step incremental change."
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The Broadcast Television Journalists Association, a new branch of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, has named winners of its first-ever award. Mad Men took home the prize for Best Drama Series while Modern Family won in the Best Comedy Series category. Best Reality Series was a tie between Hoarders and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, while Best Reality Show-Competition went to American Idol. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart was also honored as Best Talk Show.
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According to recent survey conducted by Vidicom, 90% of TV news producers said they prefer only one mention per product per brand when using branded Satellite Media Tours (SMTs). The survey, which polled producers in the top 20 TV markets, found that while the number one reason for using SMTs is the need for content, half of the producers surveyed only want one product mentioned for each branded segment, reports Broadcasting & Cable.
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The Hollywood Foreign Press Association filed a motion for summary judgment in its Dick Clark Productions/Golden Globes case; the motion is an effort to free the HFPA to work with another producer, reports Deadline Hollywood.
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After moving its network affiliation in Evansville, IN after failing to come to renewal terms with Nexstar, Fox has now announced affiliation deals with new stations in two more markets to displace Nexstar stations. Effective August 1, in Ft. Wayne, IN, Fox is moving to Granite Broadcasting’s WISE-TV, which will carry both Fox and its existing Fox sister MyNetworkTV on DTV channels. In Springfield, MO Koplar Communications' KRBK-TV is the new Fox affiliate in the market, displacing Nexstar’s KSFX-TV, according to the Radio & Television Business Report.
Grab Networks, AdoTube Partner for Online Video Ads | WebVisible’s “Local” SEO for Media General
- Grab Networks will be using the AdoTube platform for its online video content distribution, the company reports. Grab Networks is an online media company focused on premium content for video audience networks within premium publishers. The partnership gives advertisers access to the AdoTube tool set and other creative services of the platform.
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WebVisible and Media General have partnered to bring search engine marketing capabilities and other ad technology to the local level throughout Media General's newspaper and television properties in the Southeast. The program rolls out in five locations in Tampa, Fla.; Winston-Salem, N.C.; Greenville and Spartanburg, S.C.; Woodbridge and Manassas, Va.; and Richmond, Va.
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Conviva, a streaming video solutions provider has released Video AdVantage, a new tool for content owners and advertisers that monitors and adjusts the quality of the experience (QoE) for online video and integrated ad plays from an end-user viewer’s perspective. The aim of the product is to improve video resolution and prevent interruptions due to buffering.
NYT to Launch Online TV Station | Netflix Commands 30% of Internet Traffic
- The New York Times will step into online television next week with the premiere of "NYTV," reports Yahoo news blog, The Cutline. The media company produces more than a hundred videos each month for its website and other digital platforms, and it is from this pool of videos that online programming will develop. The half-hour show will air Mondays at 8:30 p.m. on New York's flagship local station, NYC life under the banner of NYC Media, the city's official TV, radio and online network. Each episode will feature a selection of the latest New York-centric culture, lifestyle and fashion-oriented videos produced by Times journalists.
- In North America, Netflix is now 29.7% of peak downstream traffic and has become the largest source of Internet traffic overall, according to broadband network solutions provider Sandvine. The report, “Global Internet Phenomena Report: Spring 2011,” indicates that real-time entertainment applications consume 49.2% of peak aggregate traffic, up from 29.5% in 2009 – a 60% increase. Sandvine forecasts that the real-time entertainment category will represent 55-60% of peak aggregate traffic by the end of 2011, revealing a growing appetite for on-demand applications that will continue to drive data consumption and network quality requirements.
Discovery Pledges More Investment to OWN | CBS Affiliates See Missed Chance with Couric
- Discovery expects to invest more money into its joint venture OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, “in excess of our prior $50 million incremental estimate.” The announcement came during the company's first-quarter earnings call, reports multichannel.com. Discovery has invested $215 million in the channel, including $57 million in the first quarter. David Zaslav, Discovery CEO said he expects ratings to build through the balance of the year, with 21 new series premieres, including entries from Shania Twain and Rosie O'Donnell. Additionally, 25 years of Oprah Winfrey shows will become available.
Dish Expands with HBOGo and MaxGo | Media Services Adds Pro Crew Booking
- Dish Network has entered a deal with Time Warner Inc.'s HBO to offer subscribers access to its HBOGo and MaxGo services. Dish joins HBO's TV Everywhere roster two weeks after rival DirecTV. Other affiliates that offer HBOGo and MaxGo are Comcast, Cox Communications, AT&T U-verse TV and Verizon FiOS TV. HBO has indicated it has no intention of licensing online-streaming rights to nontraditional distributors such as Netflix, writes broadcastingcable.com.