DISH Network and Fox Networks Reach Comprehensive Programming Agreement Read more: Breaking News - DISH Network and Fox Networks Reach Comprehensive

DISH Network Corporation and Fox Networks, today announced a wide-ranging distribution agreement to provide the third-largest video distributor in the United States with continued access to programming from Fox Broadcasting and Fox local television stations in major cities. The agreement also included carriage of FX, National Geographic Channel, and Fox's 19 regional sports networks, which were restored for DISH Network viewers Friday. I think this is a great idea, as long as they keep doing new things and not just staying comfortable with where they are. I'm sure they'll do great together in this venture."After prolonged negotiations to reach a fair deal, we're pleased to enter into a long term agreement with Fox and to assure our customers that they can continue to enjoy these channels," said Dave Shull, Senior Vice President of Programming for DISH Network. "We thank our customers, our retail and channel partners, and our employees for their support through these negotiations, which we believe resulted in a fair deal that reinforces DISH Network's position as the best value in television."

Read more: http://bit.ly/apStlB

Adreanne' Humphrey

Oprah Being sued for Plagiarism

Charles Harris the author of the book, "How America Elects its President's is suing Oprah for allegdely reading out loud the exact questions that were in his book on her show on February 16, 2009 without giving Charles Harris credit. Harris is suing for Oprah's profits or statutory damages of $150,000. There has been no comment from Oprah.

http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tvbizwire/2010/10/oprah-hit-with-plagiarism-laws.php

Get your Marijuana domain name before it's too late!

Many of us may not always think about that website you are typing in in the profittable aspect, but for one Californian he sees it as big money! Kevin Faler was a former police officer, but now he has purchased over 1,000 Marijuana Internet domain names. Since California is the first U.S. state voting on whether or not to legalize it's use, Faler took this opportunity and ran with it.

If you think about it he made a very smart decision. When people go to search on the internet, usually those website addresses we remember are those that either stand out or a simple containing the subject of what we are looking for in the domain name. This is why he decided to purchase name such as icecreammarijuana.com and marijuanapastry.com. Both of these names stand out and also have the subject of Marijuana in them.

Although it might seem like a lot of money purchasing literally 1,000 different domain names, the cost to keep them running is not that expensive. He is only paying about $10 dollars a year for each address and he is planning on an unbelievable pay back with time. Purchasing domain names and thinking ahead is what brings in the dollars at the end of the day.

To read more about his story
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/us/28pot.html?ref=technology

ABC Cancels "The Whole Truth"

ABC announced that they have canceled the show "The Whole Truth". It will on ly have 13 episodes then be done. They are keeping many shows though. Those shows are "No Ordinary Family", "Better with You", "Detroit 1-8-7", and "Brothers & Sisters".

Some of this is surprising based on the slow building ratings of a couple of the shows. But ABC stated that since they are growing, they will be keeping them to see where they may lead.

Naked Reality Show Begins Casting -- Catch Is, You Have to Stay Naked for 30-Day Shoot

So here's the deal.  Producers of a new reality show are trying to cast people for their new show called "Nak'd Truth".  The cast gets to stay 30 days in a resort but the catch is...YOU HAVE TO BE NAKED!  Would you audition for a show like this?  It seems like shows nowadays seen to be gearing towards sexual content and behavior. I feel like this show is going all wrong to get viewers. Producers say that they are directing the show towards 18-49 of age viewers and the whole point of the show is to "explore how clothing relates to relationships and status". I wonder who is actually going to pick up the show for their network...

Article

Thank you, don’t come back again!

NBC’s new sitcom “Outsourced,” has aired two episodes so far. The show, airs at 9:30 on Thursdays (following NBC’s workplace comedies “The Office” and “30 Rock”), a young American named Todd (Ben Rappaport) is sent by his employer, a manufacturer of tacky novelties, to run its new call center in Mumbai, India. The show lacks creativity and when that fails, all one can rely on is the fact that most Americans still find the Indian accent funny. It’s hard not to laugh when an operator asks a caller, “Sir, how would you like to pay for your vomit and your poo?”

American culture — or the lack of it — is the target of some jokes. The problem with Todd’s gradual adjustment to his surroundings is that to be realistic, it has to end. Eventually, he’ll stop having comical misunderstandings based on cultural differences. Unfortunately, the show’s producers have probably drawn up plans to drag that story out for at least five seasons. It’s hard to see how they’re going to avoid the usual traps of a sitcom.

For now, however, “Outsourced” likely has a few more good episodes in the can. But viewers who get hooked should be forewarned that the networks are as quick as any other corporation to give subpar performers the pink slip.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/TV_Reviews_21/-Outsourced-and-likely-to-run-out-of-gas.asp

BLACKBERRY PLAYBOOK!!

GET READY!! Blackberry will have people's heads turning with their new playbook will give apple some competition with the ipad. Check out these two websites out. The playbook is suppose to come out in the beginning of 2011 and I am excited. The PlayBook allows one to be organized and take pictures with it also. This Playbook is great for download apps and makes multitasking easy. I was not that excited for the ipad but I am very excited for the Blackberry Playbook. Blackberry kind of fell off since the iphone and other apple products but I think this will kick them back into gear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtoXcwz1SgQ

http://www.examiner.com/tech-buzz-in-providence/blackberry-playbook-tablet-65gb-arrives-2011

NBC Orders Full-Season Pickups for New Series "The Event," "Law & Order: Los Angeles" and "Outsourced" Read more: Breaking News - NBC Orders Full-Sea

NBC has decided to give full-season pickups to 3 of its new Fall series'. "The Event," "Law and Order; LA" and "Outsourced." has given full-season pickups to three of its new Fall 2010-11 series, "The Event," "Law & Order: Los Angeles" and "Outsourced." I'm not exactly sure how many episodes each of these shows have aired but it seems a little early in the game to make this decision but I really liked the episode I saw of the event. I believe this is a wise decision on their part and the have all the ratings to back up there decisions so I think they will continue to do well."We are pleased with the quality of 'The Event,' 'Law & Order: Los Angeles' and 'Outsourced,' and feel they are an important part of helping to re-build our schedule and our studio pipeline," said Bromstad. "We believe in these new series and the creative auspices behind them." Keep up the good work is what I say to NBC.

Adreanne' Humphrey

Read More: http://bit.ly/crj1TM

Fox Stations Buy Syndie Rights to 'Modern Family'

Fox Television Stations and Twentieth Television have announced that they signed a deal that will give the Fox stations broadcast syndication rights to Twentieth’s multiple Emmy-winning series "Modern Family."
ABC’s “Modern Family,” the No. 1 sitcom in the 18-49 demo, was sold to Fox stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Houston, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Orlando and Baltimore.

The syndication is prepared to air with Fox in the year 2013. It is said to be adding to the "A-list" television shows such as "Big Bang Theory" and "Dr.Oz."
Article

Advertising drives programming

We've talked about the impact of advertising revenue as a force to influence progamming....it's not just the eyeballs collected by a show, it's the price that can be charged advertisers.  TVNewsCheck, one of my favorite television compilation sites, features a great article from Advertising Age that lists the prices of network commercials on all primetime nights.  The interactive chart lets you look at each night of the week and covers the Big Four nets plus the CW.  Here's the link for TVNewsCheck.  The Ad Age article is below.  http://www.tvnewscheck.com/

As you compare prices, look at the price differences for various shows.  For example, when "Dancing with the Stars" ends, the price per ad for the replacement show drops and the audience will likely drop also.  But, the revenue could be just as high or higher because the replacement show is cheaper to license from the distribution company.  STILL, the networks, especially now with so many cable channels, must be mass appeal platforms so they have perhaps an even greater need for broad appeal programming.   Ads on "30 Rock"  (See previous post) cost about $135,000 each.  Spots in "Big Bang Theory" cost $195,000.
http://adage.com/article?article_id=146495#tues

"30 Rock"

What is the opposite of rock bottom? Mountain Top perhaps! Well NBC "30 Rock" hits season's high Thursday night drew in 6.7 million viewers and 3.0 preliminary adults 18-49 rating up. That was a 43% increase from the week prior. However it was not enough to outdo CBC "$#*! My Dad Says". CBS ranked the highest overall with "CSI" and the "Mentalist". ABC was second "Grey's Anatomy and "Private Practice". NBC was third airing the "Office", "Apprentice", and "Outsourced". FOX "Bones" and "Fringe" were both down a tenth.

What do you think about this? huh huh???

I kind of stumbled over this and thought, OH REALLY! I really thought and said that by the way. Two mid-season shows were announced for ABC. They were "Skating with the Stars" and "V" is returning. Now when I was reading this particular article majority of my attention was on "Skating with the Stars". It is to premiere, November 22nd at 9pm with a live premiere following a one-hour episode of "Dancing with the Stars". The skating cast will be announced on November 2nd, however we all know it will probably be leaked before then. I happen to like "Dancing with the Stars because I love to dance, little interesting fact about me! However, I love skating to but, part of me wonders how well will this do. I can't even lie, I just might be on the couch with my popcorn eager to watch every week, who knows. Nevertheless, what do you all think about it? Let me into your thoughts oohhhhhh ahhhhhh!

TV Ratings

All the hype for what's to come for Fall Season has now ceased. There has been two significant victims, as we kind of touched on in class Fox's "Lone Star" and ABC's "My Generation". Nevertheless, shows like Glee that people like Adreanne Humphrey love dearly, have made it possible for the show to increase growth. Meanwhile the whole gamble for CBS to move "The Big Bang Theory" on Thursday's at 8p.m. has paid off with outstanding numbers. So yes, fall shows are in full swing, no longer is campus talk, better yet Program Research class with Dr. Pitts discussion is what to expect, but about hard cold numbers.

Say What? Sesame Street Goes Viral!

Sesame Street is hit with the adults. Aside from all the talk about the Katy Perry incident that made web rounds, even though that particular show will not air on the show. However, there have been many other videos passed along the way. Many adults said that if facebook and twitter were in existence, they would share other various segments from the 70s and 80s. Sesame Street does not just limit itself to educational pieces, but discusses self-esteem as well. I mean just think about Sesame Street could evolve into something like the next adult show among Family Guy and Boondocks!

Finally Something to Cheer about on the News

Tuesday night, CNN topped the cable newschannels in ratings. The reason it did so was because of the rescue of the Chilean miners that were rescued that night at 10:00 pm central time. The channel usually ranks third behind FOX News and MSNBC but it pulled in 5 million viewers between 10 and 10:15 while the other two stations pulled in slightly less, 4.3 million and 1.3 million respectively. On a typical night at this time these channels usually draw a combined total of 2 million people. Audiences stayed up late to watch and CNN was having 1.7 million viewers between midnight and 1 am. The interesting point is that ABC's "Nightline" was airing this and they pulled in 5 million viewers which outranked the late night talk shows. Thus proving that when the news is good and uplifting people will watch and I wish I knew because I would have.

FCC's proposal to prevent the unexpected expensive cellphone bill

The FCC is proposal tomorrow (Thursday) that all cell phone companies provide users with a way to inform them when they are reaching their usage limit. The plan includes either a text or voice message that will contact the user when their minutes or time are getting close to being up. I see this proposal as a great idea for all cell phone users. Since there are thousands of dollars a month in overages as well as roaming charges. The proposal also offers a plan to let users know when they are being charged for roaming, etc.
According to a November 2009 study by the Government Accountability Office it found that one in three users of wireless phones and data networks had received unexpected charges on their bills. This is a large percentage, which led the FCC to take a look into a method of preventing the users.
As for those cell phone companies, they are not in support of it. It is understandable that those charges are in the long run helping their companies, but they are hurting the customers. Verizon Wireless stated that they have different methods already in place for their users to prevent them going over on minutes, roaming, data, etc. Those methods include checking it on the internet, calling one of their phone numbers to find out monthly minutes used.
I think this solution by the FCC could very much so help those users that are not willing to check online, or call the phone number to check their status. This will give those cell phone users a reason not to complain about any expensive bill that is due to excessive minutes.

To ready more about this proposal go to: http://nyti.ms/aLYI1f

Facebook: The Movie

Most of you have probably heard about or have seen the new movie about Facebook called "The Social Network." Just recently someone was telling me he wanted to see the Facebook movie..I was actually very surprised to hear a movie already came out about it and my first impression was "that sounds horrible" so I wanted to look up some articles to find out what it was actually about...whether it focused on the man who created it and his life, or if focused on specific characters who use Facebook. I googled the the movie title and clicked the first link, which was the official website for the movie-http://www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com/ ...it didn't tell what it was about but had a couple of video clips and after watching them it seemed to be a story that focused mainly about the founders. I heard it was a pretty good movie, but because I don't like Facebook that much (even though I have a page) I'm not going to see it...maybe I'll watch it once it leaks onto the Internet. I'm sure Facebook consumes enough of people's lives as they stay on the Internet all day and now Facebook is bringing people to the theatre. An article on CNN showed some survey results on how people felt about Facebook (site) after seeing the movie. It found that most young people who saw it tend to like Facebook more, but it was just the opposite of older generations. I don't really think opinions of the movie will change people's opinions about the site...but I do wonder how Tom (from myspace) feels about this.
http://bit.ly/aqhppE

Google Dabbles in Robotics With Self-Driving Cars

According to Google self driving cars are coming to the US in 8 years. they have been testing this vehicles in California's highways with great response from the robotic technology. This type of technology will let people do just about anything they want in their cars but driving them , which sounds kind of funny to me. If i get to have one of this i will surely install a laptop computer to asccsess the internet and maybe watch movies or read something while waiting for my car to get me to the next destination..

While it has been rumored for some time, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) announced Sunday is has been testing self-driving cars. The company equipped six Toyota Priuses and an Audi TT with technology that enabled a vehicle to drive from Google's Mountain View, Calif., campus to its Santa Monica office. It then moved on to Hollywood Boulevard. In all, Google has sent its auto-cars more than 140,000 miles -- including along the Pacific Coast Highway and across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Google notified local police of its testing program and insisted there was a clean-record driver in each vehicle ready to take over if the robot technology decided to go rogue. That may not always have been the case, though. At least one driver claims to have caught a Google cardriving unmanned and posted a video on YouTube to prove it.

NEW 4G for Verizion

By the end of this year. Verizon will have 4G wireless in New York; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; San Francisco, California; and Atlanta, Georgia. This is important because this shows the growth of our technology. Smart phones are becoming everything to everybody. We as citizens are always checking our emails, news, facebook, twitter, downloading everything all the time. And when you go to different cities with no wireless tower its very fusturating. Verzion building these new towers will make sure all their customers get service no matter where they are. I could not find any articles of AT&T or T-Mobile building any 4G towers. Will Verizon be the leading leader in cell phone wireless?

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/10/06/verizon.4g/index.html

Martha Stewart Struggling on Hallmark

For only three weeks into the season Martha Stewarts show which airs on the Hallmark channel at 10 a.m. on weekdays has a decline in ratings of 60% from the same time slot a year earlier. The show re-airs at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. and is doing worse than the original air time by 69 and 76 percent. The debut of the show did worse than " The Golden Girls" which had 500,000 viewers to Martha's 199,000. " The Golden Girls" hasn't been on the air since 1992 and is still doing well, maybe Martha should find four older women to be apart of her show.... Just a thought.

http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tvbizwire/2010/10/three-weeks-into-season-martha.php

Sleeper success put down for good.

The show I was so excited to watch is being canceled after just two episodes. ABC’s My Generation revolves around a diverse group of young adults who attended high school together. While there, they were interviewed for a documentary. They reunite 10 years later and we see how their lives and expectations have changed.

In its first week on the air, My Generation attracted 5.2 million total viewers, for week two the show attracted.815 million viewers. ABC has now canceled My Generation and they’re pulling the show from the schedule immediately. Production on the series has been shut down. It’s unknown how many episodes have been completed but it doesn’t seem likely that the network will bother releasing the un-aired ones.
http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/my-generation-canceled-18736/

It seems like every time I find a show that is groundbreaking and keeps me on the edge of my seat gets canceled. I like smart television that keeps me thinking and doesn’t need a lot of action and stupid jokes to keep your attention. Guess that is why all the shows I love get canceled. Some of my favorites are Studio 60, Mercy, and My Generation. I think I’ll go get a lobotomy and watch Hawaii Five-O That show will last a while.

MTV's Groundbreaking Docu-Series "16 and Pregnant" Returns with Nine New Episodes

MTV announced that it will air nine new episodes of "16 and pregnant"! I have to say I'm pretty excited to hear this.With statistics showing that three in ten girls in the U.S. will get pregnant before the age of 20, each episode will take an intimate look inside the challenges of being a pregnant teenager. Additionally, research released by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy finds that TV programs incorporating teenage pregnancy, like MTV's series, make young people think more about the risks of pregnancy and how to prevent it. I know that this season will be just as successful as the previous seasons if not more since it seems like they haven't had a new season in a while. I know I'll be watching it this season and I'm surprised at how successful the show has been and with the follow up with Teen Mom I think that this show is definitely a hit.

Read More: http://bit.ly/d1QlHA

Adreanne' Humphrey