Mad Men Flood

Stuart Elliott how everyone's tripping over themselves to cover the return of Mad Men.

Teen Mom Ending

I don't often cite US Weekly here, but they have an exclusive that Teen Mom is ending after this season.

Aereo Likely to Lose

Moody's predicts Aereo will lose in court.

Hulu Tops in Ads

Hulu is an ad machine, reports Anna Heim: "In February, it streamed a whopping 1.5 billion ads, making it the top video ad property in the US."

Thompson Stepping Down

Director General of the BBC Mark Thompson is leaving his post after the Olympics.

New In Media Res

Theme: Religious Representations on TV

• Monday, March 19, 2012 - Jorie Lagerwey (University of Notre Dame) presents: The Good Wife and Religion for Liberals
• Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - Rachel Silverman (Embry Riddle University) presents: Queer Jewish Difference 
• Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - Kyle Conway (University of North Dakota) presents: Questions of Address: The "Me" in "Me and the Mosque" 
• Thursday, March 22, 2012 - Kelli Marshall (DePaul University) presents: Louie’s "God" As Cathartic Television 
• Friday, March 23, 2012 - Rossend Sanchez Baro (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) presents: I am the Lord your God

Network News Adds Viewers

A PEJ study finds ratings up for the evening network news, while Fox News is still dominant on cable, though it's dipped a bit. The whole report is here.

Editing TVD

Vampire Diaries editor Nancy Forner takes us through the editing process on the show. (For those studying or teaching TV style, this article is a must-read.)

Nielsen Measuring TV & Online

Brian Stelter reports: "Nielsen says it is ready to sell what many advertisers have been clamoring for: a system that standardizes ratings for television and online ads."

Good TVeets

Only four more months until Breaking Bad
— Mike Royce (@MikeRoyce) March 19, 2012

Catching up on recent WALKING DEADs, I was surprised to be reminded that the lone black character is not a mute.
— Matthew Seitz (@mattzollerseitz) March 19, 2012

Frozen Planet is beautiful yet I feel like I'm watching nature's version of a snuff film. #donteatthatpenguin
— Joe Flint (@JBFlint) March 19, 2012

Global Content

An online video company called DramaFever is trying to bring Korean dramas and other foreign shows to US audiences. A commenter on that article also highlighted the site Viki for global offerings.

Saturday Ratings

Network numbers from TV By the Numbers. The NCAA tourney is doing quite well in the ratings, both network and cable outlets.

Game Change Lessons

Jeffrey Jones considers what lessons we can learn from Game Change and the real events it covers: "While cable news may be becoming more like entertainment television, and entertainment media may increasingly serve up important truths, citizens will have to be ever more vigilant in recognizing that truth and falsehoods may not always be located where they expect them to be."

C-Span Founder Exiting

Brian Stelter reports on the founder of C-Span stepping down as CEO.

Media Industry News

My media industry news links are up at Antenna, with the latest on Bully, Wal-mart and UltraViolet, and Yahoo suing Facebook.

Cheers on Tape

Ken Levine describes the time Cheers was taped rather than filmed.

Rosie's Disaster

Ramin Setoodeh talks with OWN staffers about what went wrong with Rosie O'Donnell's show.

Good TVeets

"Give me liberty, or give me some good TV show to take my mind off the lack of liberty!" -Patrick Henry, 2012
— Matt Roller (@rolldiggity) March 17, 2012

Breaking Bad will return to your Television sometime in July. Make sure u wear your diapers because I'm pretty sure u will shit yourself.
— Aaron Paul (@aaronpaul_8) March 17, 2012

Little-known fact:Verne Lundquist's excess face-flesh now outweighs the average point guard in this year's #NCAA tournament.
— Dan Bernstein (@dan_bernstein) March 17, 2012

PBS & Independence

Patricia Aufderheide raises a red flag at PBS rescheduling two of its most important shows for showcasing independent work, POV and Independent Lens: "PBS’ decision to dump the programs on to a night it had already agreed not to schedule at all apparently was driven by a desire for higher ratings. PBS wants to make room for a new reality program, Market Wars, which is a spin-off of Antiques Road Show. The two programs that feature independent work must have looked like the most dispensable." The NYT has picked up the story.

Friday Ratings

Network numbers from TV By the Numbers.

Chinese Execution Show

A program in China called Interviews Before Execution, which interviewed prisoners before they were executed by the state, has been cancelled. The BBC recently aired a documentary about the show, which may have prompted the cancellation.

Ad-Skipping Toll

Greg Sandoval reports that Microsoft is seeking a patent on technology "that will enable content owners to charge users for skipping over ads or watching a replay."

DH Trial Deadlocked

The jury in the Desperate Housewives trial is deadlocked.

Good TVeets

2.2, thanks to CBS running basketball instead of Big Bang Theory. We took their nerds! We took their nerds!!!
— Andy Bobrow (@abobrow) March 16, 2012

George Clooney got arrested yesterday, rubbing his continued success in the noses of all the out-of-work actors who can't get arrested.
— David Goodman (@DavidAGoodman) March 16, 2012

Thanks to Twitter, the story about the Goldman dude quitting now seems like it happened in 1835.
— Andy Borowitz (@BorowitzReport) March 17, 2012

Blue Collar TV & Politics

June Thomas explores representations of the working class on Raising Hope and The Middle and additionally addresses the political tweets of the shows' female leads.

Rosie Cancelled

Rosie O'Donnell's show on OWN has been cancelled.

Louis CK & Dinner

Alyssa Rosenberg has a thoughtful quote from Louis CK indicating even he didn't think he was a good fit for the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Dinner.

More Terry Ads

Anti-abortion activist Randall Terry, who is running for office as a Democrat for election ad purposes, continues to fight to place ads on local stations.

TAL Retraction

This American Life has retracted a segment on poor working conditions at an Apple factory, and James Poniewozik addresses the issue of truth in journalism at hand. More from Wired.

Beck as Model

Alyssa Rosenberg proposes that Glenn Beck's online success could pose a model for future stand-alone, web-based channels.

Frozen Planet Praised

If you're like me, you've been hooked on Penguin Cam, which has been a marketing campaign for the Discovery series Frozen Planet, which James Poniewozik says is breathtaking.

Indie TV

A discussion of what the television equivalent of independent film went on at South By Southwest.

Grimm Renewed

Coming up a few shows short of CBS's big announcement yesterday, NBC has announced the renewal of one show: Grimm.

Scheduling Advice

Josef Adalian has some sharp scheduling suggestions for the networks.

Luck Cancelled

In the wake of a third horse death, HBO has cancelled the previously-renewed Luck. Jaime Weinman reacts, as does Alan Sepinwall and Maureen Ryan and Willa Paskin. More from Dave Itzkoff and Natalie Abrams. Also, Forbes reports on some disturbing necropsy findings.

Weatherman Suit

A Los Angeles weatherman has filed suit against CBS for job discrimination, claiming he was passed over at two stations in favor of less experienced young women.

Community Ratings

Josef Adalian goes beyond the numbers in analyzing last night's Community ratings.

Thursday Ratings

Marc Berman's summary:
-Winners: Missing (ABC), American Idol (Fox), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
-Losers: 2012 NCAA Basketball (CBS), Up All Night (NBC), The Secret Circle (CW)
-Total Viewers: Fox: 12.09 million, ABC: 9.08, CBS: 4.72, NBC: 4.59, CW: 2.12
-Adults 18-49: Fox: 3.4 rating/10 share, ABC: 2.4/ 7, NBC: 1.9/ 5, CBS: 1.7/ 5, CW: 1.0/ 3

Network numbers from TV By the Numbers. Final ratings. Cable ratings.
Daniel Fienberg's coverage. Some good news for Community.

Multiple Campaigns

Stuart Elliott discusses how Geico has succeeded at running multiple ad campaigns simultaneously.

ESPN Screens

eMarketer interviewed ESPN's president for ESPN’s global customer marketing and sales about how the company exploits its brand across multiple platforms.

Cable Not Worried

Cable operators say they aren't worried about the competitive threat of over-the-top services.

Friday Fun

TV stars demand spoiler rules

 

Community Reviews

Check out reviews of last night's Community return from Alan Sepinwall, Todd VanDerWerff, Alyssa Rosenberg, and Willa Paskin.

Sexy Hardees Ad

Noel Holston calls out a new Hardee's ad campaign for being akin to soft-core porn.

Chatterboxing in the UK

New term alert: Chatterboxing, or talking online or via text with others while watching TV. Apparently British viewers are doing it a lot now.

Tax Breaks for UK Drama

A tax break plan in Britain is intended to keep UK dramas filming in the country. Maggie Brown says this is crucial for the future of British drama.

Awake Twist

Steve Heisler talks with Kyle Killen and Howard Gordon about why they saved Awake's twist for episode two rather than reveal it in the pilot.

2011 Ad Revenue Down

Brian Steinberg reports that ad revenue was mostly down at the networks across 2011, with only Fox and the Spanish-language nets on the upswing.

Spring Debuts

Eric Deggans discusses the new trend of premiering shows like Missing and Awake in the spring.

GoT DVD Record

Game of Thrones has set a HBO DVD sales record.

CNN Ratings

CNN gets talked about most in social media, but still lags in the ratings that count.

Couric Premiere

Katie Couric's talk show will premiere on September 10. Now the only question is if General Hospital will be around that day too or not.

Good TVeets

If you love bland white people, you gots to be watching the commercials during these NCAA games.
— H Brammer (@doktorpeace) March 15, 2012

I wish there was a TMZ for news.
— mileskahn (@mileskahn) March 15, 2012

Hey, the dad from Boy Meets World is on #Awake! In a related story, I just heard every one of my joints creak like a rusty hinge.
— Andy Daglas (@AndyDaglas) March 16, 2012

Cannibalization Fears

Andrew Wallenstein addresses the concern that online deals like Amazon-Discovery one will cannibalize TV viewership: "The addition of shows like Discovery's "Dirty Jobs," TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress" and "Animal Planet's "Whale Wars" to Amazon's Prime Instant Video may be a drop in the ocean of TV shows and movies getting licensed by subscription VOD services including Netflix and Hulu Plus from studio libraries all over town. But in aggregate, many believe the windfall hitting conglom bottom lines in recent months could come at the expense of advertising revenues set to shrink if eyeballs move from linear TV channels to digital alternatives."

Paying for Content

Ingrid Lunden reports on a Nieslen study about what content we pay for and are willing to pay for on tablets.

Apple TV Praise

MG Siegler loves the new Apple TV box.

Buzz & Ratings

Nielsen says social media buzz is starting to correlate more with ratings.

Dunham & Twitter

At South By Southwest, Lena Dunham, creator of the new HBO show Girls, talked about how Twitter has affected her writing.

Killen AMA

Awake (and Lone Star) creator Kyle Killen has just launched an AMA thread on Reddit.

Wednesday Ratings

Marc Berman's summary:
-Winners: American Idol (Fox), Survivor: One World (CBS), Modern Family (ABC), Criminal Minds (CBS), CSI (CBS)
-Losers: Whitney (NBC), Are You There, Chelsea? (NBC), One Tree Hill (CW), America’s Next Top Model: British Invasion (CW), Happy Endings (ABC), Revenge for Real (ABC), Rock Center With Brian Williams (NBC)
-Total Viewers: Fox: 17.88 million, CBS: 11.05, ABC: 6.37, NBC: 2.86, CW: 1.27
-Adults 18-49: Fox: 5.3 rating/15 share, CBS: 2.8/ 8, ABC: 2.2/ 6, NBC: 0.8/ 2, CW: 0.6/ 2

Network numbers from TV By the Numbers. Final ratings. Cable ratings.
Daniel Fienberg's coverage.

Cablevision Crumbling

Claire Atkinson reports that execs are fleeing Cablevision, anticipating big changes ahead.

The Economy on TV

James Poniewozik sees a lagging economy represented in a fair share of TV shows. Alyssa Rosenberg responds.

Debating Community

Todd VanDerWerff and Steven Hyden disagree about Community but manage to have a civilized conversation about it. Elsewhere, Alyssa Rosenberg tackles the argument that Community's characters are too static and empty.

Nick Originals

Nickelodeon is loading up on originals for next season.

Hamm Interview

Mo Ryan interviews Jon Hamm, part 1, part 2.

Beck Making Money

Jeff Bercovici determines the money Glenn Beck is making online, pushing $100 million.

Hulu's Bigger

Hulu now offers a bigger video player.

Black Sitcom Problem

Michael Arceneaux wonders why the black working class is so underrepresented in sitcoms.

AMC Profits Up

Anthony Crupi reports that The Walking Dead has helped boost AMC's value. But the results were lower than expected, with write-offs from Rubicon hitting.

Traveling

Another full travel day for me, so no updates til the sun does down.

Good TVeets

I'm glad I'm not gonna be the one who has to explain to Nick Nolte what happened with "Luck."
— Daniel Fienberg (@HitFixDaniel) March 14, 2012

You know the horses on #GameofThrones are all like "bet this shit don't happen at Showtime."
— damianholbrook (@TVGMDamian) March 14, 2012

Cannot believe the bad luck David Milch is having. Deadwood was canceled the same way after they euthanized a third Garrett Dillahunt
— Stanley Tucci Mane (@thatsnotkosher) March 15, 2012

HBO Go Everywhere

HBO Go is available to most subscribers now.

Why Finish Shows?

June Thomas explores why she has chronic issues with not watching all of a TV show.

Harmon Interview

IGN talks with Community creator Dan Harmon.