Canadian Protest

A group of Canadian actors are protesting the preponderance of American TV shows on Canadian airwaves.

Japan's Digital Conversion

Japanese broadcaster NHK is ceasing analog signals a year ahead of the government deadline.

SOAPnet Implications

Elana Levine assesses what soap fans will lose out on with the Disney shutdown of SOAPnet.

Survivor Contracts

Andy Dehnart at Reality Blurred has obtained the contestant rules and the contestant contract for Survivor, which contain some revealing requirements, such as that what the contestants wear must be approved by producers and contestants have no right to privacy at any time during production.

Real Housewives' Kids

Steve Almond looks at Real Housewives and says, what about the children?

Hulu & Comcast

Herb Kohl wants Hulu taken out of the Comcast-NBCU deal.

CNN's Prime Time Struggles

Matea Gold looks at CNN's failure to establish strong shows in prime time, which is indicative of its wider problems.

Buzz vs. Ratings

A social media analytics company called Networked Insights has ranked shows based on social media buzz, and Teddy Wayne points out that the list is quite different than that of top Nielsen rated shows (for instance, Lost is number one). The company's full report is available online (if that link doesn't work for you, you may have to give them your own email address to get one).

The report concludes with this: "Like all areas of brands and marketing, consumers are exercising increasing control over how they consume and experience television. This report wraps up just after Betty White hosted “Saturday Night Live” in a command performance, ordered not by a president, queen, or corporate executive, but by more than a half million people on Facebook. Social media provides a channel by which TV watchers become TV pundits — conversing about their favorite shows, brands, and anything else they value. Listening to those conversations can bring networks, agencies, and brands closer to the consumer."

Mobile TV Spread

Mobile TV is prevalent across the globe...almost. Kevin J. O'Brien reports on mobile TV companies trying to convert the last holdout outposts: the U.S. and Europe.

CBS Not $#&!ing Worried

Brian Steinberg says CBS isn't concerned about offending audiences with the implied foul language in $#*! My Dad Says.

Diversity on TBS

Megan Angelo assesses the racial diversity in TBS's programming.

Susan Boyle Revisited

Carole Cadwalladr details Susan Boyle's dramatic (and ultimately troubling) story and the impact of sudden reality TV and internet fame on an ordinary person. A striking factoid from the article: "The clip of [Boyle's] audition has been viewed 360 million times, more than any other video in history."

Time Warner Profile

Financial Times looks at how Jeff Bewkes is reinventing Time Warner.

Hopper & Linkletter

More RIP remembrances: Jaime Weinman highlights clips from Dennis Hopper's early TV work, and the New York Times reminds us of Art Linkletter's illustrious TV career.

Manly Miller Lite Ads

Peter Alilunas offers an excellent analysis of Miller Lite's latest ad campaign, entitled "Be a Man." And follows up on the "tramp stamp" one.

DVR vs. Twitter

Michael Newman talks about how DVRs and Twitter are new technologies at odds in terms of spectatorial experience.

Comcast Warning

A financial analyst warns Comcast that it might be overreaching in acquiring NBC Universal.

Gary Coleman

Jaime Weinman reminds us what a great performer Gary Coleman was, and Heather Havrilesky discusses how he was haunted by a catchphrase.

Actress Roundtable

THR has posted their next Emmy roundtable with actresses Sandra Oh, Kyra Sedgwick, Glenn Close, Chloe Sevigny, Claire Danes, Elisabeth Moss

Season Summaries

The 2009-10 broadcast network season is winding down, and the season summaries are starting to come in. I'll post more here as they come along.

As far as traditional Nielsen ratings, for the 7th year out of the last 8, CBS was the most-viewed network in overall viewers, while Fox won 18-49 for the 8th straight year and and 12-17 for the 10th straight year, thanks to American Idol. The top new sitcom was Modern Family, the top new drama was NCIS, NBC's The Office was the top scripted show in 18-49, and 30 Rock reached the most upscale audiences. ABC can also tout having 5 of the top 15 shows in 18-49 ratings. And The CW? Well, it didn't shut down this year.

Deadline has the full list of season rankings, which Jaime Weinman analyzes. TV By the Numbers has charts!

Jace Lacob reports on the hits and the misses of the season. Hollywood Reporter has an overview. James Hibberd calls it a season of surprises. The Masked Scheduler looks back and ahead.

Adam Wright looks at the good, the bad, and the ugly, starting with Fox.

Lost Podcast

I'm sure you've consumed a ton on the Lost finale already, but here are some worthy final words (for now): a podcast with Todd VanDerWerff, Libby Hill, Chris Dole, Zack Handlen, Myles McNutt, Jason Mittell and Daniel Walters, in which they discuss "the series finale of Lost, as well as the show as a whole, which characters got satisfactory story arcs, whether answers matter at all and just what Zack thought of the series finale of the U.S. Life on Mars."

Prime-Time Ratings: Thursday

Thursday night's fast nationals: So You Think You Can Dance drew big interest, not much else did

Sally Draper's World

Mad Men will return in late July, and you can start prepping for it first by watching the first three seasons and then by reading this essay by Kristen Lambert on Sally Draper and her third season experiences.

Writing for TeeVee

Blogger Paul Raven complains about the state of TV serial storytelling, and quotes a novelist who says TV needs more novelists and playwrights writing shows. In response, TV writer Kay Reindl, to put it mildly, disagrees and in the process provides a great illustration of how TV shows are written (and also of how cathartic the f-word can be).

Friday Fun With the Lost Finale

How Lost Should Have Ended

LOST: Those Meddling Castaways

Atom.com: Funny Videos | Spoofs | The Last 10 Minutes of Lost

Glee Music Rules

Music from Glee has been topping digital download rankings in recent weeks.

Summer Cable Premieres

Get your calendars out: James Hibberd has cable's summer premiere dates.

Sitcom Success

Johnny Dee says American sitcoms today are better than their British counterparts, and Aylin Zafar says the season past was the year of the sitcom.

L&O Lament

Jonathan Storm criticizes NBC for not giving the legendary Law and Order a greater send-off.

Clio Winners

Slate's Seth Stevenson expresses disappointment with the Clio Awards winners. The "I'm on a horse" ad only got a bronze for directing? Bah.

CNN Revenue

Chart alert! Alex Weprin reports on where CNN's money comes from.

Leno Ratings

TV By the Numbers has charted out Leno's Tonight Show return ratings thus far, and they're pretty much right around where Conan was this far into his Tonight Show tenure.

Toyota Sponsorship

Toyota will be a full-season integrated sponsor for TBS's family sitcom Are We There Yet?, which airs this summer.

Actor Roundtable

Hollywood Reporter launches its Emmy Roundtable series with a conversation with actors Matthew Fox, Matt Bomer, Alexander Skarsgard, Jon Hamm, Bryan Cranston, and Ray Romano.

Prime-Time Ratings: Wednesday

Wednesday night's fast nationals: Idol obviously won the night, but the finale was down about 18% from last year.

World Cup Ads

Tom Dunmore reviews World Cup ads from Puma, Nike, and Adidas.

Wachtel Interview

Lacey Rose interviews USA Network's head of original programming Jeff Wachtel "about upbeat entertainment, copycat shows and what's next for the No. 1 network."

Upfronts Survey

Media Life has one of their fun surveys up, this one asking you to judge the network fall schedules and new programming.

Advertising Archive

Duke University offers an incredible online archive of thousands of television commercials from the 1950s through the 1980s.

Reality TV & Black Women

Kristal Brent Zook investigates the troubling images of black women in reality TV.

CBS Not for Sale

Sumner Redstone says he will never sell CBS.

Hulu-Like Mobile App

Fox Mobile has launched an app to bring full-length TV shows to your phone.

Larry King Losing

Larry King's ratings have become a big problem for CNN.

Youths Love Syndication

An organization whose job it is to promote syndicated television has released a report touting how much youth demographics love syndicated television. So grain of salt needed, but it's worth at least looking at the cool charts.

Networks Doomed

Diane Mermigas says the broadcast networks' days are numbered.

TiVo Losing Subscribers

TiVo has lost 800,ooo subscribers in the last 18 months.

And Todd Spangler sees some inauspicious parallels between early TiVo and Google TV now.

Goodbye, SOAPnet

In more gloom-and-doom news for soaps, Disney is converting SOAPnet into a channel for preschoolers.

Prime-Time Ratings: Tuesday

Tuesday night's fast nationals: Strong night for Fox and NBC's Biggest Loser. And Glee actually drew more teen viewers than Idol.

Prime-Time Ratings: Monday

I'm traveling all day today and tomorrow, so updates will be limited til Wednesday night, but here at least is some ratings news.

Monday night's fast nationals: Dancing With the Stars and CBS comedies were strong. The series finale for 24 was lackluster. As mentioned in the previous daily ratings entry, the Lost finale wasn't a blockbuster; however, it did set a record for illegal downloads.

In the season ratings race, CBS won in overall viewers, while Fox won 18-49.

Local Ratings Controversy

Media Life talks with a media analyst about ad buyers' anger over Nielsen's changes to local ratings measurement.

Betty Bump

Betty White's SNL stint did even more impressively when DVR viewing is factored in, garnering an 18-49 audience that only American Idol approaches.

Broadcasting Saviors

Jeff Smulyan believes that retrans and mobile delivery will save broadcasting.

SATC Lament

Hadley Freeman says the Sex and the City movies have ruined the legacy of the TV show (though it's clear that Freeman hasn't actually seen the second film yet. Not that I'd recommend it either. 146 minutes? Really?!).

Finales

A bunch more finales last night; I won't do for them what I did for Lost, if only because I'm traveling for most of the day (though if I get a chance, I'd like to add more about 24 at least), but here's at least one recap for each: season finales of Chuck, HIMYM, and Big Bang Theory, and series finales of Law and Order and 24 (though, of course, a movie is in the works).

Cable News Model

Alex Weprin reports on the value of the cable news model.

Prime-Time Ratings: Sunday

Sunday night's fast nationals: As is to be expected, the Lost finale's numbers were big, but not huge.

JB Flint notes, "About 13.5 million obsessed freaks watch Lost finale. For trivia geeks, 18.65 million watched Lost premier back in 2004." From MattMtvguy: "series high was 23.5 million."

Brian Steinberg wonders if the lack of blockbuster ratings means the Lost finale doesn't count as "event TV."

Lost Essays

There will be approximately 4,815,162,342 articles written on Lost in the next week, and I can't hope to keep up with even a small percentage of them. But I'll keep updating this post with links to a few pieces, primarily from the tried-and-true TV critics I'm familiar with who have been following it all along.

Pre-finale, Myles McNutt reflected on reviewing Lost, Jace Lacob said goodbye, Eric Deggans offered fandom reflections, and Todd VanDerWerff ranked every pre-finale episode.

Reviews of the finale from Myles McNutt, Eric Deggans, Ryan McGee, Cory Barker, Noel Kirkpatrick, Todd VanDerWerff, Noel Murray, Linda Holmes, Alan Sepinwall, James Poniewozik, Christopher Rosen, Maureen Ryan, Ken Tucker, Jace Lacob, Matt Roush, Matthew Gilbert, Jason Mittell, Drew McWeeny, Emily Nussbaum, Laura Miller, Instant Dharma, Jeff Jensen, Henry Stewart, Todd VanDerWerff.

Myles McNutt reviews some of the reviews, Metacritic has more review links, and TVtattle has more links and yet more links. Marjorie Sweeney considers the split fan reaction. Jason Mittell considers the questions and answers. James Poniewozik reconsiders season six. Emily Nussbaum says Lost seduced and then betrayed viewers.

Rick Paulas tries to answer some questions (and not with complete seriousness, thankfully). Bradley B. Onishi tackles Lost's religiosity. Diane Swayer talks to Cuse and Lindelof about the finale. Jonathan Gray tells Lost anti-fans to lay off for at least a day. The finale had more than 45 minutes of ads, 107 spots in total.

'Lost' Possibly Still Airing In Parallel Dimension, Desperate Fans Report

Cable Tech Terminology

Leslie Ellis defines a bunch of cable technology terms.

Nets for Sale?

Claire Atkinson reports that now might be a good time for CBS and ABC to hang for sale signs.

Weather Channel v. Dish Resolved

Dish Network is fighting with The Weather Channel over carriage fees, which could result in Dish dropping Weather Channel and adding a weather channel of its own.

UPDATE: The Weather Channel may be caving. Brian Stelter also reports.

UPDATE: Dish and Weather Channel have kissed and made up.

Broadcast Ownership Debate

John Eggerton says FCC debate over the broadcast ownership rules is, as is typical, divided.

Upfronts Post-Coverage

B&C has a chunk of upfronts post-game coverage; you can start with the best and worst page and then follow the links to the rest on the right.

Also, Bloomberg reports on how CBS's decisions indicate that Moonves is cutting costs, and Media Life assesses the fall show trends. Marc Berman highlights the best fall battles.

Glee Renewed...Again

Glee has been renewed not just for a second season, but for a third season, as well.

Google TV Impact

More on Google TV's potential impact on TiVo and on cable.

24 Ending

Aaron Aradillas and Matt Zoller Seitz conclude their five-part video essay on 24.

The Atlantic claims 24's enduring legacy is as the most influential TV series of all time.

Comedy Stays Same, Reality Down

James Hibberd notes that despite the resurrection of the network sitcom, comedy isn't on the increase for next season. And Wayne Friedman notes there isn't as much reality TV on the schedule.

First-Run Shortcut

First-run movies might come to our homes within 30 days of theatrical release. David Poland says this is a moronic idea, and Will Richmond thinks it's likely to backfire.

High-Def High Viewing

Nielsen says people with high-definition sets watch more TV.

Cable Service

The AP reports (with a straight face, it appears) that cable companies are working hard to better serve you.

Middle Age is the New Demo

Brian Steinberg says advertisers increasingly want to target middle-aged demos.

Entertainment A-List

AdAge has announced its top 10 entertainment A-list, topped by Sony Pictures, rounded out by E!.

Special Flow Issue: Archives

• "Huckster, Huckster: The Archival Brando" by Lisa Patti: A discussion of the restoration, for commercial ends, of the classical Brando as the dominant image of the once-fallen star in contemporary culture.
• "A Walter Ong Artifact Travels Through Media, Time, and Meaning" by Abigail Lambke: Moving through oral and written, artifact and archive at the Walter J. Ong archive at Saint Louis University.
• "Infernal Archive: Medial States of Matter in the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision" by Shannon Mattern: Examining the place of the archive at the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision
• "A Case for Imperfection: Confessions of a Digital Restoration Artist" by Pauline Stakelon: A digital archivist grapples with the dilemma of handling technological artifacts evident in the kinescope recordings of The Goldbergs.
• "Beyond Netflix and TiVo: Rethinking HBO Through the Archive" by Shayne Pepper: In order to properly study HBO, we need to visit the archive to make sense of its early original programming lineup.
• "The Views of the Feminist Archive" by Alexandra Juhasz: The video collection from the Los Angeles Woman's Building offers a glimpse into a feminist archive in process.
• "What're Youse Lookin' at, Meathead?: Locating Archie Bunker Across Archives" by Kimberly Springer: Kimberly Springer looks at how America's 'most lovable bigot', Archie Bunker, lives through the archives.
• "Catching and Crashing the Mediatheque" by Mel Hogan: Mel Hogan investigates the politics of archiving video art.
• "Mechanisms for Non-Elite Voices: Mass-Observation and Twitter" by Pamela Ingleton: A look at Twitter's placement in the Library of Congress within historical perspective.

Canadian Pickups

Adam Wright has a list of the new U.S. network shows that Canadian networks have picked up.

Prime-Time Ratings: Friday

Friday night's fast nationals: Ghost Whisperer goes out with its head held high.

Reality TV Aggression

A new study finds that reality TV is filled with aggression.

Law & Order Acting

Amy Chozick and Ellen Gamerman look back on Law & Order's many, many acting roles.

Finale Boosts

With the huge Grey's Anatomy season finale ratings as inspiration, Spotted looks at the ratings spikes of other season finales from recent years.

Local TV Troubles

Alan D. Mutter fears local TV could struggle like newspapers have and considers the potential economic threats facing local TV.

24 Series

Aaron Aradillas and Matt Zoller Seitz present a five-part essay on 24, with the fifth part to come on Monday, coinciding with the show's series finale: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV.

Prime-Time Ratings: Thursday

Thursday night's fast nationals: The explosive Grey's Anatomy finale was big, but The Mentalist and CSI finales gave the night overall to CBS.

In other ratings news, Leno is staying atop the 11:30 hour.

TV = Art

Richard Beck argues that serial television has become an art form.

MTV's Upfronts

MTV is bringing us remakes of the '80s movie Teen Wolf and the British TV series Skins.

Directing Lost

Mike Ryan interviews Lost director Jack Bender.

Friday Fun: Fun With Lost

Upfronts Summaries

James Hibberd has the complete new fall schedule chart, with links to clips from most of the new shows (and here's the clip database), and Futon Critic has a complete guide to what's in and what's out.

Spotted and James Hibberd highlight some of the toughest fall matchups, and Joe Flint looks specifically at the Friday night fight. P.J. Bednarski says the upfronts presentations were full of corporate bravado.

Michael Bush considers what advertisers want from the upfronts, and analysts weigh in with their predictions. Media Life says the buying period should wrap up quickly. Ad buyers were polled on what shows will and won't likely succeed.

Daniel Fienberg and Alan Sepinwall talk upfronts in their latest podcast. Nellie Andreeva selects the overachievers of the upfronts. Joe Flint and Josef Adalian review the upfronts highlights and lowlights. Stuart Elliot has the good, the bad, and the silly, and says the networks went for the familar. Michael Burgi isn't impressed with the new shows. Kim Masters analyzes, Michael Schneider counts, and TV By the Numbers breaks down into percentages.

Lost Article and Response

Interesting ideas bandied about in Mike Hale's critical post on Lost and its core fandom and Myles McNutt's response.

A&E Controversy

Corey Williams and Jeff Karoub raise questions about A&E's possible filming of a young girl's death by police shooting in Detroit.

Introducing Google TV

The tagline: TV meets web. Web meets TV. And the official announcement: "Imagine turning on the TV and getting all the channels and shows you normally watch and all of the websites you browse all day — including your favorite video, music and photo sites. We’re excited to announce that we’ve done just that."

Janko Roettgers reports on this, and Kunur Patel covers what this means for advertisers. More, more, and more from NewTeeVee. One expert says Google TV will trump TV for advertising due to targeting. Will Richmond has five reasons why Google TV will be a winner. Mashable details what you need to know and looks at some possibilities.

Prime-Time Ratings: Wednesday

Wednesday night's fast nationals: Idol won, CBS's I Get That A Lot distinguished itself, and ABC's comedies did fine, but Good Guys came out of the gates slowly.

Lost Theatrical Event

An interview with Lost producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse is playing in select movie theaters tonight.

Content Power Interview

Media Life interviews Optimedia exec Greg Kahn about the so-called content power ratings and the role of online buzz in creating interest in shows.

Good Wife Stage Actors

The Good Wife is providing ample employment for moonlighting theater actors.

Idol Stardom

James Poniewozik considers the challenges American Idol has with producing new star-winners in a viral video world.

Web Video & TV

Aymar Jean Christian assesses the viability of web comedy moving to television. Mark Milian reports on the coming expansion on internet-enabled TV and corresponding exposure for web series. And one study sees internet video viewing eclipsing TV viewing by 2020.

The CW's 2010-11 Schedule

Daniel Fienberg has The CW's fall schedule, and Willa Paskin notes that it's originals every night (no ANTM rerun on Friday). Spotted, Steve Sternberg, Josef Adalian and Jace Lacob have analysis. It was earlier announced that Smallville would get just one more season. Media Life describes the schedule as a major revamp; Alan Sepinwall says there's little new here. Maureen Ryan assess Supernatural's move to Friday.

Willa Paskin reviews The CW's upfronts presentation, which involved Katy Perry encouraging the ad buyers in attendance to raise the roof to mixed results. Matea Gold says the presentation was about The CW trying to establish its cool cred. Ken Tucker has clips of The CW's two new shows, Nikita and Hellcats.

CBS's 2010-11 Schedule

CBS's schedule is out, with a few surprises: Big Bang Theory moves to Thursday (up against Community, which NBC can't be happy about, and Community showrunner Dan Harmon really isn't happy about), Survivor moves to Wednesday, CSI: NY moves to Friday. Jace Lacob reports on the changes, including four new dramas and two new sitcoms. Media Life says the changes are bold and smart; Steve Sternberg says the moves are logical and safe.

More analysis from Josef Adalian, Jaime Weinman, Spotted, Alan Sepinwall, Rick Porter, Cory Barker, Josef Adalian, Lisa Moraes, Eric Deggans, James Hibberd, and James Poniewozik, who notes how CBS is going after NBC with its scheduling changes. TV By the Numbers compares last fall with this fall.

Warner Bros. president Peter Roth expresses surprise with CBS's aggressiveness, and Linda Holmes is sad about CBS going after Community. Brian Steinberg says re-signing Charlie Sheen was key to CBS's aggressive Thursday move.

Alan Sepinwall covered the network's presentation event, as did James Hibberd, Willa Paskin, and James Poniewozik. Willa Paskin features CBS's clips.

Gawker reviews the @#$! My Dad Says pilot script and says it's pretty bad, ridden with cliches. And the Parents Television Council is already outraged by the show.

ABC's 2010-2011 Schedule

Brian Stelter has ABC's fall schedule, Matea Gold provides analysis, as does Cory Barker, James Poniewozik describes the new shows, and Media Life observes that there are few big changes, but Alan Sepinwall asks if such stability is a good thing. TV By the Numbers compares this ABC fall with last fall.

V will be held back until midseason, and an exec explains why. Variety interviews ABC entertainment chairman Steve McPherson. James Hibberd covers ABC's presentation, at which Jimmy Kimmel killed. Alan Sepinwall also covers the presentation.

More analysis from James Poniewozik, Ken Tucker, Steven Sternberg, John Consoli, Jace Lacob, and Cassie Belek.

Vulture has clips from the new dramas and the new comedies.

Fox's 2010-11 Schedule

James Hibberd has Fox's fall & midseason line-up; the network will feature seven new shows next season. A surprise: Glee gets the post-Super Bowl slot. And American Idol is switching to 90-minute performance and 30-minute results shows.

Joe Flint, Alan Sepinwall, Spotted, James Poniewozik, Steve Sternberg, and Brian Steinberg analyze the schedule; Brian Stelter assesses the Idol changes and reports on Fox execs defending broadcasting; TV By the Numbers compares Fox's 2009 fall with its 2010 fall; and Josef Adalian says the Glee effect is evident in Fox's decisions.

TVDoneWright previews Fox's new shows, Rick Porter gives his first impressions, and Futon Critic has trailers. James Hibberd reviews Fox's presentation, Alan Sepinwall pinpoints the highlights and lowlights of Fox's and NBC's presentations, and Marisa Guthrie points out how Fox's presentation contained digs at NBC.

NBC's 2010-11 Schedule

James Hibberd has NBC's fall grid (though he got Hollywood Reporter banned from covering NBC's upfronts due to sneaking in to watch the presentation rehearsal and getting the info early).

Commentary and coverage from Jace Lacob, Bill Carter, Spotted, Alan Sepinwall, and James Poniewozik; Eric Deggans has clips from some of NBC's new shows; Cassie Belek gives her take on the new shows; Rick Porter gives his first impressions on NBC's new dramas; Steve Sternberg says he doesn't see any sure flops among the new shows; Bromstead and Gaspin explain their decisions; TV By the Numbers compares NBC's 2009 fall with 2010 fall; Lacey Rose says NBC is going back to basics, and Michael Malone reports that affiliates are happy.

One surprise: Parks & Recreation is pushed to midseason (and the show replacing it, Outsourced, looks rather dreadful to me). Also, TV By the Numbers points out that NBC is once again screwing over Conan.

Apparently, Jack Donaghy stole the show at NBC's Monday presentation; Alan Sepinwall has the highlights and lowlights of NBC's presentation; and Meg James looks at NBC's return to upfronts tradition.

Turner Upfronts

TBS and TNT announced their new shows today. TNT has eleven shows in development; TBS has two dramas and two animated series, plus, of course, Conan O'Brien, who entertained guests at the presentation. Both channels are pumping a lot of money into programming, as Time Warner strives to boost ratings in their most profitable unit. James Poniewozik analyzes the presentation and previews the new programs. Mike Reynolds also reports. Meg James and Joe Flint consider Turner's aspirations.

Univision's 2010-11 Schedule

Univision made its upfronts presentation today and is rolling out more than 20 new programs over-the-air and online.

Marketing Challenge

Wayne Friedman considers the challenge of networks marketing all the new shows they're launching.

Glee Concerns

Jocelyn Noveck reports on parental concerns about the content of Glee being too racy for tweens, and Adam Wright calls out the highly problematic Artie storyline in last night's "Dream On."

Clicker.tv

This may constitute more of an advertisement than a link, but so be it: if you're looking for TV to watch online this summer, Clicker is a great place for help in finding shows. Mashable has a handy guide to using Clicker.

Retrans News

Cable operators suggest a tiering option to deal with retrans; broadcasters will likely find that to be a ridiculous suggestion, and in fact the NAB doesn't like cable getting any such say in these matters. Sinclair Broadcasting says retrans is fine as is.

MTV Tr3s Rebranding

A channel called MTV Tr3s apparently exists, but it's being rebranded as Tr3s: MTV, Musica y Mas. Laura Martinez explains, "The new name reflects a 'new programming offer' that can be divided into three areas: MTV, Latin Music and Mas (more programs that encourage co-viewing among family members). Tr3s: MTV, Musica y Mas, which currently reaches about 7.4 million Hispanic households, will still target 12-to-34-year-old viewers, but will include more programming aimed at the older end of that demographic."

Prime-Time Ratings: Tuesday

Tuesday night's fast nationals: Fox won overall and demo thanks to Idol and Glee.

Cable Satisfaction

The four biggest cable operators are doing better in customer satisfaction surveys, with competition credited as the spur.

Blip.TV Growing

Blip.TV is creating a "TV network of the future," and financiers are getting behind the effort.

Frontline Expansion

Thanks to a PBS grant, Frontline will expand to a year-round programming schedule, rather than having a summer hiatus.

Subtle Topicality

Stuart Elliot and Brian Stelter (again! He's been writing up a storm) look at how the new shows scheduled for fall only subtly tackle current topical issues, with mostly escapism on the slate.

Bleep My Dad Says

Brian Stelter writes about the Twitter-inspired sitcom CBS has picked up.

Brown Leaving CNN

Brian Stelter reports on Campbell Brown leaving CNN: "In a heartfelt statement on Tuesday afternoon, Ms. Brown said she was leaving on her own accord, having concluded that she was unable to compete with the opinion-mongers that dominate cable news in prime time."

Moving to Hollywood

For those who have just graduated and are heading out to Hollywood, George Sloan, a writers’ assistant on How I Met Your Mother, has some great advice for you.

3DTV Problems

Up to 9 million Americans might be left out of the 3D TV revolution because vision issues leave them unable to see the effect.

ESPN Upfronts

ESPN had its upfronts presentation yesterday; Mike Reynolds and David Tanklefsky report. The focus was especially on plans to expand the fan experience, such as through social gaming.

Spoiler Marketing

Linda Holmes highlights ABC's spoiler-filled marketing of the Grey's Anatomy finale.

Quality Content

Cable execs say the key to maintaining dominance is quality content.

On Demand Success

Comcast says its video-on-demand system has been "staggeringly successful."

Show Legacies

Aaron Barnhart considers the legacy of three legendary shows coming to an end this month: 24, Lost, and Law & Order.

Renewals, Cancellations, Pilots

From The CW: Life Unexpected & One Tree Hill are renewed; two new series picked up, including Nikita; and Melrose Place is cancelled. From CBS: goodbye to seven shows, including two relative surprises, Ghost Whisperer and New Adventures of Old Christine.

Prime-Time Ratings: Monday

Monday night's fast nationals: ABC, CBS, and Fox all had something to crow about.

Multi-Cam Struggles

Jaime Weinman considers why so few sitcoms in development are of the multi-cam sort.

Viacom Interview

paidContent interviews Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman about Hulu, a new premium network, gaming opportunities, and satisfying consumers.

Giveaway Tactics

Local stations are resorting to contests and giveaways to grab viewers during sweeps.

TV Everywhere, Money From Where?

Ben Grossman and Marisa Guthrie question what the monetization plan for TV Everywhere is.

Upfronts Assessment

Marisa Guthrie looks at the challenges each network is facing going into next year; Joe Flint wonders if the upfronts money will flow as the networks hope; and Michael Bush considers what advertisers want from the upfronts.

Waiting for Hulu

If you've been waiting for Hulu to finally unveil its premium service edition, Peter Kafka says you can keep on waiting.

TV Turmoil

Michael Hirschhorn says TV's state of industrial turmoil has brought positives to programming.

Good Wife Works

Maureen Ryan discusses why The Good Wife works so well, observing that it has the quality of a cable drama.

Cable Crashes the Party

Stuart Elliot and Brian Stelter write about cable's encroachment on the network upfronts period.

Sheen Signs

Charlie Sheen has resigned for two more years of Two and a Half Men. Nina Tassler defends the deal.

Law & Order Still Alive?

I'm hesitant to bother with this, but I will because it's fundamentally humorous: Law & Order might not be dead yet!

Great read: the Masked Scheduler reflects back on Law & Order's earlier days. Speaking of those earlier days, Brad Adgate had a striking set of tweets: "Other shows that debuted in 1990 (besides Law & Order) Northern Exposure, Beverly Hills 90210, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Twin Peaks & Cop Rock...Shows on NBC in 1990 Matlock, Quantum Leap, Cheers, Cosby Show, Golden Girls, Empty Nest, LA Law, Heat of the Night & Parenthood (1st one)...Other shows on air in 1990 Dallas, Murphy Brown, Jake & Fatman, Married w/ Children, Murder She Wrote, Evening Shade, Major Dad & Wonder Yrs"

3D TV Difficulty

Leslie Ellis reports on one of the key challenges of 3D TV: making a glasses-free version is very difficult.

Must-Carry Not Heard

The Supreme Court won't be taking up the must-carry issue.

Prime-Time Ratings: Sunday

Sunday night's fast nationals: The Survivor finale topped the night (Linda Holmes has a great take on the delusional Russell).

Korean TV Dramas

Wailin Wong reports on the popularity of Korean TV dramas in the U.S.

Broadcast & Cable Models

In an AdAge interview with Turner Entertainment Networks president Steve Koonin, the executive discusses Conan O'Brien, the broadcast and cable models of television, and why networks have to be risk-takers.

TiVo Case

TiVo just lost a patent decision; Forbes says this could bring DVR revolution.

The Hub Schedule

New children's channel The Hub, which will launch in October, has unveiled its 2010-11 programming slate.

Web TV Launch

Google, Intel and Sony are partnering on a web TV deal.

Handler Profile

The New Yorker's Nancy Franklin profiles Chelsea Handler.

TV Apps

NewTeeVee reports on the predicted increase in TV set, set-top box and mobile apps.

Big Bang Deal

The Big Bang Theory has grabbed a record syndication deal.

AdAge Articles

A trio of articles from AdAge, on TV-related mobile apps, TV ruling over Twitter, and network remakes and revivals.

Upfronts Upcoming

We're on the eve of the upfronts, with NBC up to bat on Sunday, then Fox, ABC, CBS, and The CW with each successive day. I plan to do one post for each network and keep adding links to it as they come along. TVDoneWright will have live coverage of all upfront events, so check there for breaking news. Plus there will be much live-tweeting going on; good bets for that and for quality follow-up commentary: @HitFixDaniel, @sepinwall, @moryan @MattMtvguy, @JBFlint, @poniewozik, @thefutoncritic, @tvoti, @DamienTVGuideMg, @LaceyVRose, @televisionary, @stayingin, @Zap2itRick

Ben Grossman writes about upfront optimism this year, and Bill Carter and Brian Stelter write about the spending spree going on.