Best TVeets

Good TVeets didn't exist for all, or even most, of 2010 (the first post was Sept 22), but it still seems worth doing a year-end favorites edition anyway. So here then are my selections for the Best TVeets of the fall season. Thanks to all the great tweeters out there, apologies for any great ones I missed, and I look forward to more Twitter genius in 2011!

danieltwalters : I hope #LoneStar wraps up all its remaining loose ends in its second episode.

DamianLovesTV : God, grant me the serenity to accept that #Glee is bipolar, the courage to keep DVRing & the wisdom to know it will be different every week.

fymaxwell : People are now starting to question if Zucker is sabotaging NBC. So nothing about the last 10 yrs set off any red flags? ~http://bit.ly/eAWtIb

aperren : Fox just ordered a new show called Million Dollar Money Drop...but isn't that the name of every show on NBC?

inessentials : #Terriers will go live on a wonderful farm, where it can run free and a very nice family will love it dearly.

danteller : Message to Sally Draper: It gets better.

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Good TVeets

sutterink : [ed. note: tweet in reference to this: http://bit.ly/gx3aCn] @memles you missed the f--king point. or perhaps the point is that you lean away from the point so you can masturbate all over your blog. ... to be fair, i only got thru 1/3 of your blog, then i got bored & confused, so i switched to porn and masturbated all over MY blog.
danieltwalters : @sutterink Read the whole thing. The blog may be a bit slow and meandering in the middle but it has a killer finale.
Memles : @sutterink If I did miss the point, Kurt, please feel free to add your voice to the discussion (when you're done masturbating, of course). Perhaps my piece is defensive of critics as your piece is defensive of your show, but I felt defense needed to be made. 

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Comcast Promises Nonprofits

Comcast is pledging to support nonprofit "hyperlocal" news outlets following the NBCU merger.

DPRK Broadcasts Western Film

North Korean TV has aired its first Western film -- Bend It Like Beckham -- though it was heavily edited down to nearly half its running time..

Online License Enforcement

Online viewing has complicated the BBC license fee concept, and the BBC has started trying to prosecute some who watch online only without paying the license fee.

OWN Launch

The Oprah Winfrey Network launches tomorrow, and Brian Stelter outlines what you can expect to see.

Hearst-DirecTV Agreement

One retrans dispute is over before the champagne is popped: Hearst TV stations and DirecTV have settled on a deal.

British TV Lament

The Independent's Ian Burrell argues that British TV programming is no longer innovative and inspiring.

Cord Cutting? Don't Be Silly!

So hey, cord cutting isn't really happening, says another TV company.

News Problems

CNN has performed dreadfully in the ratings this year, and though their better ratings might suggest Fox News and MSNBC are doing it right, Larry Summers believes they are bad for democracy.

Kurt Sutter & Critics

Myles McNutt deconstructs Kurt Sutter's complaints about critics who didn't like Season 3 of Sons of Anarchy.

Good TVeets

JustinFowler :  Toddlers & Tiaras is trending. That's just ... horrible. Of course, I once tweeted endlessly about Million Dollar Money Drop. Glass houses and all.

theonetruebix : According to Trends, Tucker Carlson apparently has some sort of strange addiction to Toddlers & Tiaras.

TVMcGee : TLC: Where Sarah Palin and a woman who eats toilet paper can co-exist in programming harmony. #MySecretAddiction 

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New Year's Retrans

Brian Stelter updates us on the two major retrans spats going on as 2010 ends. So does Joe Flint, focusing on Sinclair/TWC/Fox.

2011: Year of Cord Cutting

Janko Roettgers says 2011 is poised to a big year for cord cutting.

Tuesday Night Football

The rescheduled NFL game was a big hit for NBC on Tuesday, leading some to wonder if Tuesday Night Football is in our future.

Net-Connected TVs Shipping

21% of TVs shipping out in 2010 have been internet-connected, though whether people are buying and connecting to the net with them is another story.

Netflix Looking Overseas

Netflix is looking at going international. Bobbie Johnson says that won't be easy.

Dept Stores Go Digital

In what seems like a significant sign of the mainstreaming of digital movie and TV show sales and rentals, old-school stores Sears and Kmart have developed an iTunes-like site. Nick Bilton also reports.

Frightful Weather Good for Weather Channel

The Weather Channel had its best ratings day of the year Sunday.

Comcast & Olympics

Richard Sandomir wonders if Comcast will want the Olympics to stay on NBC as much as GE did.

Thompson Critique

The NYT story about Jon Stewart linked just below features quote machine Robert J. Thompson, and in response to that piece, Jason Mittell effectively expresses why Thompson's ubiquity is problematic.

Stewart as Advocate

Brian Stelter and Bill Carter consider Jon Stewart's role as advocate in the 9/11 first responder's bill issue. More from Steve Krakauer, Ari Shapiro, and Sheila Marikar.

DVR Homes

This one seems pretty logical: the affluent are more likely to own DVRs than lower income level households.

Satellite Costs

DirecTV will raise its rates in 2011, which doesn't even include a possible additional tax that could come along.

Opposition to Murdoch

Not many in England are in favor of Rupert Murdoch taking full control of BSkyB.

Sinclair v. Time Warner

Sinclair and Time Warner Cable are on the brink of a retrans kerfuffle over retrans fees, and the two sides seem pretty far apart.

OWN on Cablevision

Oprah Winfrey's new cable channel has reached a deal for Cablevision carriage. One analyst predicts OWN will bleed red ink for at least two years.

Multiplatform Success

James Bennett analyzes components of multi-platform success, and a recent study shows that minorities especially take advantage of multi-platform options.

Reality TV Effect

Steven Zeitchik considers the impact of reality TV on Hollywood movies.

Netflix Has the Edge

Greg Sandoval explains why Netflix has earned an edge over competitors like Google TV.

Best Liked Ads

TV By the Numbers has a list of the ten best-liked TV ads for 2010. Maxine Shen analyzes the list.

Net Connections Coming

A media research firm predicts that 40% of US TVs in 2014 will have internet connections.

KCET's Problems

Melissa Maerz and Scott Collins try to determine why KCET in LA never really worked as a PBS affiliate. Meanwhile, KCET's successor affiliate KOCE struggles with what to program.

Wardrobe Malfunction Not Covered Yet

The FCC and CBS are still arguing over Janet Jackson's nipple ring reveal in 2004.

FCC on Comcast-NBCU

The FCC wants to limit the power of the Comcast-NBCU union, which could impinge upon Hulu.

MTV Controversy

A star of MTV's Teen Moms has been arrested for actions depicted on TV, and MTV is taking heat for a Sixteen and Pregnant episode focusing on abortion.

Ratings News

Catching up on ratings news:  cable put networks on notice this year, Fox News rolled in cable news ratings in 2010, USA was tops for cable channels, this week's Monday Night Football on ESPN was most-watched on cable for the whole year, Univision won Tuesday night in 18-49, and Mad Men nearly doubled its live ratings via DVR viewing.

Government Role in TV

Matthew Lasar outlines the role the government has played across history in developing television.

Most Watched Telecasts

Another TV By the Numbers list dominated by one entity: the ten most-watched single telecasts on network TV were mostly football games.

Top Product Placement

TV By the Numbers has a chart of the top 10 most effective product placement campaigns on TV this year. (It's also basically a list of Undercover Boss episodes.)

Outsourced Storytelling

Mike Reynolds updates us on the development of Karma, a Current TV series premiering in February that will let fans help to shape the narrative.

Majority Have HD

61% of US households now have HDTV sets.

FCC & Net Neutrality

Trying to catch up on reaction to the FCC's Net Neutrality plan (and there's a lot of it): FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says the plan rejects extremes; politicians are divided, with incoming Republicans vowing to block the FCC's efforts; the FCC is braced for a fight; criticism has been immediate.

Indecency Battle Continues

The FCC is fighting to keep alive an indecency suit against three Fox affiliates for a 2003 Married By America episode.

The Goodbyes

Ryan McGee says goodbye to three shows we lost this year: 24, Law and Order, and Lost.

Google TV Profile

Robert D. Hof profiles the development and possible future of Google TV.

Madison Media Analysis

A treat for you Badgers, NetNewsCheck has an analysis of the Madison, WI electronic media scene.

Discovery Complaint

Discovery has complained to the FCC about Dish Network making the channel's content available online via Slingbox.

Comcast-NBCU Delay

As many expected, the Comcast-NBCU deal won't be finalized this year.

Starz Not Shaved

Will Richmond says a 2-year look back at Starz subscriptions shows no impact of cord-shaving (which refers to dropping premium services).

FilmOn Criticizes CBS

The networks have restrained FilmOn from streaming their content; FIlmOn's founder has responded with a tirade against CBS.

CBS Midseason Schedule

CBS has released its midseason schedule.

Ostroff Leaving

Deadline reports that The CW's entertainment president Dawn Ostroff will depart at the end of this season.

Sherwood Targeted

ABC News staffers apparently aren't big fans of new boss Ben Sherwood. Sherwood has reportedly laughed this off.

2011 Projections

Media Life offers 2001 predictions for broadcast TV, cable, and new media. Anthony Crupi says cable ad dollars, especially from auto makers, will be up next year. And you can expect to see more mobile digital TV in big cities next year. MTV is responding by creating more mobile TV content.

Hulu Ideas

Hulu is searching for new ways to generate revenue. Andrew Wallenstein has more.

Prime-Time Ratings: Sunday

Sunday night's fast nationals: Survivor hit a finale low, as football ran over everyone.

DVRs & Ad-Skipping

Brian Stelter reports on DVRs and ad-skipping behavior. Stelter's reporting is based on a Nielsen study, which Ryan Lawler also responds to. Bill Gorman questions this research.

Cable Resistance to Hulu

Pay TV operators are resisting adding Hulu Plus access capabilities to their DVR services.

Net Neutrality Framework Ready

The FCC's net neutrality framework is poised for passing. Cecilia Kang has more. Net neutrality proponents aren't fans of the FCC's ideas. In fact, seems like no one is.

Cord Cutting Behavior

John Rutter profiles cord cutters.

Antenna Catch-Up

I'm a little behind on the action at Antenna, which has three interesting recent essays, on Australian "free" TV, multiculturalism and Indian-American audiences, and spectatorship at Maury.

Oprah's Channel

Brian Stelter outlines the development of Oprah Winfrey's new cable channel.

Genre Questions

Nellie Andreeva questions the future viability of genre series on network TV.

Nixon Profile

Linda Holmes profiles soap opera legend Agnes Nixon.

Afghan War Coverage

TV news is spending little airtime reporting on the war in Afghanistan.

NFL Popularity

Bill Carter analyzes the ratings success of NFL football this season.

Google TV Problems

Google TV isn't starting out so hot.

UK Product Placement

UK TV viewers will be seeing product placement in British shows starting in February.

Global 3D Intent

A Nielsen study tracks the intent to buy 3D TV sets around the globe. In the US, 3D is basically dead. But Toshiba has high hopes for a glasses-free set.

FLO Fail

Ryan Lawler looks at why the FLO mobile TV service failed.

Sibling Borrowing

Joe Flint reports on how Lifetime and VH-1 are borrowing programming from their corporate siblings for ratings help.

Univision-Televisa Partnership Continues

The Spanish-language outlets Univision and Televisa have agreed to extend their partnership.

DirecTV Targeted Ads

Next year, DirecTV will roll out a series of targeted or addressable ads, which are commercials tailored to individual households based on personal data.

Ratings Catch-Up

Thursday's broadcast finals & cable ratings, Friday's broadcast finals, Larry King's farewell.

Piracy is the Future

A Convergence Culture Consortium research memo from Abigail De Kosnick argues that "online piracy is the preferred means of acquiring television for large numbers of people not because it is free, but because it is the best means currently available of consuming TV."

Sci-Fi Future?

Over at Reddit, Mionendy wonders if "pure" science fiction is viable anymore.

Comedy & the HBO Brand

Myles McNutt offers up a seminar paper on "HBO's ongoing relationship with comedy as a genre."

Flow: Revisiting Aca-Fandom

The new issue of Flow covers the topic of aca-fandom, the cross-section of academic and fan perspectives.

Latest Retrans Battle

Sinclair and Time Warner Cable are locked in a retrans battle that could lead to channel blackouts.

Stewart's Advocacy

Brian Stelter looks at how Jon Stewart is loudly decrying Republican blockage of a 9/11-related bill.

CBS, Fox Stonewall Google TV

CBS and Fox have joined the networks barring Google TV from accessing their content.

Net Neutrality News

Congressional Republicans don't want the FCC to set rules for net neutrality, while Level 3 does want the FCC to impose conditions on the Comcast-NBCU deal related to traffic payment.

Spot Revenue Ad

Revenue from spot TV ads is up this quarter and this year overall.

VOD Worries

The studios worry that services like Netflix will kill off their video-on-demand cash cow.

Who Needs Networks?

Ryan Lawler says numerous TV industry developments call into question the future of the TV networks as gatekeepers.

Cable Penetration Declines

The percentage of households wired for cable has hit a 21-year low.

Prime-Time Ratings: Wednesday

Wednesday night's fast nationals: CBS and NBC had the most to be happy about. Broadcast finals. Cable ratings.

PTC Response

Chris Kelly deconstructs the PTC's complaints about teen female sexualization in prime time.

SAG Awards

Screen Actors Guild nominations are out. Daniel Feingberg has analysis: "the SAG voters managed to do what I never would have thought possible: On several levels, they out-crazied the Golden Globes."

Cable's Top Shows

Bill Gorman lists cable TV's top-rated shows of 2010.

Five Fall Lessons

James Hibberd highlights five lessons of the fall season.

Good Year For History

History Channel can happily look back on a good year.

Prime-Time Ratings: Tuesday

Tuesday night's fast nationals: The Biggest Loser finale helped NBC with the 18-49 demo, but CBS's dramas took the night overall, even as both NCIS: LA and Good Wife approached season lows. Broadcast finals. Cable ratings.

DVR Penetration Up

The percentage of homes with a DVR has now topped 37%, even though some shows have seen their time-shifted audience decline, making the threat to advertising seem more manageable.

Stations Indifferent to OTT

Daisy Whitney reports that local TV stations aren't hurrying to get on board with over-the-top TV services like Apple TV.

Syfy + Universal

Universal is teaming with Syfy to produce modestly budgeted genre movies.

Busy Daze

With finals grading and a million other things going on this week, I won't have the time I usually do to keep up with TV news for the next chunk of days. So I just wanted to warn regular visitors that posts may be a bit sporadic here for the time being. Luckily, most shows are on hiatus and TV execs are off skiing or whatever rich people do over the holidays, so hopefully none of us will miss much.

Good TVeets

HitFixDaniel : Oh MIKE! Why are you so unable to figure out what Molly wants for Christmas?!?!? #dvrclearancenight

TVandDinners : Watching Biggest Loser. Eating cake. As you do.

kylesbarnett : Dear 'Glee' fans: I drove through the real Lima, OH this past weekend and it has seen better days. Please send help! 

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3D & Internet TVs Met With Meh

Consumers aren't rushing out to buy 3D and internet-enabled TV sets.

Fringe Promo

Fox has a clever marketing response to Fringe fans who have complained about the network relegating the series to the Friday "death slot."

King's Career

Bill Carter and Brian Stelter look back on Larry King's TV talk career, which will end this week.

Prime-Time Ratings: Monday

Monday night's fast nationals: NBC's Sing Off is building an audience, but CBS's comedies ruled the night. Broadcast finals. Cable ratings.

TV By the Numbers has last week's cable top 25 and broadcast top 25.

Good TVeets

inessentials : Guy Spitting into Microphone made live-streaming the #goldenglobes worth it.

HitFixDaniel : If anybody needs me, I'll be giggling at Scott Caan and Piper Perabo. Oh, Golden Globes...

ditzkoff : Most exciting news from Golden Globe noms so far: Temple Grandin will be at another televised awards show! 

(Updated with more tweets at 11am)

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Golden Globe Noms

The Golden Globe nominations are out, with the usual inclusion of howlers. Analysis from Myles McNutt, James Poniewozik, Jace Lacob, Alan Sepinwall, Maureen Ryan, Ken Tucker, Lacey Rose.

Navigating Comcast

Comcast is working on new internet-like navigational tools and an internet-cable combo device, which may or may not include Netflix. Ryan Lawler has more analysis.

Idol Rival

NBC will attempt to take on American Idol with singing competition show backed by reality TV wizards Mark Burnett and John de Mol. And hey, with NBC behind it, it can't go wrong, right?

Streaming Future

Wilson Rothman makes some predictions about the short-term future of TV, which might see Netflix marginalized. And Ryan Lawler insists that the Hollywood studios need to get on board with streaming.

Viacom Worried

Viacom has concerns about the Comcast-NBCU marriage that it is sharing with the government.

CW Midseason

The CW has released its midseason schedule, with only a few changes.

Ivi Keeps On

Ivi TV keeps expanding, despite the legal threat from networks.

Anderson in Syndication

Anderson Cooper will have a daytime talk show in syndication next year, simply titled Anderson.

TV Writer Credit

Jaime Weinman points out how rare it is to see individual writers, rather than showrunners, lauded for writing episodes these days, and he looks back on the past history of such recognition.

Fox Clause Tension

Joe Flint reports on the latest potential retrans drama, which involves a clause for Fox to supply Time Warner Cable with network programming if a Fox affiliate pulls its signal due to a retrans dispute, creating problems not just between the station and the cable operator but between the network and its affiliates, as well. It could be invoked if Sinclair Broadcast Group doesn't work out a deal with TWC soon. Katy Bachman says this changes the future of retrans dynamics. Not surprisingly, Fox affiliates aren't happy.

Internet Time = TV Time

A recent survey claims that U.S. consumers now spend as much time on the internet as they do watching TV.

Skins Marketing

Marisa Guthrie reports on the big marketing push MTV is giving to Skins, its remake of the British hit.

Prime-Time Ratings: Sunday

Sunday night's fast nationals: So I hear football is popular. Broadcast ratings. Cable ratings.

Copps: No Fairness Doctrine

The FCC's Michael Copps is not in favor of reinstating the Fairness Doctrine.

Comedy Plagiarism

Dave Itzkoff looks at how the internet is enabling comedy theft and reverberating back on TV.

Cab TV Advertising

Advertising on the TVs in New York City cabs is growing and getting more sophisticated.

Good TVeets

fymaxwell : People are now starting to question if Zucker is sabotaging NBC. So nothing about the last 10 yrs set off any red flags? ~http://bit.ly/eAWtIb

scott_tobias : Outside: Howling wind and snow. Inside: Homemade chili, cornbread, Amazing Race finale. A picture of domestic bliss, Midwest-style.

kphipps3000 : Million Dollar Money Drop looks like the game show equivalent of waterboarding. 

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Mexican TV Evolving

Ken Ellingwood reports on how Mexican TV has expanded beyond telenovelas, airing more shows that resemble American "quality" dramas.

Zucker's Motives Questioned

Some suspect that Jeff Zucker is purposely undermining NBCU (and future parent Comcast) on his way out by okaying a deal for Netflix to stream Saturday Night Live episodes.

Sesame Street on YouTube

YouTube Trends highlights the rising popularity of Sesame Street on the video viewing outlet.

Sutter on Writing

Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter shares his personal perspective on TV writing and showrunning.

Prime-Time Ratings: Saturday

Saturday night's fast nationals: More people watched Cops than It's a Wonderful Life. Christmas sigh...

SNL did well.

Is It Drama or Comedy?

Mary McNamara discusses the blurring between drama and comedy that defines many cable shows.

Good TVeets

adamfairholm : I hate that sinking feeling when an SNL skit starts and you realize exactly what is going to happen over the next 5-8 minutes. #snl

htimsetan : You might have missed it but Angela Lansbury sang a Wings song tonight on Saturday Night Live! #snl

andjoanbuckles : If McCartney sings that god-awful Christmas song of his, I'm going to smash my TV #SNL

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CNN's Problems

Deborah Potter looks at how CNN has gone off the rails.

Prime-Time Ratings: Friday

Friday night's fast nationals: Maybe CBS should just schedule repeats all year, since they seem to do fine in the overall ratings, though ABC's unscripted fare won in the demo. Broadcast finals. Cable ratings.

USA #1

USA has declared itself the cable primetime ratings champ for 2010 and for the fifth year in a row.

Social Media & TV

Lisa Hsia looks at how social media is changing TV.

Good TVeets

HitFixDaniel : I looked away. Bernie Sanders was gone. I just became the first person to rewind CSPAN to understand a plot twist.

thesurfreport : .@mrbrodybrown thinks Bernie Sanders should explain the #Lost series finale. that would be good for another 6 hours.

jmonjo : #HowardStackhouseReferenceGoesHere 

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Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies...

...watch TV.

C-SPAN Has a Hit

Senator Bernie Sanders' filibuster brought eyeballs to C-SPAN.

Charity Auction Reminder

Just as a reminder as you get to Christmas shopping in earnest, Maureen Ryan has a TV swag auction going on with proceeds going to charity.

Antenna Love

Antenna salesman Richard Schneider believes antennas are part of TV's future, not just its past.

Sidebar Complaints

Many marketers don't like when TV networks put their own channel names and logos in the high-definition sidebars of low-def (and thus 4:3 aspect ratio) ads, believing it distracts attention from their ads.

Comcast-NBCU Fears

Joe Flint highlights one of the major concerns of those who oppose the Comcast-NBCU marriage, future dominance of online video.

Prime-Time Ratings: Thursday

Thursday night's fast nationals: CBS rolled again, winning both total viewers and 18-49. Broadcast finals. Cable ratings.

In other ratings news related to this night, the NFL (on the NFL Network) is really having an impact on Thursday night ratings.

Ratings tweet:
badgate : Average viewers for the three weeknight evening newscasts was 37.2 million in 1993 & 21.4 million in 2010, a drop of 43%.

Friday Fun

From Dave Itzkoff

Sponsorship Down to the Minute

Foxwoods Casino is sponsoring the final five minutes of hockey and basketball games broadcast from Madison Square Garden.

OWN Risks

Success for Oprah's new cable channel isn't a sure thing.

Survival of Soaps

Henry Jenkins presents part one of a forum about the survival of the soap opera: the state of the American soap. Part two: history and legacy of soaps. Part three: new trends in production and distribution. Part four: why fans matter.

Fox News Language

Howard Kurtz reports on Fox News memos indicating that staffers were instructed to use certain language when describing health care reform, language that echoed GOP talking points.

Spanish-Language Value

Univision ad sales exec Kevin Cuddihy points to Spanish-language TV as a great local advertising value.

Yahoo Going After TV

Yahoo is trying to convince advertisers to pull commercials from TV and bring them to mobile platforms.

Friday Fun

Good TVeets

jopinionated : A Christmas Carol + Rudolph + Willy Wonka + Polar Express + Lost = brilliant holiday episode of #Community. I need to watch that again.

cynthiahaan : #Community makes me feel sorry for all the shows that aren't Community.

tvoti : Been looking for a way in to this Community review for a couple hours now. Have yet to find it.
HitFixDaniel : Just start with with how tonight's Community eliminated the deficit and repealed DADT and go from there.
tvoti : If Jeff Winger were president, we'd have a public option right now!

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Soap Celebration & Snubbing

Britain's legendary Coronation Street is celebrating its 50th birthday. In the US, Proctor & Gamble decided to ditch soaps in favor of social media.

New Comedy Central Logo

Comedy Central has a new logo, which apparently captures the channel's irreverence. The logo now has a parody Twitter account.

Done With Sweeps

Brad Adgate calls for an end to sweeps weeks.

Prime-Time Ratings: Wednesday

Wednesday night's fast nationals: No wonder Les Moonves is always so optimistic; his network so often leads in the ratings. Broadcast finals. Cable ratings.

Upfront Optimism

News flash: Les Moonves is optimistic about something. This time is the 2011 upfronts.

Cash Cab Fares Pre-Arranged

Just in case you were thinking you could hang out on a street corner and catch the Cash Cab, you can't.

Netflix & The Future

More analysis of Netflix's new ABC deal and how it affects the future of over-the-air and online TV from Claire Atkinson, Eric Deggans, the LA Times, and Graeme McMillan.

FCC Rulemaking on Retrans

The FCC confirmed that the Commission will propose rulemaking on retrans consent. Edward Wyatt has more, as does Joe Flint, Todd Shields, and Joelle Tessler. The NAB president doesn't like the idea of the government getting involved. Meanwhile, News Corps.'s Chase Carey is defending rising retrans fees.

WGA-Comcast Standoff

Writers for reality shows that air on Comcast-owned channels are fighting for union status.

Good TVeets

apresledeluge : The only thing that makes bad TV tolerable is knowing there are people on the internet who hate those shows even more than you do, and being able to bitch about it together. Isn't technology wonderful?

JuddApatow : Writing was going well then Celebrity Rehab came on. Then when I thought it was over - another one came on. This could be the end of writing

TVandDinners : A CAPELLA GROUPS SHOULD NEVER RAP. #theschuesterrule #TheSingOff 

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Showrunners & Networks

At a TV showrunner luncheon, the invited guests insisted that the network their shows are on can greatly affect the production process.

Fox News Wants More

Fox News is looking to translate its high ratings into higher subscriber fees from pay tv operators.

@BravoTV

Bravo is launching a fan and marketing Twitter initiative.

Lack of Diversity Criticized

The National Latino Media Council has given the networks low marks for their measures of diversity behind and in front of the camera, though CBS got a B+.

Television & The War of Ideas

Some of the Wikileaks cables indicate a belief in Saudi Arabia that American entertainment television and Fox News can help dampen extremist hatred of the West more so than propaganda.

WGA Awards

The 2011 Writers Guild Awards nominations for TV are out, winners to be awarded in February. Alan Sepinwall analyzes the selections.

Hurd Interview

Alan Sepinwall interviews producer Gale Ann Hurd about The Walking Dead.

Charlie Brown Christmas

Beverly Gherman has the historical inside scoop on a beloved Christmas special.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Matthew Gilbert tackles a key question: How do you decide when it's time to stop watching a long-running show?

Zucker's Regrets

Jeff Zucker spoke of his NBC regrets at a conference.

Prime-Time Ratings: Tuesday

Tuesday night's fast nationals: The older folks love their CBS reruns, but the 18-49s love Glee. Broadcast finals. Cable ratings.

Channel 6

The UK may get a Channel 6 by 2013.

Traditional TV: No Worries

Liberty Media's CEO says he doesn't fear over-the-top TV services, and the traditional model will survive the new competition because it always has. Good luck with that.

Netflix-ABC Deal

Disney and Netflix have signed a deal for streaming ABC episodes, but mostly prior-season ones. More from Peter Kafka.

Dramas Most DVRed

Dramas take up nine of the top ten slots for shows that get the biggest DVR boost.

Farsi1 Offices Shut Down

The Iranian government has closed the News Corp.-run offices of Farsi1 and arrested four employees.

OWN Wants Fees

Oprah Winfrey's new network will be demanding subscription fees from pay tv operators (article is WSJ paywalled).

Moonves on Google TV

CBS's Les Moonves says Google TV needs to pay up if it wants access to network content, and CBS is in no hurry to get on digital platforms. CBS affiliates are, however, boosting their online information presence.

More Ad Revenue Predictions

Wayne Friedman has more on the projections that network ad revenue will increase next year, including the fact that Nielsen will begin measuring repeat viewing of time-shifted programming.

Neighborhooding Clause

Congressional committee members want a "neighborhooding clause" added to the Comcast-NBCU conditions, which would require Comcast to tier and group similar channels together so that the cable operator can't discriminate against non-affiliated channels in channel placement and tiering. Joe Flint has Fox's explanation for the clause.

BSG & Consciousness

Nathanial Hanks explores the philosophy of consciousness through Battlestar Galactica.

NHL Status

Jeff Z. Klein looks at the state of the NHL, with its TV contracts up for bidding soon.

Parker Spitzer Tension

Things on the Parker Spitzer set at CNN aren't going so well.

Christmas Present Alert!

Arrested Development Complete Series only $27.99 at Amazon.

Good TVeets

tvoti : Glee is about sadness. Christmas is about sadness. EVERYTHING IS ABOUT SADNESS. #clinicallydepressed #televisionreviewer

apresledeluge : I was like :| during most of Glee until the last five minutes when I was like 8'DDDDD

JLags3 : If my students broke into my house, lit a fire, and dropped off stolen goods, I'd call the police.

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