Versus to Launch HD channel in January November 16, 2006 9:51 pm
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Comcast-owned Versus, the former OLN network, will launch a high definition channel in January of next year that will offer regular Versus programming for half of the day and golf programming for the other.
From noon to 7:00 PM it will program golf programming from Comcast’s Golf Channel while normal OLN programming will air on the network from 7:00 PM to noon.
So far, the network has deals in place for cable customers who subscribe to Comcast and customers who subscribe to DirecTV.
The channel will offer all of its National Hockey League games which are currently carried by Versus in high definition, Golf Channel programming will be simulcast on that channel and Versus HD and other programming such as boxing, professional bull riding, hunting and fishing shows will also be broadcast in high definition.
The Tour de France will be upconverted to HD for the time being, but negotiations are underway for the network to acquire a pure HD feed of the bicylce race.
New Online Comedy Channel from AOL and HBO Set To Launch November 16, 2006 9:40 pm
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AOL is partnering with HBO to rebrand its current “AOL Comedy” broadband channel into “This Just In”, a humor site based around current events. It will re-launch sometime during the first quarter of 2007.
The site will also carry HBO branded original content.
New Series Announced for Food Network November 16, 2006 9:36 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in New Show Orders, News, Television.2 comments
Food Network has announced a new series entitled “Dinner: Impossible” for a debut of January 24th.
The program features Robert Irvine (a chef to princes and presidents) and a team of sous chefs making meals in impossible situations, such as rushing to finish a dinner before being left at a train station.
TV Notes: 11/16/2006 November 16, 2006 9:33 pm
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“Heroes” will air straight through in original programming, with no repeats, according to NBC. Eight episodes have aired so far with three more episodes scheduled for the fourth quarter. The series will then come back in January and run through the remaining original episodes.
Fox is considering doing the same thing with “Prison Break”. The network is leaning towards running all 22 episodes first-run with no repeats and deciding not to pull the series and put it on hiatus. Last season, the series ran to the end of November sweeps and did not come back until mid. 11 episodes have aired thus far, and the remaining 11 episodes will run straight through most likely around January, after their BCS games are aired and after the special two-hour premiere of the sixth season of “24”.
In other news, Fox has set a returning date for “Justice” of Friday, December 1st at 8:00 PM. The series will take over for canceled “Vanished” which will be banished to the internet, where the remaining four episodes will be streamed for free:
“The remaining four episodes will stream on the VANISHED myspace page, with a new episode posted every Friday at 12:01 PT, beginning Nov. 17th. Three episodes will be kept up at a time. The series finale will be posted online on Friday, December 8th.”
Continuing with news from Fox, the network has extended “Standoff” by ordering six additional episodes and has given “‘Til Death” a full-season order.
And lastly, CBS has ordered at least an additional 4 episodes (an exact amount has not yet been decided on) of “The Class”.
Third Season Ordered for “Weeds” November 16, 2006 9:16 pm
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Showtime has renewed “Weeds” for a third season, ordering 15 episodes for the critically acclaimed series.
The shows third season resumes production in the spring of next year in readiness for a summer premiere.
O.J. Simpson Special to Air on Fox at end of Sweeps Period November 14, 2006 9:23 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Television.1 comment so far
In what surely will be looked at as a controversial airing, Fox has set a special four-hour, two-night event titled “O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened”.
Publisher Judith Regan conducted a taped interview with the former athlete and acquitted murder suspect and that will serve as the basis for the event. FOX said that in the interview Simpson “describes how he would have carried out the murders he has vehemently denied committing for over a decade.”
The event will air on November 27th and 29th.
New “Bablylon 5” Direct-to-Video Movie in 2007 November 14, 2006 4:14 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Babylon 5, DVD, Movies, News, Sci Fi, Television, TV DVD.2 comments
Warner Home Video and Warner Bros. Television have announced that production has begun on “Babylon 5: The Lost Tales”, a made-for-video movie targeted at fans of the Babylon 5 franchise set for release in 2007.
The DVD movie will include two new stories entitled ‘Voices of the Dark’, with both stories written, directed and executive produced by original Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski. The story of “The Lost Tales” picks up several years after the original series.
New Show Premieres This Evening November 14, 2006 4:01 pm
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Just as a friendly reminder, there are two series premieres this evening:
The game show “Show Me The Money” hosted by William Shatner (Star Trek, Boston Legal) on ABC at 9:30 PM
The drama “3lbs” starring Stanley Tuccion CBS at 10:00 PM
And for those interested in sneaking a peak at the first episode, it is viewable online right now at CBS’s Innertube site for free at this link.
All times Eastern.
TV Land Unveils New Original Programming November 14, 2006 3:31 pm
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TV Land has created a slate of new series including an unscripted project which focuses on the family of George Foreman titled “Family Goreman”.
Other new programs under development are “Meet Your Match”, a dating show centered around the baby boomer generation, “The Big 4-0” which centers on hitting that milestone in age and “Back to the Grind” which is hosted by certain 1970s TV icons in which they perform the same jobs that their fictional characters once held performed on screen.
“With amazing original content and talent driving TV Land, we are truly poised to make all TV Land platforms the ultimate entertainment destination for Baby Boomers,” said TV Land president Larry W. Jones, by way of introduction to the new slate. “Boomers want to see themselves and more people their own age accurately depicted in entertainment and we look forward to connecting them with even more great, Boomer-centric originals.”
All four of those series are set for premieres in 2007.
“Friday Night Lights” Given a Full-season Order November 13, 2006 6:34 pm
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“Friday Night Lights” never got off to a very good start for NBC, but good word of mouth by fans of the show and a continued like expressed by critics has allowed NBC to stick with it in hopes that it continues to grow and find a larger audience.
“We’re proud to reward an authentic, poignant series like ‘Friday Night Lights’ with a full-season order, demonstrating our confidence in it’s appeal and quality,” said Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment. “Television critics and devoted fans have supported the show with well-deserved praise for the executive producers, writers and exceptionally talented cast.”
“Friday Night Lights” is averaging a 2.7 rating, 7 share in adults 18-49 and 6.7 million viewers overall with Tuesday originals through November 5. The acclaimed drama delivered 18-49 increases from its first half-hour to its second with each of its first five Tuesday telecasts. On a special Monday, October 30 telecast, “Friday Night Lights” won its time period among adults 18-34, men 18-34 and men 18-49.”
Time will tell if NBC will try to increase the audience of the show. Most may remember it was given a time slot change of Monday at 10:00 PM for one week where it showed promise, improving the time period’s numbers in all categories from its current occupant ‘Studio 60’. As of now, however, there is no talk of any more changes in shows schedule.
Broadcast News Makes Its Way to Podcasting November 13, 2006 6:25 pm
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Starting this Tuesday, “NBC Nightly News” and “Meet the Press”, both from NBC, will be offered online from podcasts.msnbc.com free of charge.
‘Nightly News’ will be available each evening at 10:00 PM, while “Meet the Press” will be available every Sunday at 1:00 PM (all times eastern).
Fox pulls “Justice” from its November Sweeps schedule November 10, 2006 5:53 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Television.8 comments
Fox has pulled its struggling freshman drama, “Justice” from its schedule with a return expected sometime in December with no exact date yet announced.
Repeats of “House” will fill the remaining holes left over for November sweeps. The change will take place immediately (November 13th).
The series has struggled to hold onto much of an audience and was moved to a post “Prison Break” time slot a few weeks back to no avail.
Production will end after the 13th episode.
FX has renewed “Always Sunny in Philadelphia” for a third season November 10, 2006 4:58 pm
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FX has picked up its comedy series “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” for a third season, ordering 15 episodes of the show, surpassing the previous two orders for the series.
“We couldn’t be happier to bring back a group as talented as the Sunny cast for a third season,” said executive vp of original programming Nick Grad, in a prepared statement. “We’re encouraged with the ratings growth, we love the show and think that creatively, it’s just hitting its stride. The fact that Danny DeVito is returning speaks highly about the quality of the writing, and we look forward to another successful season.”
Danny DeVito, who joined the cast last season, will guest-star in all 15 episodes for the third season of the show and has also committed to six seasons, should FX continue to renew the series.
The series is averaging 1.3 million total viewers and 880,000 among adults 18-49, increases of 15 and 18 percent, respectively over the series’ first season run.
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