network television

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Boob Tube: NBC Airs Bare Breast in Water Polo

A player gets something off her chest

(Newser) - The boobs at NBC might be considering extending the network's Olympic broadcast time delay to its live feed online—after it revealed the bare breast of a water polo player. The audience watching the US-Spain match on site didn't get the benefit of the underwater cameras, but NBC...

Why Things Are So Dismal at CNN
 Why Things Are 
 So Dismal at CNN 
analysis

Why Things Are So Dismal at CNN

Q2 viewership hasn't been this low since the Gulf War

(Newser) - CNN's glory days are unquestionably behind it. Want proof? Q2 of 2012 clocked in as its lowest-rated quarter in 21 years. In fairness, Deadline notes that all three cable news networks reported a dip, but when you stack up the numbers, things looks pretty gloomy for the network: It...

Why HBO Suddenly Matters Again

 Why HBO Suddenly 
 Matters Again 
OPINION

Why HBO Suddenly Matters Again

It may not win the programming game, but it's ruling the platform one

(Newser) - When we last checked in on how HBO was doing, it was, well, uncool . In an April column for the Guardian, Michael Wolff outlined how the network had turned into a "rec room artifact," that was losing the great-TV battle. In a piece for paidContent picked up by...

Fox Refuses Ads for Service to, Well, Kill Ads

Dish Network's Hopper can automatically skip commercials

(Newser) - How awesome would it be if your DVR automatically skipped commercials on shows recorded off the major networks? Probably not very awesome if you were one of those same networks, which is why they're outraged over the Dish Network's upcoming "Hopper," which, Dish announced last week,...

Smash Opens to Rave Reviews
 Smash Opens to Rave Reviews 
TV Review

Smash Opens to Rave Reviews

NBC musical dazzles critics... mostly

(Newser) - If you watched the Super Bowl, you just might have heard of Smash, NBC's new drama about the making of a Broadway musical. It premiered last night, and critics are (mostly) giving it a standing ovation:
  • The buzz has gotten so intense that the conversation isn't even about
...

Expect Bawdy Humor in Tonight's Chelsea Debut

NBC gives Handler a lot of freedom: 'LAT'

(Newser) - If you were worrying that a Chelsea Handler sitcom on network TV would tame the bawdy comedian, you can stop. Tonight's NBC debut of Are You There, Chelsea? features bartender Chelsea, played by Laura Prepon, behind bars for drunk driving, where she prays (to vodka) and promises to change...

'Desperate Housewives' Canceled By ABC: Next Season Will Be the Last
 ABC Cancels 
 Desperate Housewives 
UPDATED

ABC Cancels Desperate Housewives

Once-dominant drama will end after next season, source says

(Newser) - Things might have just gotten a little more desperate than usual over on Wisteria Lane: ABC is canceling longtime stalwart Desperate Housewives, the network confirmed today to the AP. "We want to make sure it has its victory lap," ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee said in making the...

16 Awful TV Spinoffs
 16 Awful TV Spinoffs 

16 Awful TV Spinoffs

Joanie Loves Chachi, but this list doesn't

(Newser) - PopCrunch rounds up 16 of the worst TV spinoffs of all time: Here's a sampling:
  • Joanie Loves Chachi: "A mewling stillborn abomination that starred two people who obviously hated each other." Happy Days deserved better.
  • Galactica 1980: Bad acting and a lame plot doomed this spinoff of the
...

Prime-Time Swearing? Who Gives a $#*!?

CBS comedy bares eroding concern about profanity

(Newser) - When the prime-time comedy $#*! My Dad Says hits CBS this fall, most viewers and advertisers won't give a $#*! about the title—a sign of just how far attitudes about TV swearing have come since the days when Lucy Ricardo had to say she was "expecting" rather than...

We Need Better TV Critics
 We Need Better TV Critics 
opinion

We Need Better TV Critics

Shows are getting smarter, but criticism isn't

(Newser) - If it's true that television is becoming the "future of the filmed narrative"—and just listen to all that chirping in academia about The Wire—then it's time for smarter TV critics, writes Vadim Rizov. The job goes beyond just snarking at the latest episode of American Idol....

NBC's Rah-Rah Coverage of Team USA Nauseates
NBC's Rah-Rah Coverage of Team USA Nauseates 
OPINION

NBC's Rah-Rah Coverage of Team USA Nauseates

As anchors fawn, foreign athletes described with 'hoary cliches'

(Newser) - Shaun White may be introducing new tricks during these Games, but NBC’s coverage of him, and Team USA in general, remains an unchanged lesson in "network heavy breathing," writes Alessandra Stanley. “Hyped-up commentators” explain the action “often incomprehensibly,” but once the race is over...

Minorities Finally Get Lead Roles in TV Dramas

This year's network pilots include four with non-white stars

(Newser) - The upcoming crop of pilots for network TV offers hope that the industry taboo against minority leads in dramas can finally be put to rest. Four of the most high-profile projects in the works feature non-white actors, notes the Hollywood Reporter , including Forest Whitaker in a spinoff of Criminal Minds...

Zucker's On His Way to Killing NBC
 Zucker's 
 On His Way 
 to Killing NBC 
analysis

Zucker's On His Way to Killing NBC

Leno switch is the just latest in a string of dismal decisions

(Newser) - He used to be network television's wunderkind, but now Jeff Zucker might go down as the man whose misguided moves dealt a death blow to NBC. The flip-flop over Jay Leno—"shaping up to be one of the biggest debacles in television history"—is just the latest of...

Quit Bitching About Lost vs. State of the Union

You're a citizen before you're a couch potato, Roston writes

(Newser) - There is perhaps no “greater sign of our civilization’s decline” than the uproar about President Obama’s State of the Union address possibly preempting the season premiere of Lost or an episode of American Idol, Michael Roston writes. “Before we are couch potatoes, we are citizens,”...

Diane Sawyer Slips Quietly Into Evening News Slot

As ABC tries to avoid another Katie Couric

(Newser) - Diane Sawyer is taking a page from Katie Couric—on how not to debut as an evening news anchor. After Katie's much ballyhooed launch on CBS—and almost immediate crash in the ratings—ABC is using the opposite strategy, moving Sawyer in with no fanfare during one of the quietest...

After 34 Years, Gibson's Done at ABC

Anchor, 66, signs off for final time

(Newser) - Charles Gibson signed off for the last time from the ABC News anchor desk tonight, bringing to a close his 34 years at the network with Friday's edition of ABC World News . Gibson, 66, called the job he's leaving "a labor of love." Since joining ABC in 1975,...

ABC Offers Morning Show to Stephanopoulos

He's in talks now over move to 'Good Morning America'

(Newser) - George Stephanopoulos is in negotiations to replace Diane Sawyer on ABC's Good Morning America, reports Howard Kurtz. While the network has offered him the job, it's not yet clear if he'll take it—Stephanopoulos is pushing to change the show to suit his preference for hard news. He also wants...

Emotional Oprah: 'It's Time'
 Emotional Oprah: 'It's Time' 

Emotional Oprah: 'It's Time'

Winfrey tells fans 25 seasons the 'perfect number' to end on

(Newser) - Oprah Winfrey fought back tears today as she officially announced the end of her show, telling the audience the decision came from the heart. “You may hear speculation in the press about why I am making this decision,” she said. “Here is the real reason: I love...

By Ending Show, Oprah Bets Big on Cable
By Ending Show, Oprah Bets Big on Cable
Analysis

By Ending Show, Oprah Bets Big on Cable

Move will wound ABC, CBS—and Winfrey?

(Newser) - Oprah's decision to end her network show in 2011 is a risky bet on cable TV that will cost CBS millions of dollars and ABC stations millions of viewers. Oprah will concentrate solely on her long-delayed cable channel, OWN, though it’s not clear how yet. She’s told her...

Jay Leno Not the Only Prime-Time Loser

Networks retune their lineup to court young viewers

(Newser) - Network TV's big hits—Modern Family, The Cleveland Show, NCIS: Los Angeles—join a pack of losers and losing news: NBC viewership is down 10% among young adults, ABC and CBS have slipped, too, and Eastwick, Hank, and Trauma have already been canceled. The LA Times surveys the playing field,...

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