NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Colbert and the cast of “Modern Family” are the next substitutes for Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America.” Roberts is scheduled to undergo her bone […]
NFL Kickoff Is Fifth-Best Prime Game Rating
The NFL opener between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants averaged a 16.5 household rating, according to Nielsen’s metered markets, tying for the fifth-best metered-market rating ever for a regular-season primetime game on NBC. At 10 p.m., ABC and CBS tied for third at 0.9, each for Democratic National Convention coverage. They were both up from Tuesday’s first-night coverage.
NEW YORK (AP) — The mother of “Good Morning America” co-host Robin Roberts has died. Jeffrey W. Schneider, senior vice president of ABC News, said 88-year-old Lucimarian Roberts died Thursday […]
Exclusives
The co-host of the ABC morning show leaves a day earlier than planned for a bone marrow transplant. She disclosed in June that she has MDS, a blood and bone marrow disease. Subbing for her will be a series of big-name guest hosts, including Oprah Winfrey, Chris Rock, Rob Lowe, Katie Couric, Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer and Elizabeth Vargas.
Andy Kubitz, CBS SVP of scheduling, is expected to join Walt Disney Co.’s ABC as its top scheduler, people close to the situation say. Kubitz will fill the void at ABC left by the departure of its scheduler Jeff Bader, who bolted from the network earlier this month for NBC.
media buyers and planners say ABC is making a good move by moving Jimmy Kimmel Live from midnight to 11:35 p.m. and bumping Nightline back to 12:35 a.m. The network will gain ad dollars and set itself up nicely for the coming years, when Kimmel’s rivals on NBC and CBS, Jay Leno and David Letterman, retire.
Want to know why ABC is moving Jimmy Kimmel Live to 11:35 p.m. from its midnight home? Just follow the money.
Starting in January, Kimmel’s talk show will shift from 12:05 a.m. ET to 11:35 p.m., a slot long held by the news magazine Nightline, taking advantage of Kimmel’s ratings growth and the potential for greater ad revenue, the network said.
The NBC morning show falls behind rival Good Morning America after two dominant weeks during the Games, a reflection of ABC’s rising strength.
The networks’ joint copyright infringement claim against digital entrepreneur Alki David’s provocative site is similar to the suit that Fox filed on Friday — also at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The action against BarryDriller Content Systems was made “to restrain defendants from exploiting without authorization, and violating plaintiffs’ rights in, some of the most valuable intellectual property created in the United States,” the networks say.
Disney Posts Strong 3Q, Ad Revenues Mixed
Walt Disney Co. posted some strong third-quarter fiscal results — driven in large part by its parks and resorts business unit. Advertising results at its TV networks offered more of a mixed picture.
Comedian Jimmy Fallon is in talks to host the Oscars in February, three people with knowledge of the discussions say, adding that ABC has raised objections to having the late-night star from rival NBC play emcee on its Oscar broadcast, but the network has no authority to veto the choice of host.
ABC will handle ad sales and distribution, while Univision will head production, on the 24/7 all-news network the two are forming. Set to launch in mid-2013, Univision plans to invest $25 million in the first few years, which it believes will lead to a break-even level.
The network moved ahead with its lawsuit against ABC this week by amending its filing that alleges ABC copied elements of Big Brother for its new reality TV competition series The Glass House.
The networks will get $1.6 million from Alki David, one of their big legal adversaries. Yet David plans to go forward anyway with plans to add networks to his online TV service.
The network has canceled he last two original episodes of Trust Us With Your Life, a move that comes two weeks after Willard’s lewd conduct arrest at an adult movie theater.
ABC is sticking to a relatively traditional fall rollout, premiering the bulk of its lineup during the official premiere week of Sept. 24. The biggest exception is high-profile new drama Nashville, which will launch Oct. 10.
The suit, filed Tuesday by series stars Sofia Vergara, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell, argues that their contracts with 20th Century Fox Television violate a California law prohibiting personal service contracts from extending for more than seven years.
The network is tweaking its Wednesday fall schedule. New comedy The Neighbors, originally slated for the post-Modern Family 9:30p.m. slot, will move to 8:30, while Suburgatory, which was to stay put at 8:30, will move to 9:30.
Dish Network is demanding a New York jury trial in its dispute with ABC over the satellite provider’s ad-skipping Auto Hop feature. In a filing Tuesday, Dish also denied several claims by ABC that it had violated its copyrights by creating, in essence, an “unauthorized, commercial-free, on-demand service.”
Mitt Romney will hold interviews today with ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN that will run this evening, sources say. The network interviews, which will be taped this afternoon, will air during the nightly news casts.
The debut edition of Good Afternoon America ended abruptly yesterday in mid-anecdote from singer Liza Minnelli. Good Morning America has watched its competitors at NBC’s Today stretch their show to four hours in recent years, so it is trying out its own expansion. Good Afternoon America is airing for nine weeks as a summer replacement series and if it does well, ABC may look to find it a permanent home.
The dominant ad server for cable and broadcast networks, FreeWheel has added ABC Television Group to its roster, including ABC.com, ABCFamily.com and ABCNews.com, allowing the network to sell ads into shows whether they’re viewed on ABC.com, Yahoo or mobile apps.
On Tuesday, CBS was denied its request for a fast discovery process in the network’s lawsuit against ABC’s The Glass House. This comes less than a week after a District Court judge in the case refused CBS’s request for a temporary restraining order to stop production and broadcasting of the show, which debuted on June 18 as planned.
