OWN, the new cable network from Oprah Winfrey, got off to an impressive start over the weekend.
For its Saturday premiere, OWN was the No. 3 cable network among women age 25 to 54 during the 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. hours, behind only ESPN and USA.
Filed under: TV
Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.
Oprah’s network announces 10 host contestants
Oprah Winfrey’s new network has announced the 10 contestants competing on “Your OWN Show: Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star.”
The would-be hosts include a travel guide who’s in a wheelchair, a comedian who thinks the U.S. needs a gay best friend, and a businesswoman aiming to make a show about money both informative and fun.
Dec. 30, 2010 at 6:45 a.m.
Filed under: Books, Computers, Internet, Magazines, Media, Movies, Music, Newspapers, Software, TV, Video Study: Web users willing to pay for some things
The Web may seem like the land of something for nothing. Free video. Free news. Even free tools such as word processing and spreadsheets.
But almost two-thirds of adult Internet users in the U.S. have paid for access to at least one of these intangible items online, according to a new survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Get the full story »
Media blitz preps viewers for Winfrey’s channel
The Oprah Winfrey Network launching Saturday is wary of promising too much of a good thing — Winfrey herself. In stoking interest in the cable channel, the goal is to exploit Winfrey’s popularity while emphasizing that OWN won’t be all Oprah, all the time.
“We really don’t want to be a niche brand. We want to be a mainstream cable” network with appeal beyond Winfrey’s fan base, said Darren Schillace, vice president of consumer marketing for OWN. Get the full story »
Oprah Winfrey’s OWN and Cablevision reach deal
With the channel’s New Year’s Day launch creeping up, OWN, the new cable network from Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications, has reached a deal with Cablevision Systems Inc. to carry the service.
Logitech denies delay in Google TV set-top boxes
Logitech International SA Monday denied Google Inc. had asked the Swiss electronics firm to suspend production of television set-top boxes until the U.S. Internet giant irons out software problems.
“Suggestions that production of the Logitech Revue companion box might need to be halted to address software issues are unfounded. As those familiar with the product know, it is not necessary for Logitech to make changes to the companion box to accommodate future enhancements to Google TV,” Logitech spokeswoman Nancy Morrison said in a statement to Dow Jones Newswires. Logitech was addressing a report in trade publication Digitimes that Logitech is delaying shipments through January. Get the full story »
FCC chief sets conditions for Comcast, NBC deal
The head of the Federal Communications Commission is laying out regulatory conditions to ensure that cable giant Comcast Corp. cannot stifle video competition once it takes control of NBC Universal.
The conditions are intended to guarantee that existing subscription television services and new online video services can still get access to NBC content. Get the full story »
Angelica Huston confronts CareerBuilder over apes
A CareerBuilder.com Super Bowl 2006 ad. (Chicago Tribune)
CareerBuilder’s 2011 Super Bowl ad is already drawing attention from PETA activists.
PETA said it learned earlier this month that the company was planning on using chimpanzees in the ad, which prompted actress Angelica Huston to write a letter to Matt Ferguson, the company’s CEO, urging him to watch her 2008 video on the abuse of ape actors.
Huston said chimpanzees are often physically and emotionally abused during training, and that when they grow too strong to handle, they are kept in small cages at roadside zoos or “warehoused in horrifying conditions on training compounds.” Get the full story »
Apple TV sales expected to rise to 1 million
Apple expects sales of Apple TV to top 1 million units this week, showing that the device is gaining traction in bringing the Web to TV. Get the full story »
Anderson Cooper’s new show adds Chicago stations
Local affiliate stations from around the country are giving the thumbs-up to a syndicated daily talk show with CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper.
In the past 10 days, some 40 stations have inked for “Anderson” for their schedules this fall, making the New York-based show a firm go for the upcoming season. They come on the heels of launch clearances with Tribune’s WPIX in New York and Fox outlets in L.A., Chicago and Boston. Get the full story »
Dec. 20, 2010 at 5:30 a.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Consumer electronics, Internet, Media, TV, Technology, Telecommunications Google TV faces delays amid poor reviews
From the New York Times News Service | The Consumer Electronics Show next month in Las Vegas was meant to be the great coming-out party for Google’s new software for televisions, which adds Web video and other computer smarts to TV sets. Although Google already has a deal with Sony for its Internet TVs, other television makers — Toshiba, LG Electronics and Sharp — were prepared to flaunt their versions of the systems.
But Google has asked the TV makers to delay their introductions, according to people familiar with the company’s plans, so that it can refine the software, which has received a lukewarm reception. The late request caught some of the manufacturers off guard. And it illustrates the struggles Google faces as it tries to expand into the tricky, unfamiliar realm of consumer electronics, and drum up broad interest in a Web-based TV product that consumers want. Get the full story »
Punishing parents take away Internet as often as TV
No TV for a week, the time-honored punishment for misbehaving children, has been enhanced. Now, parents are also withholding Internet access to punish their kids, further sign that the Web has become as important to families as television.
As the two mediums converge, parents are quickly coming to see TV and the Internet in similar ways and are seeking to limit their kids’ access to both, according to a report out this week from researchers at the University of Southern California. Get the full story »
Illinois shares in DirecTV settlement
DirecTV Group Inc. has agreed to pay $13.3 million in civil penalties and costs, including $185,000 to the state of Illinois, to settle allegations that the satellite-TV service provider used misleading sales and marketing practices. Get the full story »
1 Tribune Co. reorganization plan withdrawn
A group of lenders to bankrupt Tribune Co. withdrew its reorganization plan for the media company, leaving creditors with three other options when they begin voting on how to end the 2-year-old Chapter 11 case.
Pursuing the plan “was not the best focus of our resources,” said Evan Flaschen, an attorney representing the group, made up of 14 hedge funds, including GreyWolf Capital Management and billionaire George Soros’ Soros Fund Management. Get the full story »
Sales of 3-D, Web-enabled TVs fall flat
New features such as 3-D screens and Internet connectivity have not inspired U.S. television shoppers, dashing a hoped-for recovery in the global consumer electronics industry.
TV manufacturers such as Sony Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. and Sharp Corp. are learning that features such as razor-thin LED TVs are not enough to stage a comeback in the United States. Get the full story »
