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Ex-la Times Showbiz Czar Sallie Hofmeister Joins Sitrick And Company Public Relations
2 hours ago
The veteran newspaper editor and reporter is following Jim Bates and the late Mark Saylor from the Los Angeles Times to the Century City offices of Sitrick And Company. “Like many of my new partners who came from journalism, I didn’t think I would ever join a PR firm, but Sitrick is not exactly a traditional or ordinary public relations firm,” explained Sallie Hofmeister in her announcement. She was formerly Assistant Managing Editor directing all arts and entertainment coverage both digitally and in print until Lat Editor Davan Maharaj exited her a year ago almost to the day. “I speak for everyone at the firm when I say we are very thrilled to have Sallie join our team,” Mike Sitrick said in the announcement. “It takes a certain combination of judgment and skill to succeed in this business and I am confident Sallie has both.” If you’re going to do PR, »
- NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief
Shine America Boosts Marketing And Research Units With Hires
3 hours ago
Los Angeles CA—June 19, 2013—Shine America has named Rob Hughes Vice President, Marketing and Kevin Ivey, Executive Director, Research, it was announced today by Vivi Zigler, President, Shine 360˚ & Digital, Shine America. Hughes, who was formerly Executive Director, Marketing & Communications for Saban Brands, will oversee all day-to-day marketing responsibilities for Shine America including working with all network and digital partners on Shine America series initiatives, developing international marketing materials for Shine America produced series, as well as marketing Shine America itself. Ivey, who was formerly Vice President, Program Research for NBCUniversal cable network’s Syfy and Chiller, is charged with creating a new research department for Shine America and supplying strategic research data to the company’s scripted, unscripted, digital, publicity, Shine Latino and Shine 360˚ teams. Both Hughes and Ivey will work out of Shine America’s Los Angeles office and report to Zigler. »
- THE DEADLINE TEAM
FX Greenlights Comedy Pilot From Simon Rich & Broadway Video
4 hours ago
Exclusive: FX Networks has given a pilot order to Man Seeking Woman, a half-hour comedy pilot from former Saturday Night Live writer/humorist/novelist Simon Rich and Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video. The project, based on Rich’s book The Last Girlfriend On Earth, is described as a sweet, surreal, and bitingly funny look at the life and death stakes of dating in New York City. Jonathan Krisel (Portlandia, SNL) is set to direct the pilot from a script by Rich. The two are executive producing with Broadway Video for FX Prods. If Man Seeking Woman goes to series, it will make 28-year-old Rich one of the youngest series creators ever. He already is one of the youngest writers in the history of SNL, where he spent four seasons from 2007-2011 before segueing to a writing job at Pixar Studios. Rich, son of former New York columnist Frank Rich, was still an undergraduate at Harvard, »
- NELLIE ANDREEVA
Update: Dan Abrams Named New ‘Nightline’ Anchor As Terry Moran To Move To London
4 hours ago
Update, 8:40 Am: ABC News just announced Terry Moran‘s replacement. Regular Good Morning America contributor Dan Abrams has been named a Nightline anchor and Chief Legal Affairs Anchor for ABC News. He will continue his regular legal segments on Gma, will launch a new branded Gma segment “on a wide range of topics,” and join the other Nightline anchors on ABC’s The Lookout. Previous 7:20 Am: Nightline anchor Terry Moran will be leaving the late-night newsmagazine to relocate to London later this summer, where he will serve as a London-based anchor and chief foreign correspondent for ABC News. A veteran court reporter, Moran also will continue to contribute to ABC News’ coverage of major Supreme Court decisions. Moran’s departure comes as Nightline, now airing at 12:35 Am, draws less than half its previous audience at 11:35 Pm. Moran joined Nightline after a 1999-2005 stint as a White »
- NELLIE ANDREEVA
UK Regulator To Probe BSkyB Over Withholding Claim Lodged By Rival BT
5 hours ago
The battle between BT and BSkyB continues to mount with UK regulator Ofcom opening an investigation into the News Corp.-controlled pay-tv group on the back of a complaint brought by BT. In the claim, which BT filed in late May, the group alleges that BSkyB has engaged in an abuse of dominant position by withholding its sports channels from BT’s YouView platform unless BT supplies its own sports channels to Sky for retail on Sky’s platform. Ofcom says it believes there are reasonable grounds for suspecting an infringement under the 1998 Competition Act and will consider whether Sky has abused a dominant position under UK and/or EU law. BT and Sky have become fierce competitors especially where sports, notably soccer, are concerned. BT is in the process of acquiring Espn’s UK and Ireland TV channels business and is launching a new Sport TV package this summer »
- NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor
Ratings Rat Race: ‘The Voice’ Finale On Par With Last Spring Against Big NBA Game
5 hours ago
Updated: It was great news all around for ABC last night. First, the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs staged an overtime thriller that scored a 14.7 overnight rating, up 29% from Game 5, the second-highest-rated NBA Finals Game 6 ever on ABC behind the 2011 Heat-Mavericks decider and the fourth-highest-rated game ever on the network. Secondly, Miami prevailed, forcing a Game 7. The Heat-Spurs heroics likely affected the finale of NBC’s The Voice, which faced the big game in some parts of the country — the first time the singing competition has gone against a major sporting event for its finale. Still, The Voice from 9-11 Pm managed a 4.3/12 in adults 18-49, even with the fast national for its previous spring cycle which concluded in early May last year. (It currently runs 0.1 behind last May’s national but will likely be adjusted up later today too.) Compared with the most recent fall cycle, The Voice »
- NELLIE ANDREEVA
Joy Bryant Returns To Longtime Agent Steve Alexander At Resolution
5 hours ago
Exclusive: Joy Bryant has signed with Resolution Agency, reuniting her with a team led by her longtime CAA agent, Steve Alexander. Bryant, whose breakout came in Antwone Fisher, can currently be seen in her role as Jasmine Trussell on NBC’s Parenthood and will next be seen in the feature film About Last Night, starring opposite Kevin Hart and Paula Patton. She continues to produce and appear on the Reserve Channel’s web series Across the Board. She continues to be represented by Brian Young at Killer Moxie Management. »
- MIKE FLEMING JR
Apple TV Adds HBO Go & Watch Espn
5 hours ago
Cupertino, California—June 19, 2013—Apple today announced that HBO Go and WatchESPN are now available directly on Apple TV joining the great lineup of programming offered to customers. iTunes users have downloaded more than one billion TV episodes and 380 million movies from iTunes to date, and they are purchasing over 800,000 TV episodes and over 350,000 movies per day. “HBO Go and WatchESPN are some of the most popular iOS apps and are sure to be huge hits on Apple TV,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We continue to offer Apple TV users great new programming options, combined with access to all of the incredible content they can purchase from the iTunes Store.” Apple TV users can choose from an incredible selection of programming including over 60,000 movies and over 230,000 TV episodes, as well as the world’s largest collection of music on the iTunes Store »
- THE DEADLINE TEAM
Tribune Brings In New CFO
5 hours ago
Tribune Co’s new CEO Peter Liguori continues to put his stamp on the company’s top management team. Tribune has appointed Steven Berns as Evp/Chief Financial Officer. Berns, who starts next month reporting to Liguori, comes from Revlon, Inc., where he has served in a similar capacity since 2009. Berns replaces Chandler Bigelow, who, after a five-year stint as CFO, is segueing to a new role as Evp/Chief Business Strategies and Operations Officer. He will oversee the company’s equity investments and its real estate portfolio, and will help lead the ongoing transformation of Tribune’s traditional media businesses, continuing to report to Liguori. “Steven’s broad experience, financial acumen, and open management style will enable us to make a seamless transition in the leadership of our finance team,” said Liguori. “At the same time, I am excited to partner with Chandler in his new role as we »
- NELLIE ANDREEVA
Ex-Agent Jourdan Martin Launches Turkish VOD Service; Has Plans For Mexico, Russia
6 hours ago
Exclusive: Former Endeavor agent and La-based entrepreneur, Jourdan Martin, has partnered with a group of Turkish media execs to form Turkweb.tv. The ad-supported VOD service has been in soft-launch in Turkey with 11,000 hours of local content averaging 15 million video views per month. With the official launch, plans are also underway to establish similar services in Russia and Mexico, likewise with local content, although some Hollywood fare is expected to enter the frame. Turkey is a hot territory right now where the ad market is particulary strong and where homegrown TV series have increased steadily in popularity both at home and abroad in recent years. Partnered in the venture with Martin are former D-Smart exec Murat Saygi; former board member and president of Dogan TV Holding Group, Sevin Ergun Sefada; and Adnan Akdemir, founder of Turkish cinema operator Afm. Martin says, “We believe the economics are favorable for such a service in the emerging markets. »
- NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor
ITV Pays $30M For Controlling Stake In ‘Hatfields & McCoys’ Producer Thinkfactory Media
12 hours ago
In yet another U.S. acquisition, Britain’s ITV is taking a controlling stake in reality, entertainment and drama producer Thinkfactory Media. Among the company’s credits are the award-winning miniseries Hatfields & McCoys. ITV will pay $30M for a 65% share of the company with a put and call option to buy the remaining 35%. The option could be exercised from between 3 years after the initial deal and at the end of year 5 with the total amount paid linked to the performance of the company over that period. Late last year, ITV acquired a controlling interest in Duck Dynasty producer Gurney Productions and in May it took a slice of Cake Boss maker High Noon Entertainment. Other recent acquisitions include UK production company The Garden. The takeovers are part of ITV’s five-year Transformation Plan. La-based Thinkfactory was founded in 1992 by Leslie Greif. Its portfolio includes R&B Divas, Preachers’ Daughters, Marriage »
- NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor
Emmys Q&A: Mitch Hurwitz
17 hours ago
Paul Brownfield is an AwardsLine contributor. On May 26 at 12:01 a.m., 15 new episodes of Arrested Development went live on Netflix; by 5 a.m., the series’ legions of fans probably had exhausted the new supply. The comedy’s cancellation of Arrested by Fox in 2006, after two seasons, prompted an afterlife of rumors and almost-announcements, as series creator Mitch Hurwitz worked on a feature script of his cult series. Like the fans, Hurwitz didn’t want to let go of his extended band of crazies, the Bluths, either. And then Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, suggested resurrecting the show to Imagine Entertainment’s Ron Howard. “And Ron said, ‘That’s a very nice thought, I don’t think it’s ever going to happen,’” Hurwitz says. Except it did happen. Related: Emmys: Comedy Series Overview AwardsLine: How different was the process in working with Netflix? Mitch Hurwitz: I wasn’t turning scripts in, »
- THE DEADLINE TEAM
Talent Managers Association Elects Annet McCroskey President
17 hours ago
Exclusive: Annet McCroskey of Artistic Endeavors has been elected President of the Talent Managers Association, the non-profit organization created in 1954 to promote the talent management biz. Three months ago Phil Brock of Studio Talent Group stepped down from the post after serving for two years. Then-Board of Directors VP McCroskey filled in back in March when Brock suddenly vacated the position. She’ll now become the organization’s first female president in 20 years. Longtime Harrison Ford manager Pat McQueeney was elected to the post in 1980 and Christina Applegate’s manager Tami Lynn served in 1993. “Many of us were moved by Laura Linney’s acceptance speech this week at the Wif Crystal + Lucy Awards about women in entertainment and how much more progress we have to make as an industry,” said McCroskey. “As an organization we strive to be equally inclusive of all of our members and mentor other managers to »
- JEN YAMATO
Time Warner Cable Sued For Passing Lakers-Dodgers Costs On To Customers
19 hours ago
Time Warner Cable raised a lot of eyebrows when it paid $3B for TV rights to the La Lakers for the next 20 years and then a record $8B for La Dodgers rights for the next 25 years. When the Dodgers deal launches in 2014, the cable company will have four new networks for all that content. But the plan to partially pay for those new channels via boosting TWC customers’ fees — even from Southern California users who don’t want the channels and have no way to opt out of the bundles — apparently is not sitting well. Some of those customers filed a class action suit in La Superior Court today targeting TWC, the Lakers and the Dodgers for restitution and injunctive relief for violating California Business & Professions Code 172000. The complaint (read it here) says unless restrained by the court, TWC will “pass these costs along to its total Southern California subscriber base, »
- THE DEADLINE TEAM
Fox Business Fires Tobin Smith Over Off-Air Stock Tout That Netted His Company $50K
19 hours ago
Fox Business Network had some business advice for Tobin Smith today: Find work elsewhere. The investment manager and author who has been a familiar face on Fox News confirmed his sacking to the Wall Street Journal, which reported earlier in the day that Smith was in hot water over “sponsored investment research.” His Nbt Equities Research collects checks to tout the stocks of small companies via such paid research, which the businesses count on to boost their share price and volume. And last week, Smith – a regular panelist on Fox News’ Bulls & Bears – sent out an email and ad flier via his new Next Big Thing newsletter touting Petrosonic Energy. The campaign came with a disclaimer saying it was paid advertising, for which Nbt banked $50,000, and he did not mention Petrosonic on the air at Fox News. But some investors who bought into the company based on Smith’s recommendation »
- THE DEADLINE TEAM
Oxygen Greenlights ‘Secret Celebrity’ Series Executive Produced By Wendy Williams
20 hours ago
Exclusive: I’ve learned that Oxygen has quietly given the green light to Secret Celebrity, a reality series produced by T Group Prods, which Wendy Williams executive produces as part of her first-look deal with the cable network. Per Oxygen’s description when the project was announced in February as being in development, Secret Celebrity features stars in disguise as they surprise unsuspecting fans, friends and family. I hear celebrities who already have filmed episodes of the show include Nick Lachey, Ice-t & Coco and LuAnn de Lesseps, who just signed on to return to The Real Housewives Of New York on sibling Bravo. T Group’s Jenny Daly executive produces with Williams and Gunnar Wetterberg. »
- NELLIE ANDREEVA
Changes At NBC’s ‘Today’: Joe Michaels Moved To Senior Director
20 hours ago
In the latest upheaval at NBC‘s ratings-challenged Today show, longtime director Joe Michaels has been named senior director of the show, the network said today. No word from NBC on what his specific responsibilities will be, but a source with knowledge of the situation says he will manage large initiatives and projects on the technical/directorial side, such as Today’s coverage of the Winter Olympics next February. There’s no word on who would be replacing Michaels as director of the morning news show. Today‘s ratings have been slipping for years but the program managed to keep its No. 1 slot until Ann Curry’s ouster last June. Since then, ABC’s Good Morning America has taken over the top spot. Last month Gma continued its dominance over Today by beating the NBC show by 1.6 million viewers. That’s the largest single-day total viewership spread Gma has had »
- THE DEADLINE TEAM
Reed Elsevier Countersues Variety Media
21 hours ago
Variety Media last month in New York added the trade publication’s former owners Reed Elsevier and Reed Business Information to its kickbacks and fraud case against branding company Beverly Hills Media Group, seeking $10M in damages in New York state Supreme Court for breach of contract and declaratory relief. Today, Reed has countersued, claiming it’s owed $1.3M more on the purchase price after Penske Media Corp acquired Variety in October 2012. Pmc is Deadline’s parent company. »
- THE DEADLINE TEAM
Comedy ‘I Didn’t Do It’ Gets Series Order At Disney Channel
22 hours ago
Disney Channel has picked up to series comedy pilot I Didn’t Do It starring Olivia Holt (Disney Xd’s Kickin’ It, Disney Channel’s Girl Vs. Monster) and newcomer Austin North (Kickin’ It). Created by Tod Himmel (90210) and Josh Silverstein (So Random!), I Didn’t Do It centers on ultra-competitive fraternal twins Lindy and Logan Watson (Holt, North), who, together with their best friends (Piper Curda, Sarah Gilman, Peyton Clark), navigate their freshman year of high school. Each episode begins with a comedic “what just happened?” situation as Lindy and Logan each spin their own accounts in the form of flashbacks. Production will begin this summer in Los Angeles for a scheduled early 2014 premiere. Himmel and Judd Pillot executive produce, with Silverstein serving as supervising producer. The pickup comes on the heels of Disney Channel’s series order earlier this week to Boy Meets World sequel Girl Meets World. »
- NELLIE ANDREEVA
CNN’s ‘New Day’ Debut Up In Demo But Still Last Among Cable Rivals
22 hours ago
Well, looks like New Day has one bright spot in the morning for CNN. The jewel in Jeff Zucker’s rebranded network crown debuted yesterday down 7% in viewers but up 19% in the adults 25-54 demo compared with the same time slot a week ago. The new 6-9 Am morning show pulled in 247,000 total viewers Monday, with 95,000 in the key demo. However, the Chris Cuomo- and Kate Bolduan-hosted show with Michaela Pereira as news anchor still found itself No. 3 in viewers among the cable news morning shows, and No. 4 in the demo — even behind sister network Hln. And New Day’s numbers are down 19% among total viewers and 22% in the demo year to date. The show was up 15% in viewers but down 18% in the demo compared to CNN’s morning show offering on June 18, 2012. With the newly rehired Sarah Palin sitting in as a guest anchor, longtime leader Fox & Friends »
- DOMINIC PATTEN
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