Devoted to show business and the entertainment industry

In a deal with the CBS Corporation (CBS-A), DirecTV (DTV) will continue carrying out-of-market games for the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament. The agreement will also bring the market penetration of CSTV to above 20 million households.

The college sports network at previously had around 12 million viewers, but the deal adds 8 million DirecTv customers, which brought the total to its 20 million.

The DirecTv package will continue to complement the existing regional coverage offered by CBS during the NCAA basketball tournament.

CBS has also changed its former business model of charging users to view the out-of-market games, to an ad-supported model where viewers can watch for free, resulting in a larger audience, which the DirecTv deal will also complement during the coverage.

Included in the deal will be the continuing selling of the “NCAA Mega March Madness” package, which includes 37 games broadcast during the first three rounds of the men's basketball tournament.

In a move that will thrill racing and movie fans around the world, Barrie M. Osborne has been chosen to be the producer of the upcoming story of Formula One racing great Bruce McLaren (1937-1970). Osborne was the producer or... Continue Reading

Originally saying that the role for playing Tony Stark's (Iron Man) secretary Virginia "Pepper" Potts in the upcoming Marvel Entertainment (MVL) project should be like Gwyneth Paltrow, they decided rather than getting someone "like" her, why not try to get... Continue Reading

The Alliance Atlantis Communications (AAC-B) saga may be finally coming to an end as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), in a joint takeover of the company with CanWest Global Communications Inc. ( CGS)for $2.3 billion, begins running operations this week.... Continue Reading

Universal Pictures is in negotiations with Rob Cohen to take over directing their third installment of the "Mummy" series. He would take over for Stephen Sommers who directed the first two "Mummy" films which were released in 1999 and 2001;... Continue Reading

Richard Branson's tentative new airline Virgin America announced that they have chosen EchoStar Communications Corp. (DISH) as the primary inflight entertainment for the airline.Technically Branson can't legally have a controlling interest in the airline, as U.S. law forbids foreign control... Continue Reading

In a surging battle to tell the story of the strange death of KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, Warner Bros. (TWX) has struck first by acquiring the film rights to an unpublished book  "Sasha's Story: The Life and Death of a... Continue Reading

In an attempt to expand its advertising base, Nickelodeon, whose demographic is the 2-11 age group, has made a deal with State Farm Insurance in a multiplatform deal. The deal entails not only the Nickelodeon network, but also includes the NickJr.com... Continue Reading

Paramount and Apple iTunes (AAPL) have reportedly reached an agreement to sell movies through its download service, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal via MediaPost.One missing element that was obvious through its absence was the selling of... Continue Reading

With a lot of people eager to get a look at the new set-top box that will empower consumers to stream video from their computers to their televisions, Apple Computer (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs announced that the company will start... Continue Reading

Paying out a whopping $2.5 million per episode for the snydication rights to "The Sopranos," A&E had to come up with a plan to make the investment worth it.For the "Soprano" fans, Mel Berning, exec VP-advertising sales, said that he... Continue Reading

With his deal with Warner Bros. TV (TWX) ending in June of 2007, it didn't take long for one of Warner's competitors to grab Hank Steinberg. Steinberg is currently creator and executive producer of "Without a Trace." He signed a... Continue Reading

With the DirectTV (DTV) deal with News Corp. (NWS) taken care of, John Malone is now looking to acquire Cablevision's Rainbow Media Holdings (CVC), which would include the movie channels WE: Women's Entertainment and AMC. The reason for the negotiations... Continue Reading

Saying that they want to focus more on their digital media and newspaper business, The New York Times (NYT) announced that it reached a deal with Oak Hill Capital Partners, a private equity firm, to sell its Broadcast Media Group... Continue Reading

In November of 2005, DriverTV launched its business by guaranteeing a specific number of views over a 12-month period for their automaker customers. They are now moving toward and adopting a cost per click model.DriverTV is now on Comcast (CMCSA),... Continue Reading

NBC (GE) is trying different strategies to get their new shows noticed. In another attempt at using different means to that end, they have made their upcoming drama "The Black Donnellys" available for Netflix subscribers before they even stream it... Continue Reading

The recent partnership between New Line Television and MGM has produced its first results as the companies announced that they're bringing the risqué comedies "Reno 911" and "Chappelle's Show" into syndication. In a way similar to "Sex and the City,"... Continue Reading

In a bid to keep viewers interested in the PGA Tour throughout the year, they have decided to use the NASCAR model to do the job.Golf has had an interest problem for a long time as it had no mechanism... Continue Reading

Another American Idol finalist from season five has been signed to a recording contract. Bucky Covington was signed by Lyric Street Records to make him the eighth person from season to receive that honor.Covington said, "People don't realize that when... Continue Reading

Things were fun in Hollywood today! Two of the top Hollywood agents, who represent highly-ranked directors and writers in both film and television, jumped ship from International Creative Management, to rival Endeavor.Once the announcement was made, all hell broke loose... Continue Reading