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Pledge Drives Muscle In on PBS Programming

Individuals are cash-strapped stations' biggest funding source

(Newser) - Between the recession and threats to its federal funding, PBS is facing tough times—so don’t be surprised if you see a lot more Les Miserables and self-help programming. PBS stations have upped the length of televised pledging periods by 9% since 2005, the company says, with some stations...

Fox News, CNN, MSNBC Shed 13.7% of Viewers

Every cable news channel sees drop-off for first time in 12 years

(Newser) - CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News all lost viewers last year for the first time in at least 12 years, a study finds. A Pew journalism group found a combined 13.7% drop in viewership, the largest decline of any news sector, and all three networks fell for the first time...

Miley Cyrus Spoofs Justin Bieber on Saturday Night Live
 Miley Spoofs Bieber on SNL  

Miley Spoofs Bieber on SNL

You know, pretty cool.

(Newser) - Miley Cyrus has met her Saturday Night Live impression while lampooning a fellow teen pop star herself. Cyrus hosted SNL last night, leading to an inevitable face-off between the 18-year-old singer and cast member Vanessa Bayer's parody. But Cyrus appeared on Bayer's The Miley Cyrus Show not as herself, but...

Without Steve Carell, There Is No Office

Why NBC should pull the plug

(Newser) - Sure, sure, The Office is still funny, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that it’s running out of steam, and should just close up shop when Steve Carell departs. “You can sense a weariness and desperation setting in,” writes Matt Zoller Seitz on Salon . “Are we...

Cooper Hammers Journo Over Lara Logan Tweets

Nir Rosen: 'I was a jerk'

(Newser) - Nir Rosen, the journalist who tweeted more than one tasteless line about Lara Logan's assault faced Anderson Cooper last night, attempting to explain what he’d been thinking—which was basically that he wasn't thinking at all. "I don’t have an explanation. I was a jerk," Rosen...

Grammy Ratings Hit Decade-Long High

26.6 million tuned in for awards show

(Newser) - The Grammys hit a high note in the ratings last night, drawing the show's biggest TV audience in a decade. Preliminary Nielsen figures today show the CBS broadcast attracted 26.6 million viewers, improving on last year's robust audience by 680,000 viewers. The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards was also...

Joan &amp; Melissa an Embarrassment
 Joan & Melissa 
 an Embarrassment 
tv review roundup

Joan & Melissa an Embarrassment

Critics: New reality show 'upsetting,' 'uncomfortable'

(Newser) - Joan Rivers’ new reality show on WE, Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?, follows the 77-year-old comedian as she moves in with her daughter in Los Angeles. It’s as artificial as the botox Rivers extols:
  • The show is “upsetting,” writes a pained Linda Stasi in the New
...

Last Season, Big Secret: How Convenient for Oprah

Lisa de Moraes questions Winfrey's timing, motives

(Newser) - It’s her show’s final season, she’s just back from Australia, and suddenly she’s got a big surprise: Oprah has a long-lost half-sister! What a fortunate coincidence for the queen of talk, writes Lisa de Moraes in the Washington Post . This despite the fact that Oprah met...

Oprah: I'll Unveil Big Secret Monday

Family secret 'shook me to my core'

(Newser) - Oprah Winfrey knows a thing or two about staging reunions, but she's taking the one on Monday to a personal level: The talk-show diva says she'll unveil "the miracle of miracles," a family secret she'd discovered only recently. "I was given some news that literally shook me...

Skins Isn't Kiddie Porn, It's Just Lame

Critic: Controversy detracts from bigger problem: 'lack of quality'

(Newser) - First things first: The MTV teen drama Skins doesn't dabble in child pornography, writes Jace Lacob in the Daily Beast. The scene in question featuring a teen boy's naked butt isn't even "remotely sexually suggestive," he writes, and thus doesn't meet the criteria for breaking indecency rules. (See...

In CNN Debut, Piers Morgan Fawning, So-So

A kinder, gentler Piers takes center stage

(Newser) - The obnoxious Piers Morgan familiar to reality show fans was nowhere to be seen as Piers Morgan Tonight made its debut in Larry King's old time slot on CNN, say critics. Morgan was fawning and deferential during his highly publicized interview with Oprah Winfrey. Some early reaction:
  • "Morgan's nerves
...

Obnoxious Piers Morgan Is the 'Anti-Larry King'
Obnoxious Piers Morgan
Is the 'Anti-Larry King'
big debut tonight

Obnoxious Piers Morgan Is the 'Anti-Larry King'

Host faces mammoth task as show begins tonight, writes Brian Stelter

(Newser) - Tonight, Piers Morgan takes over Larry King’s time slot—but he won’t take on King’s style. Morgan is "in many ways the anti-King," writes Brian Stelter for the New York Times : "obnoxious, obsessively prepared, and eager to tape his interviews in advance as often...

History Channel Pulls Plug on 'The Kennedys'

Epic 8-part miniseries yanked after complaints of inaccuracies

(Newser) - The Kennedys cost big bucks and stars big names like Tom Wilkinson and Greg Kinnear, but it's not going to see the light of day on the History Channel. The network yanked the epic, controversial eight-part miniseries—its most expensive program ever—yesterday after deeming the completed work "not...

Average American Watches 34 Hours of TV a Week

That almost sounds like a full-time job...

(Newser) - The average American watches 34 hours of television per week … which sounds suspiciously like a full-time job. That slightly depressing, slightly baffling statistic comes to you courtesy of the Nielsen Company, which reports that total viewing rose about 1% in 2010. More from Nielsen, via the New York Times...

N. Korea Airs First Western Flick—Starring Keira Knightley

'Bend It Like Beckham' marks anniversary of British ties

(Newser) - North Koreans got treated to the country’s first-ever televised Western film this week: Bend It Like Beckham. News, soaps, and documentaries usually dominate the airwaves, and Western movies are restricted, the AP reports. The broadcast seemed to be an edited version of the Keira Knightley- and Jonathan Rhys Myers-led...

FCC Honcho: Comcast Can Only Buy NBC if It Shares

Commission aims to block media stranglehold

(Newser) - Comcast should only be able to go through with its plans to buy NBC Universal if it's willing to share the media giant’s content with its competitors, according to Julius Genachowski. The FCC chairman gave his conditional approval for the merger last week, proposing a set of rules that...

Oprah Confident on Brink of New Network's Launch

It will be up against plenty of competition, high channel number

(Newser) - The Oprah Winfrey Network is ready to launch January 1, following three years of planning and delays. It will face competition from at least 12 other networks targeting the same female audience, but supporters say it stands out from the rest thanks to, well, Oprah. The Los Angeles Times looks...

Bad Reviews Delay Latest Google TV Debut

Search giant must improve inter-company relations: analysts

(Newser) - Google has delayed the grand unveiling of its new TV software, after a spate of less-than-stellar early reviews. Toshiba, LG Electronics, and Sharp were all planning to debut their versions of Google TV at the Consumer Electronics Show next month, but Google surprised them by asking them to hold off...

Larry King Signs Off for Last Time
Larry King Signs Off
for Last Time

Larry King Signs Off for Last Time

Star-studded finale ends emotionally

(Newser) - Larry King signed off for the last time last night, getting emotional as he reflected on his show's 25-year run. “It’s not very often in my life I’ve been without words,” he said. Two presidents, Barbara Walters, Donald Trump, Dr. Phil, and Ryan Seacrest all appeared...

'Iconic' King Leaves Throne: Final Show Tonight
'Iconic' King Leaves Throne:
Final Show Tonight
OPINION

'Iconic' King Leaves Throne: Final Show Tonight

Critics bid farewell to softballs, suspenders

(Newser) - Tonight is Larry King’s final show on CNN—Bill Maher and Ryan Seacrest will be in the studio with him, and word has it he’ll be receiving a taped sendoff from President Obama and chat with more than a dozen other mystery guests via satellite. Some 50,000...

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