In the last few years, a lot of people (including yours truly) have fled New York City and headed 100 miles down the road to Philadelphia. At the same time, Philly-based cable colossus Comcast was buying NBC, apparently sparking rumors that it would take the broadcaster out of its longtime home at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan and insert it into the mammoth, gleaming USB drive that is the Comcast tower. But it just ain’t so, say the boys from Kabletown. [More]
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Aereo Announces Launch Dates For Service In Miami, Houston, Dallas
By 8.8.13
Even while it’s being sued by all the major broadcast networks, video-streaming service Aereo continues to expand into new markets with the announcement today of launch dates for customers in the Miami, Houston, and Dallas/Ft. Worth areas. [More]
Dish Wins Another Battle In War Over Ad-Skipping Hopper DVR
By 7.25.13
Though the legal battle between broadcasters and Dish Network over the satellite provider’s Hopper DVR — which completely skips the ad breaks on recorded, prime-time network programming — is far from over, Dish pulled out an important victory yesterday when a federal appeals panel decided not to issue a preliminary injunction against the Hopper service. [More]
No Sale For Hulu… For Now
By 7.12.13
In recent months, there have been numerous rumors that companies like Yahoo, DirecTV, and AT&T were interested in buying video-streaming service Hulu, which is currently owned by the unholy trinity of FOX, NBC, and Disney. But today, the trio of owners confirmed they are staying put and will actually pump some more of their own money into the business. [More]
Networks To FCC: No One’s Watching Our Shows, So Stop Being So Uptight About Decency Standards
By 6.21.13
Remember the days when basic cable was considered a joke and all the real shows were on the broadcast networks? Back in those days, it sort of made sense that the FCC might care about things like bad language, nudity (and supposedly violence, though that never really seemed to be an issue) on network TV. But now, with the majority of viewers spending their TV-watching time glued to basic cable shows featuring loudmouthed, obnoxious, hateful, “real” people shouting at each other in between commercials, the networks are asking the FCC to lighten the heck up. [More]
Comcast Set To Swallow NBCUniversal Whole With $16.7 Billion Buyout
By 2.13.13
What would Liz Lemon do? Well 30 Rock did get in its parting jab at Comcast during its series finale recently, but we’re sure Liz and Jack Donaghy would have plenty to say about Comcast’s $16.7 billion buyout of NBCUniversal. Kabletown — er, Comcast, is gobbling up General Electric’s 49% stake in the company, which will make it the 100% overlord supreme. [More]
30 Rock Gets In One Last Comcast Dig Before Going Off The Air
By 2.1.13
The final episode of 30 Rock aired on NBC last night, and whether you enjoyed the series or not (we did), you had to admire how it was never afraid of biting the hands that fed it for seven seasons. [More]
Comcast Adds NBC Peacock To New Logo, Hoping To Replace Thoughts Of Mediocre Cable With Memories Of So-So TV Shows
By 12.11.12
Even though NBC’s TV offerings only represent a relatively small portion of Comcast’s overall business, the folks at Kabletown are giving the network’s classic peacock logo a prime position in the new Comcast logo. [More]
Should NBC Leave Schmaltzy Olympic Profiles To The Advertisers?
By 8.7.12
Long before anyone could get mad at NBC for its glitchy Olympic webcasts, the network was padding out its tape-delayed broadcasts with overlong pre-taped video profiles of various competitors from the U.S. and around the world. But here’s an idea — rather than irritate viewers by interrupting the diving competition for a 10-minute bio of a 16-year-old and then going to commercial, why not just leave these stories to the people who specialize in heartstring-tugging schmatltz: advertisers. [More]
NBC Says Olympic Spoilers Have Actually Helped Ratings
By 8.3.12
We’re one week into the 2012 Summer Olympics, which means it’s time to look back on NBC’s week of TV and online coverage of the games. And while the network has taken a beating in the social media sphere for its insistence on not airing marquee events like swimming and gymnastics live on air, the suits at NBC pish-posh the criticism and say that people are actually more than alright with knowing who has won or lost the gold medal each night. [More]
NBC Makes Viewers Wait For Prime-Time, Still Manages To Spoil U.S. Swimmer’s Big Win Before Event Airs
By 7.31.12
NBC is already ticking its viewers off by making them wait for prime-time coverage to watch some of the most popular events on TV as well as delaying Internet streams of said events. But it isn’t just the Internet news coverage and social networks fans need to stay away from if they don’t want to have the results revealed before they can watch — turns out NBC found a way to spoil the fun minutes before broadcasting a big swimming moment last night. [More]
Journalist’s Twitter Account Suspended For Sharing NBC Executive’s E-Mail Address
By 7.30.12
As we mentioned on Saturday, NBC is taking a lot of heat in the social media sphere for its refusal to air marquee events like swimming or gymnastics until its prime time broadcasts. Now one UK journalist’s attempts to get some sort of response from NBC’s many, many, many Twitter pages has led to his Twitter account being suspended. [More]
Less Than 24 Hours Into The Olympics And NBC Has Already Ticked People Off
By 7.28.12
When NBC first announced it would offer free live streaming to all of the London 2012 Olympic Games, a lot of people were delighted that they would finally not be stuck having to wait until the network’s oft-derided prime-time broadcast coverage just to see the results of events that were already spoiled to most folks with an Internet connection. And yet, even with the live feeds, NBC has managed to piss off an awful lot of viewers. [More]
Dish Tweaks Ad-Skipping DVR Service To Be More Broadcaster-Friendly
By 7.27.12
Back when Dish Network first released its AutoHop ad-skipping DVR feature, the service automatically recorded prime-time network broadcasts so that viewers could watch all their favorite NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox shows at a later date without having to fast-forward through commercial breaks. But now that Dish has been sued by those same broadcasters, AutoHop is slightly less “auto.” [More]
The Legal Battle Begins Over Dish's Ad-Skipping DVR
By 5.25.12
As was predicted when Dish Network announced its Hopper DVR would allow users to skip commercials on recorded prime-time network TV shows, the so-called “holy grail for TV viewers” has ended up in court, with both sides racing to sue each other. [More]
The Super Bowl Will Be Streamed Online & On Some Mobile Phones For The First Time
By 12.20.11
Not in front of the TV? No problem for those watching this year’s Super Bowl if you’ve got a computer with an Internet connection or certain mobile phones — Super Bowl XLVI will be streamed online for the first time ever, the NFL announced today. [More]
Yes, You Can Now Buy Actual Dunder Mifflin Paper
By 11.28.11
Between the rumored cancellation of Community and well, just about everything else it screws up on a regular basis, NBC can’t do many things properly these days, except merchandise licensing. First, there was Ben & Jerry’s Schweddy Balls ice cream and now comes actual paper from Dunder Mifflin, the paper company which is the subject of the longest continually running documentary on U.S. TV, The Office. [More]
Comcast Customers Now Have On-Demand Access To Prime-Time Shows From All Networks (Except The CW)
By 4.29.11
In an effort to actually provide its hordes of unhappy customers with something useful for their cable dollar, Comcast has announced that it has made deals to bring almost every prime-time network show to its on-demand lineup. [More]
