Results tagged “NBC”

After months of talks, cable giant Comcast has made a deal with General Electric for NBC. According to the NY Times, "The agreement will create a joint venture, with Comcast owning 51 percent and G.E. owning 49 percent. Comcast will contribute to the joint venture its stable of cable channels, which includes Versus, the Golf Channel and E Entertainment, worth about $7.25 billion, and will pay G.E. about $6.5 billion in cash, for a total of $13.75 billion. For now, the network will remain NBC Universal, but ultimately Comcast could decide to change the name." Fun facts: GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt and other execs "intend" to keep their offices at 30 Rock and want the GE logo to remain at the top of the building.

[UPDATE BELOW] The local chapter of the union that represents nearly 3,000 of the NBC's producers, writers and technicians is threatening to walk out during the network's "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" special tonight—potentially denying millions of viewers the pleasure of seeing a light switch get flicked. The show is supposed to be broadcast tonight starting at 8 p.m., hosted by Jane Krakowski (30 Rock) and Zachary Levi (Chuck). Musical guests include Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Rob Thomas, Alicia Keys, Jo Dee Messina, Barry Manilow, Shakira, The Muppets, and The Roots.

The animal rights advocates at PETA wanted to run this commercial during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC. However, the organization says they were told their "family-friendly announcement against abusing turkeys" didn't meet network standards. "The station asked us to give more information about the cruelty behind turkey slaughter to back up the statements made in the ad. But even after we sent the network this New York Times article chronicling the grisly facts about turkey factory farming, it nixed the ad." They say they had a kid-centric audience in mind when they created it, but we imagine if any kids listened to the ad they might choose to go hungry this Thursday!

New Jersey's 2nd favorite son Bon Jovi has signed on to become the first "artist-in-residence" at NBC. In a feature in this week's Observer, Felix Gillette traces the strange pairing, profiling both the pragmatism of self-described CEO Bon Jovi, as well as NBC's love of synergy and refusal to acknowledge criticism.

Everybody in New York knows that Thanksgiving is about one thing and one thing only: self-promotion. So it is with honor for our melting-pot of a country that NBC has reportedly banned the cast of 'Glee' from performing at the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The cast of the hit Fox show was set to sing their hit cover of "Don't Stop Believin'" for the 83rd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but apparently NBC didn't want to showcase their rivals' hit show. But wait, now who will provide the traditional Journey sing-along our forefathers fought for?

Last night, Conan O'Brien officially took over hosting duties for The Tonight Show and opened the show with a taped bit that showed him running across the country from NYC to LA (with scenic stops at the Wrigley Field in Chicago, St. Louis Arch, and a Victorian Doll Museum somewhere else).

Everyone's an expert! 50-year-old newscaster Brian Williams is getting into the music blogging game with a "new music reporting project" called BriTunes (pronounced like iTunes). Let's just say the original BriTunes is less than thrilled about this, however Mr. Williams says, "I didn't name this thing, but I did come up with the idea." The idea of music blogging? So ahead of his time. He continues, saying, "I have always loved identifying good music and good groups—discovering them early (bar bands are best) and following them through their journey. While we'll interview some established musicians, mostly I'd like this to be a place where people can sample some of the great music being created every day." He starts with the band Deer Tick, who have been around since 2004 and are currently on a major national tour, which included plenty of dates with Jenny Lewis earlier this year.

Talk about a hot mess, the Project Runway powers-that-be barely made it work but word is that the show will finally be able to hit airwaves again. Earlier this year the finalists for the yet-to-be-aired season weren't even allowed to show their faces at their own Fashion Week shows because of the legal battle, but now it's being reported that "the long and bitter litigation over the hit reality series came to an end Wednesday when the Weinstein Company, which owns the show, agreed to pay NBC Universal a settlement fee, acknowledging it had improperly sold the show to a competitive network without giving NBC a right to match the offer." This past September NBC successfully prevented Lifetime from airing the show, and now the Weinstein Company will pay NBC a fee for the right to move the show to Lifetime. Expect the new season to air this summer, and according to their deal, there's five more years to come!

Jerry Seinfeld is returning to television, but this time he's behind the scenes. The NY Times reports on the new reality series he's producing for NBC called The Marriage Refs, but he told them, “This is going to be a comedy show; I’m not interested in the reality of it.” The show, a brainchild of the comedians, will focus on "funny marital spats," but will be more like The Honeymooners than Dr. Phil (noting that TV therapy never works). Each episode will have a theme and will capture arguments based on this theme, footage of which will be used by a marriage ref in picking a winner of the argument. Hmm, we were hoping he'd make the judge-appointed butler idea a reality.

During Late Night, Conan O'Brien reminisced about how much he loved New York (he will soon to depart to Los Angeles to take over the Tonight Show)—and as if on cue, Mayor Michael Bloomberg walked out to the strains of "New York, New York." He spoke about O'Brien's 16 years in NYC and presented a key, to which O'Brien exclaimed, "I'm floored. I'm stunned. I'm receiving a key to New York City."

As Jimmy Fallon prepares for his Late Night close-up, house band The Roots are frantically writing hundreds of original songs to play on the show because NBC is refusing to pay music licensing fees. The group has 12 days til they take over the airwaves, and drummer ?uestlove told Rolling Stone that of the 200 songs they are attempting to pen, "we've written about 55 so far." In the same interview he tells the magazine that the entire band is "commuting via tour bus every morning at 8 am" from Philly. So it's safe to assume none of their 200 new jingles have to do with leaving a giant carbon footprint on the environment. Unless they use a biodiesel tour bus?

Jay Leno confirms today what had been a longstanding rumor that David Letterman's show invited him to be a guest on the first show following his departure from The Tonight Show. But Leno says, “It would look like an insult to Conan. I would never do that.” In today's interview with Late Shift author Bill Carter, Leno reveals that the deal for his new nightly 10 p.m. show came after he turned down NBC's initial offers of a weekly Sunday night show and then an 11 p.m. show on USA. Leno initially agreed to NBC's wishes for him to move aside for Conan back in 2004 because he says, “I’ve never been one of those guys, when the girl says ‘I don’t think we should see each other anymore,’ I go, ‘Why? What can I do?’ No, I’m ‘O.K., babe, I’m gone.’” He explains that the 10 p.m. show is now ripe for success now because recent NBC efforts like Lipstick Jungle and My Own Worst Enemy haven't taken off and also says, “Five years ago this wouldn’t have been a good idea, but more people — and younger people — are going to bed at 11 o’clock because they carpool or they have to get up at 6.” Carpoolers, buckle up.

Though some people may have laughed at Saturday Night Live's depiction of Governor David Paterson—which did include Fred Armisen as Paterson stumbling around due to his blindness and saying "I'm a blind man who loves cocaine who was suddenly appointed governor of New York. My life is an actual plot from a Richard Pryor movie."—Paterson himself was not one of them.

All you Tonight Show Headlines and Jaywalking fanatics, stop your worrying: Deadline Hollywood Daily reports that Jay Leno will be staying at NBC when his Tonight Show contract is up--and will be moving into primetime with a Monday-to-Friday weekday at 10 p.m. talk show.

NBC News' White House correspondent David Gregory was officially named moderator of "Meet the Press." When moderator Tim Russert died of a heart attack over the summer, former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw was tapped as interim moderator as the network deliberated on a replacement. Those rumored to be on the list included NBC News' Gregory, Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd, as well as PBS's Gwen Ifill, but in recent days, it was leaked that NBC News was leaning towards Gregory. The 38-year-old, who appeared on MTP this morning, said, "I’m honored and deeply humbled as I take on this role. I’m filled with a great sense of purpose as I join a superb team to cover Washington and the world from a treasured platform in our country. Above all, I want to make Tim proud.” Gregory will continue on as a Today Show contributor and back-up dancer.

Following the Madison Square Park Conservancy putting up some tree huts, NBC has built "a giant treehouse at the corner of Broadway and 51st Street to tubthump the Oct. 17 debut of its drama series Crusoe," Variety reports. This one will is a replica of where Robinson Crusoe lives in the network's adaptation of the Daniel Defoe novel. Can't make it to the 30 Rock area? It's all online, with 24-hour webcam action. But this thing would be a lot cooler if it were actually, you know, in a tree. Either way, it'll be around til Friday, with a hired-actor playing the part of Crusoe.

Did you know that getting into the NBC page program is ten times as competitive as admission to Harvard or Yale? The Times takes a look into the position currently brought to life by Jack McBrayer as the character Kenneth on 30 Rock. The program's humble job description includes working six days a week and getting paid $10 an hour to "photocopy, fetch coffee and often stand sentry outside studio doors in empty hallways." (There's no mention if pages have to clean Brian Williams's dressing room before he gets back from the liquor store as Kenneth does.) The Times even suggests that competition to be a page is so cutthroat that in real life, the naive- but-gung-ho Kenneth might not make the grade. Meanwhile, McBrayer admits to the paper that when he is mistaken for an actual page around the building, he simply plays the part saying, “Instead of giving the whole spiel, that I’m an actor in a fake show, I just look down at the phone list and type ‘2379, Marci Klein.’ ”

Yes, Michael Phelps's quest to win eight gold medals has helped give NBC much higher than expected ratings for the Beijing Olympics. And his eighth gold medal on Saturday was a bonanza. According to Variety, "You have to go back to 1990 — when Phelps himself was 4 years old — to find the last time NBC drew a larger aud for a Saturday program. That was with an episode of 'Golden Girls' spinoff 'Empty Nest,' which averaged 31.4 million viewers." Viva Dreyfuss! You can watch Phelps' various races here or you can revel in the New Yorker's Nancy Franklin's complaints about the Olympics telecast (Gawker says the review is so curmudgeonly, it "sounds… very New Yorker circa 1990!").

The Observer considers the future of NBC reporter David Gregory, since "lame-duck presidents create lame-duck White House correspondents."

Has a Jimmy Fallon-hosted Late Night reality sunk in yet? Well, it's happening, and the ex-SNL cast member will be getting a head start by popping up at a URL near you sometime soon. The NY Times reports that "Lorne Michaels has decided to try to get a jump on things by starting NBC’s next edition of Late Night, with its new host Jimmy Fallon, as a nightly entry on the Internet."

While the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular was definitely spectacular (see the photos), the show's organizers moved the displays further south, closer to the Williamsburg Bridge, in order for more of the NYC skyline to be seen in the TV broadcast. Not only did NBC broadcast from Brooklyn, but NBC also added a chyron (graphic) noting that the fireworks were taking place near at least seven times during the half-hour show.

NBC News just announced that retired Nightly News anchor and eminence grise Tom Brokaw will moderate "Meet the Press" through the 2008 election. NBC News president Steve Capus said, "A lot has been said in recent days about what 'Meet the Press' means to NBC News and to the nation. To have someone of Tom's stature step up and dedicate himself to ensuring its ongoing success is not only a testament to his loyalty to Tim, but his enduring commitment to NBC News and our viewers."

The weekend was filled with tributes to the late NBC News journalist, Tim Russert. New York State lawmakers, including Senators Schumer and Clinton, announced yesterday that they are going to introduce a resolution to rename part of U.S. Route 20 after Russert. The section they want to rename runs in front of the Buffalo Bills' stadium--Russert grew up in Buffalo and was an unabashed fan of the Bills, as well as the Sabres.

The sudden death of Tim Russert, NBC News Washington bureau chief and Meet the Press moderator, shook the media and political communities as well as the many faithful viewers of Meet the Press yesterday. Last night's NBC Nightly News was completely about Russert's career and legacy, as a journalist, friend and family man. MSNBC spent the evening remembering Russert; Fox News and CNN also spent considerable time remembering him. Tomorrow's edition of Meet the Press will be a special one dedicated to Russert's "extraordinary life," anchored by Tom Brokaw and with many guests, including James Carville, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Gwen Ifill, Maria Shriver, and Mary Matalin.

Reports say that NBC News Washington Bureau Chief and host of Meet the Press Tim Russert has died. It's believed he had a heart attack. A source told the NY Post he collapsed in the Washington Bureau. NBC News now confirms Russert's death and says he was recording voiceovers for Sunday's Meet the Press.

A prostitution ring named Excalibur! Hookers! Puns about men with big swords! A NY Governor who uses a hooker! Federal authorities who hate the governor! And a blog that gossips about the Manhattan DA! Law & Order stacked the deck last night in its season finale, by trying to involve murder, rising gold prices, Governor Spitzer's dalliances, and back room politics in one episode.

Big changes are ahead for WNBC, Channel 4. The NY Times reports NBC wants to transform the local station into a "content center" and "will start a 24-hour local news channel along the lines of cable’s New York One."

It may be hard to believe, but tonight’s episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (10:00 p.m., WNBC 4) is the 200th episode for the first of the Law & Order spin-offs.

In the past year there have been murmurings of Jimmy Fallon taking over Conan's "Late Night" seat, when the latter moves over to the Tonight Show. Variety reports that NBC will officially announce the former SNL star's new position within the next few weeks, reuniting the actor/comedian with the Peacock network as well as Lorne Michaels (who executive produces the show).