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Former ICM Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff Berg has been ousted from the talent agency, an anticipated departure that comes in the wake of a management buyout last spring that handed control of the firm to its partners.

Berg, once one of the entertainment industry's most influential agents, was never envisioned as part of the new ICM Partners, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

"Jeff played an integral role in the formation of ICM and its continuation for more than 35 years," the partners said in a statement released late Friday. "We appreciate his...

Cable operator Charter Communications has signed up to carry SportsNet, the new Time Warner Cable channel that is home to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Charter is the first major distribution deal for Time Warner Cable, which launched SportsNet and Deportes, a Spanish-language companion channel, Oct. 1. Charter has about 360,000 subscribers in the Southern California area.

Although the pact is a morale booster for Time Warner Cable, it has yet to land deals with satellite broadcaster DirecTV and Cox Cable, which are two of the biggest pay-TV providers serving Southern California.

Both DirecTV and Cox...

The Detroit Tigers aren't the only ones having trouble scoring in the World Series.

Just 12.3 million people tuned into Fox to watch Game 2 of the World Series, which saw the San Francisco Giants take a two games to none lead over Detroit with a 2-0 win. In Game 1, 12.2 million people watched the game.

If the numbers don't improve, this could end up being the least-watched Fall Classic on record. Game 3 of the best of seven series is in Detroit on Saturday. For Fox, the longer the series the better. Fan interest could pick up if the Tigers make a comeback and additional games mean more revenue.

A...

Twentieth Century Fox and Chinese movie producer-distributor Bona Film Group have signed an agreement to co-produce several Chinese-language films.

The pictures, intended for the local Chinese market, will be made by Bona and the studio's Fox International Productions unit, which produces movies intended for overseas markets.

The agreement comes after Fox's parent company News Corp. acquired a 19.9% stake in Bona in May.

"This is a significant step in what we believe will be a long-term, multi-faceted collaboration with News Corp. and its subsidiary companies," Dong Yu, chief executive of Bona...

Lifted by $1.2 billion in Olympics advertising revenue and improved results at the Universal movie and theme parks units, NBCUniversal generated nearly 20% higher cash flow in the third quarter.

NBCUniversal also benefited from 31% higher revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30, largely due to its TV coverage of the London Olympics.  But even without the Olympics gold, NBCUniversal revenue was up about 7%.

Comcast Corp., which owns 51% of NBCUniversal, said Friday in its earnings report that the media company generated $6.8 billion in revenue for the quarter compared with $5.2 billion in the...

After the coffee. Before slowing down this whole getting old thing.

The Skinny: The Tigers better take Game 3 or this will be a very short World Series. Friday's headlines include a preview of the weekend box ofice, Warner Bros plays ball with Redbox, Comcast has a strong quarter, and advertisers are running to buy time in "The Walking Dead."

Daily Dose:Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Todd Juenger warns in a new report of the unintended consequences of TV networks making content available on multiplatforms for those with cable subscriptions. The problem with so-called TV Everywhere platforms,...

Philadelphia-based cable television giant Comcast Corp. more than doubled its third-quarter profit, fueled by growth in its Internet and cable television division and a bounty of revenue at its NBCUniversal media unit.

NBCUniversal dodged a bullet during the quarter. Ratings soared for its broadcast of the London Olympics, helping the media company to substantially increase its haul of advertising revenue and break even on its coverage of the games. Comcast owns 51% of NBCUniversal.

For the period ended Sept. 30, Comcast reported net income of $2.11 billion, or 78 cents a share, compared to...

Unable to get the rest of Hollywood behind its plan to make Redbox wait nearly two months after movies go on sale to rent them, Warner Bros. has compromised with the DVD kiosk giant.

Beginning next year, Warner will let Redbox offer its DVDs and Blu-ray discs 28 days after they go on sale, the same "window" followed by most other major studios. In exchange, Redbox has agreed to help promote the Ultraviolet digital download initiative and to buy a large number of Warner Bros. movies for its soon-to-launch video-on-demand initiative.

Believing that inexpensive rentals discourage consumers from...

Detroit Tiger ace Justin Verlander wasn't the only one who had a tough time Wednesday night.

Game 1 of the World Series, which saw the San Francisco Giants handle the Tigers 8-3, drew just 12.2 million viewers for Fox, according to Nielsen.

While it's just one game, that is a smaller audience than the last three World Series openers. Last year's first game battle between the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals averaged 14.2 million viewers. Game 1 of the 2010 series between the Giants and Rangers averaged 15 million, while the 2009 opener between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies...

Warner Bros. and Redbox have reached a multi-year deal that reduces the wait for new movies available through the retailer's popular red rental kiosks.

The studio said it will make newly released movies available to Redbox within 28 days of the DVDs and Blu-ray discs going on sale, starting in January.

Earlier this year, the Time Warner Inc.-owned studio instituted a new policy that all DVD rental outlets must wait 56 days from the time the disc goes on sale at retail outlets Wal-Mart and Best Buy until consumers can rent them. That was double the traditional 28-day "window."

Under the new...

A sports drama, a teen comedy, a horror flick and a multi-century epic are all hitting theaters this weekend, but none look like they will be a major draw for moviegoers.

Of the four films debuting, "Silent Hill: Revelation 3D" seems to have the best shot at No. 1. The sequel to a 2006 movie based on a popular video game is expected to start off with a decent $15 million, according to those who have seen pre-release audience surveys.

The big-budget "Cloud Atlas," based on the critically acclaimed 2004 novel by British author David Mitchell, will likely open with a disappointing $13 million....