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CBS Developing Female Secretary Of State Drama From Barbara Hall & Morgan Freeman

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday August 16, 2013 @ 2:14pm PDTTags: Barbara Hall, CBS, Madame Secretary, Morgan Freeman
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: While NBC is grappling with controversy triggered by its planned miniseries about Former Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton, CBS is putting in development a drama series about a fictional female Secretary of State. Madame Secretary, from Joan Of Arcadia creator Barbara Hall and Oscar winner Morgan Freeman, explores the personal and professional life of a maverick female Secretary of State as she drives international diplomacy, wrangles office politics and balances a complex family life. Hall is writing the project, from CBS TV Studios and Freeman’s Revelations Entertainment. She is executive producing with Revelations’ Freeman, Lori McCreary and Tracy Mercer. Hall is with UTA, Brillstein Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham; Freeman is with CAA. NBC’s mini Hillary, which has led to the network’s exclusion from GOP primary presidential debates, recounts Clinton’s life as a wife, mother, politician and cabinet member from 1998 to the present, including her four-year stint as Secretary of State. The project is still looking for a studio after a deal with Fox TV Studios fell through.

Related:
NBC Says Hillary Clinton Miniseries Might Never Go To Production
RNC Votes To Block CNN, NBC From Primary Debates

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Time Warner Hit With Class Action Suit Over CBS, Showtime Blackouts

By JEN YAMATO | Wednesday August 14, 2013 @ 5:39pm PDTTags: CBS, Lawsuit, Showtime, Time Warner Cable

BREAKING: Three LA-area plaintiffs have filed a class action complaint on behalf of paying Time Warner Cable subscribers in California over the cable provider’s ongoing blackout of CBS, Showtime, Movie Channel, and KCAL channels. Those networks have been blocked by TWC since its negotiations with CBS fell apart on August 2. In a complaint filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court (read it here), TWC customers James Armstrong, Michael Pourtemour, and Vatsana Bilavarn seek subscription fees and charge reimbursements on behalf of potentially several millions of fellow TWC subscribers for monthly subscription fees TWC charged during its continuing CBS/Showtime blackout. The company said after talks broke off early this month that it would offer a credit to subscribers for Showtime and TMC — though not the over-the-air stations — but apparently has yet to do so. The plaintiffs argue that they would not have subscribed to TWC for broadcast and Internet services had they known that channels promised in the provider’s packaging would not be offered, citing Showtime’s critically acclaimed shows Dexter and Ray Donovan and CBS programs including Big Brother, NFL football, and the PGA Championship as desired deal-breakers used in TWC marketing to incentivize subscriptions.

Related: FCC Chief Says She’ll Act If CBS And TWC Don’t Resolve Dispute

Read More »

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Blurring The Lines On Vertical Integration: Network-Affiliated Studios Aggressive In Selling To Other Broadcast Networks

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday August 14, 2013 @ 1:19pm PDTTags: ABC Studios, Big Deals TV, CBS, Universal Television
Nellie Andreeva

On Friday, ABC Studios closed a put pilot commitment deal at CBS for Gorgeous Morons, a multi-camera comedy from Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stupnitsky and Danny Chun, which the studio only shopped to outside networks. That was ABC Studios’ first major comedy commitment at a non-Disney network in many years as the studio is pushing a mandate to produce for all networks. (The studio has some tradition on the drama side with such series as Criminal Minds and the upcoming Intelligence, both on CBS.) Now CBS TV Studios, which had been focused entirely on its sibling broadcast networks CBS and CW, made it known this summer that it too will start selling to other broadcast networks. (The studio already has been developing for cable and has TNT series King & Maxwell.) In one of its first sales to a broadcast rival, CBS Studios has set up an untitled sisters comedy project from Danielle Sanchez-Witzel at ABC. The project, which stems from Sanchez-Witzel’s studio overall deal, centers on a woman with a messy life  who moves in with her younger sister. It is one of several projects CBS Studios has at ABC and Fox. Read More »

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Deadline Big Media With David Lieberman, Episode 47

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor | Tuesday August 13, 2013 @ 5:10pm PDTTags: CBS, Deadline Big Media, Richard Greenfield, Time Warner Cable

Listen to (and share) a special edition of our audio podcast Deadline Big Media With David Lieberman. Episode 47 features an interview between Deadline’s financial editor and Richard Greenfield, media and technology analyst with BTIG Research. This week, Greenfield posted a provocative analysis of the fight over retransmission fees between CBS and Time-Warner Cable that has left the network’s affiliates dark on TWC systems in three big markets for nearly two weeks. Nevertheless, if Congress and the FCC don’t intercede, Greenfield says the cable company is doomed to lose the fight. The relatively balanced retrans system Congress created two decades ago has been distorted since by technology and business shifts that now strongly favor broadcasters, though Aereo could change everything.

Deadline Big Media, Episode 47 (MP3 format)
Deadline Big Media, Episode 47 (MP4a format) Read More »

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Ratings Rat Race: ‘Under The Dome’ Down, ‘CMA Music Festival’ & ‘Ninja Warrior’ Up

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday August 13, 2013 @ 9:23am PDTTags: ABC, CBS, CMA Music Festival, Under the Dome
Nellie Andreeva

High-concept serialized dramas tend to shed viewers as evident by the steady declined of NBC’s Revolution last year. CBS‘ summer breakout Under The Dome hit a new adults 18-49 low in the fast nationals last night, … Read More »

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CBS & TNT Get Double Digit PGA Championship Ratings Blast Over 2012 In First 3 Rounds

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Sunday August 11, 2013 @ 3:36pm PDTTags: 2013 PGA Championship, CBS, TNT, TV Ratings

(UPDATE, 3:55 PM: Jason Dufner has won the PGA Championship. This is his first major title win.) Tiger Woods may have had a bad day but the continuing … Read More »

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Will Fox Regret Its Big Bet On Pay TV’s Status Quo?

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor | Saturday August 10, 2013 @ 3:03pm PDTTags: 21st Century Fox, CBS, Chase Carey, Time Warner Cable

21st Century Fox execs had better pray that CBS crushes Time Warner Cable in their now week-long program carriage contract dispute. If CBS can’t win a fat increase in the fee that TWC pays to carry the network-owned stations, Showtime, and other channels, then Fox’s day-long effort Thursday to rally Wall Street’s support for its stock could look like a waste of time. Fox’s business plan is based on its faith that pay TV providers — and perhaps their customers — will keep paying rising amounts for a bundle of channels.  “People will give up food and a roof over their head before they give up television,” Fox COO Chase Carey told analysts and investors. Fox will take advantage of that addiction by creating new pay TV channels, raising prices for existing ones, and demanding higher payments for its Fox broadcast stations. Read More »

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Broadcast Drama Marketplace Off To Very Slow Start: Where Are The Pitches?

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday August 9, 2013 @ 4:41pm PDTTags: CBS, Extant, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, NBC
Nellie Andreeva

Note to up-and-coming writers with good drama spec scripts lying around: now is your time. We’re heading into mid-August, and the network drama marketplace is still very sluggish. While there have already been several bidding wars and big … Read More »

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FCC Chief Says She’ll Act If CBS And Time Warner Cable Don’t Resolve Dispute

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor | Friday August 9, 2013 @ 11:32am PDTTags: CBS, FCC, Mignon Clyburn, Time Warner Cable

UPDATE, 1:15 PM: Reactions are starting to come it to FCC Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn’s warning that she might step in if the stalemate between CBS and Time Warner Cable continues. The cable company says it agrees … Read More »

Comments 55

CBS Developing ‘Wizard Of Oz’-Themed Medical Drama From Timberman/Beverly

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday August 8, 2013 @ 7:00pm PDTTags: CBS, CBS TV Studios, Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz
Nellie Andreeva

The producers who brought Sherlock Holmes to New York for CBS, are doing the same with some other classic literary characters. CBS has put in development Dorothy, a drama project from Elementary executive producers Carl Beverly … Read More »

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‘Under The Dome’ Piracy Spikes In Regions Where CBS Is Blacked Out On TWC

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday August 8, 2013 @ 2:02pm PDTTags: CBS, Time Warner Cable, Under the Dome

Under the Down BitTorrentIllegal downloads rose sharply during the past week in the regions affected by the Time Warner Cable’s blackout of CBS channels. The file-sharing news blog TorrentFreak says piracy of the CBS summer hit … Read More »

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CBS And Time Warner Cable Resume Negotiations

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor | Thursday August 8, 2013 @ 11:42am PDTTags: CBS, Retransmission Consent Fees, Time Warner Cable

UPDATE, 12:58 PM: Time Warner Cable denies Martin Franks’ claim that it is trying to keep CBS from doing business with new entrants. “Both our expired and proposed agreements with CBS place no restriction on their ability to sell all of their product to Netflix, Amazon, Intel or … Read More »

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Hot Amblin TV Sci-Fi Spec ‘Extant’ Lands At CBS With 13-Episode Order For Summer ’14

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday August 7, 2013 @ 1:00pm PDTTags: Amblin TV, Big Deals TV, CBS, Extant
Nellie Andreeva

After making waves in the marketplace, the sci-fi drama spec Extant from new writer Mickey Fisher and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television has landed at CBS with a straight-to-series order for 13 episodes to air next summer. On CBS, Extant will join another serialized sci-fi drama from Amblin TV, Under The Dome, which was recently renewed for next summer after a breakout freshman run. Broadcast, basic and premium cable networks were all heavily pursuing Extant, which hit the market a couple of weeks ago. Most suitors offered production commitments, making the choice difficult, with the producers mulling whether to go lighter with the material on broadcast or darker on cable. I hear the winning pitch by CBS’ Nina Tassler was that the network successfully launched Amblin’s Under The Dome, which also was a 13-episode straight-to-series order, and that Extant could be paired with the Stephen King adaptation to form a Steven Spielberg night. Read More »

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CBS Jabs At Time Warner Cable’s Charges For Los Angeles Sports Channels

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor | Wednesday August 7, 2013 @ 9:04am PDTTags: CBS, Retransmission Consent Fees, Time Warner Cable

UPDATE: Time Warner Cable says in response that it “partnered directly with the Lakers and Dodgers to cut out the expensive middleman and save our customers money in the long run. Since CBS O&O KCAL was, in fact, that middleman, it’s no surprise they disagree with our … Read More »

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CBS Sets Date For Davis Guggenheim Docu That Celebrates Teachers

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday August 6, 2013 @ 6:14pm PDTTags: CBS, Davis Guggenheim, Teach

Just in time for back-to-school, the two-hour special Teach, which looks at the American education system through the eyes of teachers, will premiere at 8 PM September 6 on CBS. Directed by Oscar winner … Read More »

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Bob Iger Backs CBS’ Arguments In Dispute With Time Warner Cable

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor | Tuesday August 6, 2013 @ 3:15pm PDTTags: Bob Iger, CBS, Disney, Time Warner Cable

Even though the Disney CEO says he doesn’t want to weigh into the contract dispute, he left analysts with little doubt about his sympathies. Bob Iger told them in his quarterly earnings call that he feels “strongly about the need for broadcasters to be paid adequately” by pay … Read More »

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Les Moonves Calls Time Warner Cable’s A La Carte Proposal “Grandstanding”

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor | Tuesday August 6, 2013 @ 6:19am PDTTags: CBS, Time Warner Cable

CBS just released CEO Les Moonves’ response to Time Warner Cable’s offer yesterday to provide CBS stations to subscribers on an a la carte basis. He rejects it as a PR stunt, adding that TWC has “more than 100 pages of our actual proposal” but never provided “a mark-up or reply to anything contained in them.” He adds that if TWC really believed in a la carte then it would offer its “new, multi-billion-dollar Lakers and Dodgers channels to your subscribers in Los Angeles” as a separate option. “Instead, your subscribers in Los Angeles are already being charged in the neighborhood of $4.00 for the Lakers and likely more than that for the Dodgers – both of which you have pulled off broadcast television entirely. These charges are added to the cost of your customers’ basic monthly bill whether they want them or not.” TWC also pays less for CBS than it pays 10 networks “all of which have far fewer viewers.” In addition, Moonves rejects TWC’s offer to resume carriage of CBS under terms from the contract that recently expired. It was negotiated in 2008 which was “before the introduction of the iPad. Netflix was still doing little but mailing out DVDs. Amazon was known simply for selling books.” He concludes by urging Britt to eschew “public posturing that achieves nothing but confusion” and to “return to the negotiating table and talk about the real issues that separate us. We will be there waiting and hopeful.”

Here’s the letter in full: Read More »

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UPDATE: CBS Calls Time Warner Cable’s A La Carte Proposal A “Sham”

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor | Monday August 5, 2013 @ 2:32pm PDTTags: CBS, Time Warner Cable

UPDATE: Now Time Warner Cable has a response to CBS’ response to TWC’s proposal to offer CBS stations on an a la carte basis: It says ithe effort to revive negotiations was “sincere.” It adds: “We’re disappointed in their lack of responsiveness, particularly to our request for them to quit unfairly blocking the free content available on CBS.com from our Internet customers. We hope they will return to the table to negotiate in good faith on behalf of our customers and their viewers.”

PREVIOUS, 2:32 PM: A more formal response will come later, but here’s CBS’ initial answer to Time Warner Cable’s proposal to offer its O&O stations on an a la carte basis: “Today’s so-called proposal is a sham, a public relations vehicle designed to distract from the fact that Time Warner Cable is not negotiating in good faith. Anyone familiar with the entertainment business knows that the economics and structure of the cable industry doesn’t work that way and isn’t likely to for quite some time. In short, this was an empty gesture from a company that is expert at them.”

PREVIOUS, 12:07 PM: CBS says that it “received Mr. Britt’s ‘offer’ simultaneous with its release to the media. We are formulating our response.”

PREVIOUS, 11:04 AM: Time Warner Cable can offer CBS “on terms of its choosing, with 100% of that price remitted to CBS,” CEO Glenn Britt says in a letter today to CBS chief Les Moonves — the latest effort to resolve the contract impasse that since Friday has left millions of TWC customers unable to watch programming from CBS and Showtime. “This way, rather than our debating the point, we would allow customers to decide for themselves how much value they ascribe to CBS programming.” Since the proposal “is very straight forward, the papers can be completed quickly.” Read More »

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Time Warner Cable COO Says “We Cannot Give Up” On Fight With CBS: Video

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor | Monday August 5, 2013 @ 1:19pm PDTTags: Bloomberg TV, CBS, Rob Marcus, Time Warner Cable

There’s no particular deadline for CBS to respond to Time Warner Cable’s offer to carry the network-owned stations on an a la carte basis, says Rob Marcus —  who will become TWC’s CEO at year end. But he hints, in an interview on Bloomberg Television, that TWC is prepared for … Read More »

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