Spain's King Juan Carlos has successfully undergone hip replacement surgery to repair minor damage related to arthritis worsened by a fall, his fourth operation in less than two years, royal palace officials said Saturday.
Roger Ailes takes dig at Soledad O'Brien's name
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Roger Ailes probably should probably hire a new joke writer.
The Fox News president made headlines Friday after taking an inexplicable -- and not particularly witty -- dig at CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien.
The comment came during an appearance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Thursday. Ailes was on campus as part of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication's Roy H. Park Distinguished Lecture Series, but one particular comment from Ailes wasn't particularly distinguished at all.
During an after-lecture interview with student journalists Eliza Kern and Steve Norton, Ailes referred to O'Brien -- who anchors the CNN morning news show "Starting Point" -- as "that girl that's named after a prison."
Presumably, Ailes was referring to the Soledad Correctional Training Facility in Monterey County, Calif. It's not yet clear why Ailes would believe that O'Brien was named after the facility, or why he would think that students at the University of North Carolina would be particularly familiar with the California prison system.
At any rate, O'Brien cleared the air on the matter via her Twitter account Friday morning. Replying to a tweet asking if she was, in fact, named after a prison, O'Brien replied, "Of course not. Maria de la Soledad means the Virgin Mary."
Whew, glad that's settled.
Fox and CNN have not yet responded to TheWrap's request for comment.
During his lecture, Ailes discussed myriad topics that didn't involve the supposed origins of O'Brien's moniker. He also addressed the Fox employee who had been serving as a "mole" to the web site Gawker, saying, "there are some real, ethical, serious questions about it."
Ailes also discussed GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, who has recently been critical of Fox News. Gingrich served as commentator for the network before throwing his hat into the 2012 campaign.
Gingrich took a dig at his former employer, Ailes offered, because he's "trying to get a job at CNN because he knows he isn't going to get to come back to Fox News."'
Somehow, Ailes managed to avoid referring to Gingrich as "that guy who salamanders are named after."
"Hell's Kitchen" gets a double order from Fox
Spain's King Juan Carlos has successfully undergone hip replacement surgery to repair minor damage related to arthritis worsened by a fall, his fourth operation in less than two years, royal palace officials said Saturday.
Average monthly pay-TV bill to hit $200 by 2020
LOA ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - TV lovers may need to take out a loan when the cable bill arrives -- in 2020.
By that time, the average monthly cost for pay-TV service in the United States is expected to balloon to $200, according to a new forecast by the research firm The NPD Group.
Household incomes in the country have stagnated in recent years, but cable, satellite and telco bills have not. The monthly rates for pay-TV have jumped an average of 6 percent per year, the firm finds.
"The increase sounds slight, but it's really not," Russ Crupnick, an entertainment industry analyst at The NPD Group, told TheWrap." Consumers are going to have to decide when they get that bill for $100 or $200 if cable can be one of their most valuable entertainment expenses going forward."
If rates continue to climb at that pace, The NPD Group predicts that the average monthly pay-TV bill will reach $123 by 2015, up from $86 last year.
Beyond a thirst for profits, the culprit, The NPD Group says, is the rising costs that entertainment companies charge cable services to broadcast their channels.
"As traditional streams of revenues like DVDs shrink, content creators are going to look for other areas to make up the difference," Crupnick said. "It's going to cost more to license content across all of the entertainment categories."
Given the escalating cost of cable and other pay-TV services on top of a still sluggish economy, is it any wonder that more and more people are cutting the cord and fleeing to digital services like Netflix and Hulu?
A recent report from the Convergence Consulting Group found that 2.65 million Americans canceled TV subscriptions between 2008-2011 in favor of lower-cost internet subscription services or video platforms.
The one saving grace for cable, satellite and telco companies is that Convergence also postulated that the subscription exodus will slow as companies like Netflix grapple with rising licensing fees for the kind of top-shelf movies and shows that are luring consumers away from pricey pay-TV subscriptions.
NPD Group said its finding are based on quarterly electronic surveys of 1,000 U.S. households, as well as finding from its "Entertainment Trends in America" report, which surveys 10,000 consumers semi-annually.
Four more contestants eliminated from "The Voice"
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Kim Yarbrough and Karla Davis of Team Adam and Tony Vincent and Erin Martin of Team Cee Lo were eliminated from TV singing competition "The Voice" on Tuesday.
The three Ks on coach Adam Levine's team - Kim Yarbrough, Karla Davis, and Katrina Parker - found themselves "singing for their lives" after their performances on Monday's episode failed to secure enough audience votes to keep them in the top tier of the Maroon 5 frontman's team.
Though Levine ultimately made the decision about which member to keep, fellow coaches Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, and Cee Lo Green unanimously agreed with Levine that Parker should stay.
Yarbrough, who sang Jennifer Hudson's "Spotlight," was criticized by the coaches for not exuding enough urgency in her performance. She called being on the show "the most incredible experience of my life."
Davis, who sang Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me," thanked the unsung "behind-the-scenes" staff before leaving.
Green cut Vincent and Martin from his team while retaining Cheesa, who goes by her first name. Green's fellow coaches universally backed his final decision, but Green felt torn, saying that "my mind says Tony, but my heart says Cheesa."
Of Martin's performance of Stevie Wonder's "Your Song," Shelton commented that "the song got away from her at the end."
Vincent, who was praised for his originality and technical skill, sang "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurhythmics.
Tuesday's show began with a performance by singer and UK "Voice" coach Jessie J of her hit single "Domino." Singers from Aguilera's team provided backup vocals.
Last week was the first episode of "The Voice" this season where finalists were eliminated. Each of the four teams now proceeds with four members to the quarterfinals with further eliminations coming next week.
"The Voice" is an American spinoff of a similar Dutch show, and has been a runaway success for NBC since it premiered in April of 2011. Four celebrity coaches choose teams of singers through a blind audition process, and singers compete for a recording contract in a contest that involves both audience voting and selection by the show's coaches.
(Reporting By Andrea Burzynski; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
David Tennant to star in new BBC America series
Spain's King Juan Carlos has successfully undergone hip replacement surgery to repair minor damage related to arthritis worsened by a fall, his fourth operation in less than two years, royal palace officials said Saturday.
A&E renews "Storage Wars" and its franchises
Spain's King Juan Carlos has successfully undergone hip replacement surgery to repair minor damage related to arthritis worsened by a fall, his fourth operation in less than two years, royal palace officials said Saturday.
"Flintstones" reboot put on indefinite hold
Spain's King Juan Carlos has successfully undergone hip replacement surgery to repair minor damage related to arthritis worsened by a fall, his fourth operation in less than two years, royal palace officials said Saturday.
CBS goes to the dogs with new reality series
In the Star Trek universe, the tricorder is a handheld device used by Kirk, Spock, and various red-shirted crew members to make detailed scans of unfamiliar planets and even less familiar life-forms. It can be used in sick bay to diagnose intergalactic patients, and in engineering to find which part of the warp core is …
Pauly D lawsuit reveals "Jersey Shore" pay
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Jersey Shore" star Paul "DJ Pauly D" DelVecchio is being sued by International Creative Management, which claims it is owed a chunk of DelVecchio's "Jersey Shore" pay -- and as the lawsuit points out, that's a boatload of money.
The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, claims that DelVecchio and his company, Blowout Enterprises, entered into a representation agreement in January 2010 - shortly after "Jersey Shore" premiered on MTV.
According to ICM, the agency negotiated increasingly large fees for DelVecchio as the popularity of "Jersey Shore" ballooned, in exchange for 10 percent of DelVecchio's gross compensation. The suit says that the agreement worked out until season 4 of the show, when DelVecchio stopped paying the commission, the suit alleges.
And given the numbers involved, that commission adds up to a pretty penny.
The suit claims that, for Season 4 of "Jersey Shore," Pauly D's compensation was $100,000 for each of the 12 episodes, plus a $400,000 signing bonus, adding up to a cool $1.6 million -- and that's not including compensation for after-shows, a launch special, reunion show, merchandising and other compensation. (According to the complaint, DelVecchio received $200,000 as a "thank you" bonus for Season 4.)
And it gets even richer. ICM claims that for the upcoming Season 6 of "Jersey Shore," DelVecchio will rake in $175,000 for each of 12 episodes -- making for a total of $2.1 million. And again, that's not including after-shows, etc.
DelVecchio's lawyer, Hillary H. Hughes, contends that the "Jersey Shore" star owes ICM nothing, and accuses ICM of trying to "take advantage" of its former association with Pauly D.
"We are surprised by ICM's contention that it is due commissions after ICM was terminated in favor of William Morris Endeavor," Hughes said in a statement provided to TheWrap. "ICM was paid for its services. It is even more disappointing that an agency like ICM would choose to take advantage of its former relationship with a client and disclose his confidential business affairs to the public in disregard of any duties it owes as a talent agency."
The suit says that DelVecchio and ICM parted ways in May 2011, but that ICM is still due a 10 percent commission on any deals it put in play.
According to ICM, DelVecchio owes the agency $370,703.73 in back commission for Seasons 4 and 5, plus 10 percent of whatever DelVecchio takes in from Season 6.
The suit also calls for a written accounting of DelVecchio's compensation, pre-judgment interest, costs of the suit, and "such other and further relief as the Court may deem just and proper."
(Pamela Chelin contributed to this report)
"Simpsons" creator reveals the real Springfield
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The tales of Homer Simpson and his family have become embedded in television lore, but ever wonder where Springfield, the illustrious hometown of "The Simpsons," is really based?
The town of Springfield has become a character of its own on the popular animated TV show, serving as the backdrop to the adventures of the Simpson family. But in 23 years on air, the show's creator has kept the real location of the town veiled, saying he didn't want to "ruin it for people" -- until now.
In an interview with Smithsonian Magazine's May issue, Matt Groening revealed that the animated town is based on Springfield, Oregon, near his childhood hometown of Portland.
He also was inspired to use the town's name after it was featured on the 1950s television show "Father Knows Best."
"I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do," said the show's creator.
The tales of donut-loving father Homer J. Simpson and his dysfunctional family, wife Marge and kids Bart, Lisa and Maggie, have become a staple of American culture, winning 27 Emmy awards, earning a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and even coining a new word as Homer's expression "D'Oh" entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2011.
The Simpson family are named after Groening's family -- father Homer (named after the Greek poet Homer), mother Margaret and sisters Lisa and Maggie.
Bart is based on the creator himself, although Groening changed the name from 'Matt' to 'Bart' because he "had this idea of an angry father yelling 'Bart,' and Bart sounds kind of like bark—like a barking dog," and he thought it would sound funny.
The inspirations drawn from Oregon didn't just stop at the town name. Groening also said he named some of the characters after streets in Portland, including Reverend Lovejoy, the school bully Kearney and the Simpsons' annoyingly loveable neighbor Ned Flanders.
Even the address that America's favorite animated family live at, 632 Evergreen Terrace, is named after Groening's own childhood home address.
"The Simpsons" was created by Groening for Fox television and first aired in 1989. It is the longest-running American sitcom in history, broadcast in more than 100 countries and 50 languages, and it still attracts an average 7.7 million U.S. viewers weekly.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
CBS goes to the dogs with new reality series
In the Star Trek universe, the tricorder is a handheld device used by Kirk, Spock, and various red-shirted crew members to make detailed scans of unfamiliar planets and even less familiar life-forms. It can be used in sick bay to diagnose intergalactic patients, and in engineering to find which part of the warp core is …
Talk show host Ricki Lake marries
Spain's King Juan Carlos has successfully undergone hip replacement surgery to repair minor damage related to arthritis worsened by a fall, his fourth operation in less than two years, royal palace officials said Saturday.
"Thief of Thieves" comic to become TV series
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - AMC may soon have a double dose of Robert Kirkman: the "Walking Dead" comics creator and TV series executive producer is developing his latest comic book, "Thief of Thieves," as a new drama for the network.
"Thief" revolves around Conrad Paulson, who wants to get out of the stealing biz so he can reunite with his estranged wife and son, but in the meantime vows to only steal from other thieves. The comic debuted on February 8 and sold out that same day; the third issue of "Thief" was released today.
AMC announced Kirkman and "Walking Dead" producers David Alpert and Chic Eglee will adapt the Image Comics/Skybound comic. Eglee, a former executive producer for Showtime's "Dexter," will serve as the "Thief of Thieves" showrunner if the project goes to series.
Alpert and Eglee worked with Kirkman on the first season of "The Walking Dead." Alpert was an executive producer on the recently-concluded second season of the show, while Eglee is an executive producer on FX's upcoming drama "Powers," based on the Image comic book series about homicide detectives who investigate cases involving superheroes and supervillains.
"Much like 'The Walking Dead' brought horror to television in a unique and groundbreaking way, I feel 'Thief of Thieves' can do the same thing for heist stories, showing the humanity of all the characters, including the criminals," Kirkman said in a statement.
"AMC recognizes the limitless ideas generated by the comic industry. Their dedication to bringing 'The Walking Dead' to life as a TV show has been key to its success and I'm excited about the potential of 'Thief of Thieves' to reach similar levels of success."
Alpert added, "It's incredibly exciting to put the band back together with Robert, Chic and AMC; it just feels great."
Kirkman, who launched the Skybound imprint at Image Comics, held four of the top spots on the New York Times bestseller list for graphic novels in 2011.
"Working with AMC has been a tremendously positive experience and I'm looking forward to continuing and strengthening our relationships there," Kirkman added. "And I can't neglect to mention I've been dying to work with Chic again since we wrapped on 'The Walking Dead' Season One."
Julian Assange show starts Tuesday, guest kept secret
(Reuters) - Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will launch his new TV talk show on Russia Today on April 17, but is keeping the guest list secret, the Kremlin-funded English language station said on Friday.
Assange, who is under house arrest in England fighting extradition to Sweden for questioning on an alleged sexual assault, filmed "The World Tomorrow" show from Britain.
Russia Today (RT) said in a news release that it would not release the guest list in advance, but said the first interview would prove controversial.
"We do not want to kill the buzz and the intrigue by revealing the name of the first guest," said RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan.
"But I have no doubt that this particular guest and this interview will lead to calls to shut us down from some especially hawkish personalities who have little respect for freedom of speech," she added.
Australian-born Assange said in a statement he would be talking to people "who normally simply would not be given a voice on TV at all. What is fair to say is that the majority of what they have said to me they could not say on a mainstream TV network."
Russia Today is considered a key Kremlin exercise in image enhancement by critics. It is beamed to some 430 million subscribers worldwide and it also streams online.
Assange's new show will be broadcast simultaneously from Moscow and Washington DC, in English, Arabic and Spanish.
Assange said April 17 marks the 500th day since financial transaction firms like Visa, Mastercard and Paypal began to refuse working with Wikileaks after it published a raft of secret U.S. diplomatic cables in late 2010. The blockade has crippled the organization's ability to fund itself and continue its work.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
'Simpsons' creator reveals the real Springfield
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The tales of Homer Simpson and his family have become embedded in television lore, but ever wonder where Springfield, the illustrious hometown of "The Simpsons," is really based?
The town of Springfield has become a character of its own on the popular animated TV show, serving as the backdrop to the adventures of the Simpson family. But in 23 years on air, the show's creator has kept the real location of the town veiled, saying he didn't want to "ruin it for people" -- until now.
In an interview with Smithsonian Magazine's May issue, Matt Groening revealed that the animated town is based on Springfield, Oregon, near his childhood hometown of Portland.
He also was inspired to use the town's name after it was featured on the 1950s television show "Father Knows Best."
"I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do," said the show's creator.
The tales of donut-loving father Homer J. Simpson and his dysfunctional family, wife Marge and kids Bart, Lisa and Maggie, have become a staple of American culture, winning 27 Emmy awards, earning a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and even coining a new word as Homer's expression "D'Oh" entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2011.
The Simpson family are named after Groening's family -- father Homer (named after the Greek poet Homer), mother Margaret and sisters Lisa and Maggie.
Bart is based on the creator himself, although Groening changed the name from 'Matt' to 'Bart' because he "had this idea of an angry father yelling 'Bart,' and Bart sounds kind of like bark—like a barking dog," and he thought it would sound funny.
The inspirations drawn from Oregon didn't just stop at the town name. Groening also said he named some of the characters after streets in Portland, including Reverend Lovejoy, the school bully Kearney and the Simpsons' annoyingly loveable neighbor Ned Flanders.
Even the address that America's favorite animated family live at, 632 Evergreen Terrace, is named after Groening's own childhood home address.
"The Simpsons" was created by Groening for Fox television and first aired in 1989. It is the longest-running American sitcom in history, broadcast in more than 100 countries and 50 languages, and it still attracts an average 7.7 million U.S. viewers weekly.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
Spears gets $15 million to join "The X Factor"
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Britney Spears has reached an agreement to serve as a judge on Simon Cowell's "The X Factor" -- and the payday is really something to sing about.
The "Womanizer" singer will collect $15 million overall for the gig -- approximately $13 million to judge music-industry aspirants alongside Cowell and record executive L.A. Reid, and the rest as a bonus for performing on the show, an individual with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap.
The deal has been agreed upon, but has not yet been signed. Spears is still under a conservatorship following her mid-2000s breakdown, with her father, Jamie Spears, serving as her guardian.
Fox had no comment for TheWrap on this story. Spears' manager has not yet returned TheWrap's call for comment. As reported exclusively by TheWrap in March, Spears rejected a $10 million offer to judge on the show, and instead was seeking $20 million for the gig.
Though Spears won't be getting exactly what she was hoping for, the singer's payday does compare favorably to her soon-to-be peers in the music-competition arena: Christina Aguilera is raking in upwards of $10 million to mentor the current second season of NBC's "The Voice." And Spears' "X Factor" predecessor, Paula Abdul received a relatively paltry $2.5 million to judge on the first season.
The individual told TheWrap that, as of Tuesday night, the "X Factor" and Spears camps were still weeks away from a deal, with "X Factor" looking for ways to trim its budget so it could present a more favorable offer for Spears. However, reports Tuesday night that the two sides had already reached a deal spurred the parties to come to an agreement earlier.
Following its first season, which failed by a long shot to perform up to Cowell's predictions, "The X Factor" went into full meltdown mode, firing judges Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger, along with host Steve Jones. Cowell has said that the second season will feature two judges, preferably a male and a female.
Rock week rolls Shepherd off "Dancing With the Stars"
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rock week got Sherri Shepherd bounced from the ballroom on Tuesday after her tango to "Come On Feel the Noize" failed to impress judges and fans of "Dancing With the Stars" enough to keep her feet on the floor.
An emotional Shepherd, co-host of talk show "The View," had tears streaming down her face after she became the third star eliminated from season 14 of the hit television competition.
"Thank you for letting me live a dream that I've always had," said Shepherd, 44, who was paired with professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy.
Between sobs, she also exhorted fans to face their fears, telling them "run towards it, because it's so amazing on the other side."
The other bottom finisher this week was Disney Channel star Roshon Fegan, who received high marks from the judges and said he had "no expectation" of facing elimination.
Early on Tom Bergeron promised the results would provide "the shock of the season," although Shepherd's score of 21 from the judges was the second-lowest this week.
Judge Len Goodman concurred with Bergeron, saying "All of us judges, we are in total shock" at the results. "The standard this season is so high, anyone can be in jeopardy, anyone can be safe," he said.
Gladys Knight, who placed last this week in the judges' scoring after her tango to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," and musician Gavin DeGraw, who has languished in the bottom two every week so far, were both declared safe early on.
Melissa Gilbert, the 'Little House on the Prairie" star who was injured during Monday night's show and was briefly hospitalized after suffering a mild concussion, was the first dancer declared safe. She was expected to return next week.
The top score from the judges' ratings after Monday's show was earned by NFL wide receiver Donald Driver.
Nine stars remain in the competition. Viewer votes combined with judges' ratings decide which star is eliminated each week.
Musical highlights of the Tuesday's live elimination round included rock band Kiss performing "Lick it Up," and Gotan Project providing the music "Santa Maria" for an impassioned tango performance.
"Dancing With the Stars" annually is among the top-rated U.S. TV shows with a formula that pairs B-list celebrities, sports stars and singers with professional dancers performing sambas, waltzes and other dances across a ballroom floor.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
Jesse Eisenberg to appear in "Newsroom" pilot
Spain's King Juan Carlos has successfully undergone hip replacement surgery to repair minor damage related to arthritis worsened by a fall, his fourth operation in less than two years, royal palace officials said Saturday.
Virgin America launches new in-flight channel
Spain's King Juan Carlos has successfully undergone hip replacement surgery to repair minor damage related to arthritis worsened by a fall, his fourth operation in less than two years, royal palace officials said Saturday.
Alec Baldwin: media stalking me over stalker story
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Alec Baldwin took to Twitter to accuse the New York Post, NBC's "Today" morning show and other news outlets of stalking him to get an interview about a woman charged with stalking him.
Baldwin tweets that crews from both organizations -- and others -- have been camped outside his Greenwich Village home in New York City. It is the same home where the Canadian woman, Genevieve Sabourin, appeared over the weekend, prompting him to call police.
"Outside my apt, "journalists" from the Post camped out to talk to me about stalking," he wrote late Tuesday. "They camped out all day. Wait. Isn't that.......?"
Baldwin added Wednesday morning: "Outside my apt today, alongside the other stalkers from the tabloid press, a crew that identified themselves as being with the Today Show. ... I haven't appeared on the Today Show in many years. But did they have to camp outside my apt?"
Baldwin, star of NBC's "30 Rock," tweeted repeatedly about his belief that the network's morning show was among the outlets that sent crews to his home. He finished one "Today" tweet with the hashtag, "#howthemightyhavefallen."
Sabourin, 40, was arraigned Monday in New York City on charges including aggravated harassment and stalking after appearing outside his home and allegedly sending e-mails and messages.
The New York Post has reported that Baldwin and the woman had dinner twice last year. The paper cited a law enforcement source who said Sabourin claimed a sexual relationship with Baldwin, but Baldwin said the dinners were "strictly professional" and denied any "physical relationship."
The denial didn't stop Post columnist Andrea Peyser from speculating that Baldwin's next marriage could be doomed. He is engaged to 28-year-old yoga instructor Hilaria Thomas.
"Here was a poor, misunderstood schlemiel just trying to help the career of a woman so clearly smitten with him. Baldwin had no choice. He had to wine and dine Sabourin. Platonically, of course!" she wrote.
Baldwin fired back on Twitter: "You won't find a writer more casual with the truth in all of journalism than Andrea Peyser...."
That spawned another, bizarre column from Peyser, in which she called Baldwin, "My love. My soul mate. My supersized forbidden fruit!" and accused him of being fixated on her.
Baldwin tweeted in response: "This just in: Andrea Peyser is joining the cast of the Today Show."
NBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Fox Saturdays: more sports, fewer "Cops" episodes
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do now that Fox is planning fewer episodes of "Cops"? The show will be MIA on the network's Saturday primetime schedule for much of the rest of the year, as Fox plans almost 100 hours of live Major League Baseball, college football, NASCAR and UFC programming through December.
The plethora of sports programming comes on the heels of a report that Fox is planning to launch a new national sports network.
The 24th season finale of "Cops" aired on Fox on April 7, and a network rep confirms to TheWrap that the episode order for the show's 25th season will be shortened by a "handful" of episodes.
Most Fox Saturday nights for the rest of the year -- for 28 of 32 Saturdays from April 14 through December 8 -- are programmed with sports events. But the network says there are open Saturdays in July, August and December that could include "Cops."
"Our exact scheduling plans are not locked in stone as of yet," the representative said.
The network will kick off an eight-week stretch of Major League Baseball games -- known as "Baseball Night in America" -- on May 19.
The network's racing coverage includes NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing on April 14, followed by NASCAR races April 28 and May 12. Live UFC events are scheduled for May 5, August 4 and December 8, while college football will air in primetime Saturdays throughout September and most of October.
Fox will air World Series game four on October 27, and the Big Ten football championship on December 1.
"We see Saturday nights as the perfect home for quality sports programming, especially in spring and fall," Fox Sports COO and Co-President Eric Shanks said in a release. "We've been working hand-in-hand with our entertainment division and partners, and we've put together a solid schedule that gives us a consistent Saturday night franchise for the first time ever."
Ford, Yahoo reality show to tout electric Focus
NEW YORK/DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co will partner with Yahoo Inc on a reality show this spring to promote its first electric passenger car, a move that comes as the auto industry is growing more pessimistic about the prospects for these kinds of vehicles.
The show, called "Plugged In," will be broadcast on Yahoo's streaming video site starting in May, Ford said in a news release on Tuesday. Three two-person teams will travel to 10 major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and New York, and compete in a scavenger hunt while driving the Focus Electric.
The show is intended to help Ford reach the electric car's target group - residents of major U.S. cities, particularly along the East and West coasts, where gasoline prices are higher than the national average. So far this year, Americans have been clamoring for more fuel-efficient vehicles as prices at the pump near $4 a gallon.
The Yahoo deal is also an example of Ford's increasing use of social media to reach younger, more affluent consumers for less than a tenth the cost of a traditional marketing campaign. Ford declined to comment on its financial contribution to the show.
"We're being much more targeted and building awareness of the product in a much more efficient way," John Felice, general manager of Ford and Lincoln sales, said at a news conference at Yahoo's New York office Tuesday.
But the second-largest U.S. automaker is launching its electric car at a time when industry analysts are expressing doubts about the near-term growth prospects of the vehicles due to their high prices and as traditional gas-powered vehicles become more fuel-efficient.
At the same time, other automakers are launching their own electric cars, making the segment more competitive. The Focus will compete with Nissan Motor Co's Leaf, which was introduced in Japan and the United States in December 2010. Honda Motor Co Ltd, BMW and Fiat will join the fray, as will cars from start-ups, including Tesla Motors Inc.
Ford began production of the Focus Electric in December in Wayne, Michigan, on the same assembly line as the gasoline-powered Focus, a move the automaker said gave it the flexibility to adjust to electric vehicle demand.
"It's very difficult to get a read on what consumers' adoption will be," Felice said. "We just know it's going to grow. We just don't know how quickly."
The Focus Electric is expected to be available in 19 U.S. markets by the end of 2012. The five-door hatchback starts at $39,200, excluding taxes and other fees. In some markets, it is eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit.
THE CAMPAIGN THAT ‘CHANGED FORD'
Sixty-one million unique visitors come to Yahoo each month to watch videos, Ford said on Tuesday, citing comScore data. Viewers of the "Plugged In" reality show will be able to post comments on the videos. The clues for the scavenger hunt will appear on the car's touch-screen entertainment and navigation system known as MyFord Touch. Each team is vying for Focus Electric cars of their own.
Ford first used social media on a wide scale to promote the Fiesta small car in 2009 in a campaign dubbed the "Fiesta Movement."
The automaker gave out cars to 100 people and asked them to complete tasks and chronicle their activities on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other websites for six months. Two people wrestled alligators in Florida. Others performed charity work, such as delivering meals to people in need. One couple eloped.
Ford spent $5 million on the campaign to promote the model, which was returning to the U.S. market after two decades, in the year before its 2010 launch. After that campaign, 60 percent of Americans who said they would buy a small car within two years said they were familiar with the Fiesta brand.
That kind of recognition would cost $100 million through traditional means, Jim Farley, head of global marketing, said at an investor presentation in November. The results "just totally changed Ford," Farley said during the presentation. Ford has since launched other social media campaigns, including the Focus Rally for its compact car.
Ford said the reality show was part of its effort to educate American consumers about electrified vehicles. The company said more than half of U.S. consumers do not know the difference between a hybrid and an electric vehicle, even though fuel economy is the top factor influencing purchase decisions.
"I know what it costs to reach consumers to the level of building brand awareness for a product and it's very expensive," Felice said on Tuesday.
"In a big automotive launch, with full traditional media, $80 million to $100 million is not an unrealistic number," he added. But in social media efforts such as the Yahoo reality show, a launch can cost in the "single-digit millions or even less."
(Reporting By Lynn Adler in New York and Deepa Seetharaman in Detroit; editing by Matthew Lewis)
"GMA" expanding to afternoons this summer
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Soap fans have some good news -- and a measure of revenge.
ABC is keeping "General Hospital" on the air and eliminating "The Revolution," one of two replacements for two canceled soaps, ABC confirmed. The network will also expand "Good Morning America" to afternoons for nine weeks in the summer to replace "The Revolution."
The tentatively titled "GMA in the Afternoon" will fill the former "Revolution" time slot until it is taken over full time by Katie Couric's new daytime talk show, "Katie," in the fall. "The Revolution" will end Friday, July 6, and the afternoon "GMA" will begin airing Monday, July 9.
The announcement comes as "GMA" is narrowing its ratings gap with NBC's top-rated "Today."
Soap fans have feared for "General Hospital," ABC's sole remaining daytime soap, since the cancellation of the long-running "One Life to Live" and "All My Children" last year. "General Hospital" has been competing for increasingly tight daytime real estate with "The Revolution" and another new lifestyle show, "The Chew."
Almost exactly one year ago, ABC's then-president of daytime, Brian Frons, infuriated soap fans with the announcement that "One Life to Live" and "All My Children" would be canceled and replaced with "The Revolution" and "The Chew."
Frons left in January, and his daytime responsibilities were taken over by Vicki Dummer. The afternoon reshuffling is one of her first major moves since taking on the new duties.
The news was first reported by Deadline.
"American Idol" judges save Jessica Sanchez
NEW YORK(Reuters) - Jessica Sanchez, the youngest finalist on TV singing contest "American Idol," was dramatically saved from elimination on Thursday by the show's judges as she performed a last chance song to prove she was worthy of continuing.
With Jennifer Lopez leading the way, fellow judges Randy Jackson and Steven Tyler stormed the stage and announced they were using their only "save" to keep Sanchez on the show shortly after Sanchez was told she had received the fewest fan votes this week.
"Give me that mic!," Lopez exclaimed as she rushed up to Sanchez. "This is crazy!"
This season, "Idol" judges were allotted one "save" to override audience votes and keep a promising contestant on the show. All of them must agree, and if the "save" had not been used by next week's performance, it would have expired.
Sanchez, who sang Deborah Cox's song "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" to close out the show, appeared bewildered by both her last place finish and her save.
Then again, bewilderment seemed to be a theme of a wild evening on the No. 1-rated U.S. TV singing contest.
Host Ryan Seacrest began by directing contestants to opposite sides of the stage without telling them which group was safe and which group was in danger of going home. With three singers in each group, Seacrest told remaining contestant Skylar Laine that she would stay and instructed her to "pick the group you think you belong with."
After a shocked Laine protested, Seacrest guided her to a group he finally pronounced as safe, leaving Elise Testone, Joshua Ledet and Sanchez in the bottom three. All three judges expressed confusion and dismay with this outcome. At the end of the show, Jackson admonished audiences to vote more wisely.
This week, audiences judged contestants based on performances of songs from the present decade in Wednesday night's telecast.
Thursday's results episode featured two performances from former "Idol" contestants. Jennifer Hudson, who received an assist from Ne-Yo, sang "Think Like a Man", and James Durbin sang his song "Higher than Heaven."
"Idol", which first aired in on Fox in 2002, has launched the careers of singers Kelly Clarkson and Adam Lambert. Audiences vote for their favorite performers by phone and text message each week as contestants are challenged by a variety of musical styles. The winning contestant receives a recording contract. This season's winner will be decided in May.
(Reporting By Andrea Burzynski; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
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Veteran CBS journalist Mike Wallace dead at 93: network
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mike Wallace, the grand inquisitor of CBS's "60 Minutes" news show who once declared there was "no such thing as an indiscreet question," has died at the age of 93, the network said on Sunday.
Wallace died on Saturday evening with his family by his side at Waveny Care Center in New Canaan, Connecticut, where he spent the past few years, CBS said in a statement and on its Sunday morning news broadcast.
"His extraordinary contribution as a broadcaster is immeasurable and he has been a force within the television industry throughout its existence. His loss will be felt by all of us at CBS," Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corporation, said in the statement.
Wallace left his full-time role at "60 Minutes" in 2006 after 38 years and was given the title correspondent emeritus and a part-time contributor role. His last interview was with Roger Clemens, the star baseball pitcher accused of steroid use, in 2008.
A special "60 Minutes" program dedicated to Wallace will be aired April 15.
Just about anyone who made news during the past six decades - in the United States, but often abroad too - had to submit to a grilling by Wallace.
As a part-time correspondent, his most notable interview was with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran. It took place 27 years after his sit-down with that country's Ayatollah Khomeini, and earned Wallace his 21st Emmy.
In almost 40 years on "60 Minutes," the ground-breaking investigative journalism program, he worked on some 800 reports and developed a relentless on-air style that was often more interrogation than interview.
Wallace also drew criticism for his go-for-the-throat style and the theatrics that sometimes accompanied it. He also became caught up in a $120 million libel suit that resulted in no judgment against him or CBS but triggered a case of depression that led him to attempt suicide.
'FORGIVE ME FOR ASKING...'
Wallace interviewed every U.S. president since John F. Kennedy - with the exception of George W. Bush - and dozens of other world leaders like Yasser Arafat, Ayatollah Khomeini and Deng Xiaoping.
Other interview subjects included everyone from Malcolm X to Janis Joplin, Martin Luther King Jr., Johnny Carson, Vladimir Horowitz and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.
When Wallace prefaced a question with "Forgive me for asking ..." or responded to a dubious answer with "Oh, come on," "60 Minutes" viewers knew he was about to get tough. His sometimes-abrasive manner resulted in the nickname "Mike Malice," and some viewers will always remember him as the man who made diva Barbra Streisand cry on camera.
In a 2006 retrospective of his "60 Minutes" career, Wallace summed up his interviewing technique as: "Let's ask the questions that might be on the minds of the people looking in ... 'If I were there in that chair where Wallace is, here's what I would want to know.'"
He was more succinct in a 2005 interview with The Boston Globe when he said: "I determined when I started back in 1956 ... there's no such thing as an indiscreet question."
Myron Leon Wallace was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 9, 1918. He began calling himself Mike because he thought it was more manly than Myron. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1939, he worked as a radio newswriter in Chicago and also on radio quiz shows, talk shows, a soap opera and serials like "The Green Hornet." He also acted on television and Broadway before joining CBS's radio department.
In 1955 Wallace found his calling with a television show called "Nightbeat," which featured Wallace asking pointed questions of writers, gangsters, artists and movie stars in front of a stark black backdrop.
'NASTY QUESTIONS, ABRASIVE QUESTIONS'
"We were doing the kind of show that had never been done before," Wallace said. "Nasty questions, abrasive questions, confrontational questions."
He returned to CBS in the early 1960s and was onboard "60 Minutes" for its September 24, 1968, debut. The show broke new ground in broadcast journalism with its surprise interviews, undercover reporters, hidden cameras and one-way mirrors.
One report for CBS sent Wallace into a personal tailspin. He worked on a 1982 CBS documentary that claimed the U.S. military conspired to misstate the strength of the enemy during the Vietnam War, which led to a $120 million libel suit from Gen. William Westmoreland.
The suit was dropped during the trial, CBS apologized and no money changed hands, but Wallace was traumatized by the accusations, which contributed to his depression.
Wallace's depression grew so severe he tried to kill himself with a drug overdose in 1984. He was saved by his wife, Mary.
Wallace often spoke about his recovery from depression and said the years after his suicide attempt were some of the most productive of his life.
Wallace, who was married four times, had a daughter, Pauline, and son, Chris, also a television journalist. Another son, Peter, died in a mountain-climbing accident in 1962.
(This version of the story has been corrected to fix the number of Emmys from 20 to 21)
(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Bill Trott and Frances Kerry)
Holiday weekend a battle at the box office
LOA ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - It has been nearly a decade since the gang from "American Pie" last grossed out moviegoers, but Universal is betting that there's still enough gas left in the yuks and cleavage franchise to hold off the 3D re-release of "Titanic" and "The Hunger Games" box-office phenomenon.
"American Reunion," the fourth big-screen release in a series that also spawned a slew of direct-to-DVD titles, is on pace to earn as much as $30 million domestically in 3,192 theaters, according to box-office analysts.
Universal is being more conservative and anticipating a number in the $20 million range.
Analysts say the holiday weekend is shaping up to be a tight race for the box office crown. "American Reunion's" haul might not be enough to topple "The Hunger Games," but it should be sufficient to snag the No. 2 spot from "Titanic."
In its third week of release, "The Hunger Games" is on pace to add roughly $30 million to its tally from 4,137 domestic locations. The film's domestic total now stands at nearly $260 million with an additional $115 million coming in from foreign territories, according to Box Office Mojo.
Even if "American Reunion" does not dethrone "Hunger Games," it seems poised to turn a profit on the $50 million Universal spent getting the original cast back together. Reviews of the film, which features the sex-crazed protagonists attending their 10-year high school reunion, have been mixed, but the studio thinks it has recaptured the flavor that made the first film a surprise smash way back in 1999.
"Audiences have enormous affection for the movies and having all of the cast back together again does add a little bit of spice to it," Nikki Rocco, Universal's chief of distribution, told TheWrap.
In addition to the domestic launch this weekend, Universal will release "American Reunion" in 26 international territories including Australia, Russia and Mexico.
"American Reunion" is not the only blast from the past hoping to capitalize on moviegoers' nostalgia. It has been 15 years since James Cameron's "Titanic" crashed into theaters, shattering box-office records and earning 11 Oscars to boot, and now the historical sudser is back in theaters thanks to 3D technology.
Cameron and his producing partner, Jon Landau, labored for more than a year converting the tragic love story to 3D, spending approximately $18 million for the overhaul.
The movie debuted Wednesday to $4.7 million and should net $30 million over its first five days of release, including $20 million over the weekend, analysts tell TheWrap.
Paramount is releasing the film domestically, where it is showing in roughly 2,600 theaters domestically.
"‘Titanic' is performing softer than some people expected it would, but that's a really good number for a film that is 15 years old," Jeff Bock, a box-office analyst at Exhibitor Relations, told TheWrap.
"Studios will take that kind of gross all day long, so we'll be seeing a lot more 3D re-releases."
In their second weeks of release, box office analysts project steep drop-offs for Warner Bros. sword-and-sandals sequel "Wrath of the Titans" and Relativity's Snow White re-imagining "Mirror, Mirror."
"Wrath" brought in $34.2 million last weekend and "Mirror, Mirror" took in a disappointing $19 million. Analysts say that those numbers will likely be cut in half over a crowded holiday weekend that will see the box office pie primarily carved up between "Titanic," "American Reunion" and "The Hunger Games."
"Downton Abbey" Season 3 Death: who is it?
A year after the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon split with comedian and longtime host Jerry Lewis, the Labor Day weekend show is leaving Las Vegas.
Political spending on TV ads may be posted online
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators on Friday proposed a rule that would move television broadcasters' public files to the Internet, making it easier to access information about political spending on TV advertising.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it would host the files on its website, allowing people to easily track information about their local TV stations.
Spending on TV ads is forecast to reach historic levels in 2012 ahead of the U.S. presidential election, as candidates blanket airwaves with commercials promoting their virtues or bashing their opponents.
The flood of political money in part reflects a response to a landmark 2010 Supreme Court ruling that ended most restrictions on political donations from corporations and unions.
The ruling sparked the creation of "Super PACs", or political action committees, that have focused almost exclusively on spending tens of millions of dollars on ads.
But finding data on who spent what, and where, is a tricky endeavor. TV stations have been making these records public since 1938, as well as information on other community-related issues like children's programming.
But the records are kept on paper, in filing cabinets directly at stations' offices. Driving to each station and making copies can take hours, and relying on media analysis companies that aggregate the data is often expensive.
"What this proposal is about is taking that paper file and catching it up with the 21st century," an FCC official said.
Initially, the rule will only apply to affiliates of the four biggest TV broadcasters in the top 50 media markets.
The four biggest broadcasters are ABC, operated by Disney Co, CBS Corp, News Corp's Fox, and NBC, controlled by Comcast Corp.
In all, these top 200 stations represent about 60 percent of the money spent on political TV ads in an election year, the FCC said.
Smaller stations would have another two years to begin complying with the rule. The FCC said it would cost about $1,000 for stations to begin uploading large paper files.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and the full Commission must still sign off on the proposal at a rule-making session at the end of April, after which it must be approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget.
However, the FCC said it expects the requirement to go into effect before the presidential election in November.
(Reporting by Anna Yukhananov; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Matt Lauer extends contract with NBC's "Today"
A year after the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon split with comedian and longtime host Jerry Lewis, the Labor Day weekend show is leaving Las Vegas.
Jimmy Smits rolls into "Sons of Anarchy"
A year after the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon split with comedian and longtime host Jerry Lewis, the Labor Day weekend show is leaving Las Vegas.
TV actress Park Overall running for Senate
A year after the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon split with comedian and longtime host Jerry Lewis, the Labor Day weekend show is leaving Las Vegas.
DeAndre Brackensick shown the door on "American Idol"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - DeAndre Brackensick, a curly-haired contestant adored by judge Jennifer Lopez, on Thursday became the third contestant booted from "American Idol," leaving seven of the original 10 finalists remaining on the top-rated TV singing contest.
Brackensick received a hug from Lopez before exiting the stage. The pop superstar revealed she had voted to use the "save" allotted to the judges, but fellow panelists Randy Jackson and Steven Tyler had not agreed with her.
The "save" allows judges to overrule audience votes and keep a singer on the show. It will expire when the program narrows to five final contestants later this season.
Brackensick was let go after his performance of "I Like It" by 1980s family singers DeBarge left audiences and judges wanting on Wednesday's singing episode. Contestant mentor Jimmy Iovine criticized the effort as the worst among the show's male performers and said Brackensick "needs to come out and grow at a much faster pace."
This week on "Idol," audiences judged contestants based on their handling of songs from the 1980s, which they sang on Wednesday. The performances also landed Hollie Cavanagh and Elise Testone among the bottom three with Cavanagh's version of "What a Feeling" and Testone's "I Want To Know What Love Is"
Highlights of Thursday's episode included a visit from Season 5 contestant Kelly Pickler, who sang "Where's Tammy Wynnette," as well as boy band The Wanted, which performed "Glad You Came."
"Idol" first aired on Fox in 2002, and has launched the careers of singers Kelly Clarkson, Adam Lambert and Jennifer Hudson, among others. Now in its 11th season, the show continues to be the most watched reality TV show in America, though it has received stiff competition from "The Voice" this year.
Audiences vote for their favorite performers by phone and text message each week as contestants are challenged by a variety of musical styles. The winning contestant receives a recording contract. This season's winner will be decided in May.
(Reporting By Bob Tourtellotte)
Current TV files countersuit against Olbermann
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Current TV on Friday counter-sued former host Keith Olbermann, claiming he failed to perform his duties for the progressive television network and saying it does not owe him "a dime" of the millions Olbermann claims he is owed.
Current and Olbermann, who hosted his program "Countdown" on the network, have been locked in a war of words and legal filings since last week, when Current fired the commentator claiming he had breached his contract.
The liberal firebrand sued the network on Thursday seeking as much as $70 million he says he is owed for compensation and an equity stake he was given in the fledgling network.
Current is run by its founder Joel Hyatt and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.
In his suit, Olbermann launched a scathing attack on Hyatt and Gore, saying the network was plagued with problems and comparing it to "an unprofessional cable-access show."
In its counter-suit filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Current attorneys fired back, claiming Olbermann "willfully" failed to show up for work and did not help create new programming or promote the network as he'd agreed to do when taking the job roughly a year ago.
"Current seeks a determination that it is no longer obligated to pay a dime to Mr. Olbermann who, having already been paid handsomely for showing up sporadically and utterly failing to keep his end of the bargain, now seeks to be paid tens of millions more for not working at all," the network's attorneys wrote in their suit.
Among the key allegations Current cites is that Olbermann took unauthorized vacation time - the network said he worked only 19 of 41 business days in January and February - and refused to work on Current's U.S. presidential caucus and primary election coverage as he was asked to do.
Current claims it first notified Olbermann he was in breach of contract back in October of 2011, but problems persisted.
Olbermann joined Current in February 2011 after quitting his top-rated program on MSNBC, "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," a month earlier for reasons that have never been disclosed.
He was appointed chief news officer at Current, took an equity stake in the channel that was originally launched in 2005, and became its biggest celebrity draw.
But his nightly show attracted only an average 177,000 viewers - a fraction of the audience who watched him on MSNBC.
(Reporting By Bob Tourtellotte; editing by Todd Eastham)
Stars go to boot camp in new reality TV show
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Dick Wolf and Mark Burnett are sending Hollywood to boot camp.
"Law and Order" executive producer Wolf and reality TV guru Burnett are teaming up for a new NBC reality show that will put celebrities through their paces -- all for a good cause.
"Stars Earn Stripes" will bring nine celebrities from the film, music and sports world to "a top-notch, secret military training facility," where they'll be paired with trainers to prepare for a weekly challenge. The challenges, culled from actual exercises from the armed services, will range from hostage rescues to properly placing a laser target on a mountaintop.
Prize money will be donated to a military charity.
"I think this is a unique opportunity to pay a tribute to our troops and first responders who put their lives on the line every day," Wolf said of the new venture. "Mark and I are looking forward to working together as we bring this exciting, dramatic and entertaining competition to viewers."
"When I see someone in a military uniform I make it a point to approach them, shake their hand and say five words ... 'thank you for your service,'" Burnett, whose reality TV bona fides include "Survivor," "The Voice" and many others, added. "Stars Earn Stripes" is a high energy, fun, action show, but at its heart it is all about those five words: 'Thank you for your service'. Our celebrities are going to experience the high adrenaline that special forces and law enforcement encounter and will realize how very hard and scary it is to do those jobs."
"Stars Earn Stripes" is just one of several new projects that Burnett has signed on for recently. As reported by TheWrap on Thursday, he's teaming with "Avatar" director James Cameron on "Robogeddon," which will feature fighting robots, and "Mark Burnett's Alaska," which will chronicle "the colorful people, amazing history and unforgettable places that make Alaska a world apart." Both of those projects are being produced for Discovery.
Heidi Klum files for divorce from Seal
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Supermodel and TV host Heidi Klum on Friday filed for divorce from her husband, the singer Seal, following the pair's separation earlier this year, representatives for the couple said.
Klum's spokeswoman declined to give further details and said the "Project Runway" television star would not be making a statement. Seal's spokeswoman also confirmed the divorce filing but offered no further comment.
Celebrity website TMZ.com said divorce papers had been filed in Los Angeles, citing irreconcilable differences.
Klum and Seal, who married in 2005 and have four children, announced in January that they had separated, issuing a joint statement that said: "While we have enjoyed seven very loving, loyal and happy years of marriage, after much soul-searching we have decided to separate.
"We have had the deepest respect for one another throughout our relationship and continue to love each other very much, but we have grown apart," the pair said at the time.
Days later, Seal appeared on a U.S. TV talk show with host Piers Morgan and left open the possibility of a reconciliation.
"You can never say never, obviously I can't speak for my wife," Seal told Morgan.
People magazine on Friday said sources told its reporters that by mid-February, a reunion clearly was not in the works.
Their breakup surprised celebrity watchers because the pair had seemed so close for many years. They released a steamy music video in September 2010 for the Grammy-winning singer's single "Secrets," which featured the naked couple in bed together.
In an interview with Reuters at the time, Seal said that he had titled his sixth album "Commitment" because that was a recurring theme for him, particularly since meeting Klum.
(Reporting By Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Stacey Joyce)
Planet Green channel to become Destination America
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Discovery's Planet Green has been shrunken down to a single country.
Planet Green, a cable TV channel focused on eco-friendly living, is being re-branded as "Destination America," effective Memorial Day weekend.
Targeting the 25-54 demographic, Destination America will be available in 59.5 million homes.
"Americans may be divided by politics, but we are united by our love of country," Henry Schleiff, the new channel's president and general manager, said.
"As a network inclusive to all, Destination America will celebrate this connective spirit by curating the common ground among us: the pluck of the worn saddle, the promise of exploring new territory, and the diversity that has made this nation great."
Initial offerings from Destination America will include "BBQ Pitmasters" (premiering June 3), a barbecue competition series that will feature contestants facing off "in the ultimate BBQ showdown"; "Super-Duper Thrill Rides" (premiering June 16), which will examine "the coolest and most extreme roller coasters"; and "Cheating Las Vegas" (premiering July 14), which will delve into "the most fascinating and elaborate scams of modern casino gaming."
The move from Planet Green to Destination America marks the latest in a series of re-brandings for Discovery Communications, including Discovery Health's shift to OWN and Discovery HD Theater's evolution from HD Theater and eventually Velocity. Planet Green itself occupies the channel space previously held by Discovery Home and Leisure and, later, Discovery Home.
Oprah's next mission: Win advertisers with OWN vision
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oprah Winfrey appears in New York on Thursday before her most important audience: potential advertisers who will decide how many more seasons her struggling cable network has to promote her mantra to "live your best life."
The "queen of talk," having admitted in a CBS interview this week to "101 mistakes" in launching the Oprah Winfrey Network last year, must convince the media buyers who will crowd Lincoln Center that her formula of uplifting programs will attract more viewers than it did in its first year.
So far, her mix of interviews and feel-good programs has left the key audience of 25- to 54-year-old women less than thrilled. Ratings among them for the 15-month-old OWN are about what they were for the Discovery Health channel it replaced.
Last month, OWN, a joint venture with Discovery Communications Inc, laid off 30 staff and canceled its heavily hyped Rosie O'Donnell talk show that it had hoped would provide a ratings boost.
OWN's stumbles have struck the network to its operational core. The aspirational message that fueled Winfrey's hugely successful syndicated daytime talk show for 25 years is not translating to a mass audience for the 24-hour cable channel.
"On cable, the networks that work are far from aspirational," said Brad Adgate, an analyst at advertising agency Horizon Media, pointing to shows such as "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" or the "Real Housewives" series.
"It has been difficult for aspirational shows (and) networks to get on track," he said.
OWN did see a recent ratings boost as Winfrey added more air time. At the end of March, the network reported a 21 percent ratings increase for the first quarter compared with last year, with an average of 180,000 daily viewers.
The network's most-watched recent programs were Winfrey's interviews with Whitney Houston's family, Lady Gaga, rocker Steven Tyler and mega-church pastor Joel Osteen.
But few of OWN's other programs have built audiences. Over the past year, the network averaged 50,000 viewers among women ages 25 to 54, slightly less than the 51,000 Discovery Health averaged in its last year, according to Nielsen data provided by Horizon Media.
Those numbers were less than the 98,000 women ages 25 to 54 who watched the male-skewing Spike TV, or the 69,000 who watched the Travel Channel during the same time period.
"This is a network that has some good momentum behind it," OWN President Erik Logan said, previewing his pitch to ad buyers. The channel will stick with the uplifting menu, he said, and will offer up Winfrey's recent interviews plus Saturday night programming such as "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's" as shows that reflect her philosophy.
"As with any cable start-up, it is going to take time" to build audiences, Logan said.
On Thursday, OWN unveiled four new prime time series, including "Six Little McGhees" about a married couple juggling six toddlers and a family business.
"Married to the Army: Alaska" follows military wives, while "Iyanla Fix My Life" features inspirational speaker and author Iyanla Vanzant. "Elura and Michele Take Staten Island" stars two former prosecutors who "tell it like it is."
An upcoming game show, "Are You Normal, America?" will have people answering personal questions such as whether they read their boyfriends' e-mails or perform chores naked.
OWN also ordered 10 new episodes of "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's" about a family-run soul food restaurant, and a third season of "Oprah's Master Class," where famous people share life lessons.
Winfrey has said launching the channel too early was one of her "101 mistakes." She committed to working hard to fix the network [ID:nL3E8F28CW].
SUBSCRIBER FEES
In addition to its advertising revenue, OWN will collect subscriber fees from cable and satellite distributors of about 20 cents per subscriber per month, starting next year.
The company also just renewed a distribution agreement with Comcast Corp, which will add OWN to 3 million homes. Overall, the network will be available in 83 million homes nationwide, the same as competitor Bravo.
"We are trying to find the right combination of content and intention and entertainment, and strike the right balance," Logan said.
Some industry experts believe Winfrey's network will come out of its ratings doldrums. "There is a trial and error in cable programming," said Jeff Gaspin, former chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment and cable industry veteran. "OWN went through theirs while everyone was watching."
Oprah will have competition in the aspirational field.
Basketball great Earvin "Magic" Johnson, for one, plans a network called Aspire aimed at delivering "enlightening, entertaining and positive programming to African-American families." The channel, which launches at the end of June, is a partnership between Comcast and GMC, the former Gospel Music Channel.
"Oprah is a great inspiration but her mistake was naming it the Oprah Winfrey Network," said Brad Siegel, vice chairman of the GMC and Aspire channels. "People were expecting more of Oprah than they got."
Johnson did not want his name on his channel, Siegel said, and instead will put the spotlight on promising African-American artists, writers and musicians with a series of video vignettes.
The harsh reality of TV life is that time may be running short for Oprah to use OWN as the platform from which she trumpets her message. Although Discovery says it has no intention of killing the channel, not everyone thinks OWN will reverse its decline.
"I'm not sure the channel makes it unless it expands its base beyond the aspirational, Oprah-type brand," said Robert Thompson, a professor of TV and popular culture at Syracuse University.
"They need to find their 'Jersey Shore,' the show that will make people come to watch them," he said. "When MTV started doing 'Road Rules,' people at first said, 'where are the music videos?' Now, they have very successfully rebranded themselves."
For now, advertisers are sticking with the doyenne of talk. Early sponsors have reaffirmed their commitment to the network, OWN's Logan said, and General Motors Co said it planned to continue advertising on the channel.
"It will take a little more time to achieve the expectations that she initially set," said Andy Donchin, director of national broadcasting for ad buying agency Carat North America, which has bought time on OWN for clients. "It's hard to bet against her because almost everything she touched turned to gold."
(Reporting By Lisa Richwine and Ronald Grover; Edited by Peter Lauria, Maureen Bavdek and Matthew Lewis)
ABC announces new summer shows
Ricky Martin commands the stage with an air of confidence, yet the Latin superstar admits to being self-conscious at times.
'That "70s Show" actress denies assault
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "That '70s Show" star Lisa Robin Kelly told "Good Morning America" that she has battled a drinking problem but is not guilty of attacking a man over the weekend.
Kelly was arrested in Los Angeles on Saturday and released on $50,000 bail. She was charged with corporal injury on a spouse, a felony. But on Twitter, she described alleged victim John Michas as a former roommate, not as her husband.
"GMA" interviewer Abbie Boudreau referred to Michas as her "ex" or "ex-boyfriend" during the segment.
"This is all a bunch of made-up stuff," Kelly told Boudreau. "He's saying that I assaulted him ..."
"Did you do that to him?" Boudreau asked.
"No, absolutely not," Kelly said.
Kelly, who played Laurie Forman on "That '70s Show," also said she was not under the influence when she was arrested. She said she has been sober for three months, and that her drinking problem began after a miscarriage.
"I had lost a baby, and as a result of that, I lost everything, and I was abusing alcohol, which I no longer do," the actress said. "With 'That '70s Show,' I was guilty of the drinking problem and I ran. And I am not running from this. And I have paid my dues. And if I can make it through this, I can make it through anything."
Kelly, 42, also told Boudreau she was upset that her "poor mother has to look at that picture of me," referring to the mug shot from her arrest last weekend. "That doesn't look like me. That's not me."
Kelly told "GMA" that she is starring in a new movie called "It Sucks to Be Me."
Keith Olbermann sues Current TV over ouster
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Fired TV commentator Keith Olbermann on Thursday filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Current TV, calling its management amateurs and claiming he is owed as much as $70 million.
Olbermann, who was fired a week ago after about a year on the small progressive public affairs channel, said he was "enticed to leave" his old job at cable channel MSNBC and join Current with the promise of editorial control and professional support.
But Olbermann described Current TV founders Joel Hyatt and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, and Current management as "no more than dilettantes portraying entertainment industry executives."
His lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, said he was owed between $50 million and $70 million in cash and equity compensation. Olbermann had taken an undisclosed equity stake in Current when he joined in 2011.
In a scathing attack on Current TV and its chief executive Hyatt, Olbermann said his prime time "Countdown" show was plagued with technical difficulties, including studio lights going off during broadcasts, frozen teleprompters and lost video feeds of guests during on-air interviews.
"Olbermann thought he had made a deal with a legitimate network and instead got an unprofessional cable-access show," the lawsuit said.
In the suit, Olbermann called Hyatt a "blackmailer" claiming the Current co-founder and CEO threatened to fire Olbermann's staff unless he agreed to ban his manager and agents from interactions with Current.
The lawsuit added that "Hyatt attempted to run the network as a personal hobbyhorse."
Current TV said last week it had dismissed Olbermann for breach of contract, claiming he tried to sabotage the network and had taken several unauthorized absences.
Olbermann replied in the lawsuit that the claims were "baseless and petty" and would all be disproven.
The outspoken liberal news anchor joined Current in February 2011 after abruptly quitting his top-rated program on MSNBC a month earlier for reasons that have never been clarified.
He was appointed chief news officer, took an equity stake in the channel launched in 2005 and became its biggest celebrity draw. But his nightly show attracted only an average 177,000 viewers - a fraction of the audience who watched him on MSNBC.
Olbermann claimed in Thursday's lawsuit that Current was at fault for failing to promote the show, especially online, refusing to invest and refusing to give him editorial control.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Todd Eastham)
"CSI" actor Gary Sinise cancels gigs after car accident
Ricky Martin commands the stage with an air of confidence, yet the Latin superstar admits to being self-conscious at times.
DirecTV, Tribune agreement will restore stations
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Tribune Broadcasting and DirecTV have reached an agreement that will restore Tribune's television stations to the satellite provider's 5 million customers.
Tribune's stations went dark over the weekend for those customers, which DirecTV blamed on Tribune's bankruptcy.
Now, those customers will have access to Tribune's 23 local stations and its national cable network, WGN America.
"We are extremely pleased to have reached an agreement with DirecTV and to return our valuable news, entertainment and sports programming to DirecTV subscribers," Nils Larsen, Tribune Broadcasting president, said in a statement.
"On behalf of Tribune Broadcasting, I want to thank viewers across all of our markets for their support, understanding and patience during the negotiating process —we truly regret the service interruptions of the last several days."
Just Monday, the satellite provider had asked the Federal Communications Commission Monday for an expedited ruling against Tribune, accusing it of "failing to negotiate in good faith." Tribune accused DirecTV of using "bad faith" as a negotiating tactic.
Instead, the two sides wrapped up the dispute just as the baseball season is getting underway.
Both WGN in Chicago and WGN America air the games of the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox while WPIX airs the New York Mets in New York, PHL7 the Philadelphia Phillies and WDCW the Washington Nationals.
James Cameron, Mark Burnett team for 'Robogeddon'
Ricky Martin commands the stage with an air of confidence, yet the Latin superstar admits to being self-conscious at times.
Science channel's new shows include zombies
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Ricky Gervais and his "Idiot Abroad" cohorts are developing a new show for Discovery Science, but aren't saying what it is yet. James Woods, meanwhile, will appear in a new Science show about scientific breakthroughs.
The network's new slate, unveiled Thursday, also includes the "Whale Wars"-inspired "Rhino Wars," about battling rhino poachers, a show about military dogs, and a show about people planning for the coming zombie apocalypse.
Yes, really.
In other Discovery announcements, the company's upscale men's network, Velocity, plans "Road to LeMans," which follows "Grey's Anatomy" star Patrick Dempsey as he leads an auto racing team competing in the world's oldest automotive endurance race.
Science showed a promo for the Gervais show at its upfront presentation to advertisers Thursday, but it didn't provide any hints about the nature of the show. It consisted of Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington sitting in chairs, revealing nothing. "An Idiot Abroad," which finds Pilkington getting into misadventures around the world, has aired for two seasons on Science.
James Woods appeared live at the upfront and asked the question he knew many in the audience were asking - "What am I doing here?"
Noting that he had worked with such greats as Martin Scorsese, he explained that he had also attended MIT and still nurtured an interest in science. His new show for the network is called "This Changes Everything." It will examine fields including synthetic biology, predictive analytics, habitable planets, and nanotechnology. It will air in the first quarter of 2013.
The zombie show, "Surviving Zombies," is about three Missoula, Mont., men who operate a blade-making business, Zombie Tools, where they craft weapons that might one day save you from biters, walkers or whatever kids are calling them these days.
Animal Planet goes underwater for summer season
A stuntman who claims he suffered a concussion, whiplash and two holes in his knees while performing as the comic book hero in Broadway's "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" has asked producers to turn over any relevant information as he weighs pursuing a negligence lawsuit.
Tom Brokaw looks back on big stories in new series
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Tom Brokaw will look back on the biggest news stories of his career -- from the fall of the Berlin Wall to 9/11 -- in the new Military Channel series "The Brokaw Files."
The network's new slate, to be officially unveiled Thursday, also includes new shows about such subjects as international espionage, assassinations and recently declassified air combat missions, as well as the tentatively titled special "Commander in Chief," which will examine presidential decision-making in times of crisis.
Brokaw's career has given him a front-row seat for many of those crucial moments, and he will share insights he couldn't always offer during his 22 years as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News.
"The Brokaw Files" represents an expanded mission for the Discovery-owned Military Channel, which is branching out from armed forces-related programming to shows about people who changed history.
"This is a real mix," Brokaw told TheWrap. "What's appealing about it to me is it's generational -- it's military and non-military. It has to do with events that changed our lives. Searing moments, everything from 9/11 to the 60th anniversary of D-Day."
"One of the things that has always been frustrating about television is it's so perishable," he added. "You put it on, and if the audience has got something else to watch that night -- or there's inclement weather, or good weather, and they're not there in front of their televisions -- then it goes away. This gives us a chance to revisit what we think are some important television documentaries and examinations of people who shaped our lives... a chance to expose an entirely new audience to stuff that we're really proud of."
"The Brokaw Files" -- a title that could change -- will debut in the fall and be produced for the Military Channel by NBCUniversal's Peacock Productions. Brokaw, 72, stepped down from NBC Nightly News in 2004, but has continued to contribute to the network's news coverage.
His work with the Military Channel will bring him back for a regular series on a network that thrives on the kind of historic examination that gets little play on regular television news. The "Greatest Generation" author has long harbored a love of history as well as one for breaking news.
A full slate of upcoming Military Channel shows can be found at TheWrap.com.
Ryan Seacrest to join NBC London Olympics team
A stuntman who claims he suffered a concussion, whiplash and two holes in his knees while performing as the comic book hero in Broadway's "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" has asked producers to turn over any relevant information as he weighs pursuing a negligence lawsuit.
Letterman, Ferguson sign new deals with CBS
Thailand's film censors have banned an adaptation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," saying it could inflame political passions in the country where it is taboo to criticize the monarchy.
'Game of Thrones' premiere draws 6.3 million viewers
Thailand's film censors have banned an adaptation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," saying it could inflame political passions in the country where it is taboo to criticize the monarchy.
"The Killing" Season 2 premiere falters
Thailand's film censors have banned an adaptation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," saying it could inflame political passions in the country where it is taboo to criticize the monarchy.
Four contestants sing for final time on 'The Voice'
(Reuters) - Charlotte Sometimes and Naia Kete of Team Blake and Sera Hill and Moses Stone of Team Christina became the first four contestants kicked off celebrity TV singing show "The Voice" on Tuesday evening.
Kete, a singer on country crooner Blake Shelton's team whom the coaches appreciated for her reggae skills, found herself forced to "sing for her life" with fellow team members Sometimes and Jordis Unga. When Blake told Kete he wished she had sung a more reggae-influenced tune, Kete pleaded that she wanted to but was limited by the songs available to her.
Sometimes also was shown the stage door after she followed Monday night's choice of singing Paramour's "Misery Business" with a performance of Goo Goo Dolls ballad "Iris" that coach Christina Aguilera said nearly made her cry.
Shelton chose to save Unga, whose version of "Wild Horses" impressed fellow coaches Aguilera and Cee Lo Green.
From her team, Aguilera reluctantly said goodbye to Stone and Hill. Stone departed from his canon of rap songs by taking on Jason Mraz's "Falling to Pieces," while Hill sang "Vision of Love" by Mariah Carey.
Remaining on Team Christina is Ashley De La Rosa, who wowed Aguilera, Green and the TV show's fourth judge, Adam Levine, with her rendition of "Paris Oh La La" by Grace Potter and The Nocturnals.
Before the elimination, host Carson Daly showed footage of Team Blake's trip to Los Angeles country music station Country 105, where Shelton took his team as part of his mentoring. Aguilera chose to take her team to "The Tonight Show," where contestants received advice from host Jay Leno.
Tuesday's episode also included a performance by band Gym Class Heroes, who sang a song off their current album "The Papercut Chronicles II."
Next week, audiences will see performances from contestants on the teams of Levine and Green, and have the opportunity to vote for their favorites and see others eliminated.
Tuesday night's episode of "The Voice" was the season's first elimination episode. Previously, Aguilera, Shelton, Levine, and Green chose teams of singers through a blind audition process, whom they mentor throughout the course of the show.
"The Voice" is an American spinoff of a similar Dutch show, and is now in its second season on NBC. It has given stalwart singing contest "American Idol" as serious run for its money in terms of viewership and ratings. The winner of "The Voice" will receive $100,000 and a record deal with Universal Republic.
(Reporting By Andrea Burzynski; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
Wayne Brady replacing Louis C.K. as DC dinner host
A stuntman who claims he suffered a concussion, whiplash and two holes in his knees while performing as the comic book hero in Broadway's "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" has asked producers to turn over any relevant information as he weighs pursuing a negligence lawsuit.
Neil Patrick Harris to host Tony Awards
Thailand's film censors have banned an adaptation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," saying it could inflame political passions in the country where it is taboo to criticize the monarchy.
HBO confirms "True Blood", "Newsroom" premiere dates
A stuntman who claims he suffered a concussion, whiplash and two holes in his knees while performing as the comic book hero in Broadway's "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" has asked producers to turn over any relevant information as he weighs pursuing a negligence lawsuit.
Stephen Colbert wins Peabody Award for SuperPAC satire
(Reuters) - Comedy show "The Colbert Report" won a prestigious Peabody Award on Wednesday for its segments on SuperPACs, in which host Stephen Colbert launched his own SuperPAC as a satirical protest against political spending.
The Peabodys, the oldest in broadcasting, recognize excellence in television and radio broadcasting, as well as by webcasters, producing organizations and individuals.
It was the second Peabody for "The Colbert Report," Comedy Central's satirical look at current events and the news.
"Launching his own SuperPAC as a satirical protest against megabucks politics, Colbert mixed cerebral comedy with inspired sight gags, interviews and preposterously funny monologues," the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, which administers the awards, said in a statement.
Colbert, who assumes the persona of a pompous, conservative talk show host on the program, built the segments around his establishment of the Colbert SuperPAC.
Colbert won his first Peabody in 2008.
Other winners ranged from television game show "Jeopardy!" and IFC's satire "Portlandia" to news coverage of the Arab Spring popular uprisings by Al Jazeera English, CNN, CBS News and National Public Radio.
Multiple Peabodys were won by PBS, HBO, NPR and CNN, while Human Rights Watch was cited for its detailed online reports.
The awards will be presented at a ceremony in New York on May 21 hosted by Patrick Stewart.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud, Editing by Jill Serjeant)
Fox special to feature "That 70s Show" cast
A stuntman who claims he suffered a concussion, whiplash and two holes in his knees while performing as the comic book hero in Broadway's "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" has asked producers to turn over any relevant information as he weighs pursuing a negligence lawsuit.
A last dance for Jack Wagner on "Dancing With the Stars"
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Last year was both a good one and, it turns out, a bad one for soap opera actor Jack Wagner as his Samba to "Lighting Up the Night" spelled the end of his competing on "Dancing With the Stars" on Tuesday.
Wagner, 52, was sent packing during the TV show's "most-memorable year" themed week in which the dancers selected a particular year for inspiration.
The actor, who was partnered with professional ballroom dancer Anna Trebunskaya, chose 2011 as his most memorable when he discovered he had a daughter.
Wagner looked surprised to be eliminated but said "I had a great time, and it was kind of great to test myself."
He could take solace in comments from judge Len Goodman, who said of Wagner's performance on Monday night's program: "For me, your best dance yet."
The judges praised all the dancers this week, and Goodman went so far as to say they all performed so well that "no one deserves to go home tonight."
The dancers' scores were clustered together after Monday's performance show with only five points separating the first-place dancers from the lowest scorers.
Five dancers, including Wagner, were tied at the bottom with 24. The other two dancers who faced elimination were singer Gladys Knight and musician Gavin DeGraw, who came in second-to-last for the second straight week.
Viewer votes combined with judges' ratings decide which star is eliminated each week.
But host Tom Bergeron on Tuesday unveiled a new twist in the popular TV contest. In coming weeks, the bottom-two couples will have a dance-off with the judges deciding who goes home based on their last-chance dance.
The top score from the judges' ratings after Monday's show was again won by singer Katherine Jenkins. Ten stars remain in the competition.
Musical highlights of the Tuesday's live elimination round included Seal performing "Lean on Me," and country group Rascal Flatts doing the title track from their latest album, "Changed."
"Dancing With the Stars" annually is among the top-rated U.S. TV shows with a formula that pairs B-list celebrities, sports stars and singers with professional dancers performing sambas, waltzes and other dances across a ballroom floor.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
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