Blue Bloods
Viewers of the CBS hit Blue Bloods may feel like they've gone through a time warp when they see executive producer Leonard Goldberg's credit on the screen. One of network TV's most successful execs, he oversaw programming at ABC in the 1960s, produced such hits as Charlie's Angels and Starsky & Hutch with Aaron Spelling in the 1970s and was responsible for some of the most memorable made-for-TV movies of the '80s before heading into film. Goldberg, who turns 77 this month, told us what it's like to be back on the front lines of prime time.
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Kim Kardashian
As DVR usage grows and demos slice and dice the audience, the winners and losers in the TV business are not so clear-cut anymore. Here's a look at some of the facts and figures that reflect what — and how — viewers watched (and listened and purchased) in the past year....
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The Walking Dead
As time goes on, more viewers will no longer know the difference between broadcast and cable networks (just ask Conan O'Brien). The disparity in ratings is disappearing, too. Here are the channels that provided the big ratings successes — and busts — of 2010...
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Harry Smith, Maggie Rodriguez
CBS is making sweeping changes to its third place morning program The Early Show.
The network is moving ...
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Robert Greenblatt
NBC will soon have a new owner, a new entertainment chief — and a long road back to prime-time ratings success.
Once the government gives its stamp of approval to cable company Comcast's deal to buy a controlling interest in NBC Universal, former Showtime chief Robert Greenblatt will try to restore the luster of NBC's entertainment division. While NBC is a powerhouse in TV news and its cable networks are a profit machine (current executives in both divisions will remain in place when Comcast takes over), the most visible aspect of its business — the broadcast network's prime-time lineup — has deteriorated steadily throughout the decade. The once proud peacock has not turned out a new major ratings hit in five years, and its biggest shows — The Office, Law & Order: SVU and The Biggest Loser — are aging and in decline.
New management is looking for a rescue effort from Greenblatt, who in seven years at Showtime stewarded such lauded series ...
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Top Gear
Since the late 1990s, British imports such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Dancing With the Stars and American Idol have become ratings blockbusters in the United States. But stateside success has eluded one of the biggest Brit hits of them all.
It's Top Gear, the rollicking reality/talk-show hybrid from the BBC that features three British automotive journalists gabbing about cars and performing elaborate and occasionally breathtaking stunts and challenges. The series, which has been shown here on BBC America, has been a worldwide sensation for almost 10 years and was recently the subject of a 60 Minutes profile. The studio ...
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Conan O'Brien
The set for Conan O'Brien's new TBS late-night show is just two miles from where the host served his ill-fated stint on NBC's The Tonight Show. But O'Brien's longtime sidekick Andy Richter says the mood feels a million miles away. "It's kind of like...
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Aisha Hinds
Aisha Hinds, who plays Lt. Maureen Mason on ABC's Detroit 1-8-7, was feeling the love recently while at a Trader Joe's in Royal Oak, Michigan. "A woman wanted to give me her entire cart of groceries," she says. "I just came in for a bottle of water."
That's a typical reaction in the Detroit area ...
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Brian Williams
It's not easy being a traditional TV newsman in a new-media world. But Brian Williams, who grew up worshipping Walter Cronkite, remains the most watched anchor as NBC Nightly News averages 8 million viewers ...
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