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Those morons at Jeff Zucker's company have stepped in it yet again. It's bad enough NBC can't get anyone to watch its piss-poor network primetime shows, but now NBC is making sure the American public can't watch other networks' shows as well. (This follows an earlier report that NBC doesn't want the Jay Leno Show to book rival networks' TV stars.) The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is known for annually including "cultural touchstones of the moment" in its broadcast, from every American Idol winner since the 2nd season (a Fox show) to the stars of High School Musical (a Disney...

High ratings drama Monday night with a deluge of broadcast network premieres: >> Fox won the opening night of the fall season for the first time in the network's history. The network aired the two-hour return of "House" (16.5 million viewers, 6.5 preliminary adults 18-49 rating), the medical drama climbing 14% from last year while most of its competitors declined. >> CBS placed second in the key adult demo with its comedy block and "CSI: Miami" (13.7 million, 4.3). "Miami" was down 17%, though still beat ABC and NBC at 10 p.m. combined. "Big Bang Theory" (12.8 million, 4.6), however,...

Tonight Fox will run the series finale of King of the Hill, the saga of Hank Hill and his gang of associates living in their exurb paradise of Arlen, Texas.... The beauty of King is that while it pokes fun at Hank’s myriad foibles, it understands the creepy nature of those who dedicate their lives to interfering in the lives of others, always claiming the moral high ground yet inevitably maximizing their own personal power and advantage. From snooty school guidance counselors to pompous college professors to lazy municipal clerks, Hank is constantly beset by nimrods trying to force him...

LOS ANGELES – Ellen DeGeneres is dancing her way onto "American Idol," replacing Paula Abdul as the show's fourth judge. In a Wednesday release from Fox and the show's producers, DeGeneres described herself as a longtime fan of the hit singing contest. Abdul, who announced she was quitting the show amid a contract dispute, had been replaced by a succession of guest judges as "American Idol" started next season's auditions. DeGeneres, host of a daytime talk show, wasn't among them. She will join Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi for the ninth season starting in January.

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh, former Bush strategist Karl Rove and other famous Republicans will play themselves on Fox's left-leaning "Family Guy" next season. Karl rove In an episode being produced for next season, the Griffins' liberal dog, Brian, gets bored and frustrated because he feels he no longer has anything to complain about with Barack Obama in the White House. So Brian becomes a Republican and starts listening to Rush Limbaugh (who, apparently, also sings a song). "'Family Guy' tends to be very liberal because it's written by liberals," creator Seth MacFarlane said. "So we thought let's give the...

They’re known for pushing the envelope, but this time “Family Guy” has gone too far, says Fox. The network known for politically incorrect cartoons and shows like "More to Love" has declined to air an episode of "Family Guy" that features a graphic depiction of an abortion, according to a Reuters report. The episode will be included on DVD. Set to run next season, the episode follows Lois Griffin, the family’s matriarch, as she becomes a surrogate mother for an infertile couple. After the couple is unexpectedly killed in a car accident, Lois is left with a tough decision about...

August, 2009 FOX has annouced that its popular show HOUSE will be canceled and will not have its 2009 season televised as planned. Due to Obamacare restrictions, delays, rationing and age-to-benefit studies, the show simply can't be done. Writers & producers have concluded that each episode would take 10-20 times longer while necessary medical tests, needed to move the plot/story line, have now become unavailable. Episodes dealing with elderly patients were scrapped as their stories constantly ended with either pain pill overdoses or euthanasia. Episodes involving unborn children with defects/complications were constantly ending with an abortions. There were also too...

Broadcast television networks typically sell the bulk of their advertising for the coming season in a handful of days in late May and June. But this wasn't a typical year. With the sour economy, declines in consumer spending and sagging prime-time rankings, network sales executives have had to work overtime this summer to close deals with advertisers. For more than a month, talks were stalled because advertisers were demanding steep cuts in pricing -- and the networks initially were refusing to give in. Several weeks ago, the impasse melted and the networks started to slowly ring up sales with major...

Fox says it will not air an upcoming 'Family Guy' episode that deals with abortion, the Live Feed reports. The network announced its decision in a statement released earlier this afternoon, adding that Fox executives "fully support the producers' right to make the episode and distribute it in whatever way they want." Series creator Seth MacFarlane appeared ready for the decision when he spoke during 'Family Guy''s Comic-Con panel discussion on Saturday. "20th Century Fox, as always, allowed us to produce the episode and then said, 'You know what? We're scared to ******* death of this,'" he said, according to...

After losing some $30 million from advertisers while they covered President Obama's three primetime news conferences in recent months, the major television networks are likely to follow Fox's lead and turn down the White House when it asks them to preempt a primetime time period any time soon, the Hollywood Reporter reported today (Friday), citing several unnamed network executives. "We will continue to make our decisions on White House requests on a case-by-case basis, but the Fox decision gives us cover to reject a request if we feel that there is no urgent breaking news that is going to be...

A white reporter accuses Fox TV of racial bias in suspending and firing him for suggesting, in a newsroom meeting, that the station not shy away from using "the N word" in a report on an NAACP youth group's ceremony "to symbolically bury the word '******' and its negative connotations." Plaintiff Thomas Burlington says that during a news meeting on June 23, 2007, the reporter on the story (nonparty) Robin Taylor, "used the euphemistic phrase 'the n-word' rather than the actual word '******.' "Plaintiff expressed his opinion that using the phrase 'the n-word' rather than the actual word '*****' ultimately...

And indeed, he wasn’t called on. Did that ever happen with Bush? I know he skipped Helen Thomas sometimes because he didn’t like her and/or the tone of her questions, but did he ever punish a reporter because that reporter’s agency refused to give him free exposure? It turned out to be a savvy business decision by Fox, but then, in our new command economy, it’s hard to blame The One for insisting that he get his way.

Fox News White House correspondent Major Garrett appeared this morning on "Brian and the Judge," and described why he didn't get a question during Wednesday's prime time news conference. "That was retribution for the FOX network, broadcast network, running with its regular scheduled programming instead of taking the White House press conference," he said. "I was warned that it might be considered as part of the overall consideration as to whether or not I'd be called on."

Fox News White House correspondent Major Garrett was asked today on the "Brian and the Judge" radio show about the network being snubbed during Obama's third prime-time presser. (h/t Johnny Dollar). "That was retribution for the Fox network, broadcast network, running with its regularly scheduled programming instead of taking the White House press conference," Garrett said.

And indeed, he wasn’t called on. Did that ever happen with Bush? I know he skipped Helen Thomas sometimes because he didn’t like her and/or the tone of her questions, but did he ever punish a reporter because that reporter’s agency refused to give him free exposure? It turned out to be a savvy business decision by Fox, but then, in our new command economy, it’s hard to blame The One for insisting that he get his way. My question’s in earnest, incidentally. This may be S.O.P. among president/media relations, although even if it is, the thought that Barack Obama...

It seems Fox made the smart move by deciding not to air president Obama's 100th-day press conference. The network beat every other broadcaster, all of which were carrying the president's speech, in the ratings. Fox's new episode of Lie To Me drew 7.9 million viewers. Fox also got millions in advertising revenue by running a normal TV program instead of Obama's commercial-free address. In second place for the 8 p.m. hour was NBC's airing of Obama's speech, which pulled in 6.7 million viewers. Are people finally getting bored with Obama's frequent speeches?

WASHINGTON -- On Wednesday evening, all but one of America's television networks blew off their prime-time programs and dutifully trotted off to the White House to cover an hourlong self-congratulatory news conference celebrating the first 100 days of the Obama administration. Only Fox kept regularly scheduled programming -- the network's new hit "Lie to Me." ABC, CBS and NBC should have used the same title for the O-Team's news conference. The Fox "reality drama" drew a million more American viewers than any network airing Mr. Obama's version of "Lie to Me." Those who tuned in to the White House coverage...

FOX, the only one of the Big Four networks that did not carry Pres. Obama's news conference last night, finished first in the 8pmET hour with a new episode of "Lie to Me." The drama averaged 7.9 million Total Viewers, according to Nielsen overnights. NBC's coverage of the Obama newser came in second with 6.7 million Total Viewers. Overall, Obama's news conference was seen by nearly 19 million viewers across NBC, ABC, CBS according to the early numbers. (Reminder: fast nationals measure only timeslot and not actual program data). Final ratings will be released later today.

Just In: FOX, the only one of the Big Four networks that did not carry Pres. Obama's news conference last night, finished first in the 8pm ET hour with a new episode of "Lie to Me." The drama averaged 7.9 million Total Viewers, according to Nielsen overnights. NBC's coverage of the Obama newser came in second with 6.7 million Total Viewers. Overall, Obama's news conference was seen by nearly 19 million viewers across NBC, ABC, CBS according to the early numbers. (Reminder: fast nationals measure only timeslot and not actual program data). Final ratings will be released later today.

The Fox Network is making a smart business move by passing on tonight's press conference celebrating President Obama's first 100 days in office. Other networks are losing millions of dollars of advertising revenue to air what amounts to an unpaid political ad.

Fox News .. being the evil right-wing network that it is ... has actually turned down yet another PrezBO does Prime Time press conference. The administration requested that networks air his 100 day address to the nation during primetime on Wednesday, and Fox News turned it down. Man does this have the liberal thongs in a wad! That means, of course, that I love it. We don't need another tradition here. The media is already compelled to carry a state of the union address every year .. and valuable broadcast time is surrendered to the governing authorities several times a...

NEW YORK – The Fox network is sticking with its regular schedule over President Barack Obama this week. The network is turning down the president's request to show his prime-time news conference on Wednesday. The news conference marks Obama's 100th day in office. Instead of the president, Fox viewers will see an episode of the Tim Roth drama "Lie to Me." It's the first time a broadcast network has refused Obama's request. This will be the third prime-time news conference in Obama's presidency. ABC, CBS and NBC are airing it.

The Fox network is sticking with its regular schedule over President Barack Obama this week. The network is turning down the president's request to show his prime-time news conference on Wednesday. The news conference marks Obama's 100th day in office. Instead of the president, Fox viewers will see an episode of the Tim Roth drama "Lie to Me." It's the first time a broadcast network has refused Obama's request. This will be the third prime-time news conference in Obama's presidency. ABC, CBS and NBC are airing it.

NMATV stands behind AFA and their boycott of PepsiCo's sponsorship of a "Sexually Offensive" episode of Fox's The Family Guy� March 27, 2009 New Media Alliance Television (www.nmatv.com) is standing firmly behind the American Family Association's boycott of PepsiCo, in their FCC complaint drive against the Fox Broadcasting Company's sexually offensive, anti-Family, anti-Christian content� included in a recent airing of The Family Guy.

Family Guy – talk about a misnomer. The animated Fox television series crossed sexual, moral and religious boundaries on Sunday evening when it aired content inappropriate for its young target audience. The controversial material was not limited to one subject, or isolated in a single scene. Images of gay men kissing, a baby eating semen, physical abuse, sexual touching and a half naked male were just a few of the disturbing images viewers were treated to in the March 8 episode. The Parents Television Council has issued a press release regarding the indecent content. Tim Winter, President of the...

"Smile, You’re Under Arrest" — that’s the name of a new reality TV show starring none other than Sheriff Joe Arpaio of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO). Yet Maricopa County citizens aren’t smiling as Arpaio’s tactics have wreaked a lot of havoc, and fought little crime. Arpaio has transformed his police department into an immigration-enforcement agency, gaining international notoriety in the process. Armed with a 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a mandate to enforce immigration law, Arpaio has taken the pursuit of undocumented immigrants to “unconstitutional extremes

The animated Fox show "Family Guy" is known for pushing the political envelope, but what was up with last night's catch phrase, "Laura Bush killed a guy"? Loyal fans love the show for its politically incorrect humor -- it thrives on the "They did NOT just say that" variety of comedy. But Sunday night's episode left some viewers scratching their heads. Lead cartoon characters Peter and Lois Griffin repeated the phrase "Laura Bush killed a guy" several times throughout the show with Peter was dressed as Mrs. Bush and Lois as a bleeding man crisscrossed with tire tracks for a...

For you students who have been fans of the Simpsons since way back in your Pogs days, you know it goes without saying that Homer Simpson screws up… a lot. But for once, in this clip, Homer’s blunder is not his fault at all. He did the right thing, he voted for Obama! Alas, the machine wouldn’t let him… instead it changes his vote to McCain every time. It’d be funny if it didn’t seem eerily plausible. (And just plain eerie, seriously, listen to the opening music.) As Simpson says, “This doesn’t happen in America, maybe Ohio, but not in...

A dominant Fox is set to be crowned the winner of the 2007-08 television season, one that the broadcast biz -- and perhaps even Fox -- would just as soon forget. The writers strike, along with the rising popularity of DVRs and the increased availability of programming on multiple platforms, conspired to make this season the lowest-rated on record for the broadcasters. There was also a dearth of breakout hits, with no new show emerging as the biz's savior. Of course, the broadcasters have been losing audience share to cable for years -- but this season saw the most troubling...

Liberals make and promote and distribute and champion films about assassinating Bush, sex with animals, and sympathizing with child molesters, but it’s torture to save American lives which most offends them. How so very revealing… It is over. Conservatives will no longer have even a single show on network television anymore. Not. Even. One. In a heartbreaking Wall Street Journal article, the death of 24 as we knew and loved it has arrived in the form of a left-wing “reinvention” which is obviously determined to remove everything which made the series special: it’s unabashed patriotism and determination to protect that...

Having come to Fox's rescue on more than one occasion, "American Idol" this year faces a far tougher mission: keeping the lights on in TV land during one of the medium's darkest hours.

A joke that aired on the new Fox television show "Back to You" suggesting that Poles are Nazi collaborators has enraged some Polish Americans. They are calling for the owner of Fox, Rupert Murdoch, to apologize. The chairman of the Polish American Congress's anti-bigotry committee, Frank Milewski, said he wrote a letter in response to the episode calling on Mr. Murdoch to meet with Polish Christians who survived Nazi concentration camps and Poles who have been honored by Israel for rescuing Jews during the Holocaust.

Watch Rush on Family Guy Programming Note: Don't miss Rush on the season premiere of Family Guy, this Sunday at 9PM ET on Fox.

New Study Shows Broadcast TV Family Hour Fare Filthier Than Ever Fox is the worst broadcast network overall LOS ANGELES, September 6, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A new Parents Television Council study of Family Hour programming conclusively shows that children watching television during the first hour of prime time are assaulted by violence, profanity or sexual content once every 3.5 minutes of non-commercial airtime. During the 2006-2007 study period, almost 90% of the 208 television shows reviewed contained objectionable content. The PTC found that Fox is the worst broadcast network overall, noting its 20.78 instances of violent, profane and sexual content...

The Fox television series "Anchorwoman" has been canceled after one low-rated airing. The debut of the reality show about an attempt by Lauren Jones to turn herself into a TV news anchor in East Texas drew an estimated 2.7 million viewers Wednesday. Details are in preliminary figures from Nielsen Media Research. That number is about one-third of the viewership Fox attracted a week earlier with the finale of its popular "So You Think You Can Dance." Jones was a Barker Beauty on "The Price Is Right," Miss New York and featured WWE Diva before the series put her into the...

Six weeks after being removed as the head of NBC’s entertainment division, Kevin Reilly resurfaced at the Fox network yesterday, assuming the position of president of the entertainment division. At the same time, Fox elevated Peter Liguori, who had been the division president, giving him the new title of chairman of entertainment. The moves reunite the two men, who previously worked together at Fox’s entertainment cable channel, FX, and programmed some of that channel’s biggest hits, including “The Shield” and “Nip/Tuck.” Mr. Liguori said in a telephone interview that as soon as he heard that Mr. Reilly was being ousted...

In the ‘90s, the local TV news scene in Pittsburgh was dominated by one team: CHUCK DARLING (Kelsey Grammer, “Frasier,” “Cheers”) and KELLY CARR (Patricia Heaton, “Everybody Loves Raymond”). They had that elusive quality all news teams need: chemistry ... at least on-screen. Off-screen, Chuck was a bit of a self-centered womanizer, Kelly a bit of an uptight know-it-all. So when Chuck got the call to move up to a larger market, no tears were shed. But after an embarrassing on-air tirade ended up on the Internet, Chuck found himself on the downswing career-wise. He even questioned whether his...

Just wondering what you thought of it...

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS) (NWS.A) said Tuesday that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 19% on increased revenue at its film studios and television networks. New York-based News Corp. said said net income in the latest three months rose to $852 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $717 million, or 22 cents a share. Earnings in the latest quarter included a gain of $134 million, or 4 cents a share, on its sale of Sky Radio Limited. Revenue rose to $6.78 billion from $6.11 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call...

With Katie Couric and Charles Gibson departing morning television, Roger Ailes has decided to dip a toe in. Beginning in January, the 35 stations owned and operated by Fox Television Stations group, overseen by Mr. Ailes since last year, will begin broadcasting a live, one-hour morning show, to be seen beginning at 9 in most cities, Fox announced yesterday. Juliet Huddy and Mike Jerrick will be the hosts of a Fox morning show. The show will generally forgo hard news for segments on entertainment and lifestyle, but it will undoubtedly have some of the feel of the Fox News Channel,...

March 20, 2006 - Fox has announced an early renewal for The Simpsons, and in a surprise move, has also renewed King of the Hill for an 11th season. This was expected to be the last season for Hill, and production had shut down on the animated series a year ago. However, Variety reports that Fox decided that the ratings were still strong enough to allow the show to continue. The entire staff of the show had moved out of their offices and on to other projects, but series creator Mike Judge was convinced to return after Fox was also...

Thursday, February 9, 2006 · Last updated 10:03 a.m. PT 'American Idol' crushes Grammys in ratings By DAVID BAUDER AP TELEVISION WRITER NEW YORK -- Some humbling news for the pros: By a wide margin, TV viewers prefer the amateurs. Nearly twice as many people watched "American Idol" than the Grammy Awards Wednesday when the two music programs went head-to-head in prime time, according to preliminary estimates by Nielsen Media Research. The "Idol" audience on Fox was 28.3 million while the Grammy Awards were being watched by 15.1 million people from 8 to 9 p.m. EST, Nielsen said. Within that...

IS CHARLES LOGAN A DEMOCRAT OR A REPUBLICAN?....A few days ago a reader threatened to report me to Glenn Reynolds unless I cleared up an important issue that I brought up last Sunday: Is Charles Logan a Republican?Logan, of course, is the hapless president of the United States currently on offer from the producers of 24. As we all know, he was formerly vice president Charles Logan until the untimely destruction of Air Force One in Season 4, so the question of his party affiliation boils down to this: Was John Keeler a Republican?The basic argument goes like this. The...

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Jack Bauer‘s latest marathon workday got off to a good start Sunday, ratings-wise. The Fox drama "24" notched its most-watched episode ever with its fifth-season premiere as the first of two back-to-back episodes got a boost from a primetime overrun (in East Coast and Midwestern markets) of the NFL‘s NFC divisional playoff game between the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears. Airing from about 8:13-9:11 p.m. EST, the first episode of "24" averaged 17 million viewers and a 7.3 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic (demographic share data for Sunday were not available Monday because of...

On tonight's episode of 'House' (doctor drama that features great writing and an excellent central character and airs on FOX every Tuesday at 9:00 Eastern), the POTE (Patient Of The Episode) was a homosexual who took drugs (including crystal meth and PCP), had AIDS, and - later on during the episode - caughed some blood onto one of the female doctors (whose name escapes me) thus potentially giving her HIV. And all the while, the homo acts so smug and 'innocent', as if he did nothing wrong. He so casually remarks how he used to be a 'good boy', who...

'Arrested Development' gets the ax LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- Two TV families appear to be getting the boot. The Camdens will bid farewell to viewers in May when the WB Network's top-rated family drama "7th Heaven" ends its run after 10 seasons in what sources said was largely a cost-cutting move. The Bluth clan of Fox's ratings-challenged "Arrested Development" is also headed for the exit after Fox cut the third-season order on the Emmy-winning comedy to 13 episodes.

'Arrested Development' gets the ax '7th Heaven' also ending run Friday, November 11, 2005; Posted: 12:47 p.m. EST (17:47 GMT) The cast of the Emmy-winning "Arrested Development." The show was never a ratings winner. Manage Alerts | What Is This? LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter)Reuters -- The Camdens will bid farewell to viewers in May when the WB Network's top-rated family drama "7th Heaven" ends its run after 10 seasons in what sources said was largely a cost-cutting move. The Bluth clan of Fox's ratings-challenged "Arrested Development" is also headed for the exit after Fox cut the third-season order on...

First her fiance, now her TV show--it's been a rough patch for Paris Hilton. Just two weeks after the celebutante confirmed the end of her engagement to Paris Latsis, Fox has announced that it has deep-sixed the show that made her famous, The Simple Life. In a statement Wednesday, the network blamed a stacked schedule as the reason for the cancellation. "At Fox we have a unique midseason situation," the network said. "In January we have to accommodate 2 1/2 hours of new programming with 24 and American Idol. We also have completed episodes of both scripted and unscripted series...

"The Simple Life" is over — at least on Fox. The network said Wednesday it has canceled the Paris Hilton-Nicole Richie reality series after the show's two stars no longer proved compatible. The feuding ex-friends will not return for a fourth season, even though the network had picked up the options on their contracts. Fox said its midseason schedule didn't have a time slot for the show. "We did not see a place for `The Simple Life' on our schedule this season," the network said in a statement. However, 20th Century Fox Television, the studio that produces the show, hopes...

When a reality-show television producer says “Trust me,” run. That’s the lesson Gary and Sharon Rosier of Lemont Township say they learned when Fox Broadcasting’s “Renovate My Family” promised them a new and improved home designed to accommodate their recently paralyzed son, Steven. Instead of a handicapped-friendly home that made their life easier, they got a shoddy wreck of a house that latest estimates say will cost $350,000 to fix, the Rosiers’ attorney, Mark Belongia, said. “Essentially what they did is build a movie set,” Belongia said. Wiring remains exposed; door knobs are round, impossible for Steven to grasp; a...