Dozens Of TV Shows Cancelled As Networks Clean House

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – It’s house-cleaning time for the major networks as the cancellation ax falls in order to make for new additions in the fall.

Some shows, such as NBC’s “State of Affairs” and “Constantine,” have been off the air so long that it feels they’d already been cancelled. But the formal notice falls just as hard even when if it is long expected.

Among the big four networks, NBC got out the largest broom on Friday, a sign of the struggle it had this year with new series. “Marry Me,” “About a Boy,” “One Big Happy” joined earlier casualties “A to Z” and “Bad Judge.”

On the drama side, “Constantine” and Katherine Heigl’s comeback vehicle, “State of Affairs,” were formally terminated, as was “Allegiance” earlier in the year. The bell is also expected to ring soon for another drama, “American Odyssey.”

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/television/20150508_Reuters_MT1VRT1201491119_Dozens_of_TV_Shows_Cancelled_as_Networks_Clean_House.html#6zhMXiPdXp4eDklM.99

Steep Membership Decline Prompts WVIA To Sever Ties With Longtime Exec Bill Kelly

PITTSTON TOWNSHIP, PA — With membership down, Bill Kelly is out at WVIA.

But the longtime public broadcasting executive didn’t depart empty-handed, leaving the station he once headed with a nearly $300,000 buyout package, paid for by donations from board members.

“Not one penny of Kelly’s remaining contract payment of $291,878 came from membership contributions or grant support,” Martin Walzer, chairman of the WVIA Board of Directors, said in a message posted on the station’s website.

Kelly’s four-decade association with WVIA ended on Dec. 31.

Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/51009022/

Colbert To Replace Letterman As “Late Show” Host

NEW YORK — Stephen Colbert — the supremely gifted host of “The Colbert Report” who has made a career of satirically channeling Bill O’Reilly — has been named host of “The Late Show.” He will replace David Letterman when the latter retires next year, probably in May.

Letterman said in a statement, “Stephen has always been a real friend to me. I’m very excited for him, and I’m flattered that CBS chose him. I also happen to know they wanted another guy with glasses.”

Colbert was expected. But this quick an announcement was not. Clearly CBS wanted to get the speculation behind it and begin laying the groundwork for the transition as as soon as possible.

Read more:  http://timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/1317426/Colbert-to-replace-Letterman-as-Late-Show-host

Spotlight’s Off, But Reading’s Challenges Remain

A 1947 topographic map of the Reading, Pennsylvania area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The journey to tell a television Christmas story in poverty-stricken Reading began two summers ago in holiday-decorated Hope Lutheran Church on North Front Street.

A national TV audience, estimated at more than 1.4 million homes, observed the 2012 Christmas Eve broadcast of “One Christmas Story: People Rich in Spirit,” a production of Odyssey Networks, a New York-based multifaith media coalition.

It was a story designed to depict Reading’s hope and faith amid economic challenges. At the time, it sparked energy and excitement.

But, one year later, at Christmas 2013, many of the city’s social challenges remain unchanged.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article/20131222/NEWS/312229955/1052#.UrbPPPRDsxI

Comcast Wants To Be Your One And Only Cable Provider

English: Comcast Tower, tallest building in Philadelphia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) — America’s largest pay-TV operator wants to be your one and only and it’s willing to absorb the second-largest to do so.

Citing sources, Reuters reports Comcast Corp  is weighing up a potential full takeover bid for Time Warner Cable , an acquisition which would create an industry behemoth.

A full takeover is but one of three potential scenarios in consideration. The Philadelphia-based broadcasting giant is also determining whether to partner with an additional cable company to take over Time Warner or, in a less aggressive move, whether to simply pick and choose certain Time Warner Cable markets.

Time Warner Cable has been the subject of many takeover rumors of late and the latest puts a rumored offer from Charter Communications  in jeopardy. Last week, Bloomberg reported the fourth-largest cable provider was preparing its own bid for Time Warner Cable and was seeking as much as $25 billion in loans to do so. Time Warner Cable is significantly larger than the Stamford, Conn.-based business, with a market share of $37.9 billion dwarfing Charter’s $13 billion.

Read more: http://business-news.thestreet.com/philly/story/comcast-wants-to-be-your-one-and-only-cable-provider/12157503

7-Year-Old From York Up For Kindest Kid Award

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting York County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

York PA – A second-grader’s passion for cleaning up York landed him a spot as one of four candidates for the Sprout channel’s “Kindest Kid” award.

Mateo Maldonado, 7, was chosen from applicants across the country to compete for the award, sponsored by the channel that airs children’s programming. Voting takes place on the Sprout website, and the winner will travel to Sprout’s studios for an interview Dec. 21.

Mateo’s mother, Meranda Rodenhaber, said she and Mateo’s father, Chris Maldonado, nominated their son after seeing an advertisement on Sprout for the award that talked about children who go out of their way to care for others.

“Right away it just clicked, and it was like, ‘That’s Mateo,'” Rodenhaber said.

Read more: http://www.yorkdispatch.com/breaking/ci_24676665/7-year-old-from-york-up-kindest-kid

Frugal California University Of Pennsylvania Cuts Back On Spending, Saves Millions

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Washington County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Channel-surfing college football fans may notice one area team missing from this fall’s TV lineup.

California University of Pennsylvania decided it no longer could justify spending up to $150,000 a season to produce and broadcast games played by its Division II Vulcans football team — not with classroom cuts looming.

Suddenly frugal Cal U also pared service on its Vulcan Flyer, a shuttle named for the school’s mascot that used to leave campus stops every 10 minutes. Students now wait a bit longer, saving Cal U half a million dollars.

Still more money — another $1.6 million — was recouped by telling campus departments to return unspent money at year’s end, suspending a practice that had let them amass surpluses, even in years that the university tapped reserves to balance its books.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/frugal-california-university-of-pennsylvania-cuts-back-on-spending-saves-millions-706559/#ixzz2h3iK9R1u

Inventor Of The Foam Finger: Miley Cyrus Took An ‘Honorable Icon’ And ‘Degraded It’ At 2013 MTV VMAs

Editor’s note:  And the choir says, AMEN to that!  A truly revolting performance!  I liked  Kelly Clarkson’s description #pitchystripper.

Steve Chmelar was 16-years-old when he invented the concept that would later become the foam finger, formally known as the original “No. 1 finger” – a prop intended to support his high school basketball team in 1971 at the Iowa state championships.

What the 59-year-old Vice President of commercial sales at a construction supply company did not intend for his invention, was for it to be used by Miley Cyrus in such a manner during her controversial Sunday performance at the VMAs.  Chmelar, who didn’t see her moves live on Sunday, told FoxSports.com that he watched it after a family member told him about it via Facebook.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/entertainment/celebrities_gossip/Inventor-is-not-happy-with-Miley-Cyrus-use-of-the-foam-finger-at-the-VMAs.html#qGa8SRYhFDIjtFBX.99

Pending Sales Of ABC 27, CBS 21 Leave Uncertainty For Station Managers

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The managers of ABC 27 and CBS 21 said Tuesday it was too early to tell what changes may be in store for both local television stations now that an agreement is in place that requires both to be sold.

“We don’t know much and it’s to be seen (what will happen),” said Joe Lewin, the general manager of ABC 27.  “We’re going to become part of the largest broadcasting group in the country. That’s what we know. That could be a very good thing.”

Lewin was referring to Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which on Mondayannounced a $985 million deal that includes the acquisition of seven ABC affiliates — including ABC 27 — and a 24-hour cable news network.  Those stations are being sold by Allbritton Communications.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/07/potential_changes_yet_to_be_se.html#incart_river_default

Former CBS 21 Reporter Kirk Wilson Confirms News Director’s Connection To Prostitution Sting

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kirk Wilson, former CBS 21 reporter, confirmed Saturday that the man who fired him in May from the news station and a man police arrested for allegedly soliciting prostitution are one and the same.

“That’s the face that fired me,” Wilson said in reference to a mug shot of David Baer issued by Swatara Township police.  Baer is the station’s news director, taking the job just about two months ago.

Wilson, the former Carlisle mayor, said he was also able to confirm that connection by talking to employees at the station.  He said they didn’t know any more about the case than what was issued in a Swatara Township police news release.

Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/06/former_cbs_21_reporter_kirk_wi.html

Morning Call Parent Tribune To Buy WNEP, 18 Other TV Stations

Locator map of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area in the northeastern part of the of . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tribune Co.‘s $2.73 billion acquisition of 19 television station’s from Local TV Holdings includes a major player in Pennsylvania, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre ABC affiliate WNEP.

The station, a prominent source for local news in the coal region, is among those Tribune is acquiring in a deal announced Monday that would make the Chicago company the largest TV station owner in the United States.

The deal also significantly increases Tribune’s stake in Pennsylvania.  Tribune, which publishes The Morning Call, already owns WPHL in Philadelphia and WPMT in York.  WNEP will expand the reach of the company’s television assets into 21 northeastern Pennsylvania counties, the state’s fourth-largest television market.

That area has a total of 581,020 homes with television viewers, making it the No. 54 market in the country, according to the Nielsen Co.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-tribune-buys-tv-stations-20130701,0,5253381.story#ixzz2XuuiHSK7
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Montco Chef To Appear On ‘Food Network Star’

English: Logo for Food Network (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

AMBLER, PA — One local man will be cooking up quite a bit of national attention for the area now that he’s earned a spot as a contestant on a new reality show this summer.

Chad Rosenthal, 37, of Ambler, has been chosen to appear as a contestant on the Food Network’s ninth season of the “Food Network Star” competition, which begins airing Sunday, June 2, at 9 p.m.

Featuring celebrity judge mentors Alton Brown, Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis, the show pits 12 contestants against one another in a series of weekly challenges for a chance to earn their own television show on the channel.

Born and raised in Upper Dublin, Rosenthal said he’s putting his hopes for stardom on his highly popular barbecue comfort food-style menu.  The owner of the former Rosie’s restaurants in Jenkintown and Ambler said patrons said his face belonged on the small screen.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130531/ENTERTAINMENT01/130539895/montco-chef-to-appear-on-food-network-star-#full_story

TV Program On Reading’s Future Takes First Place

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A program produced by WFMZ-TV and Reading Eagle Company took first place in the public affairs category over the weekend at the Pennsylvania Associated Press Broadcasters Association awards banquet for 2012 in Harrisburg.

It was previously announced that “From Poverty to Prosperity: Reading Looks to the Future” finished in the top three in the category for medium-market TV stations, but its exact finish was not announced until the banquet.

The program was a joint effort between print and television media, sponsored by M&T Bank in collaboration with United Way of Berks County and hosted by Reading Area Community College.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=479294

Philly Flower Show Lost $1.2 Million, And Leader Blames TV

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society usually makes about $1 million in profits from the Philadelphia Flower Show.

But not this year.

The 2013 show actually fell short about $1.2 million, not an unprecedented event in its 184-year history but a short-term disaster for the many urban “greening” programs it supports.  PHS president Drew Becher is now scrambling to cut costs – and to raise $1 million for programs and $200,000 for Flower Show expenses from PHS members and an insurance policy.

For all this, he blames local TV and radio stations.

With unusual bluntness, Becher accuses them of “hyping up” a major snowstorm during Flower Show week that never materialized – but led to scores of canceled tour buses and visitors, and the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in ticket and merchandise sales.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20130519_Flower_Show_lost__1_2_million__and_leader_blames_TV.html#Gok7XbSLiFH34U2D.99

Pittsburgh Native Zachary Quinto Revels In Spock Role

English: Zachary Quinto greets a soldier’s daughter on the phone following a screening of Star Trek at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At one point during “Star Trek Into Darkness,” Kirk fumes, “Sometimes, I just want to rip the bangs off his head.”

But Kirk doesn’t do that, which is a good thing considering the amount of time consumed by the workday ritual of transforming Pittsburgh native Zachary Quinto into Spock, the half-Vulcan, half-human with a high-maintenance look.

By the time the movie finished shooting, the makeup artists had shaved a whopping 30 minutes from their application of the signature swooping ears, angled eyebrows and other facial flourishes.

Not a big deal? It started as 3 hours and 15 minutes — plus another 30 minutes in hair — so even an extra half-hour can be a luxury when you have to report to the set 2 1/2 to three hours ahead of everyone else who may be arriving at 6 a.m.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/movies/pittsburgh-native-zachary-quinto-revels-in-spock-role-687961/#ixzz2TZUrYou9

Club Operator Who Fleeced John Bolaris Is Sentenced

The South Beach club operator who orchestrated the “bar girls” scheme that fleeced former Philadelphia weatherman John Bolaris out of $43,000 and eventually cost him his job was sentenced to 12 years in prison today.

According the Miami Herald, operator Albert Takhalov cried as he was sentenced.

Also sentenced today were Isaac Feldman, an investor in two of the clubs implicated in the “bar girls” ring, who received eight years, and Stanislav Pavlenko, will be sentenced later this month

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/entertainment/celebrities_gossip/Club-owner-who-fleeced-Bolaris-is-sentenced.html#Z64Gm19j6VUFVsVD.99

NBC Cancels Several Series

Last fall it appeared that NBC might finally be making inroads in its quest to return to its former frontrunner status in the Nielsen ratings.  But appearances turned out to be deceiving.  NBC’s success was built on the slender shoulders of just two series, reality competition “The Voice” and freshman drama “Revolution,” and when those shows took a break between December and March, NBC’s ratings again collapsed.

NBC is poised to end the 2012-13 TV season later this month in fourth place among total viewers behind No. 1 CBS, No. 2 Fox and No. 3 ABC.  (NBC will likely rank third place among adults 18-49 behind No. 1 CBS and No. 2 Fox; when it comes to the audience demographics advertisers crave, ABC is arguably in worse shape.)

With an abundance of low-rated series, the pink slips were bound to fly and they did.  NBC canceled “Deception,” “Go On,” “Guys with Kids,” “The New Normal,” “Rock Center,” “1600 Penn,” “Smash,” “Up All Night” and “Whitney,” adding these series to a refuse pile that already included the 2012-13 shows “Animal Practice” and “Do No Harm.”  (NBC has not yet made a decision on the futures of “Hannibal” and “Celebrity Apprentice.”)

NBC will replace these programs with three new dramas and three new comedies this fall, and the network ordered an additional five dramas, three comedies and three reality shows to also air during the 2013-14 TV season.  Previews of these programs will be unveiled to advertisers today in New York as part of the annual “upfront” week when advertisers buy commercial time in programs up front before the start of the fall TV season.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/tv-radio/nbc-cancels-several-series-687406/#ixzz2TBauZcNR

Fans Flock To Scranton, Pa., For ‘The Office’ Fete

Lackawanna County Courthouse, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SCRANTON (AP) — The actors who play Pam, Jim, Dwight and other beloved characters from the popular NBC show “The Office” bade farewell on Saturday to the northeastern Pennsylvania city of Scranton that served as the TV setting for their fictional paper company.

The NBC mockumentary about a clan of quirky cubicle-dwellers at the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Co. wraps up May 16 after nine seasons, and a crowd estimated at 10,000 attended a “Wrap Party” in Scranton to show their appreciation.

Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson and other stars rode in classic convertibles and posed for hundreds of photos as fans thronged around them. The stars later took the stage in front of the Lackawanna County Courthouse and played a concert with The Scrantones, the band that performed the show’s theme song.

Steve Carell, who played office boss buffoon Michael Scott, wasn’t expected to make an appearance but surprised fans at a celebration later outside the city at PNC Field, home of the New York Yankees’ Triple A affiliate, The (Scranton) Times-Tribune reported.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130505/ENTERTAINMENT01/130509628/fans-flock-to-scranton-pa–for-the-office-fete-#full_story

Hysterical Interview Of Ryan Lochte On Good Day Philadelphia

The interview is funny but after Ryan is done watch Sheinelle Jones laugh so hard she cries, snorts and they go to break.  Ryan has a new reality show on E! which he is promoting, hence the interview.

Click here:  http://www.myfoxphilly.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=8787217

Jonathan Winters, Funny Man And Comedic Inspiration, Dies At 87

Jonathan Winters as a truck driver (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jonathan Winters, the rubber-faced comedian whose unscripted flights of fancy inspired a generation of improvisational comics, and who kept television audiences in stitches with Main Street characters like Maude Frickert, a sweet-seeming grandmother with a barbed tongue and a roving eye, died on Thursday at his home in Montecito, Calif.  He was 87.

His death was announced on his Web site, JonathanWinters.com.

Mr. Winters, a rotund man whose face had a melancholy basset-hound expression in repose, burst onto the comedy scene in the late 1950s and instantly made his mark as one of the funniest, least definable comics in a rising generation that included Mort Sahl, Shelley Berman and Bob Newhart.

Mr. Winters was at his best when winging it, confounding television hosts and luckless straight men with his rapid-fire delivery of bizarre observations uttered by characters like Elwood P. Suggins, a Midwestern Everyman, or one-off creations like the woodland sprite who bounded onto Jack Paar’s late-night show and simperingly proclaimed: “I’m the voice of spring.  I bring you little goodies from the forest.”

Read more:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/13/arts/television/jonathan-winters-comedian-dies-at-87.html?hp&_r=0