Keely's Korner

FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news

ON TELEVISION (WEDNESDAY 7/24/13)
ABC FAMILY: Spell-Maggedon (Premiere) at 9pm
BRAVO: Top Chef Masters (Premiere) at 10pm
SYFY: Joe Rogan Questions Everything (Premiere) at 10pm
TLC: Dance Kids ATL (Premiere) at 10pm
BRAVO: Chef Roble & Co. (Finale) at 8pm

With the deadline looming for CBS and Time Warner Cable to reach a deal about retransmission fees, CBS CEO Les Moonves again made his net’s case to the public, this time in a memo to employees released yesterday. “It’s not like Time Warner Cable doesn’t have the money, ” said Moonves in the memo. “Cable is a very, very profitable business, and Time Warner Cable can certainly afford to pay CBS a fair rate for our programming without passing any added cost to its customers.”Also appealing to the folks who pay the bills, TWC responded that the hike CBS wants  estimated to be about twice the 75 cents-to-$1 per subscriber fee it currently pays  is unreasonable. CBS’s demands “don’t represent a good value for our customers,” said TWC spokeswoman Maureen Huff. Deadline for an agreement is Thursday morning, July 25. “As you can imagine,” Moonves said in his memo, “We don’t take this situation lightly.”
(Source: Cynopsis)

In the States, programming was disrupted on Monday, as the world awaited word of the royal birth. Cable news ran with the story, daytime programs were bumped on ABC and NBC, and NBC preempted Siberia at 10p for a Dateline special, “The Little Prince.” A special 20/20 Tuesday night focused on the baby, and A Royal Family: E! News Special premieres tonight at 8p. OWN’s getting in the royal baby game, too, with a 90-minute special, “William, Kate and the Royal Baby,” on Thursday, July 25 at 9p. But in the U.K., the royal heir was no competition for Coronation Street. While a combined 4.9 million viewers in Britain watched news nets’ coverage of the birth on Monday night, the long-running soap averaged 7.7 million viewers as the baby news broke.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Three canceled CBS dramas are available for streaming this summer during the net’s “Second Look” campaign. Jericho (2006-2008), Swingtown (2008-2009) and Wolf Lake (2007) can all be viewed on CBS.com.  “Over the years, fans have told us they’d like to experience these shows again, and through CBS.com, we’re able to resurface programming,”said Jeff Grossman, vp of content and product strategy for CBS Interactive. CBS isn’t the only net hearing from fans eager for a revival of cult faves – there had been talk that Netflix would resuscitate Jericho. In May, Netflix chief content officer Ted Saranos told Stuff, “I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t get an email or a personal hand-written letter about that show.”
(Source: Cynopsis)

Research firm Trendrr reports Facebook users are more interested in chatting about broadcast shows than they are about cable TV. The firm compared social activity on Facebook to Twitter, and while TV-related chatter is about five times greater on Facebook than on Twitter (and two smaller social apps), the service logged seven times the activity levels of the smaller social networks for broadcast, versus 4.5 times for cable shows. Facebook likes, comments, shares and posts about Hispanic programming is even higher  Trendrr found 12 more times the activity on Facebook during Univision’s finale of Nuestra Belleza Latina than the other networks combined.
(Source: Cynopsis)

A new documentary offers an inside take on life as a rocker. Living With Def Leppard follows the band during a concert stop in Las Vegas, onstage and off. There are hopes the Bunim-Murray Productions and AEG Network Live doc could go to a series, and showcase other bands.
(Source: Cynopsis)

WE tv is on a roll. The net has greenlit its first original scripted series, The Divide, and says it has three more shows in the works. The Divide was co-created by Richard LaGravenese and Tony Goldwyn. AMC Studios, which produced the pilot, will do the same for the series.
(Source: Cynopsis)

ABC has ordered a limited series based on the book, Circle of Treason: A CIA Account of Traitor Aldrich Ames and the Men He Betrayed. Called The Assets, the spy series will be produced by Lincoln Square Productions.
(Source: Cynopsis)

David Denman – best known to TV audiences the man Pam tossed aside for Jim on The Office – has been cast in the recurring role of Ed on the NBC drama Parenthood, as a possible spoiler in Joel and Julia’s marriage.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Michelle Forbes (True Blood) has been cast in NBC‘s Chicago Fire as a consultant with the State Fire Marshals Office. Season two of the drama premieres Tuesday, September 24 at 10p.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Terrence Howard has signed on to Fox‘s Wayward Pines, a 10-episode thriller about a secret service agent (Matt Damon) on a mysterious mission. Howard was a 2006 Oscar nominee for Hustle and Flow.
(Source: Cynopsis)

British actor Sean Maguire is replacing Tom Ellis as Robin Hood for a story arc in the ABC drama, Once Upon a Time. “Although we love Tom Ellis, unfortunately he wasn’t available,” series creator Adam Horowitz told TVLine.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Broadway star and Glee guest Kristin Chenoweth helps usher in season ten of Say Yes to the Dress by helping her best friend, Julie, find a wedding gown on a special ep ahead of the TLC reality show’s Friday, August 16 premiere. Say Yes to the Dress: The Big Day airs Friday, August 9 at 9p.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Intrigue and scandal continue for soap alums Jack Wagner (General Hospital) and Cameron Mathison (All My Children), who start production on a two-hour backdoor pilot and potential primetime series for Hallmark. My Gal Sunday is based on the book of short stories by Mary Higgins Clark; Rachel Blanchard also stars.
(Source: Cynopsis)

SOUNDSCAN (WEEK ENDING 7/21/13)
1) Jay -Z – Magna Carta…Holy Grail – 129,453 (After 2 weeks – 657,927)
2) Sara Bareilles – Blessed Unrest – 67,971
3) Kidz Bop Kids – Kidz Bop 24 – 62,122

Other Debuts
4) Ace Hood – Trials & Tribulations – 33,666
8) Teen Beach Soundtrack – 24,876
10) Cody Simpson – Surfers Paradise – 24,464
16) Matt Nathanson – Last of The Great Pretneders – 17, 107
17) Sick Puppies – Connect – 16,318
26) Pet Shop Boys – Electric – 10,795
27) Ronald Isley – This Song Is For – 10,441

POWERBALL
Today’s Jackpot is $166 million.

Powerball is played in 41 states.

www.NYLottery.org

CASTING CALL
QVC is shopping for new full-time program hosts, to be based at the channel’s West Chester, PA headquarters. They’re looking for someone “friendly, credible, entertaining, sincere and sophisticated with a strong sense of style and fashion,” per the net. In other words, someone you’d trust to tell you what to spurge on. Casting director Sean De Simone (QVChostcasting@gmail.com) explains to Cynopsis, “We’re looking for someone who genuinely connects with the QVC viewer as a friend.”
(Source: Cynopsis)