People Mover
Diann Burns, former WLS-TV Chicago co-anchor, is joining WBBM-TV there to co-anchor the CBSO&O's new 6 p.m. newscast—launching Oct. 13—as well as the 5 and 10 p.m. broadcasts, one in a series of changes made by new News Director Carol Fowler. ...
Cindy Velasquez is out as GM of McGraw-Hill'sKMGH-TV Denver. Ed Quinn, president of the broadcast group, has rolled up his sleeves and is on site as interim GM while he looks for a replacement. ...
Financial chief William Savoy is leaving Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen's investment arm, Vulcan Ventures, which poured $16 billion into dozens of media and technology companies. Those include successes like studio Dreamworks, but many were financial disasters like Charter Communications (where Allen's $7 billion investment is worth about $1.25 billion). Savoy remains Allen's consultant. ...
Peter Chrisanthopoulos is the new president and COO of Pappas Telecasting. He was head of sales and marketing for the Pappas Spanish-language stations affiliated with Azecta America, the emerging Hispanic TV network. Howard Shrier, executive VP and chief operating officer of Pappas's TV stations division, remains in that post but now reports to Chrisanthopoulos. ...
Deborah Potter, executive director of journalism research and training center NewsLab, a Washington nonprofit, has joined the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation as executive director.
Fully Programmable
Bravo is close to a new deal with Queer Eye for the Straight Guy producer Scout Productions. Bravo chief Jeff Gaspin says the channel suggested a fresh 40-episode order but that is not a hard and fast number. The show's five gay experts want a big raise from the $3,000 per episode they're currently paid. ...
CBS has given fifth-year renewals to two of its reality franchises: Emmy-winner The Amazing Race and Big Brother. ...
FX has stopped production on its Orlando Jones Show, although repeats will air through Nov. 14. Recent ratings have hovered at 0.2-0.3. MTV is dropping late-night entry The New Tom Green Show, which started off well enough but has fallen as low as a 0.3.
Showtime is launching a second high-definition channel, The Movie Channel HD, in early December. ...
As expected, TBS Superstation got cable rights to HBOSex and the City, starting June 2004. TBS gets exclusive syndication rights until September 2005, when Tribune Broadcasting begins syndicating the show on its stations and WGN Superstation. Tribune stations plan to air Sex in fringe and late night. TBS will air it two nights per week in prime. After three years, TBS can strip the series. The net is said to be paying about $700,000 per episode.
WGN-TV Chicago's move to secure rights to retransmit ESPN's playoff coverage in-market paid off. The Cubs victory over Atlanta Oct. 1 did a huge 21.1 rating/30 share to dominate the night. It also helped turn the season premiere of The WB's Smallville into Giantville. The show did a 10.4 rating/15 share, up 148% over last year's season opener.
The Case of Two Cases
Viewers of CBS's new Sunday-night drama Cold Case (above) may have noticed a promo at the end of the show for the Cold Case Files series on cable's A&E. Cross-media synergy? Well, no. CBS doesn't have any connection with the A&E series, but, to use the name, CBS and Warner Bros. agreed to give Bill Kurtis Productions, which produces the A&E show, a five-second-tag at the end of the CBS series.
Correction
A story "Lots of Bellyaching" in the Sept. 29 TV Buyer section should have noted that the sponsors of the media conference covered were Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, in conjunction with The New Yorker and Condé Nast.
