NBC: You can watch
the Olympics in 3D
Other shorts: Olbermann and Current make up
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Jan 10, 2012
NBC: You can watch the Olympics in 3D
When Michael Phelps dives into the pool this summer, 3D TV owners just might feel his splash. Yesterday NBC Sports Group and Panasonic said that the Summer Olympics will be made available in 3D for the very first time. According to the announcement made at the International CES, the consumer technology trade show taking place this week in Las Vegas, all U.S. distributors who carry Olympic coverage will have access to the 3D feed. It marks the first major 3D TV announcement in months, after a flurry of them in the previous few years. Sports programming has been particularly hot in the emerging category, with
ESPN producing several highly touted 3D broadcasts over the years. But 3D television sales rose by 100 percent during the holidays, according to NPD Group, which should lead to a resurgence of interest in the medium, which has been more popular at the movies than at home.
Olbermann and Current make up in time for primary
When the cable news frenzy over the New Hampshire primary results begins tonight, Keith Olbermann will be in the thick of it, unlike last week, when the ornery anchor
sat out the results of the Iowa caucuses. Olbermann and Current, the network that airs "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," have reached an agreement by which Olbermann will anchor Current's coverage of the primaries, ending a tense week for both sides following a dispute over Olbermann's role in Iowa coverage. "I am pleased that I’ll be running the election coverage on Current, following this Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary," said a statement released by Olbermann on Sunday. "However, I don’t think those participating in the New Hampshire primary will share my satisfaction." While Olbermann made light, last week no one was laughing. It seemed possible that the veteran news anchor's deal with Current was about to unravel over Iowa, after Olbermann said hosting conditions offered to him were unacceptable. It's not clear what led to Sunday's deal, but Olbermann certainly has a history of
feuding with his former employers, including MSNBC, Fox and ESPN.
Programming notes: 'Mad' returns March 25
The return of AMC's long-absent "Mad Men" appears to be near. Series star Jon Hamm appeared on comedian Doug Benson's podcast "Doug Loves Movies" on Friday, revealing he directed the fifth-season premiere of "Mad" and that it's scheduled to air on March 25. The most recent episode of the drama aired in October 2010, and the fifth season was delayed by a
contract dispute between the network and creator Matthew Weiner. AMC has yet to confirm the premiere date. Meanwhile, in other programming, IFC has ordered 10 episodes each of the half-hour comedies "Comedy Bang! Bang!" and "Bunk," with the shows set to premiere in an hour-long comedy block in June. "Comedy" is a sketch show that will welcome celebrity guests, while "Bunk" is a mock game show featuring comedians. Elsewhere, Chiller has a number of projects on tap for this year, including the specials "The American Scream," "Real Fear: The Truth Behind the Movies" and "Can You Survive a Horror Movie," as well as original movies "Dead Souls," "Beneath" and "Brian Keane's Ghoul." ESPN has picked up the rights to air the NYC marathon nationally, with the five-year deal beginning with the Nov. 4, 2012 race. WABC has also picked up the rights to air the race in New York. Finally, Dish Network has become the first service to make a distribution deal with Univision for its new networks, the sports channels Univision Deportes and Univision Deportes Dos, the novela network Univision tlNovelas and the news network Univision Noticias. The new channels will launch sometime this year, although no launch date has been announced. Under the deal Dish Network will also get thousands of hours of Spanish-language programming from Univision-owned networks to air on demand.
Study: Games are app-solutely consumers' favorite
At this early stage in the tablet and smartphone era, games are what's most popular among consumers, while magazines have a lot of catching up to do. Sixty-eight percent of tablet and smartphone users say they've downloaded games in the past 30 days, according to Nielsen's most recent Consumer Usage Report, making it the most popular category of apps measured. Maps/navigation, music and social networking apps all came in at 45 percent, while news apps (33 percent) rounded out the top five. On the other end, just 14 percent of tablet and smartphone users downloaded a magazine app in the past month, making it the No. 13 category and showing there's plenty of room for growth in an industry whose future is largely dependent on how it handles its transition to digital distribution.
Strong return for Showtime's 'Shameless
It looks like
Showtime's "Shameless" is set for a breakout second season. The William H. Macy drama saw a spike in ratings for its season premiere Sunday at 9 p.m., averaging 1.58 million total viewers, up 61 percent over its first-season bow. An encore later in the night drew an additional 475,000 viewers. Should its ratings hold, "Shameless" will become Showtime's No. 3 show. Its strong return also helped its lead-out, the
new show "House of Lies," to decent ratings. "Lies" averaged 1.03 million total viewers at 10 p.m., and encores later in the night averaged 530,000.
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