Business News

• Bewkes reign approaches at Time Warner
  Speculation about what sort of stamp incoming CEO Jeffrey Bewkes will put on Time Warner's disparate entities is moving into high gear now that Bewkes' taking over the media giant is just days away, according to this article. The company owns cable TV providers such as CNN as well as distributors such as Time Warner Cable. NYTimes.com (12/24)

• Canadian media union may appeal CanWest/Alliance combo
  Canada's largest media union says it may appeal CanWest Global's acquisition of the programming assets of Alliance Atlantis, which was approved last week by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission but has rankled some because the deal is being primarily funded by U.S. bank Goldman Sachs. "We are not going to sit back and let the CRTC sell off Canada's broadcasting industry to the U.S.," said Peter Murdoch vice president media for the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union. Cartt News Service (subscription only) (12/21)

• Four cable firms add The Sportsman Channel to their quivers
  Four of the country's top cable TV distributors have recently added The Sportsman Channel to their offerings. The channel, with about 15 million full- and part-time subscribers, announced carriage deals with Comcast systems in parts of Michigan, Maryland, West Virginia and Indiana; with Time Warner Cable in parts of New Hampshire, Virginia and Kentucky; with Cox Communications in parts of Florida; and with Charter Communications in parts of Alabama, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada and Nebraska. Multichannel News (12/21)

Programming News

• Comcast open to working with Dingell on PEG programming
  U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, sent a letter to Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts asking that the company not move public, educational and government channels to its digital tier in Michigan. Comcast officials said they were willing to work with Dingell on the issue, but added in a statement that the move would allow Michiganders to access the so-called PEG channels in a uniform location and in a top-notch, digital format. Broadcasting & Cable (12/21)

• Report: NBCU cable units to take top prime-time slot ... again
  NBC Universal cable assets USA Network, Bravo and the Sci Fi Channel in 2007 will -- for the fourth year in a row -- rank No. 1 among cable networks in prime time among viewers in the 18-to-49 and 25-to-54 demographic groups, according to this article. The company says that Nielsen Galaxy Explorer data through Dec. 9 shows that the three networks averaged 712,000 viewers 18 to 49 and attracted 736,000 viewers in the 25-to-54 group. Multichannel News (12/21)

• A happy holiday season for ABC Family's "25 Days of Christmas"
  ABC Family's annual holiday programming event, "25 Days of Christmas," is attracting more viewers than ever before in its 10-year run. According to Nielsen data for Dec. 1 to 19, the 7 to 10 p.m. block has averaged 2.70 million total viewers, a 2% increase over viewer numbers reported in 2006. Multichannel News (12/21)

Eye on Video

• Broadstripe goes with Scorecard for performance-analysis data
  Cable company Broadstripe, which recently acquired James Cable and will, when the deal is completed in early 2008, serve 160,000 customers in 13 states, has announced that it will integrate subscriber and service analysis tools from Scorecard Systems. The tools, according to Broadstripe President and CEO Bill Shreffler, will give the company "significantly more insight into our customer, product and bundle performance." CED Magazine (12/2007)

Marketing Trends

• McDonald's speaks to bicultural Hispanics with "Flying Fry"
  McDonald's will unveil TV, radio and online ads geared toward bicultural U.S. Hispanics ages 16 to 19 to better connect with the growing demographic. The TV portion of the campaign will involve spots running on young-skewing cable channels such as MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central. Brandweek (12/21)

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by CTAM SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• FCC to vote on 30% cable cap (The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.))

• Time Warner Cable says no to arbitration with NFL Network (The Washington Post)

• Food Network heads into 2008 with a new recipe for success (NYTimes.com)

• NFL, Time Warner Cable to meet with Kerry (Broadcasting & Cable)

• FCC OKs cable cap, new ownership rules (The Washington Post)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

	The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS) The HBO Documentary, I Am An Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA, out on DVD from HBO Video on January 8, 2008, provides an exclusive look at Newkirk's personality and motivations as well as PETA's ideology and often militant tactics, while counterbalancing views with the voices of some of the organization's outspoken critics. Interested in learning more about advertising in CTAM SmartBrief? Contact Mark Lasser at 202-737-5500 x317 or mark.lasser@smartbrief.com.

Advanced Products

• Web startup launches Bollywood VOD
  Tinsel Cinema launched its own Bollywood video-on-demand service in November that caters to the expatriate South Asian viewers seeking Indian cinema online. Tinsel plans to extend its content delivery to TV, mobile phones and game consoles as early as next year. The Washington Post (12/24)

Association News

• Summit registration is now open
  Register for the CTAM Summit by Jan. 31 and save up to 20%. This is your opportunity to lock in the lowest available rates. And with no worries, all registrations are transferable. Join the brightest minds in the industry, Nov. 9 to 11 in Boston, to learn from outside business leaders and one another.

People & Personalities

• Obituary: Alan Wagner, 76, first president of Disney Channel
  Alan Wagner, a former East Coast vice president of programming at CBS who later became the first president of the Disney Channel, died last week at age 76. In April of 1983, Mr. Wagner launched the cable channel, filling its 16 hours of daily programming with Disney's ever-expanding vault of films and shows. NYTimes.com (12/22)

Editor's Note

• SmartBrief will not be published on Tuesday
  In observance of Christmas in the U.S., SmartBrief will not be published on Tuesday. Publication will resume on Wednesday. Happy holidays!

Email Marketing Manager-031281 Nike Portland, OR Director, Affiliate Sales TVN Entertainment Burbank, Ca.

SmartQuote from Warner Bros. Digital Distribution

Well I'm gonna park the cars and get check the luggage, and well, I'll be outside for the season." --Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," 1989 Memorable movie quotes brought to you by Warner Bros. Visit us at www.whvdirect.com.