Funnel Changing: Versus Becomes NBC Sports Network

NBC Sports Network logo design design The completely new year brings a completely new identity for Versus, the cable sports network most broadly noted for hunting and fishing shows, the Tour p France as well as the Nhl. Now a component of the NBC Universal empire (carrying out a merger with Comcast, which possessed Versus), the funnel - presently accessible in greater than 75 million houses - becomes the NBC Sports Network at 4 p.m. ET on Monday, The month of the month of january 2 and may undergo a significant transformation all year round. "It'll be considerably different as time passes,Inch states Jon Burns, the best choice of programming, who's building what he calls "an entire-service sports network," that will include live occasions, news and talk shows and original programming. Versus, which was once known to as Outdoors Existence Network, has progressively moved on in to a player inside the TV sports world. However, many unusual programming options - like the T. Ocho Show, a train wreck from the talk show featuring flamboyant Nfl stars Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco - jeopardized the network's credibility. "Once we needed over Versus, there's plenty of programming round the network that individuals didn't think was consistent with what NBC Sports involved,Inch Burns states. "Therefore the first factor we did was we jettisoned some characteristics like Wacked Out Sports and T. Ocho and Sports Soup." But overhauling the network hasn't only been about getting rid of junk. "Rapidly the softball softball bat we developed a lengthy-term deal to improve the NHL for 10 years, we acquired broadcast and cable rights for Major League Soccer and then we started to created lots of our original programming," Burns states. (For that hunting and fishing shows, "they'll keep getting employment in this particular new funnel continuing to move forward,In . Burns promises, "nonetheless they probably won't have a very dominant as role because they have experienced formerly.") The NHL remains a primary problem using the schedule with games and studio shows several nights each week, together with the All-Star Game on Jan. 29 as well as the Stanley Cup 2010 national football league 2010 nfl playoffs in the year (along with NBC). Also remaining aboard are Mountain West Conference basketball games as well as the Tour p France. For brand new purchases, soccer will finish up a prominent part of the line-up, beginning while using championship wager around the women's Olympic being qualified tournament for your CONCACAF region (including North and Guatemala) on Jan. 29. Other U.S. women's and men's national team games are planned, as well as the to start the network's roughly 40 MLS contests will probably be public on March 11 (additional games will air on NBC). "It's all the markings from the sport that's growing,Inch Burns states of MLS. "In the event you think about the attendance figures and how it's growing, we feel it absolutely was well suited for us. We designed a hostile bid with this. It's a good property that's delivering an email to everybody that they're here and they're not going away soon.In . This summer's London Olympics provide the funnel getting a bounty of programming, including U.S. team tests and pre-Olympic competition in sports like swimming, diving, gymnastics, water polo, area hockey, track and area and volleyball. Through the Games the network covers numerous occasions, including cycling, basketball and soccer. Original programming initiatives began last fall with NBC Sports Talk (weeknights at 6/5c). Since the title indicates, the emphasis is a lot more on talk - and opinion. "There's lots places to get highlights, but ideas inform you items to type of what is the news,In . Burns states. Another demonstrate that opened up inside the fall is CNBC Sports Biz (Fridays at 7/6c), situated by CNBC's manic, Twitter-obsessed reporter Darren Rovell, who focuses on money rather than X's and O's. Too as with probably the network's finest statement, Bob Costas will host a monthly interview show, Costas Tonight, premiering in the year, and quarterly town hall special deals, beginning with Costas Tonight: Reside In the Super Bowl, on Thursday, Feb. 2. Have a look in a promo for your NBC Sports Network: Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

Harry Kullijian Dead: Carol Channing's Husband Dies at 91

Harry Kullijian was film legend Carol Channing's fourth husband, but you could argue that he knew her best. After all, Channing met Kullijian over 70 years ago, when they were both students at the same San Francisco middle school. They pair reunited decades later, in 2002, following the death of Kullijian's wife and the dissolution of Channing's third marriage, and were soon married. Kullijian, a "rancher-turned-local politician" died on Monday, the day before his 92nd birthday. Kullijian died at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. on Monday night after suffering an aneurysm. Along with Channing, he formed the Channing-Kullijian Foundation to support arts education in schools. Kullijian was a veteran of World War II and the Korean War; later in his life, he served on the Modesto City Council. Channing, who turns 91 in January, is best known for her Broadway roles in 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' and 'Hello, Dolly!' She earned an Oscar nomination for 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' in 1967. [via LAT, Us] [Photo: AP] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

TV-newspaper marriage is a tough match

In 2000, Tribune Co. announced merger plans with Times Mirror. At the time, the company touted the inherent synergies -- pairing big-city newspapers in the NY area, Los Angeles and Chicago with powerful TV stations -- while public-interest groups fretted about losing independent voices and sources of news."Tribune has led the way in media convergence," then-chairman John Madigan crowed when the deal was finalized. "Today, our cross-media assets create a tremendous competitive advantage."Less than a dozen years later, Tribune is still digging itself out of bankruptcy and employees are wondering what they'll see of their pensions, saying something about the best-laid plans of mice and media execs in these fast-changing times. So while one can appreciate lingering concerns about media consolidation, it's hard to get quite as fired up about the Federal Communications Commission's recent proposal to relax newspaper-TV ownership rules when considering Tribune's sorry example.Granted, Tribune's woes stemmed in part from other factors -- mismanagement, the carpet-bagging ways of "grave dancer" Sam Zell, with his appetite for distressed properties and contempt for journalism -- but many of its problems are endemic of forces sweeping the industry. Perhaps that's why even some of us who railed against concentrated media ownership in the past derive little terror or righteous indignation from the prospect of easing the aforementioned guidelines. In fact, given the financial strains local print and broadcasting face, it seems like a reasonable attempt to ensure their viability -- and frankly might come as too little, too late.Tribune's plan certainly looked good on paper, but fundamentally misread key aspects of TV and newspapers. Although opportunities for cooperation appear obvious -- they both produce news, right? -- Tribune and others overlooked several key impediments. These range from disparate cultures and mutual distrust to the fact many skills don't translate as readily as one might assume.Yes, cable networks rely on journalists as talking heads, but the sort of stories a major newspaper and TV stations cover differ in selection, tone and style. That's one reason print drones often look uncomfortable on camera or chafe at the giddiness of broadcast news. If anything, local TV has grown more airhead and less able to shift gears to serious news, in much the same way print journalists don't mesh with a TV "morning zoo" mentality.Aside from cultural and turf battles, anticipated synergistic benefits turned out to be minimal at best. Having Los Angeles Times signage on KTLA doesn't do much to sell newspapers, any more than Times house ads for CW shows like "The Vampire Diaries" reach the netlet's target audience. It's sort of like trying to interest the cat in Christmas ornaments. They might bat them around but really don't have much use for them.Not surprisingly, this didn't prevent expressions of alarm regarding the FCC's deregulation plans. "The already dwindling number of smaller and independent media owners will be swallowed up by the same media giants that have crushed local journalism, killed local radio and left us with the same cookie-cutter content from coast to coast," said Free Press, a nonprofit group advocating for media reform.Still, it's hard to imagine a greater dilution of voices than what Tribune has achieved through sheer attribution with its slashing, downsizing ways. In the interest of full disclosure, this comes from a former Los Angeles Times employee who has seen the paper wither to less than half its peak size, with shuttered bureaus and consolidated resources.If there's hope for combining TV and print now that didn't exist in 2000, both have been weakened to the point where a meeting of the minds seems more possible. Of course, with newspapers eager to drive Web traffic and post video (Hey, cute polar bear cubs!), and TV stations trying to generate additional revenue from cheap niche material on ancillary channels, that probably means convening closer to the bottom than the middle.Granted, media execs are adept at pleading poverty and begging for fewer governmental constraints. Yet after years of warning the sky is falling they might finally have a legitimate argument, with no assurance even the shotgun wedding of newspapers and TV will prevent a hard landing -- much less provide a happy ending. Contact Brian Lowry at brian.lowry@variety.com

50 Years Later, What's the Greatest Scene in Judgment at Nuremberg?

So, 1961 gave us some of my favorites, including the torrid Splendor in the Grass and the damn swanky One Hundred and One Dalmatians. (Both feature barking, well-pedigreed protagonists in Pongo and Natalie Wood’s histrionic Deanie Loomis.) But the staggering dramatic achievement of 1961 was neither teenage melodrama nor an animated canine caper — it was Judgment at Nuremberg, Stanley Kramer’s sprawling epic chronicling the post-WWII war trials. Since the movie came out in theaters 50 years ago this week, let’s revisit its staggering scope. What’s its best scene? Apologies to the Blonde Venus herself, Marlene Dietrich, who is committed and harrowing as the widow of an executed German general, and also to Oscar-winning Best Actor Maximilian Schell, who drives the story — but the best scene in Judgment at Nuremberg belongs to Montgomery Clift, who plays a mentally retarded man once subjected to the Nazi sterilization program. First of all, Clift’s post-car accident face is its own sweeping tour de force with terrifying twists and disturbing plot complications. It deserved a Best Screenplay nomination, at least. Second, though by 1961 Clift was a confirmed drug addict who simply couldn’t remember his lines (in fact, Kramer encouraged him to ad-lib when he couldn’t recall exact wording), the old Monty Clift’s intense vulnerability crackles through his hardened visage. In fact, I almost prefer this version of Monty — have you watched A Place in the Sun recently? It does not hold up. Stick with the underrated I Confess for old-world Clift charm. And for the superior Marlene Dietrich performance in a courtroom drama, see Witness for the Prosecution. Such fire. What say you? Do you agree? Does Schell, Spencer Tracy, William Shatner, or a breathtaking Judy Garland deserve the title?

Official Expendables 2 Poster Arrives

Neglect the fake, here's the particular dealAteaser trailer yesterday, now a poster?Oh Mr.Stallone, you are really destroying us along with your Expendables 2 press bulletins...Strangely enough - in contrast for the original's marketing campaign , no less than - there is a more compact quantity of the whole "Have a look at our castlist!" position, plus much more of "Hey it's the second one!" vibe.Sure, it's still got that ludicrously large report on names towards the top, nevertheless it in some manner keeps that distinct Expendables impact, even without all people guns we've showed up at expect.Have a look below and let us read your comments inside the comment box below. Will the inclusion of JCVDand Chuck Norris - additionally to a different director - presuade you back for just about any second dose of hyper-masculine action? Click the image for just about any hi-res version on AICNExpendables 2 is predicted to shoot and bang and boom and bang its distance to cinemas in the course of August 2012.

Healthy Hollywood: Great Food Friday Possess A Happy Vegan Holiday!

First Released: December 16, 2011 1:01 PM EST Credit: Getty Images NY CITY, N.Y. -- Caption Hathaway As Catwoman hits the red-colored carpet in the 2011 Oscars in Los AngelesCall it a trend or perhaps a lifestyle transformation, but in either case being vegan is really a Hollywood phenomenon! Alicia Silverstone, Natalie Portman, Hathaway As Catwoman are only a couple of from the famous faces saying no thanks because of meat, dairy, and eggs. The vegan movement (is really a vegetarian diet that excludes all animal-derived elements) is quickly getting into the mainstream. Vegans can eat a number of scrumptious dishes from Fettuccine Alfredo to Hot Fudge Sundaes as lengthy as things are made without animal items. The good thing is the fact that vegan elements are naturally lower in saturated fats, cholesterol-free, and full of protein, fiber, and nutrition, states vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli, champion from the Food Systems Cupcake Wars. So, how's a vegan designed to survive the holiday season and never insult almost all their meat-loving party hosts? In the end, if your folks are anything like mine, they love their red-colored meat and also the vegetables aren't the nights star dish. The easiest method to result in the host conscious of your vegan weight loss program is by providing to create a vegan dish or dessert towards the party that everybody can also enjoy. This way, youll possess a back-up dish to show to just in case your Aunt Mimi constitutes a vegan casserole which has a little bit of pork inside it. Main point here: do not be shy in the future prepared! indicates Chloe. Chloe explains to Healthy Hollywood among her favorite festive vegan dishes. Creamy Pumpkin Penne with Crispy Sage and Toasted Pecans Serves four to six Elements: 1 pound penne, cooked based on package directions 2 tbsps essential olive oil 1 onion, roughly chopped 4 cloves garlic clove, minced 1 (14-ounce) can organic pumpkin OR 2 cups roasting butternut squash 2 tbsps tomato paste 2 cups soy, almond, or grain milk 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 teaspoons walnut syrup 3 teaspoons ocean salt .5 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 2 tbsps canola oil 8 fresh sage leaves, whole Ocean salt .5 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped 3 tbsps chopped fresh sage Directions: Bring a sizable pot of heavily salted water to some boil. Add penne and prepare based on package directions. Drain and go back to pot. To create the Pumpkin Cream Sauce: Inside a large skillet, warmth oil and saut let's eat some onions until soft. Add garlic clove and let prepare a couple of more minutes. Remove from warmth. Inside a blender, puree the onion mixture, pumpkin, tomato paste, nondairy milk, nutmeg, walnut syrup, salt, and pepper until smooth. To create the Crispy Sage: Warmth 2 tbsps oil in a tiny skillet until a little bit of sage sizzles when put into the oil. Fry the rest of the sage leaves 4 at any given time, flipping once, until crispy (about one minute total). Watch the sage leaves carefully to make certain that they don't burn. Allow them to drain on the paper towel and season gently with salt. To put together the pasta: Toss hot pasta with Pumpkin Cream Sauce, toasted pecans, and fresh sage. Garnish with crispy sage and search in! For additional vegan quality recipes, mind to world wide web.chefchloe.com Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Americas Got Talent Stars React To Addition Of Howard Stern

First Launched: December 15, 2011 2:50 PM EST Credit: NBC Caption Americas Got TalentLOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Howard Stern was formally introduced since the new judge on Americas Got Talent (altering Piers Morgan, who left the NBC reality competition to give consideration to his CNN show) on Thursday, as well as the shock jocks predecessor states he grants or loans in the new kid round the AGT block. Champion to @HowardStern on landing my #AmericasGotTalent knowing gig - hell be crazy, amusing, dangerous & brilliant, Piers Tweeted on Thursday morning. Cant wait. Current AGT judge Howie Mandel told his Twitter fans he couldnt become more happy about Sterns addition, adding, I'm not able to hold back. Permit the knowing begin. As they could be searching toward knowing participants with Howard while dining, Howie which has freely talked about his concern with bacteria mentioned uprooting his family from La to NY City for your concert occasions, a large change which was introduced to support the DJ, could pose an problem. Trying to create plans for completely new season. You understand Personally, i can't stand hotels. Can my family members and myself remain at your house .?excellent hooking up@HowardStern, he Tweeted. Host Nick Cannon offered his opinion on his 92.3 NOW radio show, Rollin, on Thursday, acknowledging he and Howard arent the most effective of pals. That is gonna make my job interesting since i have have do host that relate and formerly, me and Howard havent had beef, but he makes fun of me sometimes that people appreciate cause Im a follower and all of that but according to him I positioned on my stylish-hop black voice once i host, Nick mentioned getting fun. However think its apt to be good because Piers Morgan and that i did formerly shuttle with each other constantly. Now, like, Ive really gotta bring my A game title title because [with] Howard Stern, you never know what can happen using this guy. Were gonna have great damn TV thats all I gotta say! he added. Sharon Osbourne, another AGT cast member has yet to weigh in on Twitter. As formerly reported on AccessHollywood.com, Stern will probably be joining the idol idol judges panel on Americas Got Talent, as well as the summer season show will move from La to aid the NY-based Sirius XM host, NBC mentioned Thursday. Howard Sterns bigger-than-existence personality brings an incredible new dynamic to Americas Got Talent beginning this summer season, Paul Telegdy, NBCs leader of alternative and late evening programming mentioned in the statement. Hes a recognised innovator and also the history in broadcasting is actually amazing. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All rights reserved. These elements is probably not launched, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Boardwalk Empires Shocking Finale Hits Season High, Luck So-So In Preview

Boardwalk Empires second season ended around the high note. The finale, featuring the shocking dying from the major character (won’t reveal more regarding waiting Dvr audiences), averaged a season high 3 million audiences at 9 PM on Sunday. Another 834,000 audiences caught the 11 PM replay for just about any combined audience of three.8 million. Sandwiched involving the two airings of Boardwalk Empire will be a preview of HBOs new David Milch/Michael Mann series Luck, which premieres Jan. 29. The pilot episode in the equine-racing drama starring Dustin Hoffman averaged 1.millions of audiences, having another in the Boardwalk Empire finale audience.

Start Looking: Law & Order: Legacies Gaming

Law & Order Legacies gaming Law & Order was among TV's longest running shows, created four spinoffs, is constantly on the air in repeats almost night and day - and it is still growing. The approaching gaming Law & Order: Legacies includes an exciting-star selection of cops and lawyers, including NYPD detectives Lennie Briscoe, Mike Logan and Rey Curtis, Lt. Anita Van Buren, district lawyers Jack McCoy, Abbie Carmichael and Michael Cutter in addition to L&O: SVU detective Olivia Benson.Telltale Games will release Legacies this winter for apple iphones and iPads (and finally for Computers and Apple computers). It is available in episodic format, with every installment within the seven-part "series" selling for $2.99. Gamers may take the roles of either police or attorney, and consume a situation from analysis through trial, including gathering evidence, questioning witnesses and making moral options which will dictate the eventual verdict."We actually wanted [it to seem like] playing a chapter from the show, so when the analysis phase like a officer has ended, we transfer to the court docket phase using the district lawyers," states Ryan Kaufman, senior designer at Telltale Games. "We based the tales on current occasions such as the Dominique Strauss-Kahn situation and also the Occupy Wall Street protests, but we pored over instances of the show to get the best moments, ensuring we actually taken that classic Law & Order feel."Read this exclusive trailer for Law & Order: Legacies: Sign up for TV Guide Magazine now!

A&E Buys Cop Drama Having A Twist From Tom Fontana And Craig Levinson

A&E Network has teamed with Homicide alums Tom Fontana and Craig Levinson for that Box, a brand new half-hour cop drama that happens largely inside the walls of the interrogation room. The cable network has purchased two scripts in the project, which is compiled by Fontana. This Area is really a half-hour drama that includes a small ensemble of detectives because they interrogate the important thing suspect or witness of the situation. The spine of each half-hour episode would be the verbal dance between cop and suspect in “the box,” using the complete story from the crime, the analysis and also the legal hurdles woven into and around the interrogation. The Box takes probably the most thrilling scene of the crime procedural and puts it at center stage in aunique format, stated Bob DeBitetto, Leader and General Manager of the&E Network and BIO Funnel. If selected as much as series, the project could be created by Arvin Brown (NCIS), George Stelzner in addition to UTA-repped Fontana and Levinson through their The Levinson/Fontana Co. Additionally towards the Box, Fontana and Levinson lately setup Musketeers 3., a cop drama dedicated to a rookie cop in the CW, which Fontana is writing in addition to executive creating with Levinson.