RANDY JACKSON TO LEAVE AMERICAN IDOL

Randy Jackson, a fixture as a judge on American Idol for the past 12 years, disclosed on Thursday that he will depart at the end of this season. His announcement came days after reports appeared suggesting that Fox intends to introduce a panel of superstar judges next season. Early in the day, Jackson sent an […]

WHICH COST MORE — TIMES SQUARE BILLBOARDS OR SUPER BOWL ADS?

Following a report in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal that billboards in New York’s Times Square can cost advertisers as much as $3.6 million a year, Advertising Age has chimed in by comparing those rates to those charged for a 30-second Super Bowl ad, largely thought to be the most expensive ad buys of all. AdAge […]

LOPEZ QUITTING AMERICAN IDOL

Jennifer Lopez made it official today — one day after Steven Tyler announced that he had decided to leave American Idol and rejoin Aerosmith: She, too will be leaving, she told Ryan Seacrest on his synidcated radio show, On Air with Ryan Seacrest. Lopez, who, like Tyler, joined the show two years ago, sounded emotional, […]

REPORT: PLAYBOY MAY BID FOR DICK CLARK’S FORMER COMPANY

Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Enterprises is weighing a bid for Dick Clark Productions, the New York Post reported today (Thursday), citing no sources. DCP is currently controlled by investment firm RedZone Capital, whose principal shareholder is Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder.. (Clark sold his company in 2001 to a group of private investors for $137 million […]

IDOL FINAL RESULTS FALL TO RECORD LOW

Go figure. Final Nielsen ratings for Tuesday night’s last performance episode of the season of American Idol put the number of viewers at 14.85 million, down a whopping 28 percent from last year’s 20.57 million and the smallest number to view a final performance of Idol since its first season in 2002, when 18.69 million […]

$EACREST $IGNS DEAL WITH NBC

All in one week for Ryan Seacrest: a $30-million contract to remain as host of Fox’s American Idol for the next two years; a nearly debilitating case of the flu (or some other ailment that nearly knocked him off Idol for the first time); and now a multifaceted contract with Comcast and NBC that will […]

TODAY/GMA BATTLE: THE SCORE (Updated)

The third day of the battle between NBC’s Today show and ABC’s Good Morning America with Katie Couric as co-host ended in a draw. On Wednesday, GMA drew slightly more total viewers — 87,000 — but Today drew far more viewers in the 25-54 age group — 319,000 — the demo that advertisers prefer. It […]

SEACREST: A HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR?

Ryan Seacrest on Wednesday appeared on NBC’s show, which had teased that he would be making “a major announcement” — and while there was no announcement that he would, as rumored, replace Matt Lauer if Lauer and NBC fail to reach an agreement on a new contract, this bit of repartee between Seacrest and Lauer […]

NBC, ABC BRING OUT BIG GUNS IN MORNING BATTLE

A knock-down, drag-out fight between the two principal morning talk shows began this morning (Monday) with Katie Couric returning to the air on ABC’s Good Morning America at the same time of day that she did when she co-hosted NBC’s Today show. Couric, who will be filling in for Robin Roberts this week, acknowledged that […]

SEACREST DUSTS HIMSELF OFF FROM COHEN PRANK

Ryan Seacrest denied on Monday that he was in on the red-carpet incident at the Oscars involving Sacha Baron Cohen, who, dressed in the costume of his title character in his forthcoming The Dictator dumped the contents of an urn on him. The urn, Cohen had told Seacrest moments earlier, contained the ashes of his […]

Next Page »