December 19, 2007

360 Update: The Sportsman Channel Gains More Carriage

TSC Bags 4 More Operators, DirecTV Gets PBS in HD and more news.

By 360 Staff

Sportsman Channel Bags Four
The Sportsman Channel is ending the year on a high, announcing launches on cable’s top four MSOs. Charter TSC in Alabama, Louisiana, Michigan, Reno, NV, and North Platte, NE. Comcast launched it in Michigan, Elkton, MD, Huntington, WV, and Indianapolis. Time Warner National Division launched the 24/7 hunting and fishing channel in Keene, NH, Richlands, VA, and Ashland, KY. Cox launches were in Florida, in
Pensacola, Destin, Freeport, Ft. Walton, Niceville and Crestview. TSC now is available in 16 million cable and broadcast homes on a full- and  part-time basis.

DirecTV To Carry Public TV in HD
Public Television next year will be carried in HD on DirecTV through an agreement reached today by DirecTV, the Association of Public Television Stations and PBS. The parties will also develop on demand offerings for DirecTV subs. In addition, DirecTV will carry two national standard-def channels of Public Television programming.

A Woman’s Prerogative
One of the most interesting things about a new Lifetime/Zogby poll of 500 women in New Hampshire is its finding that more than 40% are unsure about whom to support in the Jan 8 primary. Among Democrat women there, Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama 39%-25%. Among decided NH Republican women, Mitt Romney leads with 23%, besting John McCain (16%), Mike Huckabee (11%) and Rudy Giuliani (10%). And the "Oprah Effect"? Well among the under 30s, nearly 1 in 3 said that Oprah campaigning in NH would make them less likely to vote for Obama. The survey is part of Lifetime’s Every Woman Counts campaign.

Briefly Noted
The everything-about-movies network ReelzChannel launched today on Comcast Cable Chicago.

You can’t get more controversial than this. The Africa Channel will run an interview by its CEO James Makawa with Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe as part of its African Presidents series (Dec 27, 9pm). A brutal dictator and revolutionary hero, Mugabe rarely sits for interviews.

WWE is more than wrestling, much more. Viewers will get a taste of that Monday as USA (Mon, 9pm) carries a special about WWE’s fifth visit to Iraq where the men and women of WWE entertain the troops.

This sort of thing happens pretty regularly and usually amounts to nothing. The current complainant is the Center for Economic and Policy Research, which released a paper Tuesday that said C-SPAN is not living up to its non-partisan mission statement. Cable’s gift to America favors conservative think tanks in its coverage by a three-to-one margin over all left-of-center think tanks, the report claims.
[CEPR]

ION promised last month that its New Year's eve debut marathon of The Drew Carey Show (7-11pm ET) would be coupled with a promotion. The network said today that promo will be with Crest Whitestrips and is called Bring in the Drew year with a Smile. Viewers will be able to vote online for their favorite smiles from members of the show's cast.

Those noted authorities on human behavior, aka the E! network, promise “a side of Britney Spears that most don't see” in The E! True Hollywood Story Britney Spears: Fall From Grace (Dec 29, 6pm). Along with other keen insights, a psychologist will explain why Brit “started to rebel against the good girl image that made her millions.”