ABC will yank "Ugly Betty" from its Thursday slot to make way for a new comedy block.
Starting March 26, the new comedy "In the Motherhood" will kick off the network's Thursday prime-time lineup, followed by "Samantha Who?" with Christina Applegate.
Now in its third season, "Ugly Betty" stars America Ferrera as a plain-looking young woman who works at an upscale New York fashion magazine.
"Ugly Betty" started promisingly but has lately stumbled in the ratings. The 8 p.m. Thursday slot is critical for ABC because it leads in to "Grey's Anatomy," one of the network's top-rated series.
ABC said "Ugly Betty" would return to its previous schedule once the comedies had finished their runs, but it did not specify a date.
In addition, the network announced that starting March 18, "Scrubs" will move to 8 p.m. Wednesdays, followed by the new comedy "Better Off Ted." This winter that slot has been occupied by repeats of the thriller "Lost." (Scott Collins, Los Angeles Times)
Delaying the upcoming digital TV transition for four months would cost public broadcasters $22 million, the PBS system chief estimated on Monday.
Paula Kerger, president and CEO of the Public Broadcasting System, said she hopes lawmakers keep that in mind as they consider legislation to delay the switch from Feb. 17 to June 12.
The stations will face increased power charges to maintain over-the-air broadcast signals, she said. Many have leases for signal transmitters that were due to expire on the date of the switch over and will have to make new arrangements, she said.
"This is such a tough situation for our stations because they have just gone through a process where they have raised the money to go through this transition," she said.
The Obama administration has sought the delay because the government program to provide coupons for converter boxes needs more money. The boxes are needed for people without cable or satellite TV to continue receiving TV signals after the conversion date. The latest estimate is that more than 6.5 million households are not prepared for the switchover.
The National Association of Broadcasters has not taken a position on extending the deadline. The TV stations don't want to suddenly alienate and lose viewers, but they've also sunk money into preparing for the Feb. 17 transition.
Kerger said that PBS is not supporting either side, but she doesn't want PBS's hardships lost among potential hardships faced by viewers.
"At the end of the day, our interest is public service and we want to make sure that people don't go without television," she said.
There's a possibility that TV networks would be allowed to choose whether to make the switch over on Feb. 17 or delay it, in which case Kerger said it's likely that PBS would allow its individual stations to choose for themselves.
In lobbying for government help to the system, Kerger noted that much of the costs for the digital transition have been paid through fundraising, which in some cases has made less money available for programming. (David Bauder, Associated Press)
For the third year running, ABC leads nominees for awards from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The network earned six nominations for the 20th annual GLAAD Media Awards, with "Brothers & Sisters," "Desperate Housewives" and "Ugly Betty" among its contenders.
The awards recognize fair and inclusive portrayals of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and issues affecting them. CBS earned four nominations and NBC nabbed two. Nominees for feature film in wide release include "Brideshead Revisited," "Milk," "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," "RocknRolla" and "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."Special prizes will be presented to Tyra Banks and Suze Orman. Banks will receive the Excellence in Media award, and Orman will receive the Vito Russo award. (AP)
The board of the Screen Actors Guild on Monday ousted the guild's chief negotiator and national executive director, Doug Allen.
Allen, who had strongly backed a strike vote until recent attempts to fire him, notified the guild executive staff in an e-mail Monday that "the national board has terminated my employment" and wished the guild well.
The move makes the prospects of an actors' strike extremely remote and will likely hasten an agreement with studios on a movie and prime-time TV contract that expired last June. Actors have been working since then under the terms of the expired deal.
"The threat-o-meter has gone way down," said Jonathan Handel, an entertainment lawyer who has followed the labor strife closely. "There's still work to be done, but this is the dawn of a new era for SAG."(Ryan Nakashima, AP)
First Published: January 28, 2009, 10:00 a.m.
