Cable Channel

News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey made big headlines Monday for suggesting that Fox could go from a broadcast network to cable channel to make ends meet.  The implication is that consumers would have to pay to watch Bart Simpson or catch some NFL football on Sunday afternoons. But for all intents and purpose, Fox is already a cable channel and has been for a long time. Yes, about 10% to 15% of the country's TV consumers still get Fox via antennas, but everyone else receives its signals from a pay-TV provider such as Time Warner Cable or DirecTV.

Is Bart Simpson heading to cable? It could happen, warned Chase Carey, the president of News Corp., which owns Fox Broadcasting, home to such popular shows as "The Simpsons," "Glee" and "The Following" as well as National Football League games. Most consumers already pay to get Fox through their pay-TV provider. A cable or satellite company typically pays Fox a fee to carry its signals, and those costs get passed on to their customers. This so-called retransmission consent fee has become a key revenue stream for broadcast networks, which previously made most of their money from selling advertising.

CBS executives are not wasting any time after buying 50% of the TV Guide Network, announcing plans to heat up the cable channel's evening schedule with the No. 1 daytime drama, "The Young and the Restless. " Beginning this summer, encore episodes of the popular soap will run on the TV Guide Network, also known as TVGN, at 7 p.m. on the same day as their telecast on the top-rated CBS network. The fan-favorite drama, which is owned by Sony Pictures Television, has been enjoying a second run in cable for many years on SOAPnet, a cable property of Walt Disney Co.  However, Disney has said it eventually wants to turn SOAPnet into a channel called Disney Jr. with programming aimed at tots.  PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot moments Repeats of "The Young and the Restless" will remain on SOAPnet until this summer, when they will shift to TVGN.

Honey Boo Boo should be getting a nice box of chocolates in the mail. David Zaslav, the chief executive of cable programming giant Discovery Communications, had a 2012 compensation package worth $49.9 million, according to the company's proxy statement. Besides Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications also owns TLC, home to the reality show "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. " Other Discovery Channels include Animal Planet and Discovery ID. It also is partners with Oprah Winfrey on the OWN Network and with Hasbro on the Hub, a cable channel aimed at kids and families.  ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll While a pay package worth $49.9 million is nothing to sneeze at, it is actually a reduction from 2011, when Zaslav's compensation was valued at $52.4 million.

After the coffee. Before trying to make a clone to do my grunt work. The Skinny: Was excited to see "Nashville" back, but did we really need a Katie Couric cameo? It felt forced and didn't add much to the plot. It's a busy Thursday morning as CNN unveiled its new morning show and FX detailed plans for a new sister channel. Also, a big change at Hearst Corp. and a review of the new "G.I. Joe" movie. Daily Dose: Mornings are a priority for new CNN chief Jeff Zucker and Thursday he unveiled his plans for a show he hopes will woo viewers.

FX is going to try to clone itself. The News Corp.-owned cable network -- home to such critically acclaimed shows as "Justified" and "Sons of Anarchy" -- is launching a sister channel this fall, dubbed FXX. To get the channel off to a strong start, FX will move its comedies "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "The League" to FXX, as well as its late-night show "Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell," which will expand from a weekly to a...

Legendary baseball broadcaster Tim McCarver is stepping down from his job as Fox's lead baseball analyst after this season. A former catcher with the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies, McCarver has held the job since 1996, when the network acquired rights to broadcast the national pastime. He has also covered games for NBC, CBS and ABC and spent many years calling New York Mets games. “Although I am neither tired of broadcasting baseball nor have I in any way lost my interest in baseball, with which I have been associated as a player and broadcaster for 55 years, it's time to cut back," McCarver said in a statement.

Looking to expand its cable portfolio, CBS is in talks to acquire a 50% stake in TV Guide Network for about $100 million. Currently co-owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and One Equity Partners, an investment arm of JPMorgan Chase, TVGN has been on the block for more than a year. CBS would acquire the stake held by One Equity Partners, people familiar with the talks said. An agreement could be announced as early as next week. Although it is distributed in more than 80 million homes, TVGN has struggled in its attempts to become a mainstream entertainment channel.

There's no more Time Inc. at Time Warner. Time Warner said it is spinning off its Time Inc. magazine unit -- home to such titles as Time, People, Sports Illustrated and Fortune -- into a separate, publicly traded company. The move comes after talks to merge Time Inc. with Meredith Corp., another magazine publisher, collapsed. “After a thorough review of options, we believe that a separation will better position both Time Warner and Time Inc.," said Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes, who added that the move will allow the company to "focus entirely on our television networks and film and TV production businesses" and give Time Inc. "the flexibility and focus of being a stand-alone public company.

In the latest sign of how valuable the media industry considers sports programming, News Corp. on Tuesday unveiled plans for Fox Sports 1, a new national cable channel it hopes will eventually challenge Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN empire. Scheduled to launch in mid-August in almost 90 million homes, the channel's initial lineup is to include NASCAR, college football and basketball, ultimate fighting and soccer. Next year, Fox Sports 1 is to add regular-season and postseason Major League Baseball to its lineup.