Fox Broadcasting Co

NFL Contract Boosts Fox TV Affiliations: Fox Broadcasting Co., which won a $1.56-billion contract to broadcast National Football League games earlier this year, said it has added seven new full-time affiliates and 24 secondary affiliates to its roster of Fox stations. The additional affiliates should boost the network's coverage from 94% to 98% of U.S. TV homes, Fox said.

Fox Broadcasting is inching closer to bringing Conan O'Brien back to late night. Key Fox executives, including Rupert Murdoch, are on board with the plan and would like to finalize a deal in coming weeks so they can make a splash on May 17 when the network unveils its fall lineup. Several significant issues remain and the Fox talks could fall apart, according to people close to the negotiations who asked anonymity because the discussions were meant to be private. But people close to O'Brien are cautiously optimistic.

In an effort to bolster the management of its television group, News Corp. promoted David Hill to chairman and chief executive of Fox Broadcasting Co. from president of Fox Television Group and named Larry Jacobson to the new position of president of Fox Television Network. Jacobson was formerly executive vice president and chief financial officer of Fox Broadcasting.

Allegations that Fox's shelved game show "Our Little Genius" might have been rigged has prompted an inquiry by the Federal Communications Commission into possible violations of federal rules that govern quiz shows. Revelations of the FCC probe follows the News Corp.-owned network's decision last month to yank the highly promoted program from its schedule only a week before it was supposed to premiere. Fox took the unusual step after reality-show titan Mark Burnett, who was producing the program, informed the network that there was a problem with how the young contestants had been coached for the competition.

The television arms of Paramount Communication and MCA Inc. are reportedly planning to launch a fifth television network together and have approached affiliates of Fox Broadcasting to carry the programming. Fox Broadcasting spokesman Brad Turell said some of the network's 129 affiliates nationwide have been approached by MCA TV and Paramount Domestic TV about carrying the proposed programming. Fox also owns seven television stations, including KTTV-TV Channel 11 in Los Angeles.

In the tradition of Live Aid and Comic Relief, Fox Broadcasting Co. will join the crusade to raise social awareness through popular entertainment with Freedomfest--Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday Celebration--a live, all-star musical tribute to the South African human rights activist. On June 11, Fox will join the British Broadcasting Co.

The man who can make movie teasers look better than the films themselves is about to try to do the same for the National Football League. Fox Broadcasting Co., which will begin airing NFL games late this summer, this week hired Tony Seiniger, president of Beverly Hills-based Seiniger Advertising, to create commercials to promote Fox's first-ever NFL broadcast schedule.

The low-key Fox movie executive who shepherded the offbeat Oscar winners "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Juno" was put in line Thursday to become Rupert Murdoch's No. 2, spearheading his News Corp. media empire in Hollywood and on Wall Street. Peter Rice, a publicity-averse executive at Fox adept at turning quirky films into mainstream commercial hits, was tapped by Murdoch to run the Fox television network.

ONE YEAR AFTER entering the prime-time programming wars in a bold effort to establish a fourth commercial television network, Fox Broadcasting Co. is bleeding red ink--but making what its commanding general considers satisfactory progress. "It's like the Normandy invasion," says Fox chairman Barry Diller. "We're on the beach. We are encountering all the problems that you encounter on a heavily fortified coast. But we are creeping toward the hedgerows." The analogy is apt.

Martin M. Colby has been elected chairman of the newly formed Fox Broadcasting Co.

Conan O'Brien, caught in NBC's late-night shuffle, found encouragement Monday from rival network Fox. NBC confirmed Sunday that it was pulling the plug on the prime-time "Jay Leno Show" after just four months, and would shift Leno back to his longtime 11:35 p.m. slot in March. Although Leno has signed off on the time-period switch, O'Brien, the other person involved in the matter, hasn't agreed yet. O'Brien took over the storied "Tonight Show" in June when Leno stepped down to prepare for his prime-time show.

Despite scuttling their game show featuring children less than a week before its announced air date, Fox executives said Monday that "Our Little Genius" could eventually join the network's lineup. Last week, Fox and the show's producer took the highly unusual step of scrapping eight episodes over concerns that the young contestants might have received improper coaching. Fox had been running on-air promos for the series and had planned to launch it Wednesday night after "American Idol."

Fox has been TV's top network among young adults for five years. And now it hopes it has the goods to take control of Thursday, TV's most lucrative night. The network kicked off TV's upfront week on Monday by announcing a fairly conservative fall schedule -- four comedies, two dramas and a late-night talk show -- that nevertheless contained a bold play for Thursdays, which has for years been ruled by rivals.

News Corp. executives are famous for their swagger and bravado. But not Tony Vinciquerra. "You won't get any witty banter out of me," he said matter-of-factly. News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch this month put Vinciquerra in charge of all the company's entertainment networks, including Fox Broadcasting and 30 cable channels, such as FX, Fox Sports and National Geographic.

The low-key Fox movie executive who shepherded the offbeat Oscar winners "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Juno" was put in line Thursday to become Rupert Murdoch's No. 2, spearheading his News Corp. media empire in Hollywood and on Wall Street. Peter Rice, a publicity-averse executive at Fox adept at turning quirky films into mainstream commercial hits, was tapped by Murdoch to run the Fox television network.

Rupert Murdoch has returned from Australia, where he celebrated his mother's 100th birthday. Now the mogul faces another important date. The contract for Murdoch's chief lieutenant, News Corp. President Peter Chernin, expires June 30, and the two executives have been locked in negotiations for months. They haven't struck a deal, and concern is mounting inside the company, and on Wall Street, that Chernin will not renew.

The divorce is final, but will Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly ever completely break free from NBC? Reilly left his NBC presidential post 19 months ago, but the TV press can't seem to let it go. On Tuesday, Reilly, who has been at Fox for 18 months, was asked what he thinks of NBC's recent decision to forgo scripted programming at 10 p.m. to give Jay Leno a new comedy show five times a week. "NBC, for me, is like the crazy ex-wife that I can't get away from," Reilly quipped.

When Fox President of Entertainment Kevin Reilly first heard Joss Whedon's pitch for a series called "Dollhouse," he was so taken that he later told a reporter, "He had me at 'Hello.' I was kinda drunk with the surprise of it all." Reilly no longer appears to be in a love-drunk daze about the much-anticipated project, because Fox announced that "Dollhouse" will premiere in one of the worst time slots in all of television: Fridays at 9 p.m., beginning Feb. 13. "Dollhouse" has had its share of ups and downs in its short life.