Fox Cable Networks

Summer in New York, and the kid was homesick--not for a burger from Tommy's or a chili dog from Pink's, but for Vin Scully and the Dodgers. Wall Street puts its rookies through a boot camp of its own, the hours dragging through the muggy days and late into the evenings. Slackers go home at midnight. But midnight in New York is 9 p.m. in Los Angeles, so Jeff Shell called one of his friends back home and asked him to tune in to Scully and put the telephone down, next to the radio.

News Corp. has struck a new deal to that will keep its powerful cable and broadcast channels on satellite broadcaster DirecTV. The two sides had been feuding over a new contract, and DirecTV, which has more than 19 million subscribers, was set to drop more than two dozen News Corp.-owned Fox cable networks Tuesday. Channels that are part of the agreement include the popular FX network and Los Angeles regional sports outlets Prime Ticket and Fox Sports West. Monday's accord not only consists of Fox's cable channels but also the local television stations that carry the programming of the Fox Broadcasting Co., including National Football League games and the popular comedies "Glee" and "New Girl.

News Corp.'s Fox Cable Networks Group plans to launch a new sports channel to appeal to teens and young men and compete against Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN2. The new channel, which will be available to about 2 million of the nation's 105 million households when it debuts next summer, will showcase extreme sports such as skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing and motocross.

First-round playoff games will be shown only on cable starting next season as part of baseball's new seven-year television deal with Fox and TBS, a total package worth almost $3 billion. Turner Broadcasting System also will televise 26 regular-season Sunday games in 2008 while eventually cutting back on its nationwide Atlanta Braves coverage. The World Series, All-Star games and Saturday afternoon telecasts remain on Fox through 2013, as does one of the league championship series.

Fox Entertainment Group Inc. sued to block Comcast Corp. from buying Viacom Inc.'s two-thirds stake in Home Team Sports, a cable television sports network one-third owned by Fox. Fox said it was improperly excluded from secret negotiations between Comcast and Viacom. The suit against Viacom, the world's No. 3 media company, and Comcast, the third-largest U.S. cable TV provider, was filed in Delaware Chancery Court in Wilmington.

Six years after forming its first cable channel, News Corp. has put its cable holdings under one banner called Fox Cable Networks. The reorganization is an effort to capitalize on News Corp.'s enormous clout--particularly in sports programming--and expand its influence with operators and advertisers. The company today will name Jeff Shell to the newly created position of president and chief executive of Fox Cable. Shell joined News Corp.

News Corp.'s Fox Cable Networks Group and Comcast Corp. struck deals Tuesday that will restructure the ownership of three emerging sports cable channels with a combined value of more than $2.5 billion. Under a complicated two-part transaction, News Corp. will take control of Speedvision, and Comcast will have control of the Outdoor Life Network and a 90% stake in the Golf Channel.

The entertainment industry's crackdown on film piracy took a homegrown twist Friday as six former Fox Cable Networks employees and consultants were charged with illegally downloading pirated movies and software from a company computer server. The charges come six months after Fox Entertainment Group, the parent of 20th Century Fox, found illegal copies of several movies on the server, including Fox's "Daredevil" and "X2: X-Men United" as well as Warner Bros.'

A federal jury in Los Angeles on Friday acquitted a former Fox Cable Networks consultant of copyright infringement charges that alleged he illegally made movies and software available for downloading from the company's computer network. Kevin Sarna, 36, was the defendant in the first piracy-related case taken to trial by federal prosecutors in California. He could have faced as many as three years in prison.

First-round playoff games will be shown only on cable starting next season as part of baseball's new seven-year television deal with Fox and TBS, a total package worth almost $3 billion. Turner Broadcasting System also will televise 26 regular-season Sunday games in 2008 while eventually cutting back on its nationwide Atlanta Braves coverage. The World Series, All-Star games and Saturday afternoon telecasts remain on Fox through 2013, as does one of the league championship series.

It was spy versus spy on TV Monday night. One's coming back next year, the other isn't. Fox won the last Monday of the 2005-06 season in the key "adults ages 18 to 49" demographic with the two-hour, fifth-season finale of "24." The drama starring Kiefer Sutherland as a gruff counterterrorism agent delivered a 5.4 rating/14 share in the demo, with 13.5 million total viewers, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research.

A federal jury in Los Angeles on Friday acquitted a former Fox Cable Networks consultant of copyright infringement charges that alleged he illegally made movies and software available for downloading from the company's computer network. Kevin Sarna, 36, was the defendant in the first piracy-related case taken to trial by federal prosecutors in California. He could have faced as many as three years in prison.

The entertainment industry's crackdown on film piracy took a homegrown twist Friday as six former Fox Cable Networks employees and consultants were charged with illegally downloading pirated movies and software from a company computer server. The charges come six months after Fox Entertainment Group, the parent of 20th Century Fox, found illegal copies of several movies on the server, including Fox's "Daredevil" and "X2: X-Men United" as well as Warner Bros.'

News Corp.'s Fox Cable Networks Group plans to launch a new sports channel to appeal to teens and young men and compete against Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN2. The new channel, which will be available to about 2 million of the nation's 105 million households when it debuts next summer, will showcase extreme sports such as skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing and motocross.

Fox television network stands to make $25 million or more a year by auctioning off its Saturday morning time periods to outside production companies. Industry observers worry that this is a dangerous precedent that could lead to a deterioration in program quality, especially if cash-strapped networks lease other poorly performing time periods to the highest bidder. Some worry that News Corp.

Summer in New York, and the kid was homesick--not for a burger from Tommy's or a chili dog from Pink's, but for Vin Scully and the Dodgers. Wall Street puts its rookies through a boot camp of its own, the hours dragging through the muggy days and late into the evenings. Slackers go home at midnight. But midnight in New York is 9 p.m. in Los Angeles, so Jeff Shell called one of his friends back home and asked him to tune in to Scully and put the telephone down, next to the radio.

Fox television network stands to make $25 million or more a year by auctioning off its Saturday morning time periods to outside production companies. Industry observers worry that this is a dangerous precedent that could lead to a deterioration in program quality, especially if cash-strapped networks lease other poorly performing time periods to the highest bidder. Some worry that News Corp.

It was spy versus spy on TV Monday night. One's coming back next year, the other isn't. Fox won the last Monday of the 2005-06 season in the key "adults ages 18 to 49" demographic with the two-hour, fifth-season finale of "24." The drama starring Kiefer Sutherland as a gruff counterterrorism agent delivered a 5.4 rating/14 share in the demo, with 13.5 million total viewers, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research.

News Corp.'s Fox Cable Networks Group and Comcast Corp. struck deals Tuesday that will restructure the ownership of three emerging sports cable channels with a combined value of more than $2.5 billion. Under a complicated two-part transaction, News Corp. will take control of Speedvision, and Comcast will have control of the Outdoor Life Network and a 90% stake in the Golf Channel.

Fox Entertainment Group Inc. sued to block Comcast Corp. from buying Viacom Inc.'s two-thirds stake in Home Team Sports, a cable television sports network one-third owned by Fox. Fox said it was improperly excluded from secret negotiations between Comcast and Viacom. The suit against Viacom, the world's No. 3 media company, and Comcast, the third-largest U.S. cable TV provider, was filed in Delaware Chancery Court in Wilmington.