Nbc Television

"The Ellen DeGeneres Show" has been renewed through the 2016-2017 television season, distributor Warner Bros. has announced. The talk show, now in its 10th year, has seen its ratings swell 13% this season compared with the previous period. It has steadily been moving up the hierarchy of daytime television since Oprah Winfrey retired nearly two years ago. "Dr. Phil" continues to beat "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in overall viewers, but DeGeneres' program now jockeys with "Dr. Phil" for the lead among women ages 25-54, the demographic typically sold to advertisers in daytime television.

"The Ellen DeGeneres Show" has been renewed through the 2016-2017 television season, distributor Warner Bros. has announced. The talk show, now in its 10th year, has seen its ratings swell 13% this season compared with the previous period. It has steadily been moving up the hierarchy of daytime television since Oprah Winfrey retired nearly two years ago. "Dr. Phil" continues to beat "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in overall viewers, but DeGeneres' program now jockeys with "Dr. Phil" for the lead among women ages 25-54, the demographic typically sold to advertisers in daytime television.

Amid gloomy forecasts for continued deterioration of the advertising markets, NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker said Monday that the network was looking at scaling back the number of hours of television that it provided. "Can we continue to program 22 hours of prime-time? Three of our competitors don't. Can we afford to program seven nights a week?" Zucker said at a media conference in New York sponsored by investment banking firm UBS.

NBC could yet earn a gold medal for its controversial decision to delay televising marquee events from the London Olympics until prime time in the U.S. The company approached the London Olympics, which officially opened Friday, expecting to lose about $200 million on its coverage. But ratings for the Summer Games have been much higher than expected, which should allow the company to escape a huge financial loss. "We are off to a very, very successful start," NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke said Wednesday morning during Comcast's second-quarter earnings call.

NBC could yet earn a gold medal for its controversial decision to delay televising marquee events from the London Olympics until prime time in the U.S. The company approached the London Olympics, which officially opened Friday, expecting to lose about $200 million on its coverage. But ratings for the Summer Games have been much higher than expected, which should allow the company to escape a huge financial loss. "We are off to a very, very successful start," NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke said Wednesday morning during Comcast's second-quarter earnings call.

It's NUTS no more. NBC's TV production arm is changing its name from NBC Universal Television Studio, or NUTS for short, to Universal Media Studios. The name change was a nod to the increasing importance of creating entertainment for the Web. The studio produces such TV shows as "House" for Fox, "The Office" and "Heroes" and the cable programs "Battlestar Galactica" and "Monk."

Two games that could decide divisional baseball champions will be nationally televised on the final Saturday of the major league season, NBC announced. The network said today that it will have regional coverage of the Sept. 30 games between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, and the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays.

After an aborted attempt to turn around Marvel Entertainment, Scott Sassa has joined NBC Inc. as president of the TV stations division. He replaces John Rohrbeck, a 30-year veteran of NBC who is credited with building one of the nation's largest and most profitable station groups over the last six years, with 12 stations that reach more than 25% of U.S. households. NBC said Rohrbeck will be reassigned to a yet-to-be-determined post.

The National Broadcasting Co. has retained Cashion Horie Cocke Gonzalez Architects Inc., Los Angeles and Montclair, to design a major $3.5-million addition and renovation to the network's famed Studios 1 and 3 in Burbank. The new facilities at the corner of Olive and Alameda avenues will be in Burbank's increasingly visible Media District. The area contains 2 to 3 million square feet of office retail and industrial development serving the film and graphic arts industries.

Don Durgin, 79, a former president of NBC Television, died Friday at a New York City hospital of what was believed to be a brain aneurysm, according to his wife, Catherine Meacham Durgin. Born in Chicago, Durgin earned a bachelor's degree at Princeton University and a law degree at New York University. He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II, and went to work for the advertising firm Foote, Cone & Belding after the war.

Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong, the punk rocker turned 21 st century Stephen Sondheim, is joining NBC-TV's “The Voice” as a mentor on chanteuse Christina Auguilera's team, series officials announced Thursday. Armstrong, the mastermind behind Green Day's 2004 concept album “American Idiot” that subsequently became a hit on the musical theater circuit, confesses to being a fan of the show. He said he has no qualms about participating because: “It's not molding artists, it's just giving them a little bit of guidance and direction without giving them a complete makeover.” Not that he couldn't be a font of wisdom on that front: Since sprouting up as a pop-punk band in the Bay Area a couple of decades ago, Armstrong and the band have experienced quite an evolution.

EUGENE, Ore. — Maurice Greene , a four-time Olympic sprint medalist and five-time world champion, never lacked titles or ego. But he said a race to break the deadlock between Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh for the final U.S. women's 100-meter berth at the London Games would eclipse any of his grudge matches, including his 200-meter showdown against Michael Johnson at the 2000 U.S. Olympic trials. "This will supersede every other race," Greene said Tuesday, a day off in this year's trials.

Neva Patterson, a character actress who portrayed Cary Grant's fiancee in the 1957 movie "An Affair to Remember" in a career that spanned six decades and more than 100 film and TV roles, has died. She was 90. Patterson died Tuesday at her Brentwood home of complications from a broken hip, said her daughter, Megan Lee. The actress was a veteran of Broadway when she was cast as Lois, the socialite who would not make it to the altar with Grant in "An Affair to Remember. " "She just loved the fact that she kissed Cary Grant the first day on the set," her daughter said.

Not long ago, Jeff Gaspin was known inside NBC Universal as a "man without a country." The executive floated from job to job, collecting clunky titles such as executive vice president for alternative series, longform, specials and program strategy. No one can say that now. Last week, the man without a country gained an empire as the reserved 48-year-old executive was thrust into the No. 2 job at NBC Universal, directly under Chief Executive Jeff Zucker.

One of Hollywood's juiciest television dramas came to a close Monday when NBC Entertainment chief Ben Silverman said he was leaving the network after two tumultuous years. In the end, NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker's big gamble to hand over the keys to NBC's storied legacy to an aggressive young television producer who vowed to revolutionize the network backfired.

Amid gloomy forecasts for continued deterioration of the advertising markets, NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker said Monday that the network was looking at scaling back the number of hours of television that it provided. "Can we continue to program 22 hours of prime-time? Three of our competitors don't. Can we afford to program seven nights a week?" Zucker said at a media conference in New York sponsored by investment banking firm UBS.

Dennis Swanson, who recently resigned after 10 years as president of ABC Sports, is becoming president and general manager of NBC's television station in New York. Swanson succeeds Bill Bolster, who since January has been overseeing NBC 4 New York in addition to assuming new duties as president of CNBC, the company's business news cable channel. NBC 4 New York is the top-rated station in New York.

The NBC Television Studio Tour gives adults and children a behind-the-scenes look at programs aired locally on Channel 4. Participants can expect a 70-minute walk through the broadcasting complex in Burbank, where they will witness a typical day on various NBC sets. A tour guide takes guests backstage at "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," where they walk through the wardrobe room and later watch a video demonstration of how makeup is applied to on-camera personalities.

Thursday's and Friday's rounds of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines will be televised on ESPN from 10 a.m. to noon, and 2 to 7 p.m. NBC will cover play on both days from noon to 2 p.m. On Saturday, six hours of third-round TV coverage begins at 1 p.m. on NBC, with host Dan Hicks and analyst Johnny Miller calling the play from the 18th hole tower, and Bob Costas contributing interviews and commentary.

In the increasingly difficult business of syndicated television, Warner Bros. on Thursday proved that TV stations still have an appetite for original programming. Warner Bros. and NBC Universal said they had finalized three deals, including one that foreshadows the launch of a daytime talk show next year. The show, which will feature comedienne Bonnie Hunt, will run on TV stations owned by NBC Universal. NBC Universal, the entertainment arm of General Electric Co.