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Posts tagged as “cable television”

HBO Acquires Whoopi Goldberg's Directorial Debut, 'Moms Mabley: I Got Somethin' to Tell You'

By goodblacknews on April 19, 2013

Announced via press release, HBO has acquired all U.S. broadcast and home video rights to Moms Mabley: I Got Somethin’ to Tell You from first-time director Whoopi Goldberg.  The feature-length documentary about the iconic stand-up comedienne, will have its world premiere at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, April 20. 
Executive produced by Goldberg, Tom Leonardis and George Schlatter, the documentary will debut exclusively on HBO later this year.  In the film, Goldberg explores Mabley’s legacy through recently unearthed photography, rediscovered performance footage and the words of numerous celebrated comedians, entertainers and historians, including Eddie Murphy,Joan Rivers, Sidney Poitier, Kathy Griffin, Harry Belafonte, Bill Cosby, Quincy Jones, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.
Mabley tackled topics such as gender, sex and racism, making her one of the first triple X-rated comedians on the comedy circuit. Once billed as “The Funniest Woman in the World,” she performed on stage and in television and film up until her death in 1975.
“Moms Mabley has been a huge inspiration to me and so many others, but not a lot of folks outside of the comedy world know about her legacy,” said Goldberg in a statement. “There are a lot of us who wouldn’t be working today without pioneers like her. HBO gave me my first break on TV, so it’s only fitting that Moms has a home there now.
article by Tambay A. Obenson via indiewire.com

Chris Rock Joins Season Two of BET's "Real Husbands of Hollywood"

By goodblacknews on April 8, 2013

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stIAeKvHnHc&w=560&h=315]
 

Oprah Winfrey Tops Forbes List of "Most Influential Celebrities"

By goodblacknews on March 18, 2013

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey’s list of career accomplishments keeps growing.  For the second year in a row, the iconic television host and philanthropist is number one on the Forbes’ list of most influential celebrities.
Snagging the 2013 No 1. Spot with 48 percent of people rating her as “influential,” Winfrey tops the list which includes several of  Hollywood’s elite like Steven Spielberg (No. 2), Barbara Walters (No. 8) and Clint Eastwood (No. 10).
Winfrey’s reign over the media world has lasted for decades. After she ended her 25-year-run on  The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2011, the mogul started her TV empire O.W.N., the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Oprah Winfrey's OWN Channel Finally Set To Make Profit

By goodblacknews on January 18, 2013

Oprah WinfreyLast Tuesday afternoon, Oprah Winfrey called the co-presidents of her cable channel OWN with some jump-on-the-couch-with-joy news. “Lance wants to talk,” she said, referring to Lance Armstrong, whom she had been courting for a confessional interview about his long-denied use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Ms. Winfrey conferred with the co-presidents, Erik Logan and Sheri Salata, about booking a trip to Mr. Armstrong’s hometown, Austin, Tex., reserving airtime for Thursday night and announcing the “get” to the press.

What no one said on the call was that this interview — maybe Ms. Winfrey’s biggest since her 1993 sit-down with Michael Jackson — could be a turning point for OWN, which has been low-rated since its birth two years ago.

Another turning point — perhaps even bigger — came this month when OWN started to pocket substantial per-subscriber fees from some of the biggest cable and satellite operators in the country.

Some of these deals were made before OWN even had its premiere. The operators agreed to pay just a penny or two per subscriber a month until January 2013, and then start paying nearly 20 cents a month on average, according to people with direct knowledge of the deals who asked for anonymity because the details were confidential. The fees increase over a span of several years.

Multiply those dimes and quarters across most of the 83 million homes in which OWN is available (but not all — at least one deal is still pending) and the value for Ms. Winfrey and Discovery Communications is plain. Discovery, OWN’s other owner, has said that the channel will turn a profit for the first time in the second half of 2013. Discovery has invested more than $400 million to date.

Oprah’s OWN Network Delivers Best Series Debut Ratings Ever

By goodblacknews on September 18, 2012

 

Iyanla Vanzant and Oprah Winfrey on OWN's 'Super Soul Sunday'

Iyanla Vanzant and Oprah Winfrey on OWN’s ‘Super Soul Sunday’

Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network has been hitting highs recently, and this past weekend was no exception.  OWN’s new series Iyanla: Fix My Life featuring Evelyn Lozada, had a two-night premiere, Saturday and Sunday, and is the network’s highest rated series debut ever, ranking number 2 in all of cable when it aired Saturday night.  Season 2 of Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s premiered Sunday night and was the highest rated episode in the series history, ranking in the top 5 of all cable series during the time period.