- TNT will celebrate ten years of the Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley studio team with a special edition of Inside the NBA on February 12. The special, which will follow the NBA Rookie/Sophomore game, will feature “highlights from the past decade of Inside the NBA as well as current and former players sharing their favorite memories.” (Turner Sports)
- CBS has given preliminary approval to an ad by conservative group Focus on the Family for Super Bowl XLIV. The ad, featuring former Florida QB Tim Tebow, will “carry a ‘Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life’ theme.” CBS and other networks carrying the Super Bowl have banned ads from other advocacy groups in the past, including MoveOn.org and PETA. (MediaPost)
- GE CEO Jeffery Immelt‘s December estimate that NBC will lose up to $200 million on the 2010 Winter Olympics could have had an affect on ad sales for the event. NBC’s Dick Ebersol told the New York Times that it would have been preferable if Immelt had waited to “reveal the losses” until the end of January, so it “didn?t cause any disruption of sales.” Ebersol: “When you say something like that, advertisers think they?ll get a bargain, and we?ve told them there aren?t any.” (New York Times)
Netflix officially announces expanded NFL deal
The NFL has officially reached a new deal with Netflix that will see the streamer bookend the season.
