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After six years of legal wrangling and one Supreme Court review of Janet Jackson's infamous Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction," CBS argued anew Tuesday that it should not be held responsible for the half-second of nudity. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia had thrown out the FCC's $550,000 fine against CBS as arbitrary, only to have the U.S. Supreme Court kick it back down for review. The Supreme Court pointed to its ruling in a Fox Television-led challenge, when it said the FCC could threaten fines over the use of a single curse word on live TV. ...CBS was...

New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- The hit MTV television show "16 and Pregnant" is back for its controversial second season featuring a new slate of pregnant teenage girls and their stories. The network has never been one to shy away from abortion but one pro-abortion blogger says she's upset the show doesn't promote teen abortions. Blogger Jessica Valenti shows just how pro-abortion the pro-choice movement is because she's upset the show isn't promoting teen abortions and, instead, profiles girls who keep their baby."Where are the pregnant teens who choose not to stay pregnant? Where are the abortions?" she complains. "If...

I thought I would be in a better mood in 2010. I mean, you can't do much worse than 2009. But after only 24 days, I'm deeply cranky about several things on the food radar. Watercress-gate: Earlier this month, Food Network aired an episode of "Iron Chef America" starring White House chef Cristeta Comerford competing with Bobby Flay against Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse. The hook: The chefs were to use vegetables harvested from the White House kitchen garden started by Michelle Obama. Only they didn't. Sure, they showed the four chefs tromping through the garden picking and snipping and...

OK Yall. We turned on the Country Music channel and are watching Country at the White House. Brad Paisley is performing and we are enjoying the intamate lil concert and I blab out to KV that this must be an event for GW/Laura and friends. UHG! There the camera goes (60 inch tv) on Obama Close up and the Michelle too. They then cut to an interview with Brad done in the WH driveway and he oozed with Obama Love. How painful! Music so good but the butt kissing Country Love to obama is horrid. The Grand Ole opry just...

September is back-to-school time for VH1, as well. An education-centered special, Get Schooled, is set to debut on VH1 and its sister stations on Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 8/7c. Check the details below: Want to know what it’s like to work with Kelly Clarkson, LeBron James and President Obama — and what it takes to get there? Then tune in to Get Schooled: You Have The Right on Tuesday, September 8 at 8PM EST. Airing on VH1 and its sister channels (BET, CMT, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV and Spike), this 30-minute special shows how applying oneself during school will greatly...

If you’ve been waiting since the ‘80’s to see an overstuffed talking chair catapult a suit clad man-child into a fantastic like sketch, you’re day has finally come. The Pee-wee Herman Show  is back and this time, Paul Reubens promises to keep it in his gray polyesters. Reubens said, “It’s time…. I've put part of him away for a long time, but part of him has always been here with me. I think it will be like riding a bike - which is not a bad analogy for Pee-wee, by the way." That’s right; the long-awaited return of Pee-wee Herman...

Viacom's second-quarter profit tumbled 32 percent as revenue fell amid a weak advertising market, slower video game sales and fewer movie releases. The media conglomerate controlled by billionaire Sumner Redstone earned $277 million, or 46 cents per share, compared with $407 million, or 65 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Excluding 3 cents per share in severance charges, adjusted earnings were 49 cents in the latest quarter. Revenue slipped 14 percent to $3.3 billion. Analysts projected income of 48 cents per share on sales of $3.5 billion. New York-based Viacom Inc. owns a wide range of media...

MTV Networks is axing around 75 staff Tuesday, executives at the company confirmed. The cuts mainly affect mid-level executives in the program development department, digital division and scheduling at the company's music and logo group which houses channels including MTV, VH1 and Logo. A spokeswoman confirmed the news saying the cuts were a result of the recession. "We have been taking a look at our business and how to position ourselves for future growth. It's pretty much the economy," she said, adding that the cuts accounted for less than 1% of MTV Networks' workforce. The executive couldnt discuss how many...

'New York Times' Spiked Obama Donor Story Congressional Testimony: ‘Game-Changer’ Article Would Have Connected Campaign With ACORN. By Michael P. Tremoglie, The Bulletin Monday, March 30, 2009 A lawyer involved with legal action against Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) told a House Judiciary subcommittee on March 19 The New York Times had killed a story in October that would have shown a close link between ACORN, Project Vote and the Obama campaign because it would have been a "a game changer." Heather Heidelbaugh, who represented the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee in the lawsuit against the group, recounted...

Before he left CNBC's Jim Cramer in the dirt, Jon Stewart had pretty much knocked CNN's "Crossfire" off the air and drawn blood from Chris Matthews and Bill Kristol, among others. But he also played a role in helping to elect Barack Obama. Mainly it was through his show's withering and wicked mockery of President Bush and Vice President Cheney for several years, and much of the same directed at John McCain and Sarah Palin (Stewart suggested that she might be "tagged and released into the wilderness"). Here are just a few of Stewart's highlights for the final year of...

NEW YORK – Jon Stewart hammered Jim Cramer and his network, CNBC, in their anticipated face-off on "The Daily Show," repeatedly chastising the "Mad Money" host for putting entertainment above journalism. "I understand that you want to make finance entertaining, but it's not a ... game," Stewart told Cramer, adding in an expletive during the show's Thursday taping. The episode was scheduled to air at 11 p.m. EDT on Comedy Central. It was perhaps the hardest lashing Stewart has given to a TV commentator since 2004 when he called Tucker Carlson and his then co-host Paul Begala "partisan hacks" on...

<p>The Iron Chef and her wife both have buns in their ovens.</p> <p>Cat Cora, star of Food Network's "Iron Chef America," announced Tuesday that she was 4-1/2 months pregnant with a boy.</p> <p>But this is where it gets interesting.</p> <p>Cora's partner Jennifer, with whom she already has two sons, is also pregnant, and due in April, three months before Cora.</p>

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- There's nothing new about fee disputes between TV networks and cable and satellite operators, but now they've got an added wrinkle: Cable operators contending that TV networks should forfeit big fee increases when they put shows online free on their own sites and third-party distributors such as Hulu, Joost and Veoh. That's one of the central arguments being made by Time Warner Cable executives in their dispute with Viacom, which threatens to remove a group of 18 networks that includes MTV, Comedy Central, Noggin and Nickelodeon from Time Warner's 13.5 million subscribers in big markets such...

LOS ANGELES – "SpongeBob SquarePants" might get squeezed off Time Warner Cable. Media giant Viacom Inc. said its Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and 16 other channels will go dark for 13 million subscribers at 12:01 a.m. Thursday if a new carriage fee deal with Time Warner Cable Inc. is not agreed upon by then. The impasse would mean "SpongeBob" and other popular shows like Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" and Stephen Colbert's "The Colbert Report" will be cut off on the nation's second-largest cable operator.

Viacom may pull MTV off Time Warner Cable Shows go if new carriage deal not signed by midnight.LOS ANGELES — Media giant Viacom Inc. is threatening to pull MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon and 16 other channels from Time Warner Cable Inc. if a new carriage fee deal is not agreed upon by midnight today, Dec. 31. If realized, the move could shut off popular shows like "The Colbert Report" and "SpongeBob SquarePants" to 13 million subscribers, said spokesman Alex Dudley, a vice president at Time Warner Cable, the nation's second-largest cable operator. "The issue is that they have asked...

Viacom threatens to pull MTV off Time Warner CableAssociated Press - December 30, 2008 10:33 PM ET LOS ANGELES (AP) - Viacom is threatening to pull MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon and 16 other channels from Time Warner Cable if a new carriage fee deal is not agreed upon by midnight Wednesday. A Time Warner spokesman says Viacom is seeking "an exorbitant increase in their carriage fees." Viacom has asked for fee increases of between 22 and 36% per channel, adding up to tens of millions of dollars per year, an amount that Time Warner says would cause an increase...

My son was playing on Nick Jr.'s Free Draw making a Christmas tree and when he went to write 'merry Christmas' The program would not allow him to type the word Christmas on his drawing. The error message was "Word Blocked" (also blocked where the words and phrases: Savior, Pope, Blessed virgin Mary, St. Nick, Hark the herald angels sing, Silent night, Away in the manger, no crib for his head, and even 'Obama is the AntiChrist', but I think it was because of the word Christ, not Obama, because I was able to write his name alone.) I was...

On Wednesday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith interviewed actor James Franco, who stars opposite Sean Penn in a new movie about gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk: "Actor James Franco is here to talk about his role in the much-talked-about new movie, 'Milk.' He is amazing in it." At the end of the show, Smith thanked Franco for being a guest and offer this review of the movie: "James Franco in 'Milk,' amazing performance. Sean Penn, off the charts. It's a must-see for everybody." On November 30, CBS’s Sunday Morning offered a similar glowing description of the film, describing...

They're just around the corner, with 100 personnel at Paramount and 300 staffers at MTV to be fired. (See my previous, MTV Networks Hiding News Of Layoffs)

NEW YORK (AP) -- MTV is throwing an inaugural ball for President-elect Barack Obama. The network announced Tuesday that it will host the "Be the Change Inaugural Ball" at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington on Jan. 20.