Home Entertainment

One of the most important platforms for marketing new television programs is a successful schedule with established audiences. We show previews of new programs to fans of our established ones as a means to gain awareness and get people excited.

The more successful a broadcast schedule, the fewer programming holes it has to fill when the new season comes around. And the ones that get picked benefit from strong leads-in--they get to stand on the shoulders of giants.

As we get deeper into development season--the time each year when TV networks select scripts, cast, produce, and pick new pilots that … Read more

Each year at CES, technologists and marketers trot out their newest wares, promising enhancements and upgrades in the user experience, especially as it relates to television.

While TV technology constantly evolves, its aspirations and selling points have remained consistent over the decades. Take a look at a few vintage ads from our collection as proof. The promises they offered to consumers many decades ago aren't all that different from those being made today.

Amazing picture quality This vintage TV ad for CBS Columbia TV set circa 1953 features celebrity spokesperson Arthur Godfrey and promises a picture so sharp that &… Read more

On a recent coast-to-coast commute, I stopped in Indianapolis for my annual visit to the CEDIA Expo, the premier event for the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association. It's a trade show of home theater and home electronics fanatics, people who design and build home theaters, run corporate screening rooms, and build high-tech homes. At CEDIA, you can see the latest and greatest in everything from digital projectors and big-screen TVs to home theater seats and switchers, amplifiers, digital converters, and even popcorn machines.

The reason I go is to spot trends and observe the latest developments in the … Read more

Is Sony looking for a fresh start with its PlayStation Network?

The Register is reporting that Sony is testing out a redesigned PSN in some markets.

The report cites sources familiar with the new design who say Sony will "de-clutter" the PSN main screen in favor of "an aesthetic layout with logically marked sections and rolodex lists."

The sources say Sony is also tweaking the search function by adding a live search feature and a deals section to highlight content on sale; bringing in an "IMDB-style" movie database for movie purchases and rentals and a similar style database for games; and possibly ditching the traditional blue background for bolder color. … Read more

This week Sony's home turf becomes the final country to regain access to PlayStation Network and Qriocity after a cyberattack in April forced the company to rebuild its security system.

Sony said Monday that it will fully restore PSN and Qriocity to its customers in Japan tomorrow. This follows Sony doing a "phased" restoration of access to some services in Japan at the end of May.

Sony was forced to shut down the security of PSN and Qriocity after a cyberattack on the network in mid-April compromised the personal data of more than 77 million customers. Sony … Read more

The anonymous open letter to Research In Motion management posted online yesterday has apparently brought more employees out of the woodwork.

Today, BGR, the site that posted the original letter from a RIM executive, has two more anonymous letters from RIM folks that it says it has picked out from "dozens" that came in yesterday. Only two were posted today, but BGR says there are more that it may post in the coming weeks.

One letter is from a former employee in the legal department, the other from someone in the BlackBerry services department.

The first said yesterday'… Read more

It's been just about a month since Sony restarted its PlayStation Network following a devastating security breach, and now some executives are on the move.

Chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment Akira Sato and honorary chairman of the group, Ken Kutaragi, will retire this year. Kutaragi, known as the "father of the PlayStation," will retire immediately, but will continue to be a senior technology adviser to the company. Sato will retire at the end of August.

President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Kazuo Hirai will be elevated to chairman of the group, and the PlayStation chief executive … Read more

Editors' note: The lens used in recording the video above makes the television appear smaller than it really is in relation to the presenter, Scott Stein. Scroll down to see a photo that more accurately presents the 92-inch size of the TV.

Does a 92-inch TV sound like overkill to you?

To many, it may. But for the company that makes it, Mitsubishi, it's pretty much the only way to distinguish itself among its competitors and try to stay in the TV business.

Next month, Mitsubishi will officially start selling the behemoth of a television it first introduced at CES in January. … Read more

LulzSec is at it again. Today, after much taunting on Twitter, the hacking group has posted online the source code and database passwords of Bethesda Softworks, a subsidiary of gaming company ZeniMax Media.

ZeniMax owns several studios besides Bethesda and is the company behind popular games like Fallout 3, Doom, Quake, and Brink.

LulzSec says in its statement that it initially launched a distributed denial-of-service attack on Bethesda and then found a weakness that provided administrator access to the Web server, and eventually other servers in the network.

"After mapping their internal network and thoroughly pillaging all of their servers, we grabbed all their source code and database passwords, which we proceeded to shift silently back to our storage deck," the group wrote in a statement posted to code-sharing site Pastebin.

In an earlier tweet, LulzSec said the actual attack took place months ago.

"Bethesda, we broke into your site over two months ago. We've had all of your Brink users for weeks. Please fix your junk, thanks!"

Members of the group also profess to be fans of the company. LulzSec says it has data pertaining to more than 200,000 registered users of the game Brink, but says it held back that information because "we actually like this company and would like for them to speed up the production of Skyrim, so we'll give them one less thing to worry about. You're welcome!" … Read more