News Round-up

NBC might scale back hours, Zucker says
NBC is looking at "all options" to revamp its broadcast model, including possibly cutting the number of primetime hours or even nights per week, NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker said Monday afternoon.

Zucker said that the entire broadcast industry, including NBC, are under tremendous challenges because of the changing media landscape as well as the downturn in the economy.

"Can we continue to broadcast 22 hours in primetime? Three of our competitors don't," Zucker said during Monday's keynote at the annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference. "Can we continue to broadcast seven days a week? One of our competitors doesn't."

The soap genre "deserves to survive"
Caitlin Heaney of The Evening Sun writies: "Soap operas really don't get enough credit for all they do. The actors and crew have to be some of the hardest working in the entertainment business, plugging away day-after-day to put out a constant stream of episodes. But the genre is in danger of failing. Maybe it's the Internet that's killing the soaps. Maybe it's the shorter attention spans people have nowadays that stems long-term interest. Or maybe these shows have just failed to adapt to the changing world. But the soap genre is ingrained in broadcast history and warrants better. It deserves to survive."

AMC's Cameron Mathison Responds to Thong Rumors
"I am finding this hysterical," he told OK! about the furor over his undies. "I gotta be honest, it looks exactly like a thong. But I hate to disappoint, it's only my t-shirt stuck in my underwear."

Katherine Heigl is the No. 5 highest-paid actress in Hollywood
The GREY'S ANATOMY star ranks behind Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon and Cameron Diaz.

Ilene Chaiken and Showtime spoil THE L WORD
Why did Showtime spoil this season's THE L WORD death?

Scientists are all the rage in primetime
Flip through prime time on any night, and along with the requisite numbers of cops and docs and lawyers you'll find an astonishing number of scientists.

UGLY BETTY's Eric Mabius welcomes a baby boy
UGLY BETTY's and his wife, interior designer Ivy Sherman, have welcomed a baby boy, Rylan Jaxon Mabius.

The Truth Beneath the Stockings
Nate Sloan writes: "Stay at home Manhattan moms love soap operas, so it's no surprise that the crowd that trundled to last week’s soap-star filled celebrity bartending 'Stockings With Care' benefit at Bar 13 had a glut of ladies of advanced age milling about hoping to catch the glance of some chisel-cheeked ALL MY CHILDREN hunklet."