News Round-up

DirecTV Group continued to sign up subscribers at a solid pace during the fourth quarter of 2008, prompting an analyst to say the satellite TV firm has been "impervious" to the deepest U.S. recession in decades. The company added 301,000 net new U.S. users during the quarter, compared with 275,000 during the year-ago period, making for its biggest quarterly gain in more than three years.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I wonder if the addition of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS had anything to do with some of those new subscribers.

INTERVIEW: Y&R's Eileen Davidson (Ashley)
Davidson appeared on "BuzzWorthy Radio" on Wednesday afternoon.

SAG talks to resume on Feb. 17
The Screen Actors Guild and the congloms will resume feature-primetime contract talks Feb. 17, but with president Alan Rosenberg�s lawsuit threatening to derail any deal.

Will we keep seeing Dr. Pepper on 90210?
TVGuide.com is reporting: "The Dr. Pepper deal was an experiment gone slightly awry. Future product placement will aim for more subtlety."

Washington Capitals coach loved his soaps when he was a player
Bruce Boudreau was a NHL player in the late '70s and early '80s and he and his hockey teammates loved their ABC soaps: "After practice we would all go to lunch, and rush home to see what was happening. It was crazy. Hockey players, when they're young, they have nothing to do....You'd get involved in a storyline, and you wanted to know how it ended up. I used to hate it. One little storyline would last two weeks. The littlest thing, like walking from one house to the other house."

DAYS to air at 2:05am in Ft. Myers
DAYS OF OUR LIVES will be aired at 2:05 am in Fort Myers since it was pre-empted Tuesday due to President Obama's visit.

UGLY BETTY about to be reviewed.
ABC is on the verge of renewing UGLY BETTY for a fourth season.

Are Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight really leaving GREY'S?
Michael Ausiello has more scoop on the departures reported earlier. "Right now, the whole thing is in the hands of their agents and ABC's lawyers," explains an insider. "Something will probably be worked out soon, but it's a safe bet that Katherine and T.R. won't be returning as series regulars next season."

LIPTICK JUNGLE hunk feels PRIVILEGED to keep his shirt on
This week on the penultimate Season 1 episode of the CW's PRIVILEGED, Robert Buckley — who has been wowing the womenfolk as LIPTICK JUNGLE's "eight-packed" Kirby — arrives in the recurring role of David, the boss of the start-up magazine for which both Megan and Will work. Buckley says, "It's been a while since I've been to the spray tan, so I'm gosh-darn pale. I would not look quite the same now that I have this radiant white glow about me."

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