entertainment - "television"

A summary of today's Hollywood happenings in television.

Wendy Williams, whose bold personality and unvarnished opinions have made her an institution on radio, will launch her long-awaited television talk show July 14 on Fox.

Compared to last season, ratings behemoth American Idol 7 has lost 7 percent of its viewers, and almost 20 percent of its women ages 18 to 34. Just last week, the show had its lowest-rated performance episode in two years. As a result, Fox executives are at least considering changes for next season.The series, which is still the most-watched program on television, 'has slipped 7% in average total viewers (to 29.2 million, as of last week) compared with last season' and 'has shed nearly one-fifth of women viewers ages 18 to 34 -- one of its most important constituencies -- and is down a comparable amount among kids 2 to 11,' The Los Angles Times' Scott Collins reports. He says this is 'a bad sign, because children and young adults are generally the first to bail on a show that's getting crow's feet.'While Collins notes that 'Fox executives, for their part, are quick to point out that all of network TV has suffered in this strike-plagued season' and 'have collectively dipped 10% amon

SO MUCH television, so little time:_ "The Colbert Report" was in town last week - maybe you heard? - and at the suggestion of Barack Obama, Stephen Colbert put "manufactured political distractions" on notice.

TV News: SARFT to allow more commercialization -- The deputy head of the film bureau of China's powerful State Administration of Radio, Film and television, says China will continue to reform the biz, allow more commercialization and improve distribution.

TV News: Improv troupe creates shorts for online, mobile -- The West Hollywood improv troupe the Groundlings, a breeding ground for comics such as Will Ferrell, Lisa Kudrow and Paul 'Pee-wee Herman' Reubens, has inked a deal to create 50 digital shorts over a one-year period. Sony Pictures television will distribute the shorts for the Web and mobile platforms.

The sibling rivalry that is Sumner M. Redstone's media empire turned more fractious yesterday as Viacom's Paramount Pictures movie studio said it would start its own premium television channel, ending a longstanding relationship in which it sold its movies to CBS's Showtime.

Front Page: SARFT to allow more commercialization -- The deputy head of the film bureau of China's powerful State Administration of Radio, Film and television, says China will continue to reform the biz, allow more commercialization and improve distribution.

This 'American Experience' documentary concentrates on Roberto Clemente's pride in his Puerto Rican heritage and his roles as a racial trailblazer and humanitarian.

Viacom Inc. and five Hollywood studios are joining forces to create a television channel and video-on-demand service, the companies ...