U.S. cable network VH1 will begin airing Dating Naked and other reality series starring Linda Perry, LeAnn Rimes and Nicole Richie this summer.

Produced by Lighthearted Entertainment, the nude dating series (formerly Naked Dating, pictured) will begin airing on July 17 as part of the network’s unscripted-heavy Thursday night line-up.


Read more: http://realscreen.com/2014/04/24/vh1-firms-up-reality-heavy-summer-slate/#ixzz2zp6OS39y

Woman hangs herself in Korean reality television show

A woman taking part in a popular South Korean reality television show has been found dead in a bathroom on the set.

The police said she appeared to have hanged herself with the cord of a hairdryer.

South Korean media have raised questions about alleged bullying and humiliation during filming of the match-making show.

The producer expressed remorse at the death but denied that the woman had been put under too much pressure.

Friends quoted by newspapers said Chun had also complained the producers were trying to depict her as an unpopular, tragic girl.

Read more at BBC News:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26464490

A social media campaign to pay tribute to Sarah Jones, the camera assistant who died in Georgia last week, has gone viral, drawing an outpouring of support from crew members around the world.

Sarah Jones, 27, was struck and killed by a freight train Thursday during filming of the Gregg Allman biopic "Midnight Rider" in Savannah. Seven other crew members also were injured in the incident.

To honor Jones, her friends and family have launched a "Slates for Sarah" social media campaign, prompting crew members to post comments and pictures of Sarah's name written on film slates on Facebook and Twitter.


http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-sarah-jones-social-media-20140225,0,7571920.story#ixzz2uosaGI7b

The Unreal Rise of Reality Television
Once the home to archive driven, heavily narrated non-fiction shows featuring Nazis, sharks and WWII airplanes, a large part of cable television has opened its arms to truck drivers, crab fishermen, pawnshop owners and the denizens of Louisiana swamps as the siren song of the duck call has demonstrated that there are ratings and heaps of ad dollars in them-thar bands of working class heroes.
(More on Huff Post)

Wonder what is coming next in the world of content creation?

A new Meet Up group called Transmedia Phoenix is starting Tuesday, September 18th at 6pm. The group, which is based on topics covered by the very successful Transmedia LA Meet Up, is for both creatives and techies.

The Transmedia group is for everyone involved in the transmedia space. The Meet Up is designed as a vehicle for all types to gather, incubate & share ideas, collaborate on projects, network, fill in teams, speak, socialize, create/display work, and overall dive into the transmedia space with like minded individuals.

The entertainment industry is always growing and changing and Transmedia is at the forefront of how content is being created and distributed across platforms.

The Transmedia Phoenix Meet Up will be held in Tempe at 60 Rio Salado Parkway,  Suite 900 Hayden-Ferry office towers at Mill Ave and Rio Ralado.

Transmedia Phoenix is a free event. Join the Meet Up and RSVP at  http://www.meetup.com/Transmedia-Phoenix/.

Bounce TV has announced that August marked its highest-rated and most-watched month in the network's short history.

Among the August performance highlights, via press release from Bounce TV, the network:

• Surpassed TV One in Adults 18+ viewership.
• Topped AMC, Bravo, TruTV, TLC, Discovery and 80 other ad-supported cable networks in African American ratings and viewership with Adults 18-49 and 25-54.
• Racked up double-digit Total Day growth among all Adults (+17%) and across P18-49 (+12%) and P25-54 (+18%).
• Posted primetime (7P-11P) increases among all Adults (+9%) and across P18-49 (+3%) and P25-54 (7%) month-to-month.

"This is astonishing growth for a young network. Strong key demo delivery has resulted in a large scale of new advertisers embracing Bounce TV this upfront, and made it crystal clear that the network is now a major player in the space," commented Bounce TV Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Katz.

With its most recent launch in St. Louis on KSDK-TV and weeks shy of just its second birthday, Bounce TV is already seen in:

• 87 markets including all of the top African American television markets.
• 89% of African American television homes.
• 71% of the total television homes in the United States.

The network also recently announced a sweeping range of renewals and new launches by major station groups representing coverage in 40 markets.

Should TV One and BET be worried then? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm looking forward to seeing where all this competition in the black TV network space goes in the next 5 to 10 years. Although it's anyone's guess what the overall TV landscape will look like in that same time period, with change, and push for change, happening quite rapidly.

WealthTV is changing its name. The upscale net is rebranding as AWE (A Wealth of Entertainment) starting October 1, a result of "misperceptions that the old network name was financial related or elitist," said network Pres Charles Herring. Programming will still feature "fast cars and expensive homes," promised Herring of the cable net, launched in 2004 (tag line: "It's your life, spend it well").

Kellan Media joined the good fight by volunteering to help produce an Anti-Bullying campaign. The project which is an original music video and PSA was created by Marcus Tyrell, Directed by Dominic Ross and Produced by Amanda Mahan.

Discovery Channel U.S. and Discovery Networks International announced a $500,000 fund to invest in daring ideas for programs about science, adventure, natural history and more. Exec VP and Chief Content Officer of Discovery Networks International Luis Silberwasser described it as a "challenge for producers to bring us ideas as ambitious and innovative as Planet Earth and North America. We have a unique opportunity to enlist the world's best production companies and make their most ambitious ideas a reality." Not to mention get first dibs on those bright new ideas.

It's time for a reality-TV reality check. Even top executives and producers admit that the genre has become tired — an overload of singing battles, food challenges, screaming housewives and dating competitions. "We've been in a huge reality drought," says Greg Goldman, the new president of Studio Lambert USA, which produces Undercover Boss.

The broadcast networks continue to coast on the enduring success of veteran franchises like Survivor, but they're not minting many new hits. In cable, the success of docuseries like the Real Housewives franchise and Love & Hip Hop has led to a glut of such shows. 
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