Dick Clark presiding over his final New Year's Eve (Dec. 31, 2011)

Dick Clark, who launched American Bandstand, and decades later gave millions a New Year’s Eve alternative, died today of a massive heart attack in California at age 82. The man long considered an influential figure in the world of broadcasting and rock music, was nicknamed “America’s Oldest Teenager” for his perpetual and youthful, good looks.

Clark suffered a stroke in 2004 causing partial paralysis. His speech was also affected as noticed each year since in his New Year’s Rockin’ Eve broadcast from Times Square. In 2005, he was joined by American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, who did the heavy lifting.

Clark was a standout talent behind the camera as well. He was the chairman and chief executive of the production company that bears his name.

“He was the absolute best,” Norm N. Nite, former WCBS-FM air personality, tells FishbowlNY. “Nobody did it better than Dick Clark. What can you say about a guy you know for 40 years?”

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Streaming TV startup Aereo launched this week in the New York market, amid lawsuits claiming copyright infringement. A lawsuit by CBS, NBC, and ABC, led to this terse joint statement:

“This service is based on the illegal use of our content. Beyond that, we believe the complaint speaks for itself.”

WABC president and general manager Dave Davis tells FishbowlNY that based on two lawsuits, he wasn’t able to comment.

“It’s in the lawyers hands,” Davis admits.  

After the broadcast networks filed a suit against Aereo, the new company retaliated with a countersuit. Aereo contends that its service does not infringe on broadcasters’ copyrights since it only streams content that viewers are legally entitled to access via satellite.

Aereo works as a Web-based, mobile device TV product, offering over-the-air programs with a 90-day free trial for subscribers, only on New York stations at this point. It’s $12 a month after that.

Despite the fight with broadcasters, initial reviews for Aereo have been favorable.

Technologyreview.com writes, “Overall, despite my limited ability to use the service, and my encounters with a few glitches, using Aereo was an exciting experience.”

• TVNewser: NBC’s latest newsmagazine debuts tonight. Rock  Center with Brian Williams features a sit-down with Daily Show host Jon Stewart.
• GalleyCat: HarperCollins is about to purchase a longtime Christian publisher. HarperCollins has a “definitive agreement” to acquire Scotland-based Thomas Nelson.
• PRNewser: Seventy-two days in the making, Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries are headed for divorce court.

Longtime New Jersey Devils broadcaster Mike “Doc” Emrick gave up his duties last week with MSG Network. As we reported at the time, the acclaimed play-by-play man will concentrate on calling national games on NBC and Versus.

“It was something  that I had, at least, given some thought to during the playoffs,” Emrick tells FishbowlNY.

Emrick, who’ll turn 65 on August 1, was given time after the season to weigh the tough decision.

“It was a matter of me looking ahead,” Emrick says. “I’m fine now, I’m the same as I’ve been the last few years.”

But Emrick said the choice of leaving his beloved Devils first meant having the ability to look into his crystal ball.

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Legendary NHL broadcaster Mike Emrick is adjusting his schedule. ”Doc” is giving up his role as longtime New Jersey Devils announcer with MSG Network to concentrate on calling hockey games on NBC and Versus.

Emrick, who turns 65 this month, addressed Devils fans in a letter.

“The people at both of these organizations have been incredibly loyal to me and have been very patient waiting until mid-summer for me to reach this decision. Both have also provided me only positive memories, support, and encouragement over these many seasons.

…I wish MSG Network and the Devils and Devils fans nothing but the greatest success in the years to come.”

Emrick became synonymous with the Devils, spending 21 years as the team’s play-by-play voice.

Sister site SportsNewser has more on Emrick’s Devils departure.

John Tesh is an accomplished musician, with gold albums, music Emmy Awards, and sell-out concerts to his credit. 

To a different crowd, Tesh gained household name recognition from his decade run on Entertainment Tonight.

While the versatile performer always has projects on his plate, Tesh’s main focus is his self-titled daily syndicated radio show. Heard on 382 stations, the program is heard locally on Farmingdale, New York’s WKJY/KJOY.

However, Tesh broadcasts his show on most days from Los Angeles.

On this day, Tesh recorded the program in Manhattan, as he would be at a KJOY promotional event in Franklin Square later in the day. That’s where FishbowlNY caught up with him.

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Although the 17-16 final may have been a low-scoring one for two high-powered offenses like the New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts, the ratings for their Saturday night wild card showdown were off the charts.  NBC’s broadcast of the one-point Jet victory scored a 20.8 overnight rating and a 33 share, marking the best ever number for a primetime wild card Saturday matchup.  This weekend’s Jets-Colts classic was up six percent over last season’s primetime Saturday game between the Eagles and Cowboys (19.6/33) and represented a 14 percent increase over 2009’s Colts-Chargers wild card matchup.

When thinking about Thanksgiving most people picture turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce — the other trimmings are all a matter of preference.  The other turkey day staple that has found its place in American homes is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Starting at Central Park West and ending with an appearance by Santa Claus at Herald Square, NBC cameras follow every moment of the celebration.  Although you may only see the three hours showcased on live TV, there is a ton of preparation that goes into broadcasting the event.  Check out how NBC’s personnel prepares for the big day in their “Before the Balloons” video below:

TVNewser: CNN Radio cuts staff and reorganizes.

New York Times: A new study looks closely at government subsidies for journalism, why they are necessary, and why they are dropping.

Broadcasting & Cable: Comcast, NBC and General Electric have filed a merger application with the FCC, the first step to their deal being approved by the government commission.

E&P In Exile: The New York Times introduced a new commenting system on its Web site, which allows readers to recommend other comments and sort them the way they want.

AdAge: Some hard questions for print publishers to ask about the iPad.

Today, Jay Leno joined Oprah Winfrey on her daytime talk show, speaking out for the first time about Conan O’Brien and The Tonight Show debacle of this past month.

Leno told Oprah that NBC‘s decision to pull him from late night TV five years ago “broke his heart,” but he blamed ratings for the network’s ultimate decision to boot O’Brien in favor of him. But despite feeling “disrespected,” Leno said he chose to stay with the network as they moved him to 10 p.m. because “going to another network is a lot of work.”

“I’ve been at this network since 1984,” he added. “I’m comfortable here. I’m not someone who jumps around.”

Blaming ratings for the cancellation of his show and NBC’s desire to replace O’Brien, Leno told Oprah he wasn’t being selfish:

“It all comes down to numbers in show business…This is almost the perfect storm of bad things happening. You have two hit shows, Tonight Show, number one, Conan, number one. You move them both to another situation and what are the odds that both would do extremely poorly? If Conan’s numbers had been a little bit higher, it wouldn’t be an issue. But in show business, there’s always someone waiting in the wings.”

Still, Leno said he thought NBC could have handled the entire thing better, using what we think is a pretty macabre joke (although Oprah laughed):

“Anything they did would have been better than this. If they had come in and shot everybody, it would have been,’Oh people have been murdered,’ but at least it would have been a two-day story. NBC could not have handled it worse, from 2004 onward, this thing was a huge mess.”

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