An advertising hyper-recession reshapes many broadcast strategies

TV industry highlights in the wake of the tragic events that made a slow year a hundred times slower are few and far between. The post-attack state of the economy has thrown a wrench into many a game plan. Disney went back to the table to re-evaluate its plan to acquire Fox Family Worldwide and ended up finalizing the deal for US$100 million less than the US$3.3 billion it had initially settled on. Budget and staff cut rumors are running rampant at most North American studios, with MTV Networks laying off 450 staffers and Corus Entertainment, the Canadian media company that owns kidcasters YTV and Treehouse, gearing up to shave its workforce within the next month. Trouble might also be brewing abroad, with ITV freezing its programming budget while reports surface that Granada and Carlton are racking up lower-than-normal share prices.