In today’s Daily Bite: Tony Hall replaces George Entwistle as BBC director general, Nickelodeon posts highest ratings since 2011, and Colin Morgan & Eoin Macken’s ‘Merlin’ gets a US air date.
Tony Hall is new BBC Director General… Lord Tony hall has been appointed the new director general of the BBC. The former CEO of the Royal Opera House is returning to the UK national broadcaster, where he previously held the position of head of news and current affairs from 1996-2001. Hall is replacing George Entwistle, who resigned from the director general position almost two weeks ago following a BBC ‘Newsnight’ report which falsely linked a former British politician to a child abuse scandal. Hall is expected to take up his new post next March.
Nickelodeon Posts First Weekly Ratings Gain In More Than A Year… According to Deadline, the kids TV channel, which is owned by Viacom, posted weekly ratings which finished at a 2 percent increase year-over-year, the first time since September of last year. Analysts are crediting a change in content for the ratings increase. The popular kids channel currently airs shows such as ‘Victorious’, ‘Spongebob’ and ‘Big Time Rush’. Shows which attracted high ratings for the channel such as ‘Drake and Josh’ and ‘Zoey 101’ are no longer airing, while ‘iCarly’ is airing its final episode today in the US.
‘Merlin’ Season Five Gets US Air Date… BBC series ‘Merlin’, which stars Northern Irish actor Colin Morgan in the lead role, will return to US screens on Friday January 4. The series will return to the Syfy channel, which has aired it since 2011. The fourth series averaged 1.7 million viewers for Syfy in 2012. In the UK, the fifth series currently airs on BBC One on Saturday nights. Irish actor Eoin Macken also stars as Sir Gwaine in the fantasy drama.
If you watch one trailer today… With less than three months to go before the premiere, the first trailer for David Fincher’s ‘House of Cards’ has landed on Netflix. Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey stars alongside Robin Wright.
