BRIEFS

Cable World, August 25, 2003

BEST DAMN SHOWER SINGERS

An integrated marketing promotion created by Rainbow Sports Networks has fans singing for a chance to appear on Fox Sports Net's Best Damn Sports Show Period. Helping promote Old Spice High Endurance Body Wash in a campaign that runs from Aug. 12 to Sept. 14, more than 22,000 FSN fans to date have participated in the Shower, Sing and Win promotion, voting at OldSpice.com on the 228 wannabes - including an opera singer, an Elvis impersonator and a Japanese crooner who belted out "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in a portable shower. The winner will appear on BDSSP in October.

BOOMERANG VISITS THE DOC

Cartoon Network's li'l sis, Boomerang, is distributing activity kits to doctor's offices in partnership with a corporate sibling - Time Inc.'s Parenting magazine - this fall. Kits feature Boomerang stalwarts Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Top Cat, Quickdraw McGraw and other characters on games, a poster and a take-home growth chart.

TBS OUT OF THE MOVIE BIZ

Turner Entertainment Group EVP and COO Steve Koonin is repositioning TBS out of the movie business and into reality series in prime time, recently eliminating three staff positions in original movie development. Red Water, its second-to-last original film, is ad-supported cable's No. 1 movie for the year in adults 18 to 34 (1.81 million viewers), adults 18 to 49 (3.67 million) and adults 25 to 54 (3.83 million) for its Aug. 17 premiere. Its final film, National Lampoon's Holiday Reunion, is slated for November.

ANNA AND 'THE ZONE'

Starting Wednesday, tennis star Anna Kournikova will serve as an entertainment reporter during USA Network's coverage of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships. Forced to miss this year's Open due to injuries, she will contribute pop culture stories and celebrity interviews in an exclusive for USA, which begins its live coverage of the event today. The network also picked up a third season of The Dead Zone.

MORE 'SPACES' TO CHANGE

TV's most popular home makeover series is returning with new faces and new specials this fall. TLC's Trading Spaces kicks off its fourth season on Sept. 6, with three new designers and a new carpenter joining the team. New specials this season include Trading Spaces $100 Grand, a budget-blowout on Oct. 5; Trading Spaces: The British Invasion, in which the crew from BBC America's Changing Rooms (the precursor to TLC's hit show) cross paint-rollers; and They Hated It, featuring unhappy homeowners and "reveals."