BRIEFS

Cable World, Sept 15, 2003

SEXECUTIVE CLASS

Mark Silverman was named SVP and GM of ABC Family Channel, from VP of planning and development for ABC Inc. Former Fox and MTV executive Lisa Berger was hired as SVP of programming development for E! Networks. Former Adelphia VP of programming Jeff Abbas was hired as VP of programming for the National Cable Television Cooperative.

HBO TAPS J.LO

Jennifer Lopez's Nuyorican Productions - which also has a development deal with Telemundo - is producing the star's first documentary in partnership with HBO. The doc looks at Los Quinces, the traditional coming-of-age fete marking a Cuban girl's 15th birthday. Ben Affleck, Lopez's fiance, narrates HBO Sports' one-hour Boston Red Sox doc The Curse of the Bambino this week (Tuesday at 10 p.m). Production also starts this month on Empire Falls, a three-hour HBO film starring Ed Harris.

NFL KICKS OFF STRONG

The first Sunday of the 2003 NFL season brought the largest-ever audience for ESPN's NFL PrimeTime while Tennessee's victory over Oakland was the most-watched show on cable last week and the highest-rated show on ad-supported cable this year. The pregame and game telecast ranked first and second on cable for the week among men. NFL PrimeTime earned a 4.9 rating (4.3 million HH), the highest audience in its 16-year history, while the game earned an 8.9 rating (7.78 million HH).

RAINBOW CONNECTION

IFC commissioned a ten-part series, Film School, from NYU film school alum Nanette Burstein. Scheduled for '04, the reality series follows a crop of students on the cusp of graduating. IFC parent Rainbow Media Holdings also inked a ten-year distribution pact with a company those students would love to work at - Miramax Films - in a deal bringing 84 Miramax titles to IFC, AMC and WE. Miramax's television arm is also bringing series Semi-Homemade Cooking With Sandra Lee to the Food Network on Oct. 11.in October.

MORE CHEERS FOR BRAVO

Bravo's affiliate community relations campaign, Bravo on With the Show: On Broadway....See Who You Can Be!, is bringing 50 students ages 10 to 17 (from cable systems belonging to Adelphia, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Insight, Mediacom, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Knology) to New York for training with Broadway professionals. The network also just commissioned TV Revolution for '04. The five-hour series explores TV's impact on society.