HBO Slates Special to Fill Void Left by 'Hard Knocks'

With the 2011 edition of "Hard Knocks" becoming a casualty of the NFL lockout, HBO will present a 90-minute special about the history of the NFL reality show, reports NFL Films.

Via Twitter, NFL Films revealed that on Wednesday, Aug. 31, at 10 p.m. ET, HBO will premiere a "Hard Knocks" anniversary special celebrating the 10 years of the program.

The Emmy-winning series has featured a number of NFL teams over the years, including the New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs.

Oprah Winfrey Hit With Lawsuit

Oprah Winfrey has been sued by a New Jersey woman, reports EW.com's Inside TV blog. Simone Kelly-Brown and the motivational communication services company Own Your Power Communications filed a trademark infringement suit alleging that Winfrey stole the motto "Own Your Power" and the acronym “OYP,” the story says.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages to reverse WInfrey and Harpo Studios' “brazenly unlawful disregard for the existence and use of [OYP's] trademark," the story says, citing court papers.

A Harpo representative said, “Harpo has not been served and we have no information about what allegations are being made.”

PBS Plans American Invasion in Britain

PBS will bring American public broadcasting to the U.K. via a digital channel that will show its older and current shows in Britain, reports Elizabeth Jensen in The New York Times' Media Decoder blog.

PBS, which is known for airing many British programs in the U.S., declined to comment on specific shows or on where the channel would be available because the plans aren't yet final, the story says.

PBS Chief Executive Paula Kerger said that while the network has sold its programs individually to foreign broadcasters, it started to consider an actual channel after looking at the international networks of rival U.S. outlets such as Discovery, the piece notes.

Richard Kingsbury, who formerly ran the Good Food and Yesterday networks in Britain, began as head of PBS UK in July, the article adds.

Bad Omen for Google TV: More Set-Top Boxes Are Being Returned Than Kept

More Logitech set-top boxes running Google TV have been returned than have been kept, reports the Los Angeles Times' Technology blog.

In response, Logitech is dropping the price of its Revue set-top boxes to $99 from $250 "to accelerate adoption of Google TV platform in order to develop a large installed base for our products over time," the company said in a statement.

The device originally sold for $299 when it debuted in October, the story adds. Logitech said changes to Google TV such as a new apps marketplace should make the platform more attractive to buyers, the piece notes.

More Bad News for Oprah

Oprah Winfrey, who has turned her attention in recent weeks to trying to improve the fortunes of her ratings-challenged OWN network, is having a bad week, the New York Post reports.

Visits to Oprah.com have declined by nearly 50% since "Oprah" left the air in May, the story reports.

That news comes just a day after Jenny McCarthy, who had been developing a show for OWN, had a change of heart and announced she’s jumping ship in favor of NBC, as previously reported.

The decline in website visits represents the period after Winfrey ended her syndicated daytime show May 25, the piece says, citing data from siteanalytics.compete.com.

Oprah.com is an important part of the deal between Winfrey and Discovery Communications, who are partners in OWN, the story notes.

Google's YouTube Ready to Go Mainstream With Movie-Rental Business; Android Devices Targeted

Google is positioning YouTube's new movie-rental business for a big push, putting the service on Android phones and tablets, reports the New York Post.

The plan is to help drive sales of Android-powered devices via the service, similar to how Apple's iTunes movie and TV show selections help sell iPhones and other Apple devices. Google is also working on a music download service that uses the same plan, the story adds.

While YouTube's movie service debuted in May, it isn't prominently displayed on the homepage, which will change in the next few months, the story says. The service will receive greater promotion on YouTube's front page, promoting its 6,000 titles to consumers.

Amazon Raises the Heat on Netflix With NBCUniversal Deal

Amazon.com has struck a deal with NBCUniversal to add part of Universal Pictures' film library to its streaming video service, ratcheting up Amazon’s challenge to Netflix, reports The New York Times.

Amazon wants to build a library of video for a tablet computer that it's developing, the story notes. With the deal, Amazon will gain nonexclusive access to movies such as "Babe" and "Billy Elliott.”

The deal comes after Amazon last week announced a similar deal with CBS, giving it older shows such as "Medium," the story says. The content is available through Amazon Prime, its $79-per-year membership that also provides free two-day shipping to members.

Judge Threatens to Reject Comcast-NBCU Merger

A federal judge has threatened to pull the plug on Comcast’s acquisition of NBCUniversal, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Judge Richard Leon criticized the antitrust settlement that allowed the merger to go ahead. The merger, announced in December 2009, was completed in January of this year.

The story says the judge “criticized arbitration terms available to online content companies that disagree with Comcast about program licensing, citing the fact the arbitration agreements can't be appealed. ‘I'm giving you fair notice I'm not sure I'm going to sign this,’ Leon said. ‘My concerns are such that because of the arbitration it's not in the public interest.’"

A key concern is that companies that compete with Comcast, such as online distributors, will be denied access to NBC programming.

Judge Leon indicated a possible strategy going forward might include annual hearings by the court to ensure that decisions are made in the public interest.

The story adds: “The government settlement, which has terms that last for seven years, says that Comcast must license programming to online distributors that compete with the company's cable service. If a company believes Comcast-NBCUniversal has violated this, it can file a complaint with the Justice Department. Justice's arbitration process can't be appealed, but the Federal Communications Commission's process can. The Justice Department lawyer said that companies would have the option to go through arbitration with the FCC.”

OMG. Latest Bombshell in News Corp. Scandal: Second Murdered Girl's Family Had Phone Targeted to Be Hacked

In a shocking development in the News Corp, phone-hacking scandal in the U.K., it's been revealed that a second murdered girl's family had a phone targeted for hacking by a now-closed tabloid newspaper owned by News Corp.

"Sara Payne, whose eight-year-old daughter Sarah was abducted and murdered in July 2000, has been told by Scotland Yard that they have found evidence to suggest she was targeted by the News of the World's investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who specialised in hacking voicemail," reports The Guardian.

Furthermore, the report says, "The evidence that police have found in Mulcaire's notes is believed to relate to a phone given to Payne by [then editor of News of the World Rebekah] Brooks to help her stay in touch with her supporters.

Brooks who most recently was the top executive of News Corp.'s U.K. subsidiary, News International, resigned that post earlier this month in the wake of the scandal.

The Guardian story adds: "On Thursday night Brooks insisted the phone had not been a personal gift but had been provided to Payne by the News of the World 'for the benefit of the campaign for Sarah's law.' In a statement, Brooks said the latest allegations were 'abhorrent' and 'particularly upsetting' because Sara Payne was a 'dear friend.' "

The article also notes: "It is not known whether any messages for Payne were successfully hacked by Mulcaire."

The latest revelation comes after the previous disclosure "that the News of the World hacked and deleted the voicemail of the murdered Surrey schoolgirl Milly Dowler," the article notes. News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch recently personally apologized to the Dowler family for that incident.

The story adds, "The Labour [Member of Parliament] Tom Watson, who has been an outspoken critic of News International, said of the Payne allegation: "This is a new low. The last edition of the News of the World made great play of the paper's relationship with the Payne family. Brooks talked about it at the committee inquiry. Now this. I have nothing but contempt for the people that did this."

Time Warner Cable Drops Subs, Picks Up Broadband Customers

Time Warner Cable revealed that its cable TV subscriptions shrank considerably during the second quarter, while it added broadband customers and saw a 35% surge in business services revenue, Multichannel News reports.

Cable subs fell by 128,000, according to the story. Broadband customers, meanwhile, rose by 54,000.

The story reports: “The operator's second-quarter revenue was $4.94 billion, up 4.4% year over year, which was in line with analyst expectations. Net income for the three months ended June 30 was $421 million ($1.24 per diluted share), beating Wall Street forecasts and up from the year-ago period.”

In announcing the company’s earnings, Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt said: "Time Warner Cable continued to perform well in the second quarter, driven by very strong results in business services and higher residential ARPU. We also continued to generate strong free cash flow while still investing in our core business, allowing us to return more than $1 billion to our shareholders."