The reason for the moves is increased TV revenue and the fear of being left out in the cold in the wake of other expansion.

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The biggest fear in the cable and satellite TV industry is that the growing availability of video programming over the Web through Netflix (NFLX), Hulu and a host other services will lead to rampant cord-cutting that could create the kind of steady erosion in customers that the wireline phone companies have been seeing for many months now.

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Never fear, if the huge dose of TV, radio and press coverage is not enough to soothe your football fever, head for the Net.

CNN: FROM THE WEB

The fear is that eyeballs shifting to watching TV on iPads and other tablets and away from TVs hurts measured viewership and in turn ad revenues for programmers.

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The venue will be a European city chosen for steady winds (the five finalists, including Lisbon and Marseilles, have a ten-year record of at least 90% wind reliability) so TV coverage can be promoted without fear of canceled races.

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Fox and producer Endemol USA (Big Brother, Fear Factor) plan to air the show midseason, according to TV Guide and Deadline Hollywood.

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Chickens, pigs, cows and horses all suffer fear and discomfort when they are robbed of their lives for nothing more than a fleeting taste or a TV rating.

BBC: NEWS | UK | England | London | Manure dumped at Ramsay's eatery

So this is my fear: the 15 hour work week leads to 25 more hours of eating, sleeping, and watching TV and thus a massive increase in obesity.

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There was a glimmer of hope this week with the return of reality show "Fear Factor, " but NBC's decline is still the biggest of the four most-watched TV networks in the U.S., among which NBC has long ranked No. 4.

WSJ: The High Stakes of NBC's 'Smash'