TVSquad

Looking for a good deal on a Slingbox? Woot has the Slingbox AV for $70 today only. Shipping will set you back another $5, but that's still about $35 cheaper than the $110 you'd usually pay for a Slingbox AV.

Like its siblings in the Slingbox family, the Slingbox AV lets you stream media over the internet. That means you can plug the Slingbox AV into your home cable box, TiVo, or other audio/video equipment and then watch live or pre-recorded video on an internet-connected computer or mobile device.

The Slingbox AV is one of the cheapest models available. You can only plug in one audio/video device at a time using the S-Video or composite inputs. This box also does not support HD video. If you're looking for HD, you either need an adaptor or the Slingbox Solo. If you want multiple inputs and/or HD video, you should check out the Slingbox Pro. But if you're just looking to save money and stream content from your TiVo to your mobile phone, today's a good day to buy.

Much like the marriage of Top Chef and all things Glad, Bravo's Shear Genius has inked a deal with Nexxus Salon Hair Care to be the sole integrated sponsor of the upcoming season. And we're talking full immersion here. The salon that houses the competition will be called the "Shear Genius Nexxus Salon." There will be a Nexxus challenge in the show. The stylists will use only Nexxus products. And the winner of the Shear Genius will receive $100,000 furnished by Nexxus and an apprenticeship with the company.

Get ready to lather, rinse and compete. The second season of SG will premiere on Wednesday June 25th at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. Jaclyn Smith will host. Celebrity stylist Kim Vo and Allure editor Kelly Atterton will helm the judges table. Rene Fris will be back again as the contestants' mentor.

Shear Genius is the Bravo's first original series shot in high definition.

In an attempt to avoid a situation like the industry-wide mess that was the writers' strike, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have reached a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The tentative deal was completed on Wednesday and capped 17 days of negotiation.

Mind you, this is only half the battle for the AMPTP. They still have to reach a deal with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) before their contract expires. Both the SAG and AFTRA contracts are set to expire on June 30th.

If you've been meaning to pick up a new version 2 Windows Media Center Extender but you've been waiting for the price to drop by, oh say, $100 you might want to pull out your wallet. Michael Walker at The Green Button forums has discovered a promotional code that will knock $100 off the price of two different Linksys media extenders available from Amazon.

The Linksys Media Extender normally runs $250, while the version with a DVD player goes for $300. But if you use the promo code MSFTDEAL when you checkout, you can get the former for $150 and the latter for $200.

In case you're not familiar with Media Center Extenders, basically you can plop one of these boxes down by your TV set and hook it up to your home network via a wired or 802.11b/g/n connection. Then you can access all sorts of content stored on your Windows Vista PC elsewhere in the house. That includes live and recorded TV programs, photos, and music.

[via Chris Lanier]

If you've taken the plunge and plugged your computer into your television, you've probably noticed something: Most web sites and applications are really not designed for a remote control. Whether you're using an Apple remote or one designed for Windows Media Center, anytime you venture outside of the software designed to work with that remote control, you're kind of lost.

Gyration makes a line of wireless remote controls and mice that attempt to solve this problem by letting you move a cursor across the screen by waving your hand. Yeah, I know, it sounds like a Wiimote, but Gyration's been in this business longer than Nintendo.

The Gyration GyroTransport mouse is actually one of the company's older models. It's since been replaced with an improved version with a few extra features. But the retailers that carry the GyroTransport mouse still sell it for $80 or more. So when I saw that Woot had it for $35 today, I thought I'd pass along the news. If you're not familiar with Woot, the company sells just one item per day, at a deep discount. When it sells out, it's gone. So if you're in the market for a motion-sensing wireless mouse, you might want to pick yours up quickly.

The DGA has accomplished what the WGA has not thus far. It has negotiated a new contract with the AMPTP.

The new contract does include a residual payment formula for new media including the Internet. Both the DGA and the AMPTP seem satisfied with the arrangement, based on statements by both sides.

FOX recently signed on with Xbox Live Video Marketplace, and the first series available for the digital download-to-own service is Family Guy. FOX joins other television networks and movie studios on the service, including CBS, NBC Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros., MTV Networks and Lionsgate.

Family Guy was chosen to kick off the new content deal because of its attraction to the younger male demographic responsible for most of the downloads on the Xbox 360's Video Marketplace service. Starting next week, the series' first two seasons will become available, along with the Family Guy DVD movie/three-part episode, Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story. Newer seasons will follow, with fresh episodes hitting Video Martketplace the day after they debut on television.

In addition to a recent contract signed by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker than will have us enjoying South Park episodes through at least 2011, fans will soon have an online destination through which to enjoy (legal) South Park material.

The New York Times article doesn't go into a lot of detail about what sort of material will be available at this new destination, though fans should recognize the URL: SouthParkStudios.com, which has been the official site for the series for quite some time now. The article does mention the possibility of "new applications" for the characters (whatever that means) and new concepts that could evolve into brand new comedy projects. There was no mention of streaming full episodes, though, which I'm sure is what fans want most of all.

Variety reports that negotiations to have actress Whoopi Goldberg join The View (she's been a guest host several times) are close to being finalized, though the network has made no official announcement just yet.

ABC is also apparently talking with comedian Sherri Shepherd about the possibility of joining the show. Currently the only three permanent hosts are Barbara Walters, Joy Behar and Elizabeth Hasselbeck.

Goldberg would replace Rosie O'Donnell, of course, who left the show a couple months ago.

Rick Wiener and Kenny Schwartz, who both serve as executive producers on American Dad, have signed a development deal with 20th Century Fox TV.

The men won't have to leave American Dad under the deal, but will be allowed to develop new projects for the studio. Previously, the men worked on such shows as Two Guys and a Girl (which they co-created), Do Over and Like Family.

Best Buy and TiVo are running a promotion that lets you get an 80-hour Series2 TiVo for free after rebate, or a dual-tuner box for $50 after rebate. They'll even through in a free Wireless G adapter.

What's the catch? You've got to sign up for high speed internet service through Best Buy. And you've got to print the coupon and take it into a store. This deal is not available through the TiVo or Best Buy websites.

No word on how long this promotion will last, but if you sign up before July 31st, you can get your first three months of TiVo service for free.

[via Troy on TiVo]

First, Journeyman director Alex Graves signed a deal with 20th Century Fox TV, and now Tom Szentgyorgyi, who recently joined the NBC series as a writer (coming off the short-lived Drive) has also inked a deal with the studio to develop new projects.

Szentgyorgyi apparently came highly recommend from such TV bigshots as Stephen Bochco, whom Szentgyorgyi worked with on NYPD Blue. Szentgyorgyi also wrote for Law and Order and The Nine, and began his television career as a writer on Sports Night.

Hearst-Argyle, which owns 29 local news stations in the United States, has signed a licensing deal with YouTube that will allow its stations to share in the ad revenue. Hearst-Argyle's stations are affiliated with all the major networks and reach about eighteen percent of the households in the United States.

YouTube will actually pay a licensing fee for news, weather and entertainment from these stations. This is the first time YouTube has struck such a deal.

Jon Lovitz recently signed a rather Faustian contract with Jamie Masada, the owner of the Laugh Factory comedy club that will require Lovitz to appear on stage at the Los Angeles club every Wednesday for the rest of his life. In addition, Lovitz will write a blog for the Laugh Factory in which he'll offer advice to young comedians.

Really? The rest of his life? That seems so depressing. Will he be bound by his contract to simply sit on the stage in a wheelchair for a twenty-minute set that consists of nothing more than drooling and an occasional story about wars he never actually fought in?

Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, the creators of the ABC drama October Road, which was recently renewed for a second season, have singed an overall development deal with ABC, according to Variety.

The article doesn't go into much detail about the deal, except that ABC had essentially negotiated with Appelbaum and Nemec about developing new shows before October Road's renewal was set in stone.