basic-cable

Tonight's bracing premiere of the seventh and final season of TNT's top-rated basic-cable series The Closer involves a chest-thumping rap star, lifeless bodies by the handful and an interrogation scene like no other.

Secrets from The Closer's Final Season 2011

And more than a footnote: basic-cable numbers always come in later, and they're likely to show large audiences for ESPN's coverage of the Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl — both of which turned out to be down-to-the-wire, high-scoring games.

Viewership for The Bachelor Premiere Declines 13 Percent 2012

Those deals got attention in part because they gave a welcome new syndication home to basic-cable shows.

A Changed Tune on Netflix Jessica E. Vascellaro 2011

The Russian channel is to be free to viewers and carry ads, unlike the U.S. basic-cable version of the channel.

Disney to Launch Russia Channel Ethan Smith 2011

The arrangement will make all 67 games of the three-week event available to basic-cable subscribers in their entirety for the first time in the history of the beloved basketball tradition.

Rivals CBS, Turner Unite for 'March Madness' Nat Worden 2011

That means a show that typically costs around $3.5 million to make is coming in for about $2.6 million, the cost of most original basic-cable dramas.

The Biz: Why ABC Should Save Detroit 1-8-7 2010

The botched handoff rocked the TV industry, but less than a year later Team Coco is back at work, giving basic-cable network TBS a proven late-night name — Conan — at 11/10c to compete with Leno and David Letterman, not to mention Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Chelsea Handler and other cable options that have fragmented the after-hours audience in recent years.

The Biz: Conan the Destroyer? 2010

Indeed, by the beginning of the 2006 season, SNY was available on the expanded basic-cable tier nearly everywhere in the region, generating about $15 million a month in subscriber fees.

Mets' SNY Partners Likely to Balk at Deal Matthew Futterman 2011

Mad Men's typical episode runs about 48 minutes, considerably longer than a typical network drama and a couple minutes more than most basic-cable dramas.

Mad Men's Fifth Season Will Return in 2012 2011

It takes us far away, to exotic Istanbul — filmed on location not exactly an everyday occurrence on a basic-cable budget, and having just returned from that region a week ago, I assure you it's as fabulous as it looks here — and as an added bonus, we're in very good company, because the story focuses on the show's not-so-secret weapon, scene-stealer Christopher Gorham's affable blind CIA agent Auggie Anderson.

Roush Review: An Affair to Remember, and More Tuesday TV 2011