Nielsen, the TV ratings company, is being sued by Indian television company NDTV (New Delhi television) for allegedly  "consciously, recklessly and intentionally" harming the network by fixing ratings.

Audience numbers in India can be changed in exchange for bribes, the suit alleges.

NDTV filed a 194-page lawsuit against Nielsen on July 25, 2012, in state court in New York. It accuses the Television Audience Measurement (TAM) system that measures viewership in India, a joint venture created between Nielsen and Kantar (a competitor), of corruption, greed, and bribery, and claims the practices that have resulted in millions of losses for NDTV. 

Nielsen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The most damaging assertion is that they claim both Nielsen and Kantar admitted a manipulation in the collection and dissemination of TAM viewer numbers but did nothing to resolve the issue. 

The network blames Nielsen, claiming the company's owners are cutting costs.

"Exit strategy"?

Nielsen is owned by a group of private-equity firms  including KKR, The Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Alpinvest Partners, Hellman & Friedman and Centerview Partners.

The suit claims these firms are executing an "exit strategy" out of the Nielsen business and, as a result, have made Nielsen take cost-cutting and cost-avoidance measures to maintain their share price.

This in turn, the suit says, has led them to disregard the company's responsibilities to its customers resulting in manipulation of numbers over the last eight years.

Since 2004, NDTV says it noted its suspicions to TAM that Nielsen's reports were inaccurate. Among the instances, NDTV alleges, was a November 2004 spike in English news channel viewership from 50,000 to 200,000 during a four-hour span despite no new programming or special event.

This year, NDTV brought evidence of manipulation to Nielsen during meetings in January, claiming losses to the network which amount to more than $1.5 million since January 2012. NDTV says other losses (including pay to TAM for reports, loss in advertising revenue, increased carriage costs with cable operators, loss of good will, loss of reputation in the television industry, and more) amount to $125 million.

The main issue stems from the number of households data is being drawn from, which NDTV says is too small to be accurate. NDTV claims samples are being collected from only 8,000 households.

Bribes allegedly requested

The suit also cites bribery uncovered within TAM. On April 3, 2012, NDTV claims representatives met with two field staff employees of TAM who revealed they were able to manipulate TAM ratings in Mumbai by offering bribes to channels, the suit claims:

"They stated they had direct access to homes and visited those homes periodically (at least 3 to 4 times a week) and were in a position to easily influence what the households watched/viewed. They said by paying a bribe of US$250 to US$500 per household per month, the TAM households could be made to watch only those channels which they insisted upon."

The TAM members allegedly told the NDTV reps they could triple their ratings in Mumbai in two to three weeks if they wanted. 

As a remedy, NDTV suggested increasing the sample size to 30,000, something the suit claims Nielsen agreed upon but never followed through on. 

"Integrity" problem

In an email dated May 16, from TAM India director Thomas Puliyel to NDTV, Puliyel suggested there was an "integrity" problem at TAM: 

In my letter of May 1, I had mentioned that there have been attempts to influence TAM panel integrity. We are putting into place many security measures to prevent the data from being vitiated.

NDTV also claims India is not the only place feeling the effects of inaccurate ratings. It cites Florida, Turkey, and the Philippines among those also complaining about inaccurate ratings from small sample sizes. 

A Nielsen spokesperson told us it is "policy to not comment on pending legal matters."

You can read the suit, HERE.

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• Drake and Rihanna lead MTV's Video Music Awards nominations with five apiece. Katy Perry received four nominations while Lady Gaga received a shocking zero. Is Mother Monster slipping? The awards take place September 6.

• CBS pulls dating show "3" after two episodes. The reality love series airing Sunday nights had the lowest rating of any new series the network has ever aired.
• Author, essayist, and stage and screen writer, Gore Vidal has passed away at 86. 
• After receiving 15,000 submissions, YouTube has picked 10 short films to send to the Venice Film Festival. Ridley Scott oversaw the site's first Your Film Festival contest which asked users to submit their own productions. 

• NBC may not want him, but the other networks do. Ousted "Community" creator Dan Harmon has signed a blind script deal with CBS. This comes shortly after news that Harmon is in talks to sign with Fox for a new comedy.

• The third day of the Olympics featuring Missy Franklin's Olympic gold win became the most-watched event in 36 years with 31.6 million viewers Monday night.

• Ricky Gervais announced a new web series, "Learn English With Ricky Gervais" on his blog. The comedian says the first episode should be free, but after that he's not sure if he'll charge a fee or look for sponsorship. 

• Ron Howard is working on a new project about the Spanish conquest in Mexico for Showtime, fittingly called "Conquest."

SEE ALSO: What the Olympic committee did with the $1.2 billion NBC paid to broadcast the games>

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CBS has given a script commitment to a "Brady Bunch" reboot, with a number of names already attached to the project, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Vince Vaughn will executive produce with Victoria Vaughn and Peter Billingsley under their Wild West Picture Show Productions. The production company currently produces the TBS comedy "Sullivan & Son."

Mike Mariano ("Raising Hope") will write the script and executive produce along with Lloyd Schwartz, son of original series creator Sherwood Schwartz.

The series would revolve around a divorced Bobby Brady, now with his own children, who remarries and starts a new family.

If the reboot materializes, it will be the latest in a trend that includes CW's "90210," CBS' "Hawaii Five-O" and NBC's upcoming "Munsters" series. ABC also failed to revive "Charlie's Angels" last fall.

CBS' comedy landscape may be perfectly suited for a very "Brady" remake. But please, no Cousin Oliver.

SEE ALSO: Nielsen accused of fixing ratings >

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People are pulling the plug on cable television by the hundreds of thousands. 

Comcast's Q2 2012 earnings show the cable company is relying heavily on its high-speed Internet service subscribers. 

Though the cable giant reports an increase in customers of 138,000 (a 40.1% increase compared to second quarter "net additions" in 2011); the cable company also lost a massive 395,000 television subscribers in the last year.  

This number is huge, considering Credit Suisse analyst Stefan Anninger previously predicted 200,000 fewer subscribers would pay for television services this year. 

Take a look at the numbers below from the press release:

The loss in television customers isn't too surprising given the easy access to many of the networks' shows and films available online through both its Xfinity and Streampix web sites. 

If you're unfamiliar with either, one Comcast cable subscription provides an account holder with access to both streaming sites from three different computers / devices. It's handy for subscribers, but a potential disaster for Comcast since there's no limit on when and where anyone can access their account, and subscriptions can be cheaper.

The freedom to stream whenever and wherever makes it easy for debt-ridden college students to piggyback off their parents' paid cable subscriptions long after they've left the nest, for instance.

For Comcast, this portends fewer subscriptions in the long run from millennials. 

Just another nail in old-fashioned television's imminent coffin. 

SEE ALSO:

• Nielsen and Kantar have been accused of fixing TV ratings for bribes

• The death of satellite tv continued: Dish Subscriber Collapse Worse Than Predicted

• The death of television may be five years away

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NBCUniversal is doing better than expected, ahead of both its ratings and financial projections for the London 2012 Olympic Games, according to CEO Steve Burke.  "We are off to a very very successful start," he said, adding the company is over $100 million ahead of its advertising revenue goal, benefiting from higher than expected ratings. 

"London is going to be right around break-even," said Burke. At one point, his team expected a loss of as much as $200 million. "We are way ahead. We stand to make money on future Olympics."

He said he was anticipating a performance closer to Athens 2004 than Beijing 2008. 

Burke credits the success to heavy promotion across Comcast and NBCUniversal over the 100 days leading up to the Games, as well as offering coverage across multiple channels and media platforms. 

In addition to profiting off future Olympic Games, NBCUniversal stands to benefit from promoting and previewing its new shows including the Matthew Perry sitcom "Go On."

SEE ALSO: Comcast lost a lot of subscribers last year > 

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Earlier we said comedian Ricky Gervais unveiled plans for a new web series, "Learn English" on his blog.  

Today, he revealed a promo for the first episode. Though it's Gervais' show, it appears as if his friend and partner on the show, Karl Pilkington, is stealing the spotlight.

While providing questionable English lessons, viewers have noticed one thing missing from the promo, "The Office" co-creator, Stephen Merchant. 

So, where is Steve? 

Considering Merchant is set to write and star in a new HBO pilot based on his stand-up tour, "Hello Ladies," he has his plate full. 

Though the pilot will be offered for free, Gervais has said he may charge a small fee to access the rest of the series. Otherwise, he'll find a sponsor to stream the episodes for free. 

The pilot episode will be available on iTunes Tuesday, August 14. 

Watch the promo below: 

SEE ALSO: Comcast lost a massive number of television subscribers in Q2>

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Tyra Banks recently told The New York Post that she almost quit her hit CW show, "America's Next Top Model" (ANTM) due to the amount of stress the show was causing her.

“I’ve thought about turning the reigns over,” she explained. “I had to be reminded that [the show] is my baby. A few years ago, I was willing to give my baby up for adoption!”

She has since hired a personal coach to help her manage her stress more efficiently.

“I am learning how to delegate, and how to empower people,” Ms. Banks explains. “It has decreased my stress more. Now we are going to be producing so much more television."

Now that fans can breathe a sigh of relief, let's take a look back at some of the most outspoken, outrageous, and outright hilarious contestants from the past 18 cycles of "America's Next Top Model."

Adrianne Curry (Cycle One)

Adrianne was the first winner of America's Next Top Model. She has been featured in Maxim, People, and campaigns for Macy's, Ed Hardy, and Von Dutch. She has also starred in "Celebrity Family Feud," "Celebrity Paranormal Project," and "Surreal Life" (where she met now ex-husband Christopher Knight). The couple later starred in "My Fair Brady," which chronicled their troubled romance.

Shannon Stewart (Cycle One and 17 All-Star)

After coming in second to Adrianne Cury, Shannon went on to compete in Miss Ohio 2004. She was later recruited by Ford Models Chicago and appeared in spreads for Teen Vogue, Sydney Magazine and Arizona Foothills. Shannon has walked the runway for Alice + Olivia in Fall 2006, Sprite Street Couture 2006, and Richard Tyler. In 2007, she married devout Christian model Matthew Ratliff.

Yoanna House (Cycle Two)

The winner of cycle two is now the host of "The Look For Less" on the Style Network. She has recently been in the news for her drastic change in looks. While many critics believe she went under the knife, she attributes the transformation to her four-year old child and (admittedly) breast enhancement surgery.

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Comcast has some company in the land of cord-cutters. 

One day after we reported Comcast's Q2 2012 earnings showed a drop in nearly 400,000 television subscribers in the past year, two more cable giants disclosed the same problem. 

Time Warner Cable lost 169,000 residential video subscribers

DirecTV isn't doing well either. The company reported a loss of 52,000 subscribers in Q2. 

These numbers aren't a surprise. The numbers have been on a slow descent for years, and investment research group ISI predicts the numbers will only continue to go downhill in the future. 

However, not all news was bad. Customers are switching from TV to the web for their video entertainment.

Internet customers are on the rise across providers–TWC saw an increase in broadband subscribers (59,000). You can view Comcast's jump in numbers below.  

The rises in Internet customers mixed with drops in television subscribers, portend the long-awaited convergence with the Internet: 

• Sony's been selling a Google TV, which combines the capabilities of high-speed Internet with television–much easier than hooking up our Macs and iPads to the flat screen to watch the Olympics live.
• Every week it appears another big name Hollywood actor has signed on for a new web series. Sofia Vergara's son Manolo has "Mi Vida con Toty," Ashton Kutcher just released prankster show "Prank Lab," and Ricky Gervais announced a comedy web series earlier this week. 
• Add this to the long list of actors including Stephen Moyer, America Ferrara, Julia Stiles, and Jennifer Gardner who have signed up to appear on YouTube's original channel WIGS. 

There's no escaping the Internet. Evolve or dissolve. 

SEE ALSO: Comcast Lost Nearly 400,000 Cable Subscribers In Last Year

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The fifth season of AMC's "Mad Men" wrapped up June 10. The season finale, appropriately titled "The Phantom," was full of uncertainty and new beginnings (and endings, for one character in particular).

It seems reality is no exception as Elisabeth Moss, January Jones, Vincent Kartheiser, and Christina Hendricks have yet to confirm their returns for season six.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, all four are still finalizing a deal with Lionsgate TV that will see them returning to the show for two more seasons.

We all but know Moss will be returning to the show after Matt Weiner, uncharacteristically revealed to TVLine that Peggy will return in the upcoming season after leaving Sterling Cooper for a job at another agency.

"I will spoil that one tiny piece of anticipation and tell people that Elisabeth will be showing up to work," Weiner told TVLine. "I can't say how much...but she has not left the show." 

Meanwhile the fate of Joan Harris, played by Hendricks, is still uncertain. The Hollywood Reporter reports Christina Hendricks is still hashing out the details for a new contract. 

So far AMC has only renewed "Mad Men" for season six but Weiner is confident there is a seventh season in "Mad Men"'s future. 

If there is a seventh season, Don Draper, played by the dapper Jon Hamm, is a sure bet. His record-breaking eight figure contract was renewed in 2011. 

Filming of season six will be begin in October.

SEE ALSO: The most memorable winners and losers from "America's Next Top Model" >

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CBS may have reported an eight percent increase in second-quarter profit, beating out estimates compiled by Bloomberg, but that came coupled with a dip in advertising sales and licensing revenue from the company's old shows. 

The No.1 network's sales sunk from $3.59 billion to $3.48 billion. Ad sales, 60 percent of the company's revenue, were mostly to blame, they dropped 3.3 percent.

Fees from CBS' vast library of old TV shows, including Frasier, also contributed to the revenue slip. Content and licensing revenues declined 8% to $816 million. The company said the decline was due to digital streaming and Frasier:

... the timing of licensing revenues from digital streaming, as dozens of programs from the Company's library were first made available for digital streaming during the second quarter of 2011, as well as the third-cycle domestic syndication sale of Frasier during the second quarter of 2011, partially offset by higher international syndication sales in 2012.

Frasier had strong sales in previous periods, leading to weak comparables.

"Digital streaming," however, appears to be a reference to a couple of deals that CBS struck with Netflix and Amazon. Members of Amazon can now watch CBS's old shows for free, the company announced in July. Moonves said the Netflix deal was "preordained" to be renewed.

Bonus points: If you noticed CEO Les Moonves on the conference call with Wall Street getting excited about a new Showtime title for next year, "Masters of Sex."

SEE ALSO:

• DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, and Comcast are down thousands of subscribers > 

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Sanrio Inc., the acclaimed Japanese corporation behind "Hello Kitty" and "Keroppi," has filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court against the unknown defendant(s), "Does 1 through 50."

The plaintiffs claim that in 1999, "Does 1 through 50" obtained illegal possession of "Hello Kitty" and "Flint the Time Detective" characters, exploiting these characters to their own financial benefit without compensating Sanrio Inc.

Sanrio Company, Ltd. have first quarter 2013 revenues projected at $16.9B, according to Business Week.

Now the defendants are being accused of "conversion, trespass to property, fraudulent concealment, and unjust enrichment."

Sanrio Inc. currently seeks general, special, and punitive damages. 

Read the full case here.

SEE ALSO: Meet the all-girl punk band Putin wants kept in prison >

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Sharon Osbourne, wife of rocker Ozzy Osbourne and "America's Got Talent" judge has left the hit NBC talent show following a heated dispute with the network.

Osbourne's son Jack was slated to compete on "Stars Earn Stripes"—an upcoming NBC show where eight celebrities are "pushed to their limits as they take on the challenges of real American heroes"— before he was unceremoniously dropped by the network.

"Regretfully, we cannot move forward with Jack’s participation," the network explained in an e-mail to his mother.

This decision follows Jack's public reveal in May that he had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Despite offering to provide his own insurance for the show, the network decided that having him on board would be too much of a liability, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

News of Jack's dismissal was revealed when he made an appearance on CBS's "The Talk," where Sharon Osbourne is currently a host, along with Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sheryl Underwood, and Aisha Tyler. 

Ms. Osbourne's contract with "The Talk" was renewed earlier this year for the 2012-2013 season. The daytime talk show currently averages 2.16 million viewers season-to-date.

While there is some speculation Sharon's departure from "America's Got Talent" will hurt ratings on "The Talk," this isn't the first time the talk show has gone through a rough patch.

In the summer of 2011, Leah Remini and Holly Robinson-Peete were both fired. Remini took to Twitter, accusing the Osbourne matriarch of discriminating against them. "Sharon thought me and Holly were 'ghetto.'"

"In response to Leah Remini's continuous comments that I had her fired from 'The Talk,' let me just go on the record to say I had absolutely nothing to do with her departure from the show and have no idea why she continues to take to Twitter to spread this false gossip," Ms. Osbourne quickly replied via Twitter.

Yet despite all the drama and accusations, "The Talk" (post-firing) maintained a solid 1.8 million household rating. 

SEE ALSO: People are freaking out after a secret screening of Scientology inspired "The Master" >

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Last week we reported on the long, slow death of television and how Comcast, DirecTV, and Time Warner Cable had lost thousands of subscribers.

During the second quarter, cable providers often experience a decrease in subscriptions as summer is the prime time to plan a move and college students cancel their cable subscriptions. 

But not all cable companies are suffering. Cablevision Systems just reported a strong second quarter that looks like it came straight from the 1980s: It actually increased numbers for hard-wired telephone subscribers.

(Revenue rose 0.5 percent to $1.70 billion. Net income was $63.8 million, a decrease from their $87.8 million this time last year.)

High speed data subscriptions rose by 25,000, with a total of 3.3 million customers, while subscriptions for telephone subscriptions now sit at 2.4 million, after a 23,000 increase. Cable video subs were flat, and therefore better than the declines being seen at other operators.

In part, it's about pricing: Earlier in 2011, Jim Dolan, CEO of Cablevision, announced that rates for the triple-play package and hardware would remain untouched throughout 2012. In comparison, Verizon, their main rival, saw marginal price increases on their FiOS TV programming and equipment packages.

"We are continuing to invest in our operations to ensure that we are offering the best products and service to our customers,” Dolan announced. “Our focus on transforming the way we operate has never been stronger.”

Meanwhile, normality appears to be in full effect at Charter Communications. The fourth largest American cable operator saw a 4.7% rise in revenue to $1.88 billion, despite a loss of 66,000 basic cable subscribers.

Tom Rutledge, CEO and President of Charter, announced, "we delivered solid second quarter performance while implementing key aspects of our growth strategy. In addition to enhancing our product set and launching new pricing and packaging, we're putting into action a number of operational changes to best align the organization with our growth objectives. These actions will make us more competitive, deliver a powerful customer experience and increase our long-term growth potential."

SEE ALSO: It's not just Comcast; DirecTV and Time Warner Cable have also lost thousands of subscribers >

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Comedian and roaster Jeff Ross showed up to the taping of Comedy Central's Roseanne Barr roast dressed as the late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, with two young men wearing nothing but football helmets and towels by his side.

And that wasn't the most offensive thing he did. 

During the roast, Ross turned to actor Seth Green and said, "Congratulations. This is actually a great night for you. You haven’t gotten this much attention since you shot all those people in Aurora," referring to his red hair similar to James Holmes. 

Ross continued, "I'm kidding. You are not like James Holmes. At least he did something in a movie theater that people remember!”

Hoping to avoid any controversy, a Comedy Central spokesperson announced that the joke will not appear in the broadcast next week. 

The roast airs on Comedy Central August 12. 

SEE ALSO: Was it worse than Dane Cook's joke? >

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News Corp., the parent company of Fox, recently announced the launch of MundoFOX, a new Spanish language channel.

One potential reason for the move: Hispanics hardly watch mainstream broadcast TV.

Here's a breakdown of Hispanic viewers who tune in to hit shows currently airing on television (via The New York Times):  

• "Two and a Half Men" on CBS – 611,000 out of 14.6 million.
• "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC – 583,000 out of 10.9 million.
• "Glee" on Fox – 518,000 out of 8.7 million.
• "NCIS" on CBS – 509,000 out of 19.1 million.

Even Sofia Vergara, "the most recognizable Hispanic actress on English-language television," according to The Times,, can't boost ratings for ABC's hit show, "Modern Family." Despite drawing in a total of 12.9 million viewers, only an average of 798,000 were Hispanic, The Times says.

Meanwhile Univision's "La Que No Podía Amar" (roughly translated as "One Who Could Not Love") amasses 5.2 million viewers, The New York Times states.

The problem, according to Zubi Advertising chief Joe Zubizarreta, is that "the general market taste will find humor in the idiosyncrasies of Hispanics. But as Hispanics, when we watch general market television, we’d like to see some semblance of reality to our lives." 

Take the show "Rob," for example. Starring actor Rob Schneider, the show followed Schneider's life after his marriage into a Mexican family. CBS wanted "Rob" to be a "cross-cultural hit" – the Hispanic version of "The Cosby Show." But it was filled with jokes about siestas and illegal immigration.

'"Rob’ was a big running joke among our community,” said Julio Ricardo Varela, founder of "Latino Rebels," a Latino news and culture site. “It just felt lazy, stale and I think that mainstream television was missing the boat.”

SEE ALSO: Comedy Central cutting theater shooting joke from Roseanne roast >

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Former Telemundo reporter and anchor Vicky Gutierrez is suing the Spanish-language channel and parent company NBC Universal for age discrimination.  

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Gutierrez claims she was let go because she reached 50, and was replaced by a much younger woman to attract better ratings at a lower cost to the network. Gutierrez worked at LA station KVEA since 2003.  

According to the suit, the network claims to have "laid her off." However, Gutierrez claims in the suit she was actually terminated, citing reasons she was let go as "multiple complaints about the working conditions at KVEA and she was an older female earning too much money." 

This isn't the first time an older female anchor was ousted in favor of a younger face.

1983: Christine Craft became the first woman to sue for age and sex discrimination.

Craft filed a suit after receiving a demotion at ABC affiliate KMBC-TV in Kansas City. 

According to testimony from the trial, Craft was told she was demoted to reporter in 1979 because focus group research found she was "too old, too unattractive and wouldn't defer to men."

After a trial at Federal District Court in Kansas City, Craft was awarded $500,000.

1999: Janet Peckinpaugh was awarded $3.79 million after suing a network for a demotion.

Peckinpaugh accused Post-Newsweek Stations' CBS station Channel 3 of backing out on a promise to employ her for life. 

She claimed the network discriminated against both her age and sex after a demotion in 1994 and firing her in 1995.  

Peckinpaugh said she earned $250,000 per year as an anchor. 

Post-Newsweek was found guilty of sex discrimination, breach of written and oral promises, and illegal retaliation. 

She was originally awarded $8.3 million in January 1999, but that number was lowered to $3.79 million in March of '99. The number was later raised again to $4.9 million in July '99.

2002: Carol Kaplan filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against WGRZ-TV Buffalo.

In a lawsuit filed, Kaplan accused a station executive of saying she could replace her with a "younger and prettier" woman.

The case was dismissed after Federal Judge John Curtin said there wasn't enough evidence for the discrimination claims to hold up. Bazi Kanani was hired in her place.

Kaplan anchored the 5 p.m. news for the Multimedia Entertainment owned station for 11 years. 

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Well, this is awkward.

If Rob Kardashian is going to attend the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law, he might want to let them know.

The reality TV fixture tweeted Monday that he would soon be heading back to his undergraduate alma mater.

But on Wednesday, USC Law responded by claiming Kardashian is far from attending any classes.

The reality star didn't take to Twitter to clear up the confusion, but rather maintain his allegiance to his alma mater.

So to sum it up, Rob Kardashian was, and still is, not a law student. But he is a socktrapreneur.

SEE ALSO: How to cook for the Kardashians >

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Aviva Nash, CEO of Drum Cafe, is suing Fox News, its commentators Bill O'Reilly, Greta Van Susteren, and network reporter Juliet Huddy for alleged defamation and infliction of emotional distress.

The suit comes after comments in which she alleges the Fox News personalities accused her of being a con artist and stealing taxpayers' money. The comments were made on a July 19 episode of "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren" and a July 24 episode of "The O'Reilly Factor."

• See the video below.

Fox News spent that week covering a report that the inspector general for the General Services Administration was looking into the cost of the agency's 2010 awards ceremony, which cost $270,000. One of the expenses was $21,000 for 4,000 drumsticks for attendees to participate in a drumming presentation.

Huddy referred to the woman leading the presentation in the clip on "O'Reilly" as "this little hippy-dippy chick," which Nash said was humiliating. 

On Van Susteren's show, she said it was "unbelievably insane to take taxpayer money to do something like that."

The shows made it unclear whether the Drum Cafe provided the drumsticks or if the clips used were just stock footage. When asked to clarify, Nash's attorney RIchard Ancowitz told The Hollywood Reporter "the drums belonged to Drum Cafe," and the comments made were "negligent, reckless, malicious, and irresponsible behavior."

Nash told THR she is not insane, and has been falsely accused of engaging in a criminal enterprise. 

Drum Cafe's website describes itself as "building teams… one beat at a time." It also says they opened the 2008 Beijing Olympics and have performed for Nelson Mandela, Elton John, Will Smith, and Oprah Winfrey, among others. 

Check out the "O'Reilly Factor" clip mentioned in the lawsuit below: 

SEE ALSO: Colbert Slams Fox News For Olympic Comments >

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Dish Network chairman Charles Ergen went off the deep end in his Q2 2012 conference call with Wall Street analysts when he started talking about the contract dispute which has led to AMC being pulled from his network.

No one watches AMC (whose shows include Mad Men," "Breaking Bad" and "The Walking Dead"), he said.

"I've had satellite television for as long as satellite television has been around and there's never been one minute that I know of anybody in my family, or anybody who's came to my house, has ever watched one second of any of those channels," Ergen said on the call, as reported by Ad Age.

Dish subscribers haven't been able to watch any AMC channels since July 1, when the contract between the two companies expired.

Ergen says his customers aren't quite the show's demo.

"We have data, real data from our customers," explains Ergen. "And for whatever reason our customers don't watch some of those ... at the level that we read about in the paper, perhaps because we skew a bit more rural or whatever."

Just how rural does Ergen think Dish's customers are?

"They live in farms and ranches ... They have no clue about zombies and New York," the CEO stated in response to this recent viral video produced by AMC, which features actors dressed as "Walking Dead" zombies on the streets of New York with the tagline "Zombies don't belong here. Put them back on TV."

Despite Ergen's beliefs, AMC shows "Walking Dead" and "Mad Men" both just scored record ratings in their most current seasons—with "Mad Men" garnering 2.6 million total viewers, an increase of 15 percent over last season's count, and "Dead" pulling in 9 million viewers.

Surely none of those viewers were Dish subscribers, right?

Dish has replaced AMC with Mark Cuban's HDNet Movies, which the CEO says is just as attractive to the satellite giant's rural, zombie-averse customers.

SEE ALSO: Zombies take over the streets of NYC in protest of Dish's decision to drop AMC >

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The MTV audience may love Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Jennifer "JWoww" Farley, but New Jersey? Not so much. 

The Point Pleasant Beach Council unanimously voted against a request from 495 Productions to tape "Jersey Shore" spinoff "Snooki & JWoww" in their town. 

"It's not what the town needs at this point," said Councilman William Mayer to the Asbury Park Press.

Toms River also turned down the series.  

The rejection comes just a week after the production decided not to film in Morristown, after initially planning to shoot there from August 9 to mid-October.

Between filming, pregnant Polizzi lives with her fiancé Jionni LaValle in East Hanover, which, like Morristown, is in Morris County, NJ.

No word yet if the company will reconsider the area—popular for its bar scene and American Revolution history—now that they are behind schedule on season two without a location. 

The first season of "Snooki & JWoww" premiered in June and filmed in Jersey City after being denied by Hoboken. 

SEE ALSO: 'Jersey Shore' cast tells voters to 'flex' their political muscles in 2012 election >

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