Tuning In

Comcast: Hola to Dems

Reaching out to the Latino community, Comcast will produce simultaneous online streaming coverage from the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Multichannel.com reports.

From the Comcast Media Center in the Denver metro area, the nation’s largest cable distributor will provide live, gavel-to-gavel Spanish-language interpretation of all convention activities from the Pepsi Center to be streamed online at DemConvention.com from Aug. 25 through 28. This will mark the first time a national political convention has been simulcast completely in Spanish and made available to a worldwide audience, Multichannel.com notes.

Comcast, which was named the official cable-television and video-on-demand provider to the event by the Democratic National Convention Committee, also will make a wide swath of content available via its on-demand service. The cable company also will place highlights, including key speeches and Spanish-language content from each night of the convention, on its national video-on-demand platform, which is available to more than 16 million of its digital-cable subscribers in 39 states and the District.

’Lost’ finds honors

ABC’s “Lost” steered the island toward four trophies at the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror’s 34th annual Saturn Awards, TVWeek.com reports.

With wins for network television series, actor Matthew Fox, supporting actor Michael Emerson and supporting actress Elizabeth Mitchell, “Lost”returned to form at the Saturn Awards after losing out in several categories to NBC’s “Heroes”and Showtime’s “Dexter” last year.

“Dexter” didn’t walk away empty-handed, though; it won the prize for syndicated/cable television series.

Also winning: The “Star Wars” spoof episode of “Family Guy,” titled “Blue Harvest,” took the award for presentation on television; Jennifer Love Hewitt, star of CBS’ “Ghost Whisperer,” scared up a second TV-actress trophy; and Summer Glau (Fox’s “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”) tied with Miss Mitchell in the supporting-actress category.

New hosts for old shows

Cable’s Game Show Network has hired actress Kim Coles (“Living Single”) and stand-up comedian Judy Gold to host the pilots for its revivals of “The Dating Game” and “The Newlywed Game,” respectively.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the shows, which originated in the 1970s, will incorporate modern elements like online dating sites. “The Newlywed Game” often is identified with Bob Eubanks, who hosted most of the show’s incarnations, though Jim Lange, Paul Rodriguez and Gary Kroeger were featured in some editions. “The Dating Game” has been hosted by Mr. Lange, Elaine Joyce, Jeff MacGregor, Brad Sherwood and Chuck Woolery.

Heinz holds the mayo

Heinz Co. said viewer complaints prompted it to pull a British television ad for mayonnaise that showed two men kissing, Associated Press reports.

The ad for Heinz Deli Mayo depicted a kitchen scene involving two children, a father and a male deli cook with a New York accent, whom the children addressed as “Mum.” At the end of the ad, the cook kisses the father as he leaves for work, AP said.

The Advertising Standards Authority said it received 202 complaints, some that said the advertisement was offensive, inappropriate and unsuitable for children. Heinz said the ad was withdrawn because of “consumer feedback.”

Company spokesman Nigel Dickie said Tuesday that the company apologized if it had offended anyone.

Fox News host Bill O’Reilly complained about the advertisement on Friday during “The O’Reilly Factor.” “I just want mayonnaise. I don’t want guys kissing,” he said.

The British gay rights group Stonewall said it was shocked that Heinz had yanked what it called an “innocuous” ad and urged gay consumers to boycott the company.

The ad, which was introduced on British television a little more than a week ago and was meant to run for five weeks, was taken off the air Friday, Heinz said in a statement released Monday. It did not run in the U.S.

Compiled by Robyn-Denise Yourse and Melissa Bounoua from Web and wire reports.