The Morning Fix: Google is coming for your TV! CBS has passage to India. BermanBraun rakes in some new dollars. Morty’s back in late night.

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After the coffee. Before yet another flight to New York. And in August no less.
Google is coming! Google is coming! Search giant Google is getting serious about its small-screen aspirations. The company has been meeting with broadcast and cable networks to try to get access to their content for its new Google TV application that will allow consumers to watch TV through the Web. Of course content providers want to make sure they a) get paid for their programming and b) don’t alienate the cable and satellite distributors who already carry their channels. Google’s real aim to is to get more ad dollars and leave Apple’s television aspirations in the dust. More on Google’s big push and what the challenges will be from the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal.

What’s a million dollars between friends? Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. made headlines this week for its $1-million donation to the Republican Governors Assn. This, of course, gave fuel to the left to take shots at Murdoch’s Fox News operation. Washington Post media columnist Howard Kurtz, who also works for Fox News rival CNN, followed up on Tuesday’s story on this from Politico. A News Corp. spokesman told Kurtz that it is ‘patently false’ that a donation by News Corp. would somehow influence coverage at Fox News. By the way, lots of media companies give money to political causes. The New York Times also weighed in with a article on Rupert’s largess.

Really, it’ll happen. Variety checks on Disney’s deal to sell Miramax to Ron Tutor, the big-shot construction guy (sorry, I’m tired of saying ‘construction magnate’) and says that although the pact was announced weeks ago, the financing is still not nailed down. The deadline to close is Sept. 7, and odds seem long that it will be met. Of course, Disney could extend it or go back on the market and see if Miramax founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein want to make one more run.

A passage to India. CBS and India’s Reliance Broadcast Network Limited announced early Wednesday morning their plans to launch a joint venture that will create three English-language television channels. The networks, which will launch later this year, will feature both current CBS content and library fare as well. CBS becomes the latest U.S. media company to try to build a presence in India. Here’s an early take from the Hollywood Reporter and an old story about the talks from the Wall Street Journal, just to bring you up to speed.

Morty’s back. Veteran producer Robert ‘Morty’ Morton is coming back to late night as the show runner for TBS’ ‘Lopez Tonight.’ Morton was the longtime executive producer for David Letterman. The move comes as Lopez prepares for his show to relocate to midnight to make room for Conan O’Brien. Details from Broadcasting & Cable.

Read at your own risk. The Wrap says it has come across an e-mail with details of what is in development at Paramount Pictures. Among the projects are a Will Smith movie from director Kathryn Bigelow and a comedy starring Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand. Paramount told the Wrap that some of the material in the e-mail is right and some it is wrong.

Digital dollars. BermanBraun, the entertainment company headed by former TV big shots Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun, has roped in $100 million in advertising commitments from Starcom, a big agency whose clients include Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart. The money is for BermanBraun’s digital operations, including its websites Wonderwall and Glo. The New York Times, which always seems to have the inside scoop on these guys, has the story, as does the Wall Street Journal blog All Things D. They can flip a coin to decide which one was fed this first.

Turner on a roll. ‘Rizzoli & Isles,’ the female detective drama featuring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander, is the latest hit for TNT. Although it has hardly been a critical smash, it is drawing big audiences and proves that there is a big appetite for what Ad Age calls ‘meat and potatoes’-type programming. Variety also weighs in on a piece about cable’s hot summer.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Dr. Laura says goodbye to radio. Just because the star leaves, that doesn’t mean the show can’t go on. Haim Saban buys Julius the Monkey.

-- Joe Flint

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