N3D Debut; Internet in the Sky; Showtime Exit & More

N3D, the US’ first 24/7 all 3D channel, launches on DIRECTV tomorrow. — With more than 9.3 million viewers, the Mexico vs Argentina game on Univision hit a high for the most watched Spanish-language program in TV history. — Verizon FiOS has added the July 3rd Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight pay-per-view event in Spanish. — Starz has a new deal with Comcast with a multi-year contract covering all Starz premium SD and HD channels as well as its on-demand and online properties. — Nickelodeon, and the National Football League have their first production partnership designed to create the new, original animated short-form series, Rush Zone: Guardians of the Core for Nicktoons.

Internet in the Sky: Space-based internet is still looking for ways to get better traction in the commercial sector as the analysts at NSR note that Cisco’s Internet Router in Space (IRIS) has had no takers for a pure commercial play. While government interest is positive, return on investment considerations remain up in the air suggesting that a consumer IRIS program is, at best, somewhere down the road.

Over There: Sky Sports is extending its reach, giving subscribers free access to its online and mobile platforms until the end of the year. After that, though, watch out as virtually Murdoch properties (News Corp. owns a controlling share of Sky) are looking to move into paid programming.

Showtime Exit: As previously reported, Showtime is set for a big change in programming honchos as the dark humor of Robert Greenblatt gives way to the more family-oriented fare of David Nevins. We’re sure Nevins (“Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood”) is fabulous … but darn.

At the Portals: Greg Elin is the FCC’s first-ever chief data officer. He’ll coordinate an initiative designed to streamline the agency’s collection, uses and dissemination of data. — The FCC says that at the end of 2008 12% of local telco connections were residential VoIP subscriptions and 1%were business VoIP subscriptions. The report also includes information about standalone subscriptions versus broadband service bundles that include VoIP.

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