Jason Isaacs plays gangster Michael Caffee and Jason Clarke is politician Tommy Caffee in Brotherhood.

Showtime Networks

Reports of the demise of Brotherhood, the Showtime series shot entirely in Rhode Island, are, at best, premature, according to the cable channel. On Monday, the Boston Herald reported in The Inside Track, a gossip column, that the show, now in its third season, wouldn’t be renewed for a fourth season, but named no sources (other than “spies on the set”).

Yesterday an executive for the cable channel characterized that claim as “unfortunate.”

“It’s too early for us to determine if we will return for a fourth season,” said Richard Licata, Showtime’s executive vice president of corporate communications. “The show is terrific this year. But we’ve had our challenges with viewership.”

The third season premiered on Nov. 2, drawing 305,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Rating. That’s down from last year’s premiere of 370,000, and the first year’s premiere of 450,000. By comparison, the Nov. 2 premiere of the third season of Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel drew 5.9 million viewers; Army Wives on Lifetime drew 3.9 million; and Little Britain USA on HBO drew 590,000.

Production for the season wrapped up in Rhode Island on Nov. 4, just after the first of eight episodes aired. The show, which broadcasts new episodes Sundays at 8 p.m. with repeats throughout the week, has employed several hundred Rhode Islanders — as crew, actors and walk-ons.

The story centers around two brothers, Michael and Tommy Caffee, who are on opposite sides of the law, as a mobster and politician, respectively.

•

Andrew C. Revkin, The New York Times’ science correspondent, is among the winners of the 2008 John Chancellor Awards for Excellence in Journalism. The awards, which bestow a $25,000 prize for each winner will be presented tonight. Revkin won for his decades-long coverage of the science and politics of climate change. He graduated from East Greenwich High School and has a biology degree from Brown University and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia. He has reported on the environment for the Times since 1995, a job that has taken him to the Arctic three times since 2003 and is the author of three books.

•

Sean “Diddy” Combs is becoming a prosecutor — at least on television.

CBS says the rapper has agreed to a two-episode appearance on CSI: Miami. The network says Combs will portray a prosecutor who doesn’t get along with police Lt. Horatio Caine, played by David Caruso. The episodes will probably air in mid- to late winter. Combs drew praise for his role in the ABC movie A Raisin in the Sun.