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How Thanksgiving helps Christmas movies

The Hollywood Reporter: Risky Biz Blog — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:47:17 GMT

By Steven Zeitchik With a five-day weekend juicier than an orange-juice factory -- it's the longest natural weekend on the movie calendar -- the Thanksgiving frame is always a kind of industry Prozac for anyone worried about box office. This... Read More......(read more)

How to read The Reader's roles

The Hollywood Reporter: Risky Biz Blog — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:41:38 GMT

By Steven Zeitchik Harvey Weinstein caught some heat for plans to potentially push neither Ralph Fiennes or Kate Winslet for lead actor kudos in "The Reader." But after seeing the movie it's apparent to us that he's right. Fiennes is Read More......(read more)

Fox Plays Up ‘Idol’ Emotion

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:46:00 GMT

Fox is thinking small in its efforts to promote the biggest show on television. It’s not that the network is scaling back the breadth of its campaign for “American Idol,” the beyond-adjectives reality juggernaut that has kept it No. 1 in key ratings for the past four seasons. From relentless on-air spots to shopping mall takeovers, Fox is readying a marketing push the size of Simon Cowell’s ego to make sure viewers know “Idol” will return on Jan. 13. The network even recruited reigning “Idol” champ...(read more)

Newsman Koppel Takes Stock

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:44:00 GMT

Ted Koppel sounded like a young boy who’s just been told that the rest of the school year will consist only of snow days. In a phone call only a few hours after the announcement last week that Discovery Communications was ending its relationship with Mr. Koppel and his crew, he sounded positively giddy at the thought of the heavy-duty food shopping he had to do in preparation for Thanksgiving and at the prospect of going where the travel winds take him and his “long-suffering” wife, Grace Anne Dorney...(read more)

Ratings Declines Define Nov. Sweeps

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:42:00 GMT

This year’s November sweeps ratings period, buffeted by economic upheaval and declining statistical relevance to networks, saw ABC and CBS on top in adults 18-49 and total viewers, respectively. Only smaller networks The CW and MyNetworkTV avoided audience erosion in their target demographics. At press time Wednesday, ABC was projected to claim its fourth straight win in the November sweeps among adults 18-49, with an average 3.1 rating/8 share. Two days of ratings remain to fill out the sweeps numbers...(read more)

Panic, Pause, Invest: VCs Bet on Web Video

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:40:00 GMT

Memo from venture capitalists to online video entrepreneurs: Contrary to early indications, the spigot has not been turned off for 2009. Despite the credit crisis and the contracting economy, investment firms that fund digital media still have cash to dole out. In the past month alone, venture capitalists at 406 Ventures, Flybridge Capital, Spark Capital, Union Square Ventures, Evergreen Ventures and others have funneled money into new-media properties, and they plan to keep doing so in the year...(read more)

Obama Focusing on DTV Transition

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:38:00 GMT

As President-elect Barack Obama juggles a cratering economy and two wars, broadcasting and consumer groups are throwing him another sticky issue—the impending switch to digital over-the-air broadcasting. While less than 1% of TV viewers lost their signals during the Sept. 7 DTV test in Wilmington, N.C., advocates warn that when the switch is thrown nationwide, significant numbers of Americans could lose their TV lifeline. Some fear the combination of public-awareness campaigns, a coupon program to...(read more)

Ads to Women Key in Crisis

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:36:00 GMT

NBC Universal is touting new research that shows marketers should maintain their advertising to women because they control the bulk of household spending and are looking for ways to shop smarter as the economy weakens. Susan Malfa, senior VP of ad sales for NBC Universal’s Bravo and Oxygen, points to numerous case studies from past downturns showing that companies that maintained ad spending increased their market share, and that it took years for sales to recover for companies that cut spending...(read more)

A Sports Menu for Digital Channels

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:34:00 GMT

Among the programming options being developed for television stations with subchannel space to fill due to the digital transition is one geared specifically to NBC affiliates. It packages thousands of hours of sports competitions that eventually lead to the Olympics, the jewel in the crown of NBC Sports and a boon to NBC affiliates. Universal Sports, a 24/7 digital channel created by NBC Universal and World Championship Sports Network, is expected to be available to 30 million homes in early 2009...(read more)

Viewers Discovering THIS TV

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:32:00 GMT

MGM’s THIS TV, a programming package that can run on subchannels that broadcasters will gain after the digital conversion in February, is slowly making ratings gains as it moves into 40 new markets over the next six months. Offering programming from MGM’s vault including television series “The Outer Limits,” Charlie Chan films and newer releases such as 2004’s “De-Lovely,” THIS TV is entering agreements with affiliates owned by Fisher Communications, Hearst-Argyle Television, Post-Newsweek Stations...(read more)

Women Aren’t Afraid of ‘Ghost’

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:30:00 GMT

As it hunts for ghosts, NBC Universal’s Sci Fi Channel is scaring up larger numbers of female viewers. “Ghost Hunters,” now in its fourth year on Sci Fi, is helping the male-skewing network achieve its goal of balancing its demographics. As a genre, science fiction tends to attract more males than females. That’s reflected in the audience for Sci Fi Channel, which is about 56% male. Sci Fi’s most heralded show, “Battlestar Galactica,” attracts an audience that is 65% male and 35% female. Since most...(read more)

The Insider: A High- to Low-Brow Night

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:28:00 GMT

The evening started with a mad post-work dash to the International Press Freedom Awards dinner, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 18th annual benefit. The event raised almost $2.25 million last Tuesday and reminded all the working press there of just how good we have it in this country—cutbacks, unwanted buyout offers, layoffs and all. We may feel beat down, but the honorees (and their presenters) at the CPJ dinner literally risk limb and life in their pursuit of truth-telling in countries and...(read more)

Strike Could Hit Actors Hardest

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:26:00 GMT

Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg says he’s going to his union members seeking a strike authorization vote in December, but he may want to consider the warning of Los Angeles’ top economic analyst first. Jack Kyser, senior VP and chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., warns that if a strike does happen, SAG members will feel the brunt of the impact. “All parties would be negatively impacted by a strike, but SAG members would take it on the chin,” Mr. Kyser...(read more)

Ad Frequency Irks Viewers

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:24:00 GMT

Think how many times in the last few weeks you’ve been subjected to a modern Christie Brinkley reinserted into footage from the 1983 film “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” talking about DirecTV; or seen Sprint CEO Dan Hesse sitting in a diner talking about his company; or heard a reworked version of the Fixx’s 1983 hit “Saved by Zero” used to alert you to Toyota’s no-interest payment options. The ubiquity of these and other ads have consumers fed up. Exhibit 1: the creation of a Facebook group—8,979...(read more)

Column: Give Broadband a Sporting Chance

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:22:00 GMT

On any given Sunday, millions of Americans sink into their couches and watch football on their gigantic plasma-screen high-definition television sets from morning until night. So what’s a sports fan to do if you want to go cable-free, as I have done for six weeks and counting? I’m a retired sports fan (I gave up my baseball addiction after Mariano Rivera blew the 2001 World Series), so it doesn’t bother me to be without sports on TV. But this experiment in the broadband video lifestyle isn’t just...(read more)

Directories Lead the Way for Early Adopters

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:20:00 GMT

What’s the next big thing in online video? Niche video sites that offer editorial guidance on what to watch. The same online early adopters who visited YouTube, Digg and Facebook long before those sites rocketed to mainstream popularity now are hanging out on video directory sites and instructional video aggregators, according to data from online-audience measurement firm Hitwise. Hitwise found that as Web users become overwhelmed by the volume of videos online, they are turning to targeted Web sites...(read more)

Sell-Off Speculation Swirls Around CBS

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:06:00 GMT

Pity poor CBS Corp. Investors are speculating that embattled executive chairman and controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone may be forced to sell the broadcast giant to pay off $1.6 billion in loans owed by his holding company, National Amusements. Analysts say there would be plenty of interest in sister company Viacom, with its constellation of cable networks. But they say nobody would want CBS, even at bargain prices. “There would be strategic buyers for Viacom,” said Alan Gould, senior media analyst...(read more)

Stations’ Car Trouble

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:04:00 GMT

In the past decade, New York’s TV stations have survived lousy network programming, a vanishing prime-time audience, media fragmentation, the economic fallout of Sept. 11 and the writers strike. Whether they can make it through Detroit’s collapse is another story. With the nation’s carmakers and dealers in economic freefall, local TV’s biggest advertising category has plowed into a wall. Industry insiders report ad revenues for New York’s six English-language stations plunged a historic 33% in October...(read more)

The TV Ad of the Future Begins Now

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:04:00 GMT

It makes me smile when I read about how the era of the 30-second TV commercial is ending. I have been in the television industry since I was 15 years old and I have been hearing about the death of television advertising ever since. (Interestingly, the articles making this claim usually are written by folks outside of the industry.) In TV advertising, the only real constant has been the omnipresent claim of impending extinction and, then, revolutionary brilliance. Think about it. In the 1970s we had...(read more)

Editorial: A Bad Time to Choose: Why SAG Should Delay

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:02:00 GMT

Once again, the gun is loaded, cocked and pointed straight at the television industry’s head. Will its leaders once again pull the trigger? Will a labor union and the media companies again fail to compromise, harming not only themselves but thousands of innocents? Let’s hope not. The Screen Actors Guild last week said it would go to its membership seeking a strike authorization vote because the union’s negotiations over a new contract with media companies had failed. The crux of the problem revolves...(read more)

Diverse Voices: Multicultural Casting Thrives in Sci-Fi Shows

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:00:00 GMT

When it comes to stories about the strange and unusual, nothing beats science fiction. Whether it’s exploring the mystery of life on other planets, in other dimensions or in our own backyards, this is one genre where there are no boundaries except the imagination. Because of that, sci-fi is also a genre where diverse casting is seen more often than not. Futuristic ideas that seem improbable when filmed can later become part of our everyday lives. In 1966, at a time when racial segregation was still...(read more)

Gurus o Gold - Darkhorses

The Hot Blog — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:58:31 GMT

The full charts......(read more)

TV Plays Music in New Ways

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:55:00 GMT

Since the beginning of TV, music programming has been an integral part of the success of the medium, from “Your Hit Parade” to “American Bandstand,” “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “Soul Train,” and finally to MTV, a network initially predicated on marketing music in short-form video bits 24/7. Music Programming TV Plays Music in New Ways . . . More » BET Looks Ahead . . . More » A Rich Musical Tapestry on TV . . . More » But it’s been more than two decades since MTV’s launch, and today’s music programming...(read more)

Jeff Glor, CBS News Correspondent

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:29:00 GMT

Background: Mr. Glor double majored in journalism and economics and won a best-in-journalism award at Syracuse University in New York. TV News Talent Searching for TV’s News Elite . . . More » Joel Brown . . . More » Seth Doane . . . More » Jeff Glor . . . More » Scott Goldberg . . . More » Bianna Golodryga . . . More » Savannah Guthrie . . . More » Rebecca Jarvis . . . More » Megyn Kelly . . . More » Jenna Lee . . . More » Betty Liu . . . More » David Muir . . . More » Carl Quintanilla . . . More...(read more)

Scott Goldberg, KARE-TV Reporter

News — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:27:00 GMT

Background: Mr. Goldberg worked at small-market stations in Illinois, Virginia and South Carolina before working as a freelance reporter for National Public Radio, for which he covered economic and political crises in Argentina. TV News Talent Searching for TV’s News Elite . . . More » Joel Brown . . . More » Seth Doane . . . More » Jeff Glor . . . More » Scott Goldberg . . . More » Bianna Golodryga . . . More » Savannah Guthrie . . . More » Rebecca Jarvis . . . More » Megyn Kelly . . . More » Jenna...(read more)