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Sep30
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The commissioners of three professional sports leagues were brought together at an Advertising Week panel and said they weren't concerned about the shrinking TV audiences and the affect it will have on their sports and ad revenue.
NBA Commissioner David Stern, Carolyn Bivens, commissioner of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, and Gary Bettman, leader of the National Hockey League were questioned about the continuous disruption in the media.
Ad Age believes that TV will still remain the preferred mass-market channel for live sporting events. Quoting the panels' conclusions:
 "'Sports has always led the technological revolution,' Mr. Stern said, citing cable and satellite as channels that prospered - like high-definition TV does today - partly because of sports programming. Even if mass audiences are slowly splintering, he said, new media widgets let the NBA "accessorize" the games with player info online, mobile alerts when games hit overtime and so on."
Bivens also placed her hopes on TV and added that technology will help advertisers reach the core consumer.
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Sep30
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Making at least a temporary peace with its former chairman Victor Loewy, Alliance Atlantis Communication Inc.'s (AAC.A) movie-distribution unit will probably be put on the market for sale. In a messy feud where Loewy left his job in response to...
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After being humbled for the first time in 2-1/2 years last week by "Grey's Anatomy," "CSI Crime Scene Investigation" came roaring back with a victory on Thursday night. They drew over 900,000 more than last weeks season opener to average...
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With the Walt Disney Co. (DIS) doing everything right lately, they took at hit with their failed mobile venture involving their ESPN brand: Mobile ESPN. The try wasn't only a failure though; it was a disaster. They spend around $150...
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Sep29
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In a bizarre speech before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, NBC Universal CEO Bob Wright said that the threat of piracy to the economic security of America is almost the same as the threat terrorism is to the nation's security....
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Hoopeston, Ill. theater owner Greg Boardman gave "Jackass 2" the boot as he refused to play it and instead chose to shut down the theater for two weeks. Steve Lloyd, 59, of nearby Rossville said, "They're not appropriate for really...
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Continuing in a line of Hollywood actors turned superheroes; Robert Downey Jr. has been picked for the title role in the upcoming Paramount Pictures' Marvel comic book character Iron Man. Evan Agostini / Getty Images Marvel Entertainment will finance the...
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Sep28
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The famous Capitol Records Tower, designed by architect Welton Becket, has been sold by EMI Group (EMI) to a New York property development company for $50 million. The building houses both Capitol Records and Capitol Studios. They have a lease-back...
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The Hollywood Reporter stated that Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen, has negotiated a deal paying him a big increase of $350,000 per episode. It makes him televisions' highest-paid sitcom star. Word is that Sheen was trying to land...
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Fox's (NWS) House continues to dominate their night as they came in with a strong 5.9 rating for the night. The show helped Fox to take Tuesday night with a 4.7 rating/13 share. NBC and CBS (CBS) came in tied...
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The nonprofit group, Texas Motion Picture Alliance, recently formed to help promote and strengthen the state's motion picture industry, says that the state has lost over $500 million in film productions over the last three years. While the Texas legislature...
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Sep27
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It looks good for Tsotsi director Gavin Hood, WireImage.com Photo by Soren McCarty as Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon are in final negotiations to work in his follow-up to "Tsotsi" called "Rendition." Gyllenhaal will play a CIA analyst who loses...
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Peter Jackson, director of "Lord of the Rings" and "King Kong," has made a deal with Microsoft to create a "new form of interactive entertainment." The series will be based upon the popular Halo video game. Jackson said,...
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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will open in theaters on July 13. Potter comes back for his fifth year at Hogwarts and finds he must help train the students ...
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Sep26
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Russell Crowe, who was a close friend of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, was highly "offended" at the suggestion that he would take advantage of his friend's death to play him in a biopic. Crowe said, "(The idea is) appalling...
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Sep25
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While ABC got their anticipated victory from "Desperate Housewives," I think there has to be a little concern as in only its third year it plunged by over 4 1/2 million viewers in comparison to last years opening. They were...
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With investors raising eyebrows over huge compensation packages offered by Viacom to several of their top executives, the Viacom board did some slashing and cutting and bringing things back to reality. One report said that "when Viacom (VIA) was still...
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In a recent experiment with a 7 minute online clip of "The Simpsons," Fox was very impressed with the results. A report from Mediapost said that "In a keynote address, Levinsohn talked about Fox's recent Web play for 'The Simpsons,'...
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Oprah has now officially expanded to the radio medium as her new channel Oprah & Friends started Monday on XM Satellite Radio (XMSR). It started on 10 a.m. Monday and will be a 24-hour lifestyle channel. People Magazine reported: "Airing...
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With NBC struggling tremendously to get back on its feet after a fall off of the broadcast cliff, they have one bright spot on their schedule offering: "Deal or No Deal." It isn't the super blockbuster type of show, but...
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Sep24
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For the third year in a row, the American Idol Tuesday night show is commanding the highest advertising rates for a television show, according to Advertising Age. The rate for a 30-second spot on the show is between $500,000 and...
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The goofy movie Jackass: Number Two evidently is what some people were looking for as it took over No. 1 at the weekend box office by opening with over an estimated $28 million. With Paramount having a tough year at...
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Sep22
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In the highly anticipated showdown between "Grey's Anatomy" and "CSI," "Grey's Anatomy" took round 1 as they finished the night with 25.4 million viewers - topping "CSI" by 3 million for the night. But even better, they also finished No....
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The Perspective of the Cable Companies We've looked at the overall concerns of the major broadcasters and ad agencies, now we'll look at the cable industry and their interests in these matters. Evidently they already weren't too happy as in...
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Commercial Minute Ratings Two of the most important concerns that are connected to commercial minute ratings is whether it should include direct reponse advertising minutes or VCR audiences that record. Nielsen executives met with a committee from the American Association of...
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The mood across the TV advertising business is that changes must take place; the system must change in connection with the marketplace. The problem is that several things are being debated as to what should be included in the changes....
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Sep21
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Dick Parsons, chairman and chief executive officer of Time Warner (TWX) fired off the latest salvo in the cat-and-mouse game between big media companies and some online upstarts. Referring to YouTube and Facebook specifically he said, “it’s a tough assignment....
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For a company that was beleaguered for a number of years, The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) has been doing just about everything right in the recent moves it has made. Coming fresh off its huge blockbuster hit Pirates of the...
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Nielsen Media Research revealed that in the U.S. the average number of television sets now outnumbers the number of people living in the home. They say that there are now 2.73 sets in a regular American home while 2.55 people...
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Sep20
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What does it mean to say that the new TV will be shows built around everything else? I don't even believe that the shows are going to be the biggest thing anymore in the near future. Not only are there...
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The Metropolitan Opera in New York has made a deal with Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) to broadcast four live performances per week in the U.S. and Canada. The broadcast will be called Metropolitan Opera Radio and it will include in...
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With the launch of FoxFaith, Twentieth Century Fox became the first major studio to create a division for the sole purpose of catering to the church-goers. Ever since the extraordinary success of "The Passion of the Christ," Hollywood has been...
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George Lucas, whose alma mater was USC, gave back to his school with a record $175 million. According to USC officials, it is the largest donation in school history. The gift was presented through the Lucasfilm Foundation. Construction of a...
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Sep19
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While it's not exactly ground breaking, Sony Ericsson did enter the online music store market on Tuesday with its announcement concerning M-Buzz, which they've created for the purpose of showcasing "breaking new and developing artists." The two phones offering the...
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Viacom's (VIA) new CEO Philippe Dauman told investors at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference in New York that they are not trying to find blockbuster deals to go ahead with their internet strategy, but rather are hunting for smaller companies to...
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In less than a week from making the deal, The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) has sold 125,000 films via Apple iTunes, making it a quick winner for the company. Disney CEO Bob Iger said that in that time there has...
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Filling in their vacant position of president of its international business, NBC Universal has said that it has plans to double its current international revenue over the next several years. After announcing that Peter Smith has been chosen the vacant...
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One thing that always comes with the issue of music piracy is that the poor artists are being denied the fruits of their labor. Yet in an interesting article on monsters and critics, they give another perspective: "And as far...
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Sep18
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A new study by Mercer Management Consulting was cited by Online Media Daily saying that around 70 percent of wireless executives reveal that mobile TV is still several years away from becoming part of the mainstream experience. Another conclusion of...
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Country Music great George Strait got his 53rd number one hit called "Give It Away," to become Billboard's all-time leader for country music singles. When asked about his latest success, he had this to say: "First of all, it's hard to...
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In spite of all the chest pounding by Universal Music Group, which is acting ignorantly in my estimation, Warner Music Group understands that the best way to get a piece of the action for its business, is to connect with...
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Sep17
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Dr. Phil McGraw will start his fifth season on Monday, September 18. The show will be broadcast in 212 markets across the nation. "I'm even more excited about this season than I was about our first," says McGraw. "We spent...
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In another terrible showing at the box office, frontrunner Gridiron Gang was able to take in only $15 million to take first place at the North American box office for the weekend. It was The Rock's slowest opening of any...
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Sep16
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The top single for Janet Jacksons' coming new album "20 Y.O.," has started off in the number 1 position on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Chart; two weeks before the album is scheduled to be offered in stores. The single is...
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You would think that being the No. 1 Spanish-language network in America, and the fifth-largest broadcaster, would push Univision to market itself strongly and continue to offer unique, innovative programming. This fall though, they have almost done nothing to offer anything...
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Sep15
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With a fall that hasn't gone unnoticed by Wall Street or its parent company General Electric Co. (GE), NBC has been put on notice that it doesn't have a long time to get things going again. Only a short two...
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For a long time Rupert Murdoch has wanted to get his hands back on Liberty Media's (LCAPA) 19% stake in News Corp. (NWS). Evidently he has offered News Corp.'s 38 percent stake in DirecTV (DTV) in exchange for the stock....
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Bouncing Beyonce and Jay-z out of first place on the Billboard Dance Chart ("Deja Vu," was definitely expected to remain number one on the Billboard Dance Single Sales weekly chart), The Cruxshadows, an independent band, came from nowhere and took...
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With research showing that consumers prefer to watch on-demand TV shows that are ad-supported against having to pay for them. In response to this data, CBS (CBS-A) has stopped its 99-cent individual pricing per show on its cable video-on-demand offerings...
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Sep14
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LIFT Films of New Orleans and Element Films of Los Angeles have announced an agreement Thursday that will bring over $200 million to Louisiana during the next three years; there will be a minimum of eight films, and could be...
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Yesterday the U.S. Senate passed a bill that requires that a study be done to see if any type of media that is shown via a screen - such as computers, television and video games - is having a detrimental...
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Sep13
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With Hollywood playing catchup on the Internet platform, they are trying to get in much earlier in the wireless entertainment business. In a strong statement by Peter Chernin, the president and chief operating officer of News Corp Inc. (NWS), at...
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Following the steady trend of cutting the costs of production, CBS Corp. (CBS) is going to start a small film division for the primary purpose of getting rid of the high costs of its offerings on Showtime. At this time,...
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Sep12
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With the coming switch to digital signals by broadcasters in 2009, companies have been pressing the FCC to allow those vacant airwaves to be made available for use without a license. Companies like Microsoft (MSFT) and Intel (INTC), among others...
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In an expected announcement, Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) revealed that it would start to offer movies on its iTunes online music store from the Walt disney Co.'s (DIS) Disney, Pixar, Touchstone and Miramax divisions. Steve Jobs, Apple CEO and Disney...
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Sep11
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Citing a report from ZenithOptimedia Group, Media Daily News reported that there has been a dramatic slow down in TV ad spending in America. The report states that during the 1990s, the average rate of growth was 6.3 percent, while...
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Sep10
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In one of the worse box office performances in several years, no movie was able to take in even $10 million for the weekend. Not only that, but the top ten also had its worse showing in several years also...
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The Television Bureau of Advertising released it projections for the next two years at its yearly Forecast Conference. For 2007, they predicted that Total Spot TV revenues would fall by 1 and 3% compared with 2006. Local Spot revenue would...
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In the last year, video sharing sites have exploded in popularity, being led by sites like YouTube and Google Video. YouTube is now streaming over 100 million videos a day. In response the TV industry is trying to find a...
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Sep 9
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According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Viacom's new CEO Philippe Dauman was rewarded with a yearly salary of $2 million, along with a target bonus of $7 million. Not only could the bonus double in value,...
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The Walt Disney Company (DIS) is celebrating as its 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' became the third film in history to reach the billion dollar mark in sales. It reached the mark on Friday, Sept. 8, 2006 when...
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In a temporary reprieve, a federal court stayed the findings that four broadcasts where certain cussing was used violated the indecency law. Both sides of the issue say they welcomed the decision. Attorneys for the networks assert that the stay...
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Fox and CBS let the NFL know that they weren't happy with their decision to require them to declare which late-season games they would protect from being shown on NBC. With the new "flex-scheduling" plan becoming operational in the 10th...
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The Weinstein Company and the Motion Picture Distribution LP have reached an agreement to extend distribution rights in Canada for another year. It will extend the agreement until Dec. 31, 2010. The Motion Picture Distribution LP, which is owned by...
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Sep 8
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The Songwriters Guild of America, headquarted in Nashville, Tenn., suffered losses of $1.2 million dollars through embezzlement by a former royalty manager. Marsha Aiken, 54, of Brooklyn, N.Y., confessed that, along with her and her daughter and nephew, they stole...
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Sapphire Entertainment, Inc. has become the first African American-owned Television and Film Studio, and Distribution Center. Andrea Allen, CEO and founder said, "Although we are an African American-owned studio, our products will not target the African American audience only. We're...
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With its acquisition of BMG Music Publishing, Vivendi Universal Music is no longer the world's largest seller of recorded music, it is now also the largest music publisher in the world. They bought BMG Music Publishing for $2.1 billion. As...
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The first episode of Star Trek was broadcast in the U.S. 40 years ago on Sept. 8, 1966. In celebration of the anniversary, there will be The Star Trek 40th Anniversary Gala Celebration and Conference, which will begin at Seattle's...
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Sep 7
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In another interesting attempt at breaking away from the back News Corp. (NWS) offered up the first "telenovelas" in the English language. They were offered on Fox stations in two-hour blocks and with newly signed affiliates. Advertisers were skittish as...
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Media tracking company TNS Media Intelligence asserts that the duration of an appearance of a brand within a TV show, is a far more important metric than the number of times an ad is shown. They say: "Given the...
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Katie Couric and CBS lost 23 percent of its first-day audience, but still were able to attract 7 percent of U.S. households to finish in first for one more day. ABC finished in 2nd with 5.3 percent and NBC close...
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Movie theater owners have been searching for ways to increase their revenue as the public has generally stopped going to movies as much as they used to. In response there have been some insightful owners that are looking for new...
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Sep 6
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Not too long after making a deal with Universal music to offer downloads in an ad-supported strategy, SpiralFrog has hit paydirt again, making a deal with EMI to offer its complete music catalog for download on its soon-to-launch site. These...
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Bob Dylan is on top of the U.S. album chart for the first time in 30 years. It's the first time since 1976 when he put out "Desire." In the first week he sold 192,000 albums in the U.S. This...
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While rumors have been floating around for a while concerning Apple Computer (AAPL) and Amazon.com (AMZN) making deals for movie downloads, word is out that there are in the final stages of the process with some Hollywood studios. Apple, who...
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Sep 5
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In somewhat of a surprise move, MSNBC.com decided to go with SS&K, a traditional marketing company based in New York, over an interactive agency with online marketing experience. Catherine Captain, VP-marketing of MSNBC.com, said concerning her decision: "I was concerned...
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According to a new AP-AOL Video poll, only about 20 percent of online video viewers download full-length movies or television shows. The poll also revealed that over 50 percent of Internet users do watch or download video. The major problem...
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This recent deal to take advantage of emerging technology, rather than fight it, is a good move for both CBS (CBS) and TiVo. I'm talking about the agreement between Tivo and CBS to offer TiVo subscribers the opportunity to preview...
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Fresh off of his victory in his battle with Tom Cruise, Sumner Redstone has exercised his authority once again by having longtime Viacom executive Tom Freston step down as CEO. While I thought that Redstone made a necessary move with...
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Sep 4
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Warner Bros., understanding the growing demand for the creation of content for the broadband and mobile markets, has created a new division for that very purpose. Their new division will be called appropriately Studio 2.0. This may be the most...
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The annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon took in $61 million, a new record beating the previous high of $60.5 million raised in 2003. Lewis said, "I can only thank you from the bottom of my heart for so many...
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Disney's "Invincible," starring Mark Wahlberg stayed on top of the box office for the second straight weekend taking in $15.2 million for the Labor Day weekend. The total for its first 11 days has reached $37.8 million. The action movie...
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Steve Irwin, popular conservationist and television celebrity died Monday from wounds inflicted by a stingray while filming a segment for a series called "Ocean's Deadliest." John Stainton, a friend and colleague said "He came on top of the stingray and...
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Sep 3
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The nemesis of broadcast indecency, L. Brent Bozell, has stepped down from the presidency of the Parents Television Council, according to an announcement by the organization on Friday. The founder of the organization, Bozell will still serve on the board....
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We've talked a lot here about whether the success of movies are star-driven or related to the quality of the story. Here's one chart to show you that it's the story that makes the difference. This chart represents the top...
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Sep 2
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MySpace announced on Friday that it would be moving into the digital music sector by selling songs from almost 3 million independent bands. With their current stable of 106 million users and News Corp. (NWS) backing, they have a good...
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Louisiana, along with New Mexico, were the first states to offer tax incentives to reduce the costs of making a movie; that was 2002. In 2004, Louisiana had 24 projects filmed in the state. Now with an increasing number of...
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Sep 1
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With all the hype and hoopla lately about Snakes on a Plane, and the disappointing numbers that were far below expectations after all that hype, it made me think about the same strategy being used to promote Katie Couric. It's...
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CSTV, a division of CBS Corp. (CBS), has announced that it has launched a new service offering over 100 new broadband channels dedicated to live college sports. According to officials, this is only the beginning as they foresee numerous other...
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