Devoted to show business and the entertainment industry

Crown Media Holdings Inc.(CRWN), who has had rumors that it was going to sell the company, decided on Monday to stop the process after a long look at the overall situation. Crown Media Holdings owns the Hallmark channel as one of its assets.

The company said that instead of selling they will develop a cost-cutting plan, make improvements on its structuring of capital and renew its current licenses on more favorable terms.

Chief Executive David Evans "We worked diligently with the special committee and our financial advisors to evaluate various strategic initiatives, ultimately the board determined that the greatest value for our shareholders will be derived by our continued operation of our business."

Alan Thicke a The highly anticipated "Celebrity Cooking Showdown" is a new reality show that joins some of the world's best chefs with the stars. The host of the series will be one of TVs favorites, Alan Thicke ("Growing Pains").... Continue Reading

With its stable of 15 million subscribers, DirectTV Group (NYSE:DTV - News), after falling from $16 to $13 a share over a 6 month period, has rebounded to 16.50 a share. Investors are starting to take notice. In this industry... Continue Reading

One of the great reasons that networks love the advertiser-generated or advertainment model is because most of the time the entire production cost of the show will be or agree to buy huge blocks of advertising on other shows in... Continue Reading

The continuous growth, of the merging between what makes up a TV show and an advertisement, is getting harder to see all the time. While I have seen some people attempting to criticize this, I can't join them in this... Continue Reading

One of the factors that the networks haven't gotten down yet, even though they are trying to move in that direction, is marketing on multiple platforms. Now your first response will probably be that there are tons of shows being... Continue Reading

Jeffrey Bewkes Jeffrey Bewkes, COO of Time Warner Inc. adomonished his colleagues to begin to offer all their shows for cable video-on-demand. He added that it would be an extremely consumer-friendly service. The model would be based upon advertising supported... Continue Reading

Fox clobbered the other chief broadcast networks again on Tuesday night, as "American Idol" and "House" claimed huge victories. According to Nielsen the preliminary results were, "American Idol" (11.7 rating/33 share in adults 18-49, 29 million viewers overall) demolished the... Continue Reading

According to AOL Media Networks vice president Kevin Conroy, "The fastest way to attract a large number of people to a new behavior and to have them try something that has never been possible before is to make it available... Continue Reading

As we've been talking about in recent posts: online video is not only the wave of the future, it is the now of the business. One of the great fears that Hollywood and others have had is that if they... Continue Reading

Media analyst Harold Vogel recently commented concerning Hollywood and the Internet that "Technology is moving ahead with or without them, and if they don't try to find a new business model, they're going to be stuck with the old... Continue Reading

Around six months ago, ABC started the first foray into commercial-free TV episodes online. Now the rush is on to offer a whole array of options from individual programming to subscriptions to a whole season. Of course now they are... Continue Reading

Anne Sweeney, right, president of Disney ABC Television, leaves an interview with the press along with Disney public relations executive Kevin Brockman at the National Cable Television Association's annual conference in Atlanta, Monday, April 10, 2006. ABC announced some of... Continue Reading

Steven Spielberg is entering the reality show arena as he is co-producing a new talent show for television called "On the Lot." The purpose of the show will be to attempt to find the America's next great filmmaker. The winner... Continue Reading

HGTV has done a great PR, marketing and promotional campaign as they have created an atmosphere of tremendous energy and excitement as they wind down toward their Dream Home Giveaway finale on April 29 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.... Continue Reading

Hollywood has finally gotten the message and are beginning to offer digital versions of films for sale on the Internet this week, marking the first time that have been made available for downloading to own. One of the weaknesses of... Continue Reading

With the direct-to-video concept becoming more known and used as a tool by Hollywood, it is now going to a new level, going beyond the sequel stage, into full-blown branded video premieres. Warner Home Video senior vp theatrical catalog Jeff... Continue Reading

Comcast Corp. announced on Thursday that it would sell some of NBC's more popular television shows through its video-on-demand service beginning in May. It will include such hits as "Law & Order" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." The... Continue Reading

American Idol judge, Simon Cowell, announced on Monday that he is opening auditions starting next month for a new TV talent contest that he is bringing to Fox rival NBC. The show which will be called "America's Got Talent" Cowell... Continue Reading

When I read this article from the Houston Chronicle, it made me wonder when the height of ignorance will be reached. While it is nothing new that celebrities are doing voice-overs on commercials, evidently the prices they are getting for... Continue Reading