ROYAL WEDDING ATTENDED BY 23 MILLION IN U.S.

Despite being broadcast at the ungodly hour of 3:00 a.m. on the West Coast and 6:00 a.m. on the East Coast, the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was watched by nearly 23 million Americans, according to preliminary ratings released late today (Saturday) by Nielsen Research. The figure represents the combined average of […]

THE CLIMAX OF THE OFFICE IS ANTI-CLIMACTIC

In the end, the climactic episode of The Office — the one in which Steve Carrell as office manager Michael Scott checks out — turned out to be an anticlimax. The episode was as jumbled as the ratings, critics said. They seemed to agree that it was mostly boring but with some solid laughs thrown […]

CABLE NETWORKS PUT VIACOM BACK IN THE BLACK

With ad revenue at its cable networks up 12 percent in its second quarter, Viacom on Thursday reported higher-than-expected profits of $39 million. A year ago, it reported an $83-million loss for the same quarter. Each of the media company’s principal networks, including MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and BET, reported strong earnings. The company in particular […]

WARNER BROS. REVAMPING TWO AND A HALF MEN

Warner Bros. Television is working on a “reconstruction” of Two and a Half Men that would allow it to continue without Charlie Sheen next fall, the New York Times reported today (Friday), citing an unnamed senior Warner Bros. executive. The executive insisted that despite recent signals by Sheen that he has been in talks about […]

ADVERTISERS PROTEST RULES FOR FOOD ADS AIMED AT KIDS

Proposed government guidelines that would allow food marketers to advertise only foods that provide children with a “meaningful contribution to a healthful diet” were challenged Thursday by the advertising industry. “If companies were to comply with these proposals, the restrictions are sufficiently onerous that they would basically block a substantial amount of advertising,” Dan Jaffe, […]

“SUMMER STARTS EARLY”

On the calendar, summer officially begins more than a month and a half from now, but so far as Universal Pictures is concerned, it begins this weekend. “Summer Starts Early” is the slogan the studio is using to usher in Fast Five, a movie requiring the accompaniment of popcorn, starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: FAST FIVE

Who wudda thunk? After waving the yellow flag at the Fast and Furious car-racing movies for a decade, critics have now given it a green one. Maybe it all has something to do with the fact that the high-speed racing that goes on in this movie takes place not on U.S. city streets but on […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: HOODWINKED TOO! HOOD VS. EVIL

Ordinarily, critics pull their punches when they’re writing about relatively low-budget animated movies aimed at kids. After all, what may seem lame to an adult just might delight little tykes. They are not so generous in their reviews of Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil. Consider Kyle Smith’s opening shot in the New York Post: “Parents […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: PROM

Just to make sure that the tween/teen crowd is also covered at the multiplex this weekend — every other demo seems to be — Disney is rolling out Prom, its latest iteration of the High School Musical formula. The critics are yawning. “Essentially, this feels like a Disney Channel TV show stretched out to fit […]

COMCAST NOW OFFERS VOD FROM ALL NETWORKS

Throw away the TV guide. If you’re a Comcast subscriber, you’ll be able to watch many network television shows any time you wish. Comcast said on Wednesday that it has become the first cable-TV provider to offer programs from all four major television networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, on its video-on-demand service beginning the […]

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