NORMALCY RETURNS TO TV AS SANDY DEPARTS

The broadcast and cable networks were expected to resume normal programming today (Wednesday), following the departure of Hurricane — now Tropical Storm — Sandy from the coastal areas of the East Coast. But the storm’s effects linger on. Both NBC’s Today show and ABC’s Good Morning America as well as the syndicated Live with Kelly […]

NCIS IS WEEK’S MOST-WATCHED SHOW

CBS’s NCIS edged out NBC’s Sunday Night Football as the most-watched television show last week. The long-running drama drew 17.78 million viewers, while the football telecast landed 17.30 million (a statistically insignificant difference). The NCIS companion show, NCIS: Los Angeles placed third. Especially remarkable is that only one game of the World Series made the […]

TIMES CHAIRMAN UNDER FIRE — FROM HIS OWN STAFF

New York Times Co. Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. has declined to comment on a devastating opinion piece by the paper’s longtime business columnist Joe Nocera taking Sulzberger to task for standing by his decision to bring former BBC Director General Mark Thompson aboard as the company’s CEO. In a column headlined “Is Mark Thompson the […]

DISNEY BUYS LUCASFILM; STAR WARS SAGA TO RESUME (Updated)

In an announcement that surprised — if not astonished — the movie industry, the Walt Disney Co. announced on Tuesday that it has acquired George Lucas’s Lucasfilm LTD in a stock-and-cash deal worth $4.05 billion. The deal calls for the unit, which will be headed by longtime Lucas collaborator Kathleen Kennedy, to roll out at […]

STAR WARS FANS SCORE LUCAS/DISNEY DEAL

As expected, Twitter and Facebook comments focused not on the $4 billion that Disney is paying to buy Lucasfilm, but on the announced plans to release three more Star Wars movies. According to reports, the stories for them have already been developed by George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, who has been running Lucasfilm and will […]

SKYFALL HITS $100 MILLION OVERSEAS

Sony/MGM’s Skyfall may turn out to be the biggest 007 film ever, if early overseas results are any indication. Playing in only 25 countries, the film has already grossed more than $100 million in just five days, according to expectations based on the fact that the film earned $13.6 million on Monday to bring its […]

SONY CEO: SONY IS NOT FOR SALE

Sony chief Kaz Hirai has attempted to spike persistent speculation that his company is looking for a buyer for its movie and TV unit, Sony Pictures Entertainment. In a statement, Hirai said on Tuesday, “There is absolutely no truth to rumors that Sony’s entertainment businesses are for sale. … Sony is comprised of electronics, entertainment […]

DISNEY BUYS LUCASFILM; MORE STAR WARS MOVIES COMING

In an announcement that surprised — if not astonished — the movie industry, the Walt Disney Co. announced today (Tuesday) that it has acquired George Lucas’s Lucasfilm LTD in a stock-and-cash deal worth $4.05 billion. The deal calls for the unit, which will be headed by longtime Lucas collaborator Kathleen Kennedy, to roll out at […]

STORM PLAYS HAVOC WITH TV

As dozens of network-owned and -affiliated stations opted out of their regular programming and switched to local coverage of Hurricane — now Tropical Storm — Sandy, some networks decided to drop original episodes Monday night and go with reruns instead. (Millions of viewers whose power was cut off by the storm were left without television […]

VIEWERS DEPARTING HULU

With its network owners increasing the delay between the day a show airs live and the day it is available online, video websites Hulu and Hulu Plus have shown a significant drop in online viewers, according to comScore’s survey of online video sites. Home Media magazine observed that Hulu did not even made it onto […]

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