PUSS LIFTS DREAMWORKS ANIMATION’S SHARES
What a difference a weekend makes! Shares of DreamWorks Animation shot up 12 percent on Monday on word that its latest feature, Puss in Boots, declined only 3 percent over the weekend — the smallest drop for a movie during a non-holiday period ever — as it wound up with $33.1 million. A week ago, [...]
HULU OWNERS DROP PLANS TO SELL THEIR VIDEO SITE
Unable to find a buyer willing to pay anything close to their asking price, the owners of the TV video site Hulu have announced their “decision to terminate the Hulu sale process.” The bickering owners — News Corp, which contributes mostly Fox TV shows to the website; Disney, which contributes mostly ABC shows; Comcast, which [...]
$60 TO RENT A MOVIE? IS THAT A TOWER HEIST?
October 6, 2011 by admin · 2 Comments
How much will consumers be willing to shell out to watch a movie while it is still playing in theaters? Universal apparently believes that $60 sounds like a reasonable figure. It will soon find out. They’ll be making their Eddie Murphy-Ben Stiller comedy Tower Heist available via video-on-demand at that price beginning on November 23 [...]
USA NETWORK: BEST SUMMER RATINGS FOR CABLE EVER
September 16, 2011 by admin · 4 Comments
The USA cable network clearly outshone NBC, its broadcast network sibling, over the summer as it not only drew more total viewers and households than any other cable network — but drew the most viewers on cable for any summer season ever. Among key demos, USA’s ratings were up 4 percent among 18-49-year-old viewers and [...]
EBERSOL RETURNS TO NBC SPORTS — AS A “SPECIAL ADVISER”
August 31, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
Just three months after resigning as head of NBC Sports and Olympics, Dick Ebersol is returning to the network as a special adviser, the New York Times reported today (Wednesday), citing several senior NBC executives. How his role will be different from what it was when he was officially running the unit was not spelled [...]
MEDIA CAUGHT IN MARKET WHIRLWIND
Like a TV reporter hanging on to a light pole during a hurricane, the media drew attention to itself Thursday as the Dow plunged 512 points. For some media companies, the nosedive was far greater than the overall setback. CBS Corp., which is the least diversified of all the major media companies and primarily depends [...]
NBC’S GREENBLATT: LET’S BRING BACK “MUST SEE TV”
August 2, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt said Monday that he hopes to make the network a “Must See” phenomenon again. Referring to the network’s onetime slogan for its Thursday night lineup of comedies plus the drama ER (“Must See TV”), Greenberg said that he wanted to present programs that would have the feel of events — [...]
NETWORKS GET READY FOR FOOTBALL
July 26, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
That sudden breeze you may have felt on Monday afternoon may have resulted from the collective sighs of countless broadcasting, cable, satellite and advertising workers after they received word that the four-month NFL lockout had effectively ended and that the planned regular-season games will be played on schedule. (The Hall of Fame Game, which was [...]
CHURCH ACCUSES STUDIO OF INFRINGING ITS LOGO
July 20, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
The million-member Church of God, based in Cleveland TN, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit again Sony Pictures, IFC Films, Mandalay Pictures, and Comcast for using a “mirror version” of its logo in the movie Salvation Boulevard, which opened in four theaters last weekend. Although the film depicts an amoral fundamentalist preacher, played by Pierce [...]
CNN LIVE COMING TO YOUR PHONE
July 19, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
CNN announced on Monday that certain cable subscribers will be able to watch the news channel and its sibling HLN on their computers, iPads and smartphones live if they already are customers of one of five cable and satellite services. Although the two channels are owned by Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner, the [...]