HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY SPURNS JERSEY SHORE SPIN-OFF

Hoboken, New Jersey, the city that spawned Frank Sinatra but which he himself spurned after achieving success, has made it known that it wants nothing to do with New Jersey’s current collection of celebrity sensations. The city said it will not issue film permits for an as-yet-untitled spinoff of Jersey Shore, citing concern for “public [...]

VIACOM’S PROFITS NOSEDIVE

Viacom, whose media companies include Nickelodeon and the MTV and Turner cable channels as well as Paramount Pictures, said today (Thursday) that its profit plunged 65 percent in the last quarter, attributing the fall to a one-time $379-million charge to cover an arbitration award to shareholders of “Rock Band” videogame maker Harmonix. Excluding the Harmonix [...]

CENSORSHIP PROTESTS ATTRACT THOUSANDS IN HUNGARY

Reports from Hungary suggest that censorship has returned to that country with a ruthlessness not seen since the fall of communism in 1990. In recent days, thousands of anti-government protesters have taken to the streets in Budapest demanding an end to what they regard as repressive policies instituted by the government of Viktor Orban. According [...]

WHEN IT COMES TO TWITTER, MTV BEATS THE SUPER BOWL

Twitter on Tuesday announced the events of 2011 that generated the most tweets per second. No. 1 on the list was the MTV Video Music Awards, when Beyoncé revealed she was pregnant. Some 8,868 tweets were recorded for that event. By contrast, while the Super Bowl on February 6 drew the biggest television audience in [...]

MTV FOUNDER BOB PITTMAN TO HEAD CLEAR CHANNEL

MTV founder Bob Pittman, who went on to become president and COO of AOL in its heyday, has been named CEO of Clear Channel Communications, which owns 850 radio stations. In recent years, as local advertising expenditures have dried up during the recession, Clear Channel has been operating in the red. In an interview with [...]

REPORT: TOP MTV EXEC OUSTED FOR TAKING KICKBACKS

Brian Fays, a top MTV Networks ad executive, has been ousted after an investigation by the company into alleged kickbacks from advertisers that amounted to millions of dollars, the Hollywood Reporter reported today (Thursday), citing unnamed sources. According to the trade publication, Fays offered discounts on advertising in return for cash kickbacks — sometimes delivered [...]

VMA’S SET MTV RATINGS RECORD

Sunday night’s telecast of the 2011 Video Music Awards attracted an average of 12.4 million viewers, the largest audience ever to watch an MTV telecast, according to figures released by Nielsen on Monday. Some 8.5 million of those viewers fell into the channel’s target 12-34-year-old demographic — also a record for the channel. In addition, [...]

NO SURPRISES AT MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS

The MTV Video Music Awards show was staged without controversy or surprise Sunday night (no interruptions by the likes of Kanye West, no meat dresses worn by the likes of Lady Gaga), with top awards going to Katy Perry for Video of the Year (“Firework”); Justin Bieber for Best Male Video (“U Smile”); Lady Gaga [...]

SUMMER IS GREAT FOR CABLE, BAD FOR BROADCAST

Cable TV networks are ending the summer with a number of big successes — surprisingly with scripted TV shows, while no broadcast show introduced during the summer months has made it, USA Today indicated today (Thursday). (On Wednesday, Fox’s newest entrant, Buried Treasure, became the latest broadcast reality show to be buried in the ratings.) [...]

JERSEY SHORE SHOWS MUSCLE IN SECOND WEEK

For the second week in a row, MTV’s Jersey Shore drew more viewers than anything aired on broadcast television Thursday night. While the MTV show attracted 7.4 million viewers (down 16 percent from last week’s season premiere) and 2.4 million more for the repeat at 11:00 p.m. (not to mention several million more who watched [...]

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