DILLER WRITES OFF, THEN WRITES DOWN AEREO

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Aereo last month, Barry Diller, whose IAC company was its chief backer, indicated that he would not fight the battle to keep it alive any further. "It’s not a big [financial] loss for us," he remarked at the time. In its latest quarterly filing with the SEC, the […]

REPORT: MURDOCH TO LAUNCH ANOTHER DIGITAL NEWS SERVICE

Rupert Murdoch has apparently not given up hope that completely digital news publications can prove to be profitable. Two years after shutting down The Daily, the digital newspaper developed for the iPad, after it failed to generate enough subscriptions, Murdoch is now planning to launch an app-based daily news service that would include original reporting […]

MEREDITH VIEIRA WEIGHS IN ON ANN CURRY’S 2O12 OUSTER

Two years after Ann Curry was ousted as co-host of NBC’s Today show, Meredith Vieira, whom Curry replaced, has spoken out about the turmoil that ensued. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Vieira, who is about to launch her own talk show, remarked, "That was such a bad time. … It turned so nasty, […]

RECORD SALES ON FANDANGO FOR GALAXY

Heading into the weekend, online ticket seller Fandango is reporting that Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is capturing 93 percent of its sales. The Los Angeles Times reported today (Thursday) that the Marvel Studios tentpole will likely become the biggest August pre-seller in Fandango’s history. A poll of ticket buyers disclosed that 95 percent of […]

HEAVEN IS FOR REAL IS NO. 1 ON HOME VIDEO

Giving yet another boost to faith-based movies, Sony’s Heaven Is for Real debuted at No. 1 on the home video charts for last week. The Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart does not specify actual sales figures, but it did indicate that the movie, based on a best seller about a boy who claims he had […]

AMC WEATHERS BOX OFFICE MELTDOWN

Overall box office receipts may be down some 20 percent this summer, according to studio statistics, but AMC, the nation’s second-largest theater chain, was not hurt nearly as much as some had expected. Revenue, it said, was down 5 percent in the second quarter to $726.6 million. But falling ticket sales were offset somewhat by […]

SONY FINALLY POSTS A WINNING QUARTER

After posting a seemingly endless series of dismal quarterly earnings reports, Sony surprised analysts on Wednesday with one of its best quarterly results in recent memory. To be sure, net income was up only slightly to a not-very-impressive $261 million, and sales of its smartphones remained weak, but its TV manufacturing business remained profitable after […]

STANDOFF IN BIG BANG CONTRACT TALKS

Warner Bros. TV, which produces CBS’s The Big Bang Theory, confirmed today (Wednesday) that production for the fall season has been postponed due to an impasse in contract negotiations with the show’s five stars, Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar. In a statement, the studio said, "Due to ongoing contract […]

NBC’S AMERICA’S GOT TALENT RETURNS TO TOP OF RATINGS

NBC’s summertime hit America’s Got Talent returned to the top of the weekly Nielsen ratings list after being bumped the previous week by CBS’s new summer drama Extant, which wound up in a four-way tie for eighth place. The Wednesday edition of AGT attracted 6.99 million viewers, while the Tuesday edition attracted 6.89 million. The […]

GAZA COVERAGE BOOSTS AL-JAZEERA AMERICA

Despite recent criticism by Israeli officials of its coverage of the current Israel/Palestine conflict and a shelling of its offices in Gaza by Israeli forces, Al-Jazeera America has seen a 30 percent rise in its overall ratings since the conflict began and a 40 percent rise during primetime, the Los Angeles Times reported today (Tuesday). […]

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