SNUBBED AT GRAMMYS, ONE DIRECTION NAMED MTV’S ARTIST OF YEAR

Earlier this week the British boyband One Direction was completely shut out of nominations for next year’s Grammy awards. But on Thursday MTV made up for that snub by selecting them as the network’s 2012 Artist of the Year. The network pointed out that they were “the clear choice” given their two No. 1 CDs, […]

W. VA SENATOR WANTS MTV TO YANK BUCKWILD

If MTV producers had hoped to stir up the same sort of controversy for Buckwild that accompanied the debut of Jersey Shore in 2009, they apparently have succeeded. One month before the new reality series debuts, on-air promos have already angered some residents of West Virginia, where it is set, and prompted the state’s junior […]

PATTINSON APPEARS AT VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS; STEWART DOESN’T

The cast of the Twilight movies appeared on the MTV Video Music Awards show Thursday night — all, that is, except Kristen Stewart, who has been publicly chastised by fans for having an affair with the director of Snow White and the Huntsman — an affair that ended her relationship with her co-star and boyfriend […]

DIRECTV’S STRATEGY IN VIACOM DISPUTE SLAMMED

DirecTV may have blundered when it began telling subscribers on which websites they could find content from Viacom’s channels, after the channels went black on the satellite provider this week. BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield noted on Wednesday that DirecTV had only succeeded in calling attention to the fact that, unlike its cable competitors, it cannot […]

VIACOM CHANNELS GO DARK ON DIRECTV

At midnight Eastern Time, some 20 million DirecTV subscribers lost Viacom-owned channels including MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, BET, Logo, TV Land and a dozen other channels. In a statement, DirecTV exec Derek Chang said, “We have been very willing to get a deal done, but Viacom is pushing DIRECTV customers to pay more than a […]

VIACOM REPORTS KILLER QUARTER

Far exceeding analysts’ expectations, earnings at Viacom, whose assets include Paramount Studios, MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, and Comedy Central, rose 56 percent in its second quarter to $585 million versus $376 million during the comparable period a year ago. The solid results came despite the lackluster performance of most of its Paramount releases and ratings softness […]

PTC SCORES SAVAGE’S REMARKS ON GAYS AND THE BIBLE

The Parents Television Council, the organization that mobilized its members to flood the FCC with complaints about what it regards as indecency on television, has launched a protest against MTV and its Savage U host, Dan Savage for remarks he made at a National High School Journalism Convention in Seattle earlier this month. Savage pointed […]

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 […]

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