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Studio Briefing:
From The Wire:
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Most Read
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BLACK FRIDAY HELPS MOVIE BIZ, ROSIE LIVE! DEADLY IN RATINGS, TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING, NAMES ON NO STRIKE PETITION SOAR, ROSIE THROWS IN THE TOWEL, NEW BOOK: MURDOCH 'DESPISES' BILL O'REILLY, CBS -- UNWANTED AT ANY PRICE?, CHRISTMAS COMES ON THANKSGIVING -- NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON, LIGHTS DIM FOR BOLLYWOOD, NETWORKS HAVE LITTLE TO GIVE THANKS FOR ON THANKSGIVING, EXILED BBC TALK SHOW HOST RECEIVES MOUTH-WASHING, UNION/STUDIOS BUTT HEADS, SONY TRAVELING TWO ROADS DURING HDTV TRANSITION, PPV FIGHT VIEWERS COULD GET THEIR MONEY BACK, BLU-RAY PLAYERS TO STREAM HD MOVIES (SORT OF), MOVIE REVIEWS: MILK, REDSTONE IN MORTAL COMBAT, SELLS GAME UNIT, BLACK FRIDAY COLORFUL ON HDTV, HOLLYWOOD JOURNALISTS IN VERBAL DUEL, HOLIDAY BAD TIME FOR CRISIS COVERAGE, |
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Top Stories
Wednesday, Dec 3, 2008
COULD DOCUMENTARY OVERTURN POLANSKI CONVICTION?
Wednesday, December 3 2008
|
What
Roman
Polanski's
attorneys
call
"extraordinary
new
evidence"
unearthed
by
Marina
Zenovich
for
her
documentary
about
the
Polish-born
director
has
spurred
them
to
file
a
complaint
seeking
to
have
his
1977
sexual-misconduct
conviction
overturned.
In
particular,
the
complaint
notes
that
in
the
documentary,
Roman
Polanski:
Wanted
and
Desired,
former
prosecutor
David
Wells
describes
his
discussions
with
Judge
Lawrence
Rittenband
about
the
case
during
Polanski's
trial,
something
the
attorneys
claim
revealed
"a
pattern
of
misconduct
(more)
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ABC: DANCING ONE MINUTE, CRASHING THE NEXT
Wednesday, December 3 2008
|
Dancing
With
the
Stars
is
clearly
to
ABC
what
American
Idol
is
to
Fox
--
the
most
important
weapon
in
its
arsenal
against
rivals.
The
problem
is
that
neither
of
the
shows
provides
much
rerun
opportunity
and
when
they're
over
for
the
season
the
shows
that
replace
them
generally
don't
come
close
to
equaling
their
ratings.
That
was
particularly
obvious
in
the
case
of
Dancing.
Last
week's
final
episode
attrracted
21.1
million
viewers,
the
(more)
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More Headlines
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CUTS HURT COVERAGE OF MUMBAI ATTACKS, SAYS TRADE MAGAZINE
03-Dec-08
|
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The
much
criticized
TV
coverage
of
the
terrorist
attacks
in
Mumbai
last
week
manifested
the
effects
of
deep
cuts
in
the
broadcast
and
cable
networks'
foreign
news
operations,
Broadcasting
&
Cable
magazine
said
in
a
commentary
on
its
website
today
(Wednesday).
"The
dearth
of
reliable
information
on
U.S.
television
over
(more)
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BLACK FAMILY IN WHITE HOUSE, NONE ON NETWORK TV
03-Dec-08
|
|
As
an
African
American
prepares
for
his
inauguration
as
president
of
the
United
States,
the
Los
Angeles
Times
observes
today
(Wednesday)
that
no
American
broadcast
network
is
airing
a
single
show
featuring
a
person
of
color
in
a
central
role.
(An
arguable
exception
is
the
role
of
Dennis
Haysbert
in
(more)
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EX CHILD ACTORS SAY 'MIDGETS' DISCRIMINATED AGAINST THEM
03-Dec-08
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Some
of
the
one-time
child
actors
who
worked
as
Munchkins
in
1939's
The
Wizard
of
Oz
are
upset
that
they
are
usually
overlooked
whenever
Hollywood
pays
tribute
to
"the
little
people"
Noting
that
Munchkins
scenes
included
10
girls
of
normal
height
between
the
ages
of
seven
and
nine,
the
Times
(more)
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SLING TAKES A SHOT AT ONLINE VIDEO
03-Dec-08
|
|
Sling
Media,
the
company
that
sells
a
device
that
allows
consumers
to
access
programs
and
movies
on
their
TV
sets
from
remote
location,
announced
Tuesday
the
creation
of
a
new
video
website.
"Users
can
go
to
Sling.com
to
watch
a
huge
selection
of
clips,
TV
shows,
films,
news
and
sports
(more)
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NOMINATIONS FOR INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS ANNOUNCED
03-Dec-08
|
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Three
films
each
received
six
nominations
for
this
year's
Independent
Spirit
Awards
and
all
three
were
nominated
for
best
picture.
They
include
Rachel
Getting
Married,
Frozen
River,
and
Ballast.
Other
films
nominated
for
best
picture
include
Wendy
and
Lucy
and
The
Wrestler.
Wendy
Williams
was
also
nominated
for
best
actress
(more)
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FOR CABLE OPERATORS: NOW, THE GOOD NEWS!
03-Dec-08
|
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Cable
operators
should
take
heart
in
the
fact
that
their
stocks
began
falling
long
before
the
recession
officially
was
declared
since
history
suggests
that
they
also
rise
before
the
general
economy
recovers,
Merrill
Lynch
analyst
Jessica
Reif
Cohen
told
the
B&C-Multichannel
News
OnScreen
Media
Summit
in
New
York
Tuesday.
As
(more)
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MORE BROADCAST REGULATIONS RETURNING UNDER OBAMA?
03-Dec-08
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Former
FCC
Chairman
Richard
Wiley
predicted
that
the
Feb.
17
switchover
to
digital
TV
will
go
relatively
smoothly
and
that
those
who
have
not
acquired
converter
boxes
will
do
so
when
their
TV
sets
go
black.
"It's
not
like
we're
shutting
off
their
electricity,"
Wiley
told
the
B&C-Multichannel
News
OnScreen
(more)
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CHRISTMAS COMES ON THANKSGIVING -- NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON
02-Dec-08
|
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Four
Christmases
added
up
to
a
terrific
Thanksgiving
for
Warner
Bros.
and
the
nation's
theater
owners.
The
movie
officially
earned
$31.1
million
over
the
Friday-through-Sunday
period
to
replace
Summit
Entertainment's
Twilight
at
the
top
of
the
box
office
top
ten.
Twilight,
which
grossed
a
sensational
$69.6
million
last
weekend,
(more)
|
|
AMPTP REPLIES TO WGA ATTACK
02-Dec-08
|
|
The
Alliance
of
Motion
Picture
and
Television
Producers
accused
the
Writers
Guild
of
America
of
issuing
misleading
statements
about
delayed
payments
to
writers
for
new
media
use
under
its
latest
contract.
The
AMPTP
blamed
the
delays
on
difficulties
putting
in
place
costly
accounting
systems
to
calculate
residual
payments
for
film
(more)
|
|
REDSTONE IN MORTAL COMBAT, SELLS GAME UNIT
02-Dec-08
|
|
Hoping
to
ease
his
debt
load,
media
mogul
Sumner
Redstone
has
sold
his
87-percent
stake
in
the
money-losing
videogame
company,
Midway
Games,
for
a
fire-sale
price,
the
Wall
Street
Journal
said
today
(Tuesday).
Investor
Mark
Thomas
reportedly
paid
about
$100,000
for
the
stake
and
agreed
to
assume
$70
million
in
(more)
|
|
CANADIAN CABLE MOGUL ROGERS DEAD AT 75
02-Dec-08
|
|
Ted
Rogers,
head
of
Rogers
Communications,
the
largest
Canadian
cable
company,
died
Monday
of
congestive
heart
failure
at
age
75.
The
company's
chairman
and
acting
CEO,
Alan
Horn
said
in
a
statement.
"Ted
Rogers
was
one
of
a
kind
who
built
this
company
from
one
FM
radio
station
into
Canada's
(more)
|
|
PPV FIGHT VIEWERS COULD GET THEIR MONEY BACK
02-Dec-08
|
|
The
Oscar
De
La
Hoya-Manny
Pacquiao
welterweight
championship
bout
will
cost
$54.95
on
pay-per-view
but
HBO
indicated
Monday
that
many
viewers
will
be
able
to
watch
it
for
far
less
than
that
if
they
take
advantage
of
rebates
being
offered
by
advertisers.
Heineken's
Cerveza
Tecate
and
Coca-Cola's
Full
Throttle
energy
(more)
|
|
SONY TRAVELING TWO ROADS DURING HDTV TRANSITION
02-Dec-08
|
|
Seeming
to
suggest
that
since
it's
anybody's
guess
whether
consumers
will
prefer
Blu-ray
discs
or
Internet
downloads
as
they
install
HDTV
systems,
Sony
has
decided
to
travel
both
routes.
And
it
apparently
is
hoping
that
its
PlayStation
3
game
console
will
act
as
a
converging
point,
Already
capable
of
playing
(more)
|
|
NBC DENIES REPORT THAT GREGORY WILL HOST MEET THE PRESS
02-Dec-08
|
|
NBC
News
late
Monday
denied
a
report
that
first
appeared
on
the
Huffington
Post
website
that
David
Gregory
had
been
selected
to
become
the
next
moderator
of
Meet
the
Press.
Former
NBC
anchor
Tom
Brokaw
has
been
filling
in
as
interim
moderator
since
the
death
of
Tim
Russert
last
June.
(more)
|
|
PATHOLOGICAL CASES DRAW VIEWERS TO SHOWTIME
02-Dec-08
|
|
"Pathology
programming"
by
CBS-owned
Showtime
has
helped
give
the
pay-TV
channel
five
consecutive
years
of
growth,
including
a
gain
of
1.1
million
subscribers
this
year,
an
increase
of
7
percent
over
last
year,
the
Los
Angeles
Times
reported
today
(Tuesday)
The
newspaper
cited
such
original
programming
as
Weeds,
in
which
(more)
|
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In Other News
|
BLACK FRIDAY COLORFUL ON HDTV
02-Dec-08
|
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"Recession,
what
recession?"
That
might
have
been
the
reaction
to
Monday's
report
that
Black
Friday
sales
were
up
7.2
percent
from
last
year
and
that
retailers
were
able
to
avoid
the
deep
discounting
of
recent
years.
The
National
Retail
Federation
released
a
statement
forecasting
that
172
million
people
either
visited
(more)
|
|
UNION/STUDIOS BUTT HEADS
01-Dec-08
|
|
The
Screen
Actors
Guild
and
Hollywood
studio
heads
each
accused
the
other
of
greed
over
the
Thanksgiving
holiday.
SAG
President
Alan
Rosenberg
led
off
the
latest
barrage
by
responding
to
criticism
that
during
the
current
economic
turmoil
it
was
a
bad
time
to
be
talking
of
a
strike.
"Like
it's
(more)
|
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LIGHTS DIM FOR BOLLYWOOD
01-Dec-08
|
|
The
siege
in
Mumbai
sent
shockwaves
throughout
India's
Bollywood
film
industry
located
in
that
city,
once
known
as
Bombay.
Many
productions
shut
down,
and
the
bollywood.com
website
posted
a
report
noting,
"No
one
is
in
the
mood
to
return
to
work"
and
concluding,
"Bollywood
is
in
no
mood
to
forgive,
(more)
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TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING
01-Dec-08
|
|
Twilight's
gleaming
didn't
last
long.
The
film,
which
astonished
box-office
analysts
by
opening
with
nearly
$70
million
a
week
ago,
fell
to
third
place
with
just
$26.4
million
over
the
three-day
weekend
and
$39.5
million
for
the
holiday
period
starting
on
Wednesday.
The
big
winner
was
Four
Christmases,
which
also
(more)
|
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NEW BOOK: MURDOCH 'DESPISES' BILL O'REILLY
01-Dec-08
|
|
It
turns
out
that
Rupert
Murdoch
doesn't
think
much
of
his
biggest
star
--
Fox
News
commentator
Bill
O'Reilly.
In
Michael
Wolff's
The
Man
Who
Owns
the
News,
being
published
today
(Monday),
Murdoch
is
described
as
sometimes
being
embarrassed
at
times
by
the
content
of
Fox
News.
In
particular,
he
(more)
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CBS -- UNWANTED AT ANY PRICE?
01-Dec-08
|
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Even
if
Sumner
Redstone
wanted
to
sell
off
CBS
Inc.
in
order
to
pay
off
National
Amusements'
$1.6-billion
debt
--
something
that
Redstone
has
denied
he
intends
to
do
--
he
would
be
unlikely
to
find
a
buyer,
Crain's
New
York
Business
said
today
(Monday).
It
quoted
analysts
as
saying
(more)
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ROSIE THROWS IN THE TOWEL
01-Dec-08
|
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Rosie
O'Donnell's
attempt
to
breathe
life
back
to
the
mordant
television
variety
format
has
failed,
something
that
she
has
acknowledged
on
her
website.
"There
will
be
[sic)
no
more"
variety
specials,
she
said.
Her
special
last
Wednesday
drew
only
about
five
million
viewers,
fewer
than
those
who
watched
the
ratings-challenged
(more)
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HOLIDAY BAD TIME FOR CRISIS COVERAGE
01-Dec-08
|
|
Television
coverage
of
the
terrorist
attacks
in
Mumbai
exposed
the
weakness
of
the
broadcast
and
cable
networks
in
responding
to
major
events
over
a
U.S.
national
holiday,
several
media
critics
have
maintained.
They
were
particularly
critical
of
reports
suggesting
that
the
cadre
of
attackers
had
targeted
U.S.
and
British
citizens.
(more)
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BLACK FRIDAY HELPS MOVIE BIZ
28-Nov-08
|
|
With
many
shopping
malls
across
the
country
planning
to
open
at
5:00
a.m.
or
earlier
for
Black
Friday
sales,
multiplexes
anchoring
those
malls
were
reportedly
selling
out
late-night
screenings
Thursday,
Thanksgiving
Day.
The
late-night
crowd
was
expected
to
cap
off
what
some
box-office
office
analysts
predicted
would
be
a
record
(more)
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NAMES ON NO STRIKE PETITION SOAR
28-Nov-08
|
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Wednesday's
announcement
by
the
leaders
of
the
Screen
Actors
Guild
that
they
will
conduct
a
strike
authorization
vote
next
month
--
raising
the
possibility
of
a
strike
as
early
as
January
--
has
had
the
unintended
effect
of
swelling
the
signature
count
on
the
"No
SAG
Strike"
petition
being
circulated
(more)
|
|
EXILED BBC TALK SHOW HOST RECEIVES MOUTH-WASHING
28-Nov-08
|
|
When
British
television
host
Jonathan
Ross
returns
from
his
12-week
suspension
in
January,
he
will
be
using
less
"bad
language,"
Jana
Bennett,
director
of
BBC
Vision,
told
Britain's
Guardian
newspaper.
Ross,
she
indicated,
had
agreed
to
cut
back
on
the
kind
of
borderline
obscene
talk
that
got
him
into
(more)
|
|
NETWORKS HAVE LITTLE TO GIVE THANKS FOR ON THANKSGIVING
28-Nov-08
|
|
Low
ratings
are
as
traditional
on
Thanksgiving
evening
as
turkey
and
cranberry
sauce,
and
this
year
was
no
exception.
CBS
--
alone
--
managed
to
come
up
with
respectable
ratings,
thanks
mainly
to
a
new
episode
of
Survivor:
Gabon,
which
averaged
8.47
million
viewers
and
a
repeat
of
CSI:
Crime
(more)
|
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