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12 articles
3 Media Giants Push 3D TV
6 January 2010 11:02 AM, PST
Sony, Discovery Communications, and IMAX announced Tuesday that they had formed a joint venture to create the first cable/satellite TV channel devoted exclusively to 3D content. The companies did not announce a target date for the launch but said that its goal was to drive consumer adoption of 3D televisions and establish a "long-term leadership in the 3D home marketplace." In a separate announcement, Espn announced plans on Tuesday to show World Cup soccer matches and NBA games in 3D on a separate channel beginning in June. Some analysts expressed skepticism of the moves. An article in the Los Angeles Times about the new moves was headined, "3D TV Is Coming, But Will Anyone Watch?" Some saw the push for 3D technology as a marketing ploy. "3D is an effort by the industry to come up with something that will motivate consumers to trade up," Van Baker, an analyst at Gartner Research, »
30 Billion Videos Viewed In November, Study Claims
6 January 2010 10:57 AM, PST
Some 170 million Americans viewed a record 30 billion videos from the principal online video websites in November, according to a study by comScore Video Metrix. Google's YouTube was by far the leader, accounting for 12.2 billion videos viewed during the month. Hulu was a distant second, accounting for 924 million videos viewed, which nevertheless represented an all-time high for the joint venture between NBC Universal, News Corp (Fox), and Disney (ABC).
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NBC Again Has No.1 Telecast -- But What Now?
6 January 2010 10:55 AM, PST
NBC's coverage of the final NFL game of the regular season was the most-watched telecast of the week as it attracted 16.3 million viewers, but it did little to lift NBC out of the weekly ratings cellar. And, it would seem, things are only going to get much worse for the struggling network over the coming weeks. One has to scroll down to number 35 on the Nielsen list to find another non-football NBC program on the Nielsen list, a Law & Order: Svu episode. Among the nightly newscasts, however, it was a different story. NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams maintained its lead with 8.9 million viewers. ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer placed second with 8.1 million viewers, while the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric trailed with 6.0 million, Overall, CBS again dominated the primetime ratings with an average 5.2 rating and a 9 share. Fox placed second with an average 4.2/7. ABC came in third »
Two Medical High-school Staffers Denounce Lifetime Movie
6 January 2010 10:54 AM, PST
A doctor and nurse who worked at Gloucester High School in Gloucester, Ma, have claimed that a Lifetime channel movie, The Pregnancy Pact, which is set at the school, is utter fiction. The movie, scheduled to air on January 23, reportedly tells about a pact that a group of girl students entered into to become pregnant. In an interview with the Boston Herald, Dr. Brian Orr said, "The pact was totally a product of the media, and for the media in any way, movies or otherwise, to continue to take advantage of this idea of the pact is truly disgusting." School nurse Kim Daly, who is portrayed by Camryn Manheim in the TV movie, said that the filmmakers never contacted her. "I hope that they don't make it seem like I was doing things that maybe I wasn't doing that could potentially upset the community," she told the Herald. Lifetime issued »
“Gma” Does Quite Nicely Without Sawyer
5 January 2010 12:04 PM, PST
Diane Sawyer's departure from Good Morning America to anchor ABC World News has not cost Gma any viewers. In fact, during the first week after George Stephanopoulos succeeded Sawyer, the show gained viewers, cutting the gap between it and NBC's Today show among younger viewers to the smallest it has been since last August while also narrowing the gap among total viewers. The Today show remained well ahead in both categories however, drawing an average of 5.67 million viewers to Gma's 4.49 million. CBS's The Early Show remained a distant third, averaging 2.83 million viewers. Among adults 25-54, NBC was on top with 2.45 million viewers to Gma's 1.91 million. The Early Show drew 1.20 million.
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Cronkite Is Retired Again From “Evening News”
5 January 2010 12:03 PM, PST
Walter Cronkite, who was forced to retire as anchor of the CBS Evening News when he reached the age of 65 in 1981, is being retired as the introductory voice of the CBS program -- nearly six months after his death. Cronkite recorded the introduction that has been played at the beginning of the nightly newscast since Katie Couric became its anchor in 2006 -- even after his death last July 17. "As comforting as it is to look back on the great career that Walter had, we're looking forward now and we just felt it was the right time to make the move that at some point had to be made," said CBS News President Sean McManus told the Associated Press. Cronkite's introduction was replaced on Monday by one recorded by actor Morgan Freeman, who will also be able to record intros for special reports and introduce temporary anchors when Couric is away. »
Time Warner Cable Looking For New Name
5 January 2010 12:02 PM, PST
Now that it has settled its dispute with Fox Broadcasting, Time Warner Cable can turn its attention to other vexing matters -- like finding a new name for itself. According to the Dow Jones news service, the company's effort to rename itself is known internally as Project Mercury and is aimed at setting itself apart from its former parent, Time Warner Inc., which spun off the cable company last March. Dow Jones said that Time Warner Cable had planned to announce a new name in the second half of this year but has pushed back that target.
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Daytime TV Facing Crisis
5 January 2010 12:01 PM, PST
With soap operas that have lasted for generations leaving the air, Oprah announcing her departure in 2011, and ratings for other long-running daytime shows dropping, the broadcast networks are facing a difficult time during the time of day that once generated their greatest profits. "Viewership in daytime is down, and it's also unfortunately happening at a time of economic downturn. So the combination of the two makes it pretty difficult in the daytime arena," Bill Carroll, vice president of Katz Television Group, told USA Today. To counter the ratings decline -- and the concomitant decline in advertiser revenue -- networks are cutting costs on the shows that remain, particularly soap operas, where stars have been forced to take salary cuts, Lynn Leahey, editorial director of Soap Opera Digest and Soap Opera Weekly. told the newspaper.
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Former Time Warner Chief Levin Apologizes For AOL Deal
5 January 2010 11:59 AM, PST
On the tenth anniversary of his disastrous deal to sell Time Warner to AOL, Jerry Levin, the former CEO of Time Warner, apologized. Interviewed on CNBC, Levin said, "I presided over the worst deal of the century, apparently, and I guess it's time for those who are involved in companies to stand up and say: you know what, I'm solely responsible for it. ... I was in charge. I'm really very sorry about the pain and the suffering and loss that was caused. I take responsibility." Levin seemed to acknowledge that he had put off his apology too long, remarking at one point, "Maybe you could say in my case, it's a little late."
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How Much Will Fox-time Warner Deal Cost?
4 January 2010 11:56 AM, PST
Four days after Time Warner Cable and Fox Broadcasting signed a beyond-the-last-minute retransmission consent agreement that averted a blackout of Fox programs, there was still no indication of how it would affect the monthly bills of the cable company's subscribers. Both companies have declined to disclose the terms of their agreement. Fox had demanded $1.00 per subscriber per month, a figure that Time Warner Cable insisted was too high and would have to be passed on to its customers. It also warned that it would open the floodgates for demands from other networks for similar fee hikes. Indeed, there was much speculation that a previous agreement between Time Warner Cable and CBS that called for a 50-cent increase contained a "most favored nation" clause that would raise the fee if a greater amount was paid to a rival broadcast network. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Craig Moffett, an analyst at financial researchers Sanford C. Bernstein, »
TV, Newspapers Cowed By Islamic Fanatics?
4 January 2010 11:54 AM, PST
Following the attempted murder of Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard by a Somali man, news outlets were being criticized from within for their reticence in reporting on the fatwa against Westergaard and the $1-million reward offered by Islamic clerics for his death. Most broadcasters and print media have refused even to show the cartoon that Westergaard drew of the prophet Muhammad with a bomb tucked into his turban. In Germany over the weekend, the magazine Der Spiegel commented that today "Western writers and thinkers would rather take cover than defend basic rights." Several Western publishers noted that virtually no newspaper or broadcaster in the Islamic world has even mentioned freedom of speech and opinion in relation to the fatwa. In the United Arab Emirates, the English-language Gulf News condemned the attack editorially by saying, "Targeting [Westergaard] is descending to the level of a contemptuous and despicable man." The editorial led the London »
Fox News’S Hume Says Woods Should Embrace Christianity
4 January 2010 11:52 AM, PST
In what is certain to solidify Fox News's standing among Christian conservatives, semi-retired former anchor Brit Hume on Sunday advised Tiger Woods to renounce his Buddhist religion and turn to Christianity. "The extent to which he can recover [from the current scandal said to involve numerous extra-marital affairs], it seems to me, depends on his faith. He's said to be a Buddhist, I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith, so my message to Tiger would be 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith, and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.'" Others have suggested that Woods would not be in the predicament in which he finds himself had he paid more attention to his own religion. (He reportedly meditates daily and attends a Buddhist temple with his mother, who was born in Thailand.) In a 2008 interview with the Buddhist Channel, he said, »
12 articles
