The US is planning a major auction of broadcast bandwidth, which could mean a bonanza for public broadcasting. “The auction, now scheduled for 2009, is being made possible by the switch from analog to digital broadcasting technology. Digital broadcasting requires less bandwidth than analog, meaning parts of the spectrum can be freed up for sale to cell phone companies, wireless Internet firms and others.the auction could generate anywhere from $500 million to $5 billion that could be used to set up a permanent trust fund for public broadcasting.”
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Latino Theatre Company Wins Management Of Theatre Center
The Latino Theatre Company has been granted money to manage the Los Angeles Theatre Center in downton LA. “The awarding of the management agreement brings to a close a drawn-out — and often contentious — battle over who should run the historic venue, which served as a home to the Latino Theater, Will & Company, Moving Arts and Playwrights’ Arena theater companies.”
Measuring The Video Audience In The Tivo Age
Nielsen is figuring out ways to measure ratings for shows on Tivo, on cell phones, on computers. But if one of the big draws to Tivo is being able to skip commercials, what do ratings matter to advertisers?
New Life For Old Sounds
“Curators at the University of California at Santa Barbara’s Donald C. Davidson Library have digitized 6,000 late 19th-century and early 20th-century wax and plastic cylinder recordings — precursors to the flat record. The audio, which includes ragtime hits, vaudeville routines and presidential speeches, encapsulates history with crackles and hisses, but archivists say preserving the sounds now is vital because the cylinders are deteriorating.”
Movie Theatres Stuck In Digital Divide
The movie theatre industry has been promising a switch to digital for years, but it still hasn’t happened. “Digital cinema promises to slash distribution costs associated with shipping heavy tins of 35-mm prints to thousands of theaters worldwide. That will give cinema owners new choices and flexibility in booking movies and other kinds of entertainment content, like live concerts or sporting events. But cinema owners still worry that the digital equipment might require constant upgrades, be more complicated to operate, or break down more often than what they’ve got in their projection booths today.”
Pirates Change Ending Of Oscar-Winning Movie
The South African movie Tsotsi recently won an Oscar. But back home, a pirated version of the movie features a different ending. “While the theatrical version ends ambiguously, with the fate of the young tsotsi left unknown, the pirated version ends in violence.” The director “believes that the pirated DVD was created from an early, rough version of Tsotsi stolen while the film was being edited. The version lacks sound and technical refinements found in the completed feature.”
Can Kevin Spacey Turn Around The Old Vic?
Kevin Spacey is dealing with another play at the Old Vic getting a critical drubbing. Spacey’s trying to make the theatre work. But it’s an uphill battle…
Bollywood Director Recruits Criminals For Movie
The director says “he has tried to portray the reality of crime and therefore chose actors who were familiar with it. ‘If real criminals or people who have had personal experiences with crime and law come forward and act in such a movie, then it is not acting for them, it becomes real. All the characters become themselves in the movie and dialogues will not seem like dialogues but actual conversation’.”
The Rise Of Clip Culture
“Major broadcasters are emphasising the need to deliver their content across multiple platforms including conventional television, downloads and streaming services, as well as wireless devices. Based on pilot projects and other small-scale initiatives, it is fair to say that this future is already here.”
Da Vinci Plagiarism Case In Final Arguments
Summing up the plaintiffs’ case of plagiarism against Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown, Jonathan Rayner James QC sounds more like a man complaining about a verdict he knows is coming than someone marshalling evidence. He said Brown had been “unco-operative” in court. “He had almost no recollection of matters that related to issues of timing.”