Category: media

“The network estimated 157 million people, or more than half the U.S. population, caught some Olympic action on at least one of its outlets, including USA, MSNBC and Oxygen, during the first four days of the games. That’s an 11 percent viewership increase over the first four days of the 2004 Athens Games, NBC said.”

“In theory, at least, this year the assortment of big summer movies hasn’t been that different from other summers in recent memory. So why has the summer of 2008 seemed exhausting in a way previous summers haven’t?”

It’s time the Federal Communications Commission got out of the business of policing the airwaves, a bipartisan trio of former FCC chairmen told the Supreme Court.

They’re open for business, but fewer projecxts are being pitched. One reason? “Historically, projects that spark bids during the summer don’t seem to fare as well in the long run as those sold during the traditional pitch season, which kicks off after Labor Day.”

“Though they have all but disappeared from broadcast webs, successful minis such as Sci Fi’s Emmy-nominated “Tin Man” — whose premiere was ad-supported cable’s top entertainment telecast among adults 25-54 in more than two years, according to Nielsen Media Research — have cast doubt on reports of the genre’s demise.”

“As marketing becomes more crucial for the survival of the art form, the appeal of an established title becomes more important. This is what we’re looking at in opera — whether the franchise can deliver a reliable product.”

“Everyone was a censor at the BBC in its Golden Days. I recall getting a pile of transcripts of interviews I’d recorded in San Francisco in 1965 with Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, Kenneth Rexroth et al, in which every few lines the secretary making the transcription broke in with the capitalised observation: ‘THIS IS UNFIT FOR BROADCASTING’.”

“The Dark Knight‘ is the first film since 2003’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to hold onto first place for four consecutive weekends, according to Media By Numbers. The movie may help lift 2008 box-office sales past last year’s record of $9.68 billion.”

“It’s the shot-in-the-arm that the Canadian production community needed. It really might be the dawning of a new era. There was a real doom-and-gloom attitude, but it really does feel like this last year has given people hope that they can play on the world stage.”

“Cost-cutting obviously is a big part of it. Since producers and directors come in to pitch their individual projects one-by-one, why spend all that money on overhead and development funds? But there’s another issue that’s still more provocative: The entrenched bureaucracies at the studios clearly feel they can provide the impetus to create and market their movies and don’t need all those expensive outsiders.”