Category: media

“Actor George Clooney has quietly withdrawn from the Writers Guild of America after the union rejected his request for a writing credit on his new film Leatherheads.” Clooney actually made his decision before the writers’ strike, but kept it quiet because he supported the ideals behind the work stoppage and didn’t want to be a distraction.

“Networking site MySpace is to launch an online music service in partnership with three major music companies… Users of the new service will be able to listen to music and watch music videos free of charge, while paying a fee to download music.”

Ever since the CBC announced that it would be cutting way back on classical music and adding some pop to the mix on Radio 2, reaction has been severe. But one former CBC host says that those complaining are actually just engaging in de facto class warfare, furious that “their sacrosanct precinct will be tainted by proximity to the music of the masses.”

The Peabody Awards, honoring excellence in broadcasting, were announced on Wednesday, and among the winners were PBS’s Art: 21 series focusing on living artists, and American Public Media’s The MTT Files, which features conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony.

Opera and ballet are set to become fixtures on cinema screens across the U.K., Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux and the Nordic territories following a wide-ranging digital distribution deal.

“The US Senate Commerce Committee plans to vote Wednesday on legislation that would reverse the FCC’s recent decision lifting the federal ban against joint ownership of a newspaper and a broadcast outlet in the same market.”

Advertising on network radio is healthy. “Up 4% in 2007 to $1.2 billion, the health of network radio stands in stark contrast to the rest of the on-air radio business, which declined 3% to $18.5 billion. “

“The stocks of major media and entertainment companies tumbled during the first quarter, with all sector biggies except for Viacom hitting new 52-week lows amid weaker overall markets and concerns about the advertising market outlook fueled by fear of a recession.”

“The Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have long sniped at each other over who better represents some 44,000 actors who are members of both groups. The inflamed rhetoric from both unions had the tenor of a steamy romance torn apart by a deceitful affair.”

“Solid six- or even seven-figure sales for newbie scribes have been coming with regularity during the past few weeks, with nearly every day bringing word of a name that makes rival agents and execs scratch their head and say ‘Who?'”