Category: media

“You can create a show within five minutes and be on the air within 15 minutes.”

Laura Linney is hardly a megastar, but the actress has had success in such a wide range of roles that she now finds herself being cast in parts that could be considered revolutionary: complicated women over the age of forty, who fail to fall into any of the traditional Hollywood pigeonholes.

“Hollywood studios said yesterday that striking writers have now lost more in salary and benefits than they had hoped to gain by walking off the job.” Presumably, the writers’ union feels that larger future realities are at stake in the strike, but for the moment, they aren’t commenting on the studios’ announcement.

US law requires cable TV operators to set aside channels for public use – the much-parodied “cable access” channels. The idea is to give ordinary people an uncensored voice in the media landscape, but increasingly, “the loose restrictions governing the shows have unwittingly resulted in diatribes against ethnic and religious groups.”

All your favorite late-night TV hosts will be back next week, but you may not recognize their shows. “The late-night hosts, all of whom are WGA members, have agreed to respect work rules set down by the union. That means, in essence, they can’t write material that their striking writing staffs would have produced for them.”

“Apple Inc and Twentieth Century Fox are set to announce a deal that will allow consumers to rent Fox movies through Apple’s digital iTunes Store.” The partnership could mean big trouble for rent-by-mail services Netflix and Blockbuster.

“In a sense, the writers strike couldn’t have come at a more opportune time, because it is a painful reminder of what we lose when there are no writers… [This] fall saw what is arguably the best year in American film since the late ’70s.”

Oscar ballots have been mailed, heralding the official start of awards season in Hollywood. Nominees will be announced on January 22, with the Academy Awards telecast scheduled for February 24.

“In the recording industry’s latest move away from its reliance on digital locks to reduce piracy, the Warner Music Group said on Thursday that it would sell songs and albums without anticopying software through Amazon’s fledgling digital music service.”

“In 1975, the majority of American homes owned only one set. That amount has dropped to 19 percent. Decimal points aside, most people now own three sets. You have to be a bit careful about bean counters, though, because, as The AP points out, the overall numbers include all the TV sets in bars, restaurants and airports. Still, the statistics are stunning.”