Category: media

A full 42 percent of Americans said that “if the networks have to resort to reruns to fill their schedules they would read more. Interestingly, the study says, women were more likely than men to pretend, er, answer that they would read more if the TV landscape becomes littered with repeat programming.”

“Amending media ownership regulations, including a rule that has been on the books for more than three decades, is a grave matter that deserves the Commission’s full and fair consideration,”

Conventional wisdom says that the striking TV writers are fighting a losing battle in an age when online content is fast overtaking other media. But the reality is that entertainment companies will eventually find a way to make buckets of money from online ventures, and the writers are determined not to lose out.

“British Columbia’s television industry is in crisis as repercussions from the U.S. writers’ strike make their way north. One show has already shut down and at least five more are expected to prematurely stop production in the coming months.”

“In what seems to be growing consensus among executives at the television networks, the [writers’ guild] strike could contain a faint glimmer of good news for one group of shows: struggling, barely surviving prime-time series,” which will now be kept on the air as long as there are new episodes to show.

“Sirius said 96 per cent of its shareholders gave the “thumbs up” to the all-stock deal; at XM, the approval was 99.8 per cent.”

“A Chinese moviegoer is suing China’s film watchdog in frustration with the censored version of Ang Lee’s steamy World War Two drama “Lust, Caution,” Beijing media reported on Wednesday.”

“Radio stations in Melbourne are almost exclusively run by men. While there are several FM stations skewed towards women key programming decisions at these stations are made by men using research on what women want. And stations are reluctant to freeze out male listeners by focusing entirely on women.”

Video games are huge among kids. Not so much with older adults. “Reflecting the technology’s relatively recent introduction, 59 percent of those age 18 to 29 play at least sometimes, double the rate for people age 50 to 64. There is little difference among users by race or region, with middle-income earners likeliest to indulge.”

“Research suggests the demands made by A-list actors have turned the movie business into a loss-making industry at the precise moment it has mislaid its audience at the box office. A report, Do Movies Make Money?, predicts the 132 films distributed by the six leading Hollywood studios in 2006 will make a pretax loss of $US1.9billion.”