Category: media

Digital, high-definition radio hasn’t exactly caught on in the U.S., where consumers have been loath to shell out hundreds of dollars for new digital receivers, and most listeners aren’t even aware that HD radio exists. But in the U.K., digital radio is now so standard that the communications regulator is looking into setting a mandatory shut-off date for traditional analog radio.

“The author Hanif Kureishi accused the BBC of censorship last night, after it dropped a radio broadcast of his short story describing the work of a cameraman who films the executions of western captives in Iraq. Radio 4 cancelled a reading of Weddings and Beheadings, one of five nominations for the National Short Story prize due to be broadcast this week, after concluding the timing ‘would not be right’ following unconfirmed reports that kidnapped BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston had been killed by a jihadist group.”

“An explosive rise in Internet access at the nation’s public libraries has also led to a solid increase in the number of visitors, according to a study released Monday by the American Library Assn.”

“The Federal Communications Commission has renewed the license of Los Angeles Spanish-language television station KAZA-TV Channel 54, denying an unusual protest brought by rival broadcaster NBC Universal. In November, NBC Universal … asked the FCC to deny the license renewal by invoking a rarely used morals clause,” arguing that the station’s management “was corrupt and thus lacked ‘the character qualifications’ required by federal law.”

A large round of cheddar, ripening in England, “has not been impeded in its rise to fame by the modest nature of its accomplishments. As the star of Cheddar-vision TV, a Web site that carries live images of its life on a shelf (www.cheddarvision.tv), the cheese has been viewed so far more than 900,000 times. … Compared with the cheese-cam, the old Yule Log on television was a roiling hotbed of nonstop commotion.”

The BBC plans to release a million hours of programming from its archives. It will be free to license-payers. “The radio and TV material, some of which has never been repeated, includes an interview with Martin Luther King filmed shortly before he was assassinated, and another with John Lennon and Yoko Ono in which the former Beatle talks candidly about the impact their relationship had on the band.”

“Unlike other areas of criticism and commentary, movie reviewing is perceived as a layman’s game. As with TV and pop music — similar “people’s mediums” — everyone’s a critic. But are they?”

A video of movie director David O. Russell’s freakout on the set of “I Heart Huckabees” was uploaded to YouTube. “Lily Tomlin, who plays one of the detectives, is seen in the video telling Russell, ‘We’re not all as brilliant as you.’ Russell soon erupts, sweeping papers off Tomlin’s desk, then stomps around, kicks a trash can, tosses a hat stand, storms out screaming, then stomps back in, still yelling. One crew member is seen ducking in the background to avoid flying objects.” Does such a clip damage careers?

“Movie budgets are one of the last remaining secrets in the entertainment business, typically known to only high-level executives, senior producers and accountants. The records offer insights into the economics of modern-day moviemaking and industry practices that seldom are disclosed.”

“The shift of music online has hurt stores such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Circuit City, and some retailers are looking to avoid a repeat with movies. Wal-Mart has launched its own movie download service, Best Buy is said to be in talks to start one, and Blockbuster explored buying movie download company Movielink earlier this year.”