Category: media

“It’s pilot season, a Hollywood rite of spring that network executives use to evaluate which shows to green-light for the fall schedule.” Neal Justin says that far from being an efficient use of everyone’s time, the system embraced by the networks results in shows being selected almost at random. Wouldn’t it be better to abandon the outdated practice of unveiling a whole new slate of shows every September, and instead greenlight the best new shows whenever they pop up?

We are fast approaching the day when consumers will be able to download, view, and archive movies, TV shows, and any number of other digital entertainments at will, and watch them in any number of different ways. Some observers are suggesting that, far beyond transforming consumer choice, the new technology will transform the process and ease of film archiving, as well as cinema as a whole.

“Yes, YouTube was a hip and clever little startup that did good for its global village of users, but now it’s a byproduct of a corporate giant, much like Viacom. Is there anything less sexy than a bloody battle for cash between two Goliaths? As many experts are noting, this lawsuit is a negotiating tool.”

“Users who log on to Slacker can begin listening to music from more than 10,000 stations that are built around specific artists and preprogrammed genres. Users also can create their own stations by indicating what types of songs they want and letting the Slacker “DJ” — a mostly automated system based on complicated algorithms — fill out the station program with more content.”

While Viacom sues Youtube for $1 billion, CBS makes a deal to provide clips of shows to the online sharing service. Which strategy is the future?

To judge by its ratings in city after city, Christian radio can no longer be considered a niche format. But even as its audience has grown, faith-based broadcasting has been taking a page from the secular radio world, leaning away from direct preaching and towards shows that skew Christian, but put entertainment first.

Music fans rejoiced last week when the FCC announced that, in order to settle allegations of rampant payola, radio stations and the corporate conglomerates which own them had agreed to devote 4,200 hours of free airtime to local, independent artists. That sounds like a lot, but in reality, most big-city stations won’t have to change their playlist much at all. In fact, a Clear Channel station with a single one-hour local music program per week already meets the quota.

“A frayed relationship between the major studios and exhibitors, cost-cutting across the board and consolidation among the national theater chains has turned a promotional event for big-budget movies into one that is not promoting very many big-budget movies.”

The American network will offer shows to be played on phone screens. “NBC’s new service will be delivered through privately-held MobiTV, allowing viewers to stream full episodes of top-rated shows starting at $1.99 for a 24-hour period after the show airs. But prices will also depend on how much wireless service providers want to charge.”

“Iranians were clearly offended at the way their ancestors were portrayed in the film, inspired by the tale of 300 Spartans under King Leonidas who held out at Thermopylae against a Persian invasion led by Xerxes in 480 B.C. The government, lawmakers and Iranian Web logs (blogs) denounced the movie, which depicts the huge Persian army as ruthless but repeatedly outsmarted by the Greeks who are only defeated in the end by treachery.”