Category: media

Two of America’s biggest cinema chains, Regal and Cinemark, have refused to screen the controversial UK-produced Death of a President when it is released later this month.

Google buys YouTube (not yet two years old) for $1.65 billion. Chad Hurley, YouTube’s co-founder and chief executive, has repeatedly said he would prefer for his company to remain independent. Asked about such comments in a conference call with Wall Street analysts and investors held late this afternoon, Mr. Hurley said his company did want to stay independent, adding that “by working with Google, that’s still the case.”

That’s the rumor. “YouTube users watch more that 100 million videos daily, and the site’s market share tops that of similar services offered by Google and other popular Web sites, according to some research firms.”

So you have hopes that your bestselling book will be made into a movie and you’ll be rich? Not so fast. “For every hundred books optioned for movies, I doubt that more than five get made into films,”

Fox airs baseball playoffs over the next month. So how to keep viewers hooked on the network’s regular programming? Put the shows on the web. “The move is an attempt to keep ratings momentum going in October and November, when many Fox prime-time shows are pre-empted by Major League Baseball playoff games and the World Series.”

In the first half of 2006, money spent on film production in the UK rose by 76% compared to last year.

Hollywood talent pleaded with FCC commissioners to slow down media conglomerate consolidation. “Producers described difficulties getting shows on television networks unless they relented to demands to change actors or storylines. They urged the FCC to require 25 percent of primetime programming come from independent producers.”

“PBS’ “NewsHour” tilts too heavily toward Republican white men in its sources and needs to do a better job promoting diverse points of view, a watchdog group said in a report issued on Tuesday.”

“Middle school students who watch TV or play video games during the week do worse in school than those who don’t, a new study finds, but weekend viewing and gaming doesn’t affect school performance much. … Children whose parents allowed them to watch R-rated movies also did worse in class, and for boys, that effect was especially strong.”

“A full season of a television drama now costs as much to make as the average feature film. More than half of the 14 drama pilots produced this fall for the major networks — CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox — cost $6 million or more. That’s up 50% from just two years ago.”