Category: media

“As audiences are opting to stay out of movie theaters and spend more time on the sofa, shows such as “24,” “Lost,” “The Shield” and “The Sopranos” are fulfilling the appetite for drama. This renaissance in television also attracts A-list actors, directors and writers who are willing to experiment with genres and storytelling that leaves viewers with their jaws dropped.”

Four years ago New York started offering tax breaks to film and TV projects filming in the city in an attempt to lure more of them. “Since 2002, the number of production shooting days in the city has more than doubled and the number of television pilots rose to 14 in 2005 from one the year before, according to the city. Now New York even occasionally stands in for other cities. But the good news for the city’s film industry is a mixed blessing for the city’s treasury.”

A UK consumer group has argued against allowing product placement in TV programs, saying it would undermine viewers confidence. “Commercial broadcasters want new ways to raise money as audiences fragment and it becomes easier to skip adverts.”

The final American movie box office numbers are in, and they confirm a down year. Ticket sales were down 6% in 2005. “Cinema ticket revenues amounted to $9bn (£5.2bn), while total attendance fell by 9% to 1.4bn people. Some 240m fewer tickets were sold in 2005 compared with the previous year.

“A new war has broken out as two new generations of DVD players hit stores this year. Both are targeting owners of high-definition televisions, promising to maximize their set’s capacity for razor-sharp images. One is called HD-DVD. The other is called Blu-ray. North America gets its first real look at Sony’s Blu-ray player in Las Vegas this week, with the new format hitting stores May 23. HD-DVD players go on sale at the end of this month. And soon stores will stock movies on DVD specifically formatted for one player or the other.”

Is Amazon getting ready to enter the online download business? Reports say the company has been in talks with major movie studios. “Amazon has been increasing its spending in research and development. Financial analysts have thus far reacted positively to the prospect of Amazon entering the digital download business, which boasts higher margins than the retailer’s traditional business. Amazon’s investment in technology and content grew 57 percent in the fourth quarter.”

“In the last six months, major media companies have received much attention for starting to move their own programming online, whether downloads for video iPods or streaming programs that can be watched over high-speed Internet connections. Perhaps more interesting — and, arguably, more important — are the thousands of producers whose programming would never make it into prime time but who have very dedicated small audiences. It’s a phenomenon that could be called slivercasting.”

The late 1960s and early ’70s were a period of major transition for Hollywood, and a large number of films which might have been hailed as classics in today’s watered-down movie landscape instead fell through the cracks. This week in LA, American Cinematheque is mounting a festival of films from the “New Hollywood” era that, for one reason or another, never quite made it into the filmmaking canon.

CBC president Robert Rabinovitch says that “CBC television needs a new funding formula that recognizes not just its unique circumstances, but also its unique role,” he said, adding that, with its $7.3 billion budget, the BBC costs about $122 per person. “For less than $1 billion in government money, Canadians get 27 national and international services, in English and French, and eight Aboriginal languages. For that, each Canadian pays annually about $30.”

“Last month the CBC cancelled three of its critically acclaimed but low-rated series — Da Vinci’s City Hall, The Tournament and This Is Wonderland — prompting accusations that the broadcaster was placing too much emphasis on viewer numbers. But in his speech, CBC president Robert Rabinovitch said CBC-TV should be “taking risks and producing programs that innovate — Canadian equivalents to The Office from the U.K. or Six Feet Under from next door.”