Category: media

Bloackbuster is America’s No. 1 video rental chain. But the company is struggling and on the way out. As far the studios are concerned, other than collecting the money that Blockbuster owes them for past movies, the video chain has little relevance to their future. Viacom perspicuously divorced itself from Blockbuster by spinning it off to its shareholders, and, as one Viacom executive told me, “Blockbuster will certainly not survive and it will not be missed.” It is another zombie in Hollywood.

“Last week, Sirius announced that it had granted Mr. Stern and his manager more than 34 million shares of common stock, currently worth about $225 million, because certain subscriber levels had been reached. That is on top of the $500 million that Sirius had already agreed to pay Mr. Stern for his salary and production costs. Whether or not Mr. Stern’s show, which begins at 6 a.m., is a success, his decision to jump from free broadcast to subscription radio has bestowed legitimacy to a medium that many had regarded with skepticism.”

“British television has produced a rich library of laughter. There are comedies ranging from Hancock’s Half-Hour and Steptoe And Son to Blackadder and The Royle Family, from Are You being Served? to Allo Allo.” But in recent years, the British comedies have been MIA…

In the closest vote in its history, the National Society of Film Critics has named “Capote” as the best movie of 2005. “At the NSFC’s annual voting meeting Saturday in New York City, “Capote” prevailed by a single vote on the sixth ballot.”

Having so homogenized the FM radio landscape that listeners have begun turning to iPod shuffles and satellite pay services for their music fix, the corporate conglomerates that control a majority of U.S. commercial radio stations have begun to try out news/talk on their FM frequencies. In the process, traditional talk formats are being swept aside in favor of more wide-ranging approaches that skew less political and (the broadcasters hope) attract a wider variety of listeners.

When NBC television created its new Friday drama, The Book of Daniel, it was hoping to tap into the new mainstreaming of religion as entertainment that has done such great business for Disney (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Mel Gibson (The Passion of the Christ). Instead, NBC affiliates in markets heavy with evangelical Christians are refusing to air the show after receiving protest calls from religious right activists who do not appreciate the title character’s portrayal as a pill-popping Episcopal minister who believes that Jesus speaks directly to him. To date, four stations have pulled the show, with the largest affected market being Little Rock, Arkansas.

“The biggest Coronation Street episode of the year was on 21 February when 14.35m viewers followed the storyline of Katy’s relationship with Martin. An EastEnders episode on 18 February saw 14.34m watch Dirty Den’s murder.”

In the month since its wide release, Brokeback Mountain has become far more than just a hit movie. The movie, focusing on a forbidden love between two cowboys in Wyoming, has evolved into a bona fide cultural flashpoint, with liberals claiming that the film’s commercial success proves that the religious right is not as powerful a force as everyone supposes. But Brokeback has also inspired a predictable backlash, with a not-so-predictable comedic focus. “What’s interesting about the gay cowboy jokes on television recently is, generally, there’s no joke. Instead, we get a banal repetition of the idea that the rural, taciturn, masculine, traditional-cowboy stereotype could be confused with its urban, expressive, effeminate opposite.”

An announcement is expected this morning from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences naming Daily Show host Jon Stewart as the new host of the Academy Awards. The Oscars have been searching in vain for a viable replacement for longtime host Billy Crystal for several years, with mixed results.

Awards season is in full swing in Hollywood, with the Producers’ Guild and the Writers’ Guild being the latest groups to announce their nominations for best pictures of 2005. Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, the ensemble drama Crash, and biopic Capote are on both shortlists, with nods being given as well to Syriana, Walk The Line, Cinderella Man, and Good Night and Good Luck.