Category: media

The three-week-old labor dispute at the CBC has thrown Canada’s television production industry into a state of uncertainty, as everyone waits and wonders whether programs slated for the fall schedule will be allowed to air. “Some in the industry describe a great deal of confusion, with contradictory signals coming from CBC management itself, as it tries to continue with its fall programming as best as it can. It’s a far cry from the usual publicity cycle. The buildup for new shows, fall specials and miniseries normally lasts six to eight weeks, as promos are created and aired, press interviews are arranged and print adds are plastered on billboards.”

A producer who didn’t work on The Lord of the Rings movies (which earned $2.9 billion) has earned $168 million from the project. “Saul Zaentz got the payout from film studio New Line because he bought the rights to JRR Tolkien’s books in 1976. The windfall is revealed in court papers after New Line settled a legal wrangle with Mr Zaentz, Variety said. He sued New Line for a further $20m, saying they miscalculated the box office royalties he was owed.”

CBC Toronto’s top-rated morning show crew have moved their show over to the University of Toronto’s radio station while CBC employees are locked out. “The most delicious aspect of Toronto Unlocked is in its timing: Sept. 5 marks the start of the fall radio ratings measurement season. And so, with neither CBC nor the Guild even talking about returning to the bargaining table: “In the best of all possible worlds — I mean this is crazy — but at the end of the rating period, it would be nice to see that CIUT has the best-rated morning show in the city.”

Hollywood studios are discovering that tracking sales and “wish lists” of online DVD retailers and renters such as Amazon and Netflix is giving them insight into what TV and movies will sell…

In Canada, the BCB has been on strike for three weeks. And a new poll says most Canadians aren’t missing the public broadcaster. “About 61 per cent of those polled said they felt no impact at all from the lockout, which began on Aug. 15, Canadian Press reports. Only 10 per cent of 1,000 surveyed by phone between Aug. 18 and 21 said it was a major inconvenience to them, while 27 per cent said it was a minor inconvenience.”

A year after the American TV ratings company Nielsen was attacked by critics of a new counting system that some feared would shortchange counting of African Americans, Nielsen says “black people are watching more television in all six cities that are using the new electronic meters. Its critics remain unsatisfied, and the Senate held a hearing last month on a bill that would require greater oversight of the company that has a monopoly over measuring TV audiences.”

Why do movies have to be released in theatres first? “The tradition of major films debuting first in theaters, then across staggered release “windows,” including pay-per-view, home video, cable and, finally, broadcast TV, is being openly questioned. The millions of dollars that studios spend marketing first-run movies would serve double duty promoting the more profitable DVDs, making for a faster and more efficient return on investment.”

Why are fewer people going to the movie theatre? A new study says it comes down to quality. “Even when moviegoers cite other reasons for going to theaters less often than they used to, they still circle back to the quality of films as the root cause for their disaffection. For example, potential moviegoers who cited the ease and selection offered by Netflix as one reason why they visit the multiplex less, then said they were driven to try Netflix because of the dearth of decent theatrical releases.”

The Christian group that protested the BBC’s showing of Jerry Springer, The Opera is upset that the broadcaster didn’t pay attention to its protests. “We all might cause offence through ignorance but I am worried that there are people working in television who know something is going to be offensive and then just go ahead and show it.”

A satellite radio service adds an all-Elvis all-the-time format. “Elvis Radio, one of more than 130 channels on Sirius, may be the first station to transform what is normally a short-lived publicity stunt into a full-time dial fixture. As such, the all-Elvis station is widely viewed as an early litmus test for the ultra-niching that may lie ahead in satellite and digital radio, which offers listeners hundreds of channel choices.”