Category: media

“A stylish British miniseries synthesizing music, gambling and drama took top prize at the Banff Rockie awards on Monday, leading a British invasion that captured nine trophies as the best shows in international television were honoured. Canada, Japan and the United States each won three international Rockies at the 26th annual awards.”

The US Supreme Court declines to hear challenges brought by big media companies to whether regulations limiting ownership are constitutional. “The high court turned down appeals by media companies, including Tribune Co. and Gannett Co. Inc., which have argued that the ownership limits the Federal Communications Commission set in 2003 violate free speech rights and a 1996 law they said ordered deregulation.”

The Canadian government is putting $100 million into production of new Canadian TV content. “Ottawa has contributed $800-million to the fund since it was formed in 1996. The private-public partnership, which supports creation of programming in French, English and aboriginal languages, has helped create $5.7-billion in Canadian programming.”

Canada’s two largest movie theatre chains are combining. Cineplex is buying Famous Players from Viacom Inc. for $500-million. “Last fall, New York-based Viacom said it planned to sell its Famous Players arm in Canada, the largest movie exhibitor in this country with a market share of about 40 per cent. Famous Players operates at 81 locations with 787 screens across the country.”

“Costing almost nothing to maintain, the vast majority of blogs are mental clearinghouses for their authors, lo-fi Web confessionals or bully pulpits that vary from current events to niche pastimes to sex. Directors’ blogs, by contrast, are slickly engineered to virally market their movies — to stoke fan ardor. Some observers say this approach allows studios to put a spin on moviemaking — and, by playing to fan interest, head off potential controversies. Movie marketers say the sites allow blogger-directors to reach out to fans in an up-close-and-personal way.”

Is podcasting breaking in to the big time? “Earlier this month, talk-show host Rush Limbaugh began offering podcasts of his shows for $50 a year, and competitors like The Dr. Laura Schlessinger Program may follow his lead. Meanwhile, commercial and public radio stations are trying to figure out where they fit in the podsphere and how they can make a buck by filling up your MP3 player.”

American news media are having a difficult time. A new poll says public confidence is falling. “Those having a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in newspapers dipped from 30% to 28% in one year, the same total for television. The previous low for newspapers was 29% in 1994. Since 2000, confidence in newspapers has declined from 37% to 28%, and TV from 36% to 28%, according to the poll.”

Minneapolis/St. Paul has consistently lower TV viewership than other major metropolitan cities. “Only 59 percent of us tuned in during weeknights last month, compared with 68 percent in top-ranked Philadelphia, according to a study by Nielsen Media Research. Why? Our region is too wealthy, too well-educated, too wired and too white, researchers say.”

“The Banff World Television Festival has undergone a major makeover after staving off bankruptcy and has opted for a bold new image as matchmaker.”

A US Congressional committee has passed major cuts in funding for public radio and TV. “By a voice vote, the House Appropriations subcommittee adopted a measure that would reduce the financing of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the organization that directs taxpayer dollars to public television and radio, to $300 million from $400 million. The subcommittee also eliminated $39 million that stations say they need to convert to digital programming and $50 million for upgrading aging satellite technology that is the backbone of the PBS network.”