Category: media

About a third of PBS’ corporate underwriting has disappeared in the past three years, including ‘the considerable loss of ExxonMobil’s sponsorship of Masterpiece Theatre, which has yet to be replaced.” So is the public broadcaster a sinking ship?

Ever since Congress started murmuring about abolishing the supposedly left-leaning and elitist institutions of American public broadcasting over a decade ago, NPR and PBS seem to have been running either to the right or just to blandness. So the fact that an action-packed new cop drama is being produced by public television might qualify as a minor surprise. Even more surprising is that the producers of “Cop Shop” are taking some serious shots at the FCC’s recent crackdown on “indecency.”

The Sony Walkman turns 25 this month, and if that doesn’t sound like a big deal to you, you’re probably too young to remember life without portable music. But Daniel Rubin isn’t: “For a mix-tape obsessive, this was like sprouting wings. Countless new soundtracks beckoned. I made running tapes, sunning tapes, sauntering tapes, strutting tapes. It provided groove for the quotidian, put joy in waiting. I was no longer prisoner of Donna Summer or Molly Hatchet on the radio.”

A bill under consideration in the US Congress would make operators of media-swap networks such as Kazaa and Grokster liable for users’ actions. “Opponents say the language is so broad it could apply to makers of MP3 players, such as iPod, and CD and DVD recorders, as well as to media organizations that give consumers tips on using digital content. The recording and movie industries support the bill to help curb piracy. But the tech industry is worried.”

How to get your song played on the radio? One word: Payola. “Although some forms of payola were outlawed after the mid-century scandals, various loopholes allowed other incarnations to thrive, under the guise of independent promotion. With money from the record companies, promoters used oblique tactics—subsidies, gifts, “research funds”—to encourage radio stations to add new singles to their playlists. By 2000, tens of millions of dollars a year were being spent on what you might call legal payola, and although bad publicity has severely curtailed the promotion business, paying to play is still integral to the way radio works. Despite its sleazy reputation, payola has a certain rationale.”

A little-known company called Gracenote is quietly becoming a major player in the new world of digital music. The company was formed around an idea – that there should be a way for digital players to recognize and label songs and albums without users having to enter the information – and every major digital player now depends on its services. “Gracenote’s rise resembles a pattern seen in many industries, in which one company evolves into an information clearinghouse that holds extraordinary power over its rivals.”

Digital radio is so hot in Great Britain that the government is preparing to announce a shutdown date for traditional analog broadcasting. 600,000 digital receivers have been sold in the UK since the format launched earlier this year, and nearly half of all British radio broadcasts are now available in digital form. Even the receivers themselves are becoming cheaper – a £50 model will be available in supermarkets shortly.

What’s the most popular movie of all time? Looking at the box-office receipts gives only part of the answer…

For the first time, American movie theatres sold more than a billion dollars worth of tickets. “The North American box office took $1.03 billion during June, Hollywood Reporter found – a 14% increase on June 2003’s previous monthly record. Takings were boosted by blockbusters including Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Shrek 2.”

New research suggests links between violent video games and aggressive behavior. Predictably, this has led to calls for legislation to limit violent games. “The game industry says legislating ultra-violent games out of the hands of children would deal a severe blow to free speech. Game companies point to the industry-imposed ratings system that gives detailed descriptions of violence in a game and labels some titles as “mature” or “adults only.”