Category: media

Cable giant Comcast has withdrawn its hostile takeover bid for the Walt Disney Corporation after Disney’s board showed no interest in accepting the deal. A Disney-Comcast merger would have created the biggest media company in the world, but despite Disney’s recent well-documented boardroom chaos, the company spurned Comcast’s $66 billion offer immediately after it was announced in February. There is no guarantee that federal regulators would have approved the deal in any case.

“In recent years, PBS has suffered through the same downturn in foundation, corporate and individual giving that has hit other non-profits. It has lost longtime program sponsors — most notably Exxon Mobil, which had underwritten “Masterpiece Theatre,” one of PBS’s signature series, to the tune of $300 million over 35 years. At the same time, viewership has eroded on a national level.”

A public review of the BBC reveals that viewers don’t value the public broadcaster’s arts programming. “Some will see these figures as further evidence of dumbing down. Public service broadcasting, they will conclude, continues to be squeezed by competitive pressures on audience share and reach, forced to abandon the cultural high ground in pursuit of endless makeover and reality TV strands, and tacky celebrity journalism such as Thursday’s Channel 5 documentary on Michael Jackson’s face. But the reality, as so often in these kinds of debates, is more complex.”

“With Mel Gibson’s blockbuster earning more than $355 million Sunday at the box office and energizing evangelicals and conservative Catholics across the United States, some devout Christians have found themselves facing a dilemma. They prefer not to view the film, because of its violent and gory nature or its traditionalist orientation, but feel pressure from pastors and other Christians to go. Some even say they are made to feel anti-Christian for not joining in the ‘buzz’ surrounding the film at their Sunday services.”

It wasn’t too long ago that entertainment companies were at war with tech companies. No more. “With growth slowing in both entertainment and technology, players on both sides started to accept an uncomfortable reality: they simply could not afford to go on fighting. The ability to deliver movies and music over the Internet in a pirate-proof format could mean big money for movie and record companies, which have long complained about the expenses of manufacturing and distributing their wares. And as Apple is proving – it now sells more iPods than Macintoshes – there are equally fat profits for those who can ease the distribution and consumption of digital entertainment. The result is what looks like a beautiful new friendship.”

The Banff Television Festival never got much respect. It was about TV, for goodness sake, so the cinema people didn’t find it glamorous. It didn’t offer up many stars either, so it didn’t get a lot of press. But it was about the business of quality TV. So when the festival almost died for lack of funding, a benefactor was found to save it. And it’s business back as usual. But shouldn’t there be some attempt to glamor-up?

Last week international police seized computers and arrested 100 digital pirates, who were part of a highly organized efficient international piracy operation. It’s a sophisticated business designed to copy thousands of movies and video games and distribute them. Busting the operation has given police new insight on how pirates work.

A faded historic LA movie theatre is a testing lab for the future of movies. “On the roof is the future: a battery of satellite dishes. And along the back wall of the Hollywood’s projection booth, a bank of 12 powerful computer servers blink furiously. Peering out at the five-story screen are three projectors: A high-end model by Kinoton able to handle 35-millimeter and 70-millimeter film and two high-resolution digital projectors, all cooled with a dedicated air conditioning system. The $1 million worth of equipment represents a fraction of the $1 billion the seven major studios believe they can save annually by embracing a future without film, when movies shown in theaters will be the result of streams of 0s and 1s flowing either from a high-speed Internet connection or from optical discs.”

Why is it that some musicians who are undeniably popular with the public can’t seem to get any airplay on radio? From Josh Groban to Harry Connick, Jr. to a young Norah Jones, artists are discovering that there is no longer much of a connection between album sales and inclusion on corporate radio playlists. Radio stations claim that most of their listeners don’t buy many albums, but some musicians blame Arbitron’s method of measuring radio ratings for the disconnect.

The TriBeCa Film Festival has gone from new kid on the block to major player on the New York scene in a startlingly short amount of time. The secret to TriBeCa’s success seems to be a willingness to embrace Hollywood glitz and defer to pop culture trends, even as other festivals hold fast to ideals of independence and “artistic integrity.” Also distinguishing the fest is a perceived lack of overall focus, which may actually be “its strongest suit, giving it a popular appeal that more-established institutions lack.”