Category: media

“To the surprise of no one, unless you’re counting the Hollywood trade papers that called it ‘stunning’ and a ‘surprise,’ Disney has ushered out ABC entertainment division chief Susan Lyne and ABC Television Entertainment Group Chairman Lloyd Braun.” ABC finished fourth out of four major broadcast networks in the February “sweeps” period, and has been hemorrhaging viewers for several years. Replacing Lyne is Touchstone TV exec Stephen McPherson, who, ironically, was in charge of creating many of the ABC prime time shows which have tanked so spectacularly over the last few seasons.

Maryland Public Television just hasn’t been the same since it fired Louis Rukeyser from the popular “Wall $treet Week” program two years ago. Since letting Rukeyser go with the stated goal of taking the program in “a new direction,” MPT’s paying subscriber rolls have dropped by 15%, and there is an undeniable credibility problem with viewers. The appointment of a new private-sector businessman to run the network is providing some hope that a turnaround may be in the works, but others worry that knowledge of how to wield a sharp budget knife is only the first skill set that MPT needs in order to stay relevant.

“The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have joined the likes of Viacom and Fox Entertainment Group — as well as liberal bastions such as the American Civil Liberties Union — in challenging the constitutionality of the FCC’s condemning singer Bono’s use of an expletive last year on the televised Golden Globe Awards.”

“Abruptly, the FCC is frantically following its mandate to bar “obscene, profane and indecent language” from “radio communication.” Those adjectives seem more like a rhetorical flourish in the U.S. Code than specific categories, but the difference between indecency, obscenity, and profanity has become a real question. It’s almost impossible to prove that broadcasts on public airwaves are obscene by the statutory definition.”

A new DVD made of paper can hold five times more data than the current model. “The disc is 51% paper and could offer foolproof security, said officials. Since a paper disc can be cut by scissors easily, it is simple to preserve data security when disposing of the disc.”

“Stereotypes about black women have coursed through pop culture for centuries. They range from the smiling, asexual, and often obese Mammy to the promiscuous Jezebel who lures men with her sexual charms. But the one getting a major workout these days is the angry black woman.”

“Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) joined a coalition of two dozen broadcasters, professional organizations and free-speech advocates that filed a petition Monday asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reconsider its aggressive new approach to regulating broadcast decency, calling it unconstitutional and chilling.”

Spring is the time TV execs plan their fall schedules, choosing new shows. But this spring is different. “The big reason is that the shows that have provided the lifeblood of the television creative community, all those sitcoms and dramas, have fallen starkly out of favor as viewers gravitate to a different kind of television show. ‘The business is being driven by reality television. It is a very challenging time for people who are proud of and continue to believe in the scripted television show’.”

The success of DVD’s is changing the movie industry. “Not since the advent of the videocassette in the mid-1980’s has the movie industry enjoyed such a windfall from a new product. And just as video caused a seismic shift two decades ago, the success of the DVD is altering priorities and the balance of power in the making of popular culture. And industry players, starting with the Writers Guild, are lining up to claim their share.”

People are reported to watch 714 commercials a week, or 37,000 a year, yet it is difficult to think of five of them offhand. For a decade or so, watching ads was as fun as joining the kind of religious cult that plays heavy-metal albums backward, laboriously noting the various shout-outs to Beelzebub. Such fun insists that pop culture is a game run by evil, Orwellian masterminds, who can’t fool us! If a certain innocence predated our almost insane distrust of the advertising industry, then this same distrust has now melted into ennui and fatigued resignation. If any of you have ever lived near a smelting plant or airport, you understand perfectly this process, from novelty to rage to obliviousness.”