Category: media

Reality TV shows have proliferated this year. But their time may be coming to a close. “Advertisers, in fact, have done what critics and cultural warriors couldn’t – namely, chase the so-called reality genre into temporary retreat, leading to at least a short-term resurgence of scripted sitcoms and dramas.” This fall’s new schedule reveals a changed landscape. “Of the 39 new programs scheduled, 20 are comedies and 17 are dramas, leaving staged reality on the sidelines because many of those shows create an environment for commercials that makes sponsors uncomfortable.”

The FCC’s Michael Powell seems determined to deregulate media company owenership. This despite overwhelming public opposition. “Powell’s contempt for public opinion, evidenced by his scheduling of only one official hearing on the proposed rule changes, is so great that he refused invitations to nine semiofficial hearings at which other commissioners were present. The hearings drew thousands of citizens and close to universal condemnation of the rule changes. Likewise, an examination of roughly half the 18,000 public statements filed electronically with the FCC show that 97 percent of them oppose permitting more media concentration. Even media moguls Barry Diller and Ted Turner have raised objections, with Turner complaining, ‘There’s really five companies that control 90 percent of what we read, see and hear. It’s not healthy’.”

“The excitement of attending the Cannes film festival fizzles quickly when you discover that you’ve landed in the midst of a general strike — in France, where anarchist endeavours are something of a national pastime.” Trains are delayed or cancelled altogether, nothing seems to happen on time, and even getting to Cannes becomes a major endeavor in the face of the labor strife currently ongoing. Still, Cannes is Cannes, and most of the glitterati are finding a way to make the best of the situation.

As the FCC continues steamrolling towards what now seems to be an almost inevitable loosening of the rules governing media ownership, a bizarre coalition of opponents has come together to agitate for the necessity of diverse media voices. Perhaps the most unexpected participant in the organized opposition is the National Rifle Association, which is concerned that its message will go unheard in a media world dominated by a few large conglomerates. In joining the masses of artists, liberals, and media critics who oppose the changes, the NRA is taking a bit of a political risk, since the Republican politicians proposing the changes are frequently the gun lobby’s most reliable supporters.

Metal detectors, pat down searches… your latest trip to the airport? Nope – movie studios are so anxious about piracy of this summer’s blockbuster hits that early screenings of the movies feature “heightened” security. That even includes guards wearing night vision goggles scanning crowds during the movie to see if anyone’s videotaping the screen…

“Just getting here at all proved problematic for the estimated 150,000 attendees, including some 4,000 journalists from 75 countries: a massive nationwide public workers strike eliminated 80% of airline flights and two-thirds of all trains on the very day most people traveled. Once the weary cinematic pilgrims arrived, they were handed a stern warning about SARS from France’s Ministry of Health. Even though most Asian visitors had volunteered for medical checkups before they’d left, they were directed to report any suspicious symptoms, and all festival-goers were told to leave a forwarding address in case of unknown exposure. Terrorism was another threat no one was exactly ignoring.”

Local television station autonomy is at the heart of one of the media ownership rules set to be changed soon by the Federal Communications Commission. Media companies say that: ‘costs are going up, audience is going down, competition is increasing. The only way to help is to relax the ownership rules, allowing networks to buy more stations and increase revenue.” Critics say too much media ownership concentrated in too few hands will destroy media diversity, particularly at the local level.

Television Without Pity is that rarest of internet beasts – a funny, useful, and popular web site with a large staff, a coherent mission, and a bevy of devoted readers who hang on every word. But all of that may not be enough to save the site, which specializes in detailed (and unabashedly sarcastic) recaps of the action on more than three dozen TV shows. TWoP is successful, yes, but it’s still heavily in debt, and considering its harshly independent style, it’s unlikely that its creators can look to Hollywood itself for help. The site’s co-founder says future prospects will be reevaluated after May sweeps end in a couple of weeks.

Movie stars, as a rule, do not like to wait around. So one can imagine that the organizers of the Cannes Film Festival are more than a little bit concerned about a country-wide transport strike in France which is threatening to make the logistics of the festival a bit tricky. Cannes opens on Wednesday, and while some luminaries of the film world have already arrived, many are finding themselves stranded in Paris, at least temporarily.

Filmmaker George Lucas has started his own animation studio. “For nearly six years, Lucas has tried ? without success ? to break into the feature animation business, which has become increasingly competitive. Rivals such as Pixar Animation Studios and partner Walt Disney Studios, DreamWorks SKG’s Pacific Data Images and 20th Century Fox’s Blue Sky Studios have cashed in on such blockbusters as ‘Monsters, Inc.,’ ‘Shrek’ and ‘Ice Age,’ respectively. Last year, Sony Pictures joined the fray by forming its own computer animation outfit.”