Category: media

Why don’t the arts find more of an audience on TV? It’s because they’re ghettoized in “high art” packaging, says one BBC producer. “Hollywood and the advertising industry have succeeded in adapting music, verse and dance to popular taste where television has so far failed.”

Cuts in funding to the Canadian Television Fund, the Canadian government’s mechanism for funding Canadian television will mean several longstanding shows will go off the air. “In all, 129 productions – 64% of all applicants – were denied funding from the CTF’s Licence Fee Program, which contributes 20% of a show’s budget. Seventy-three productions combined to receive a total of $75-million in funding, including Trailer Park Boys, Da Vinci’s Inquest and Blue Murder.”

Directors of America’s two main actors unions have coted to merge. “Aimed at providing more negotiating muscle, saving money and ending jurisdiction squabbles, the plan would fold the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists into the new Alliance of International Media Artists. Sunday’s vote by SAG and AFTRA directors turns the issue over to members, who are expected to vote by this summer. Although the strong support by directors bodes well for the plan, at least 60% of the members still must OK it.”

Are public radio underwriting spots sounding too much like commercials? Many local public radio stations have been complaining about spots carried on National Public Radio. “In the past several months, stations have blasted the network for accepting a Microsoft spot that urged listeners to ‘learn more about…’ and one for Saab heralding a ‘. . . dynamic new look’.”

There seems to be great consternation in the movie industry right now over the lackluster performance of recent movies.” Why, asks Barry Koltnow? Because movies this time of year stink. “The reason they stink is that all the best movies come out in the last two months of the year because members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are brain-dead and cannot remember a movie longer than two months. Therefore, if you want your movie to be considered for an Oscar, you must release it just before the voting deadline. On the other hand, if you have a fun movie that has the potential to make a lot of money, then you must release it in the summer when school is out and kids have the time to see a movie 12 times a day.”

There has been an explosion of “web sites by Americans attacking and frequently urging boycotts against celebrities who are using their fame – and sometimes their own Web sites – to promote political causes. The anticeleb sites present a single-minded view of patriotism in which anyone challenging the U.S. administration or its foreign policy is anti-American or worse. Their names are as colourful and direct as the messages on them…”

Michael Powell, head of the Federal Communications Commission, indicates that the FCC isn’t interested in more regulation of ownership of media outlets. “The rapid concentration (of ownership) and consolidation has been both good and bad. … Before 1996, radio was on its knees. Sixty percent of stations were not profitable and were in serious straits. A lot of radio stations survived and thrived because of the changes.” Dergulation has resulted in major consolidation of ownership of radio stations in America.

What’s the biggest obstacle to getting an audience for your indie movie? Okay, getting it into theatres, of course. But how to promote it to potential fans? There’s “a growing grass-roots movement to promote independent movies and niche projects, particularly those about ethnic groups largely overlooked by mainstream productions” through e-mail. “Community activists for years have used the Internet to promote niche projects, and that strategy is helping boost a trend toward underground marketing tactics to promote films. That is particularly attractive to independent filmmakers with limited budgets.”

Capping a three-year effort to gain a foothold in the U.S. satellite TV market, Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch has engineered the purchase of a majority share of the nation’s largest home satellite provider. Under the terms of the deal, Murdoch’s News Corp., which owns the Fox network and an extensive array of regional sports networks, will acquire 34% of DirecTV’s parent company. The deal is said to be worth $6.6 billion.