Category: media

Is the Harry Potter franchise running out of steam? “The third movie will be late, the fourth book is proving unadaptable, the director is burned out and the boy wizard is facing a greater enemy than Voldemort – the march of time.”

Americans have access to so much information, some experts believe that corporate consolidation of ownership isn’t a problem. “With all this in mind, the F.C.C. is considering sweeping away or greatly relaxing rules that limit how many television stations a company can own nationwide; that bar companies from owning a major television station and newspaper in the same town; and that limit the number of radio and television stations that companies can own in one market.”

Why do good TV shows get canceled? “The big lie in television is that network executives are idiots. Most of the time, that’s not true. They’re smart, but their decisions are guided by fear of failure and job loss. Because they’re smart, they usually like quality shows. But because it’s a business, those shows often get canceled.”

“Classic Arts Showcase” is the project of one Lloyd Rigler, who decided on his own in the early 90s that there should be more arts on television. He provides round-the-clock feeds of performances by artists “available free, by satellite, to PBS stations, educational and community access channels and other nonprofit broadcasters since 1994; it currently reaches an estimated 65 million homes.” But it’s free to all but Mr. Rigler – he’s plowed $50 million into the project without a hope of ever getting it back.

There’s local programming, and then there’s local programming. A station in Raleigh North Carolina has started an all-local all-the-time format, playing only music by local bands. “WBZB went on the air July 15. Its signal is so weak the station can be picked up in the car only in a small area because power lines interfere with it. It can only be heard in parts of Raleigh, and it broadcasts on the Web.”

“For countless authors, movies have proved a fatal temptation, savaging great novels from The Naked and the Dead to Portnoy’s Complaint, and corrupting F. Scott Fitzgerald and others who lived out their Hollywood years in drunken decline.” But in recent years, prominent writers have been finding success on the screen, “both by carefully choosing those who would adapt their books and by participating in the filmmaking process themselves.”

There seem to be more high-profile women in the movies these days. But that doesn’t mean there are more women in movies. In a recent study, women accounted for 25 percent of all characters in the top 250 films released in 2001. “That is about five percentage points higher than when researchers first tallied roles – in 1952. (On prime-time network television, women account for about 38 percent of the roles, a number rising more quickly than in film.)” It’s even worse for women over 40 – they get only 8 percent of female roles. “The percentage of working directors among the top films dropping from 11 percent in 2000 to 6 percent in 2001, and from 14 percent to 10 percent for female screenwriters.”

“There are substantially more African American, Latino and Asian American faces onscreen than just three years ago, when the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People denounced the industry for the lack of cultural diversity in prime time. Indeed, on the big four broadcast networks, as well as UPN and the WB, there are actors of color in 26 of the 33 shows premiering this season.” But the gains are almost all in supporting roles, with little progress in starring roles.

Wonder why certain kinds of movies are released at certain times of the year? Big-deal movies in December, action/fluff in summer, art films in January… “Today, the majority of a film’s box-office receipts are reaped in the first fortnight of release, and a week’s delay can make or break a film, so movie schedules are more finely tuned and globally calculated than ever before.”

As the British government opens up ownership of broacasters to foreign companies, a new report says independent producers need some protection. “Under quotas, terrestrial channels have to offer 25% of their programming to independent companies. But the actual average was only 15% because channels were unwilling to offer news or large outdoor events to independent production.”