A Matter Of (Broadcast) Decency (Or Politics) The call for new laws governing "indecency" in the media is gathering heat, and last week Howard Stern was dropped from six radio stations. "One central question is whether the heat generated by these issues will subside without producing lasting change, as it has before, or if a new era of government regulation and media restraint has begun. Despite the current political momentum, nightly programming on the major networks continues to include numerous flash points involving language, sexuality and violence." San Jose Mercury-News 02/29/04

"Passion" Takes In $117 Million Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ has taken in as much as $117 million in its first five days. "The Passion," which debuted on Ash Wednesday, rocketed to the No. 1 box-office slot for the weekend with $76.2 million from Friday to Sunday. It was the seventh-best three-day opening ever, behind "Spider-Man" at $114.8 million and such Hollywood franchises as "The Matrix Reloaded" and the first two "Harry Potter" movies." Baltimore Sun (AP) 02/29/04

The Next Big Thing - Web Critics? Some online movie critics have hundreds of thousands of readers, more than many print publications. But "though their readership is growing, online film critics remain at the bottom of the movie-publicity food chain -- far below daily newspaper critics, magazine writers and broadcast reporters. They are the last to be invited for preview screenings, are seldom quoted in movie ads and remain largely off the radar for Hollywood studios." Wired 02/29/04

Playing Tag With The Movies At the movies, "2003 was an off year for copy lines, those punchy epigrams printed above or below the film's title in posters and ads. As studios compete in an increasingly cluttered media landscape, a good line, according to one marketing exec, is needed to reinforce that one iconic image." Boston Globe 02/29/04

Alexander: Jerry Seinfeld Has Made $1 Billion In Residuals For "Seinfeld" The stars of Seinfeld have made a deal that will allow the release of DVDs of the series. Jerry Seinfeld's three costars had been complaining because they had been cut out of royalty payments for the series. "I'm not ashamed to talk numbers. I would say in the years that we've been in syndication, Julia, Michael and I have probably individually seen about a quarter of a million dollars out of residuals, whereas our brethren have seen hundreds of millions of dollars. Seinfeld has a profit of over a billion dollars." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/27/04

The Media "Indecency" Wars Heat Up A Florida radio host is fired and his station might be fined $750,000 for "indecent" programming. Howard Stern's show is pulled off the air by six Clear Channel stations. "Cultural conservatives have cheered the moves. But the Stern suspension arrived with little cost to Clear Channel: The often-raunchy show was being carried on just six of its 1,200 radio stations, all in mid-level markets. And some observers say the San Antonio, Texas, company's moves are politically driven, in direct response to the anti-indecency rhetoric streaming from public officials." Baltimore Sun 02/27/04

Bash Those Network Execs (It's An Election Year!) The US Congress takes up another round of media bashing today, with more hearings on "indecency" on the airwaves...At the least, the spectacle makes for great theatre. Washington Post 02/26/04

Twenty Years Of TV Infotainment The infomercial is 20 years old this year - what a landmark. "Infomercials were born out of a Reagan administration ruling in the mid-1980s that lifted restrictions on how much commercial time stations could air. As a result, struggling cable networks took hold of the concept and sold large chunks of time to the highest bidder." New York Daily News 02/26/04

Art Of The Home Theatre There are too many faceless movie-plexes out there. So many homeowners are commissioning their own home theatres, and some of them are pretty ambitious. "Theaters are not about slapping nice-looking fabrics on walls. You need to make the environment come alive with the architecture. It is the whole definition of the space, the aisles, the stairs to the mezzanine, the kind of memories of old movie palaces that have become part our architectural vocabulary. That's what I try to instill in my work, the echo of the grand spaces that were meant to dazzle the senses before the movie began." Los Angeles Times 02/26/04

Passion Has A Big Day At The Box Office The Passion of the Christ opened on 4,643 screens in 3,006 theaters on Wednesday and took in $15-20 million at the box office, a remarkable feat for a movie based on religion that major studios were reluctant to finance. Los Angeles Times 02/26/04

Getting The Arts Right On TV Drama may be dying on Canadian TV, "but we're very good at producing performing-arts TV. In fact, we're brilliant at it, and Canadian productions in the genre regularly awe international audiences. There are complicated reasons for this, partly rooted in the CBC's role in the Canadian culture. So many performers depend on the CBC for employment that the arts have become interwoven with the TV world. Thus, in Canada we make arts productions uniquely sensitive to television's needs and nuances. We don't just film arts performances for TV. We make and create television art..." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/26/04

Clear Channel Pulls Howard Stern Off Its Stations Clear Channel pulls Howard Stern off its stations "as public scrutiny over salacious speech and suggestive behavior on TV and radio is on the rise after Janet Jackson bared her breast during the Super Bowl halftime show. The move also came the day before Clear Channel chief executive officer John Hogan is to appear before a House subcommittee hearing on broadcast decency." USAToday 02/25/04

Hollywood's Color Divide Why don't African-Americans have more power in Hollywood? "In the history of the movie studios no African-American has ever had the power to green-light a film. Part of the problem is that the movie business is similar to the Italy of the Medicis; without a patron to offer favor, there's no place to go but down." The New York Times 02/26/04

Study - Critic Raves = Big Box Office "A USA TODAY study of movies released in 2003 found that the grades handed out by critics had a significant relationship to the money the movies grossed. In general, the better the reviews, the higher the box office. Even a half-star meant millions of dollars more for a movie's total take." San Francisco Chronicle 02/25/04

Remaking The National Film Board It wasn't too long ago that many of Canada's independent filmmakers were calling for the death of the National Film Board. But in 2001, the NFB got a new leader, and "most independent producers like the changes instituted in the past two years, and some even now dare to cautiously believe that the NFB -- not long ago considered a colossal waste of taxpayer money -- might have a shot of becoming what it once was: an effectual promoter, supporter and producer of top-quality Canadian stories." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/25/04

Group Recommends Doing Away With BBC License Fee A group advising the UK Conservative Party recommends that the government do away with the BBC's license fee and the corporation's board of directors. "The BBC is overwhelmingly funded by the £2.3bn a year it receives from TV households paying the licence fee, which the group says is at the root of the BBC's problems." BBC 02/24/04

See What A Movie Sounds Like Hollywood filmmakers are beginning to make available prints of their films that are captioned for deaf people. "While the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 has dramatically increased captioning on television, it does not require movie captions. The reason is obvious: Unlike TV captions, they can't be turned off. The studios and theaters convinced Congress that captioning would reduce the overall audience for movies. Since then, there has been progress in developing a technology that provides captions to people at their seats." Hartford Courant 02/24/04

Canadian TV Drama - AWOL Two more Canadian TV dramas were cancelled last week, and Canadian drama production is getting to be AWOL on the TV schedule. "The crisis has spiked into a full-blown emergency. It's absolutely shameful that Canadian broadcasters can't support two long-running series that broadcasters admit Canadians were watching. Once again, Canadian audiences and creators have fallen victim to broadcasters' hunger for profits. I guess doubling their profits last year just wasn't good enough." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/24/04

Oscars Look For A "Clean" Broadcast You won't see anything like that Superbowl nastiness on this weekend's Oscars telecast. " 'We want the show to reflect not a stuffiness, but a dignity appropriate for film's highest honour. We want it to be a family affair that can be appreciated by the widest possible audience.' ABC is charging a record $1.5-million (U.S.) for a 30-second Oscar ad, and has been sold out since September. CBS took in $2.3-million for a half-minute of ad time on the Super Bowl." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/24/04

So Is That It For The Sitcom? Yes, yes, we've heard it all before - that the sitcom is an endangered species. But with ratings down, no new hits, and a few high-profile franchises ready to wind up, some are beginning to worry about the sitcom as a genre. "Hit sitcoms are so lucrative to studios, which sell reruns to local stations, that they help compensate for the expensive process of developing new shows. Moreover, television has suffered a paucity of smash comedies for several years as viewers drift away for unscripted fare such as "American Idol," "Survivor" and "The Apprentice." Chicago Tribune 02/24/04

Of Movies, America, And The Power To Shape Minds "America's dominance of the movie industry across much of the world is not just a matter of money and big business. Popular culture celebrates American values and it presents a particular American view of the past..." BBC 02/23/04

UK Closes Tax Loophole, Filmmakers Angry The UK has closed a tax loophole that helped finance movies, and producers say at least 40 movies in production will be affected, including some that now won't be made. "The loophole allowed 'tax partnerships' to be set up in which investors would put money into a project but pull out before the film made money." BBC 02/23/04

Canadian Digital TV Struggles Canadian digital TV was switched on in 2001 with 45 new subscriber channels. It's hardly been a success. "How do you market in a mass way when more than half of the country still doesn't have digital service? How do you persuade people to add the channel once they've already chosen their core package? But for a channel that will always earn 90 per cent of its revenue from subscribers - as opposed to advertisers - it's a problem that has to be solved." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/23/04

Judge Disallows DVD Copying Software A US Federal judge has ruled that a company must stop selling a software program that allows users to make copies of DVDs. But the company vows to appeal: "There is no difference between making a copy of a music CD for personal use and making a backup of a DVD movie for personal use. We are so firm in our belief in the principle of fair use that we will appeal this ruling immediately. And we will take our fight all the way to the Supreme Court, if that's what it takes to win." Wired 02/22/04

Own Your Own TV Show "TV-themed DVD sales topped $1 billion in 2003, a gold mine for formerly overlooked assets that had been collecting dust in studio vaults. Nurturing the trend, the studios in 2003 doubled the number of TV titles released in 2002. The TV on DVD business is expected to grow substantially again this year. That's found money beyond the syndication market, a revenue stream that simply wasn't there before." Denver Post 02/22/04

Sacred Literalism - Christ On The Screen America has a long tradition of being outraged at depictions of religion on the silver screen. "Since the beginning of movies, filmmakers worldwide have courted controversy with their attempts to 'literalize the sacred.' It's true whether the subject is Jesus in The King of Kings, the Muslim prophet Muhammad in Mohammed, Messenger of God, or the Hindu deity Rama in the Ramayana." And so the latest "The Passion of The Christ" is nothing new. Philadelphia Inquirer 02/22/04

Radio's New Non-Format Format: Playing What We Want There's a new radio format on the Canadian airwaves, and record labels aren't exactly thrilled. The stations are called JACK or BOB. "JACK's "brave" programming strategy is to ignore radio's typically strict formatting and to play a variety of stuff on one format that you'd normally hear on, say, three: A bit of classic rock, some adult contemporary and a whole lotta '80s hits geared primarily towards listeners in their upper 30s and early 40s." Toronto Star 02/22/04

Why There Are No Movie Ads On The Oscars Telecast Why don't you see ads for movies on the annual Academy Awards telecast? It's all about appearances, of course... But "cutting out an entire, very lucrative ad category appears not to have hurt ABC any; the network was able to charge about $1.5 million per 30-second spot this year and the ad time is all sold out." Washington Post 02/22/04

Now In Theatres - The New Documentaries Once it was rare to see documentary films in theatres. But documentaries are getting new respect at the box office. "Credit everything from wide availability of cheap technology for filmmakers and an explosion of cable channels and satellite TV desperate for product, to audiences whose appetite for the real has been whetted, but ultimately not satisfied, by reality TV. The documentary phenomenon is international." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/22/04

Roy's Disney Crusade Roy Disney has declared war on Disney chairman Michael Eisner. And Now the Disney Company is in danger of being swallowed up by Comcast. To understand Walt's nephew Roy and his beef with Eisner, it helps to understand a little family history... New York Times Magazine 02/22/04

Infinity Boss: Zero Tolerance On Obscenity Viacom president Mel Karmazin has laid down the law to the top execs of 180 Infinity radio stations around America that Viacom owns. Karmazin is said to have told the execs on a conference call that there is a new "zero-tolerance" policy on obscenity over the air: "If you don't comply, you'll be fired for cause. This company won't be a poster child for indecency." New York Post 02/19/04

Nudity, Bad. Violence? Why Not? Hey, this is America, where it's pretty much required that you be outraged by a little flash of near-nudity on TV. And religion - that's a charged subject too - another something to get uptight about. But gunning down somebody, killing people, maiming them, torture... violence.. well, that's entertainment! The Guardian (UK) 02/20/04

Moyers To Retire From PBS Bill Moyers is retiring from PBS and his show "Now." "The veteran journalist said he had pondered the new course for some time, and originally considered stepping down in June, when he turns 70. Instead, he will scale back his duties after that, but stay on through the presidential race." Yahoo! (AP) 02/19/04

Muppets To Disney The Jim Henson estate has agreed to sell TV and movie rights for the Muppets to Disney. "In the months before his death in 1990, my father, Jim Henson, pursued extensive discussions with the Walt Disney Co., based on his strong belief that Disney would be the perfect home for the Muppets." BBC 02/18/04

An Alternate Reality "Reality TV is entering a chilling new phase. The old format of shows based on voluntary participation isn't producing the kind of spontaneous, voyeuristic thrills it once did. All traces of naturalism are gone; nowadays people play up to the camera, so that producers have to go further and further in pursuit of the "real." The only way to find unselfconscious reactions today is to catch people unawares." Village Voice 02/17/04

Christ Movie Kicking Up Buzz Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ is generating the biggest buzz of any movis this year. "Gibson has said he wanted to make the 'most realistic' Jesus movie ever made. The R-rated subtitled film, which contains scenes of blood-drenched violence and physical suffering, has generated intense interest among religious audiences, especially evangelical Christians, who have been identified by Gibson as his core audience -- and by some Jewish leaders who fear that the portrayal of Jesus's scourging and crucifixion in such excruciatingly realistic detail will spark anti-Jewish feelings." Washington Post 02/17/04

Shock Of The New - Aussie TV Audiences Want Only The Familiar Yes, Australians seem to have caught the reality TV bug. But they also seem scared off of any show that is new and unfamiliar. "Every new series launched for the 'official' ratings year so far has fallen well short of programmers' expectations, while the tired and true get stronger." The Age (Melbourne) 02/17/04

In Europe, Public Broadcasters Under The Gun Public broadcasting has a long and respected history in Europe. "But lately, public broadcasters have been thrust into the harsh glare of their own klieg lights. At the BBC and at a French public television network, France 2, top executives have resigned after journalists were cited for mistakes in reporting. In Italy, the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has moved to increase its oversight of the public broadcaster RAI, raising concerns about independence of news and other programming. The new concerns come at a particularly bad time for broadcasters..." The New York Times 02/16/04

The Battle Over Your DVD Player The struggle for what will be the next generation of DVD is underway. "The DVD is one of the success stories of the electronics industry of recent years. In the US alone, more than half of all homes have a DVD player. And it is now rare to find a computer that does not come with a DVD drive. The successor to the current discs are unlikely to be in the shops before 2005 but the tussle to become the standard for a multimillion dollar industry is already well under way." BBC 02/15/04

The Top 30 Romantic Films Of All Time What are the most romantic movies of all time? The Telegraph compiles a list... The Telegraph (UK) 02/14/04

Berlin's Window On Film The Berlinale Film Festival is a workhorse festival. "Attracting an audience this year of more than 60,000, the Berlinale conjures up neither the glitz nor the summer sun of the more celebrated Cannes and Venice festivals. But, as it has increasingly done since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the festival is spiced with independent films and disheveled directors from countries such as Argentina, South Africa, Cuba and Slovenia." Los Angeles Times 02/15/04

Protesting A Scottish Hollywood An ambitious plan to build a Scottish Hollywood has been hit by opposition. "A Glasgow businessman has submitted a scheme for a £250m national film studio in rural Perthshire that would attract big-budget films and big-name actors. But the 300 residents of Aberuthven are far from star-struck. They fear the studio with its plans for a timeshare and new housing will quadruple the size of the community and ruin their tranquil way of life." The Scotsman 02/15/04

Acting In The Golden Age (Right Now) "It has long been an article of faith among movie lovers of all tastes that the present — any present — is but a pale shadow of the past." But critic A.O. Scott writes that there is mounting "evidence that we are living in an extraordinary period, one we will eventually look back upon as a golden age of screen acting." The New York Times 02/15/04

Rich: The Hypocrisy Of The SuperBowl Stunt The reactions of CBS, Michael Powell and the FCC, protesting parents' groups, MTV and just about everyone else complaining about Janet Jackson in the Superbowl halftime show are so hypocritical they're laughable, writes Frank Rich. "You can argue that Ms. Jackson is the only honest figure in this Super Bowl of hypocrisy. She was out to accomplish a naked agenda — the resuscitation of her fading career on the eve of her new album's release — and so she did." The New York Times 02/15/04

Note To The Music Biz: Locking Up Content Is Dumb At a time when most music and movie industry producers are introducing some kind of copy protection in their products, some observers predict that locking up content won't last. Instead, at some point producers will "realize that they'll make more money out of a flat fee model than by trying to force the world - particularly developing countries - to buy expensive content under lock and key." The Register 02/13/04

FCC Considers A New Technology Future The Federal Communications Commission is considering regulatory changes that will change the way most people use telephones and the internet. The internet could be accessed over electrical lines, while phone service could be provided over the internet. One commissioner says that America "stands at the threshold of a profound transformation of the telecommunications marketplace." The New York Times 02/13/04

UK Tax Policy Change May Kill British Film Industry The British tax department "has shut a loophole which offered tax relief to film investors, fearing it was being abused." As a result, say some critics, the healthy British film industry may be devasted as investment dries up. BBC 02/12/04

• UK Tax Change - Movies Need Time To Adapt "Few in the industry defend the tax-avoidance schemes as a means of raising film funding. Indeed, many believe that the cash the schemes has attracted into the industry has led to a flood of substandard films, produced for tax-avoidance rather than artistic reasons, which have little hope of securing a cinema or television showing. What the industry objects to is the lack of warning about the move. This has left filmmakers about to go into production with no time to raise alternative funding." Financial Times 02/12/04

Congress Threatens TV US Congressional lawmakers, angry about the Janet Jackson Superbowl incident, are roaring about getting tough on TV. "In separate hearings, members of the House of Representatives and Senate told the Federal Communications Commission and the president of Viacom Inc. that fines could just be the beginning of a new crackdown on profanity and indecency on the nation's airwaves. Most immediately, they appear headed toward passing legislation that would increase tenfold the fine on television and radio broadcasters that violate the FCC decency rules, to a maximum of $275,000 per violation." Los Angeles Times 02/12/04

Some In Congress Want To "Clean Up" TV Sensing a good political issue, some in Congress are jockeying to further regulate what can be shown on television. "Senate Commerce Committee chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., led the charge, saying he is so offended by what he sees that he backs regulating cable and satellite TV programming." Critics say "the FCC commissioners have used their free-floating indecency standard to censor counter-cultural ideas, sexual discussions and language that reflects a sensibility different from their own. Yet the FCC's censorship power would immediately be recognized as unconstitutional if the medium weren't broadcasting." Denver Post 02/12/04

FCC Outrage Is Political Theatre There's been an amazing amount of posturing and speechifying over Janet Jackson's breast. "But even as the TV networks race to delete images of nudity and sex from such prime-time dramas as ER and Without a Trace in an effort to show that they can police themselves, media historians and analysts say real, lasting change is unlikely. As dramatic as the pictures and soundbites coming out of Washington today might be, it will be mostly political posturing, the experts say, merely the latest movement in a dance between Hollywood and Washington that started with the Communications Act of 1934." Baltimore Sun 02/11/04

Christ And The Publicity Machine The stir over Mel Gison's The Passion of Christ has been prodigious. Christian journalist Lorna Dueck is skeptical: "I'm not sure who's using whom more, the profit-makers in Hollywood or those with an interest in conversion, but there is unparalleled church energy over this movie, and as a reporter with an ear on the evangelical beat, I'm about to pray "deliver us from e-mail" because I can't keep up with the buzz that's hitting my inbox over this film." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/11/04

Comcast Makes Bid For Disney Comcast is making a hostile bid to take over Disney. "The takeover attempt, if successful, would create one of the world's largest media conglomerates, along with Viacom, Time Warner and News Corp. Disney owns its film studio, ABC television, the ESPN sports network and the Disney theme parks. Comcast has 21 million cable customers and 7 million Internet broadband customers, half of them acquired when it took over AT&T Broadband 15 months ago." Washington Post 02/11/04

Boston Film Org Calls It Quits After 28 years of helping local filmmakers, the Boston Film and Video Foundation announced yesterday that it is closing its doors and dissolving the nonprofit organization. The organization had been struggling with funding for some time. Boston Globe 02/11/04

Beyond Ratings (Or Something Else) A senior BBC official says that traditional ratings measures are inadequate, and different means should be found to determine the success of shows. "This new measure should have the ambition to get closer to our audiences, understanding what really has impact for them - what they think, feel and care about. I know it's a huge task, but Ofcom should design something to meaningfully challenge the tyranny of overnights." The Guardian (UK) 02/11/04

Leaving LA (Entertainment Jobs) A new report details a five year decline in jobs in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. The report predicts 2,500 more jobs will disappear in 2004. "A loss of 2,500 jobs would leave the region's motion picture and sound employment at 111,100. While that could further fall to 109,600 in 2005, employment for independent artists, writer and performers continues to increase. It should rise 11% to 12,200 in 2004 and to 13,600 the following year, the report said." Backstage 02/10/04

Why Blockbuster Is An Orphan So Viacom is trying to unload Blockbuster Video after failing to find a buyer. "It's an ignominious unilateral divorce for a company that served Viacom so well—and has become one of America's most-recognized brand names. But things have quickly soured for Blockbuster. With remarkable speed, renting videotapes has become passé." Slate 02/10/04

Lord of the Rings - Biggest Movie Of All Time The Lord of the Rings movie will soon become the highest box-office grossing movie of all time. "Peter Jackson's epic has now made $942.7m (£517.9m) worldwide, and is expected to pass the $1bn mark after it is released in Japan on 14 February. Only Titanic from 1997 and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, released in 2001, have taken more money." BBC 02/10/04

Blockbuster On The Block Blockbuster Video is being sold by Viacom, and at a greatly reduced price. "Blockbuster's business has been under pressure from cheap sales of DVDs through major retailers as well as emerging video technologies like video on demand and personal video recorders." The Star-Tribune (Mpls) (AP) 02/10/04

Disney Signs On For Microsoft Protection Disney has signed a deal with Microsoft to incorporate the software maker's digital protections into its movies. "The deal with Microsoft will wrap the software giant's Digital Rights Management (DRM) system around the media being made available to stop it being illegally copied. The system being developed should allow buyers of the Disney films a limited ability to move the movies between PCs and media players." BBC 02/09/04

Moscow Cracking Down On Digital Pirates Moscow has begun cracking down on illegal copies of movies and music. Last summer, illegal CD's and DVD's were freely available on the streets of the Russian capital. "In the early 1990s, cinemas showed the latest movies, but not one rouble went to pay the Hollywood studios that made them. Often pirate movies were broadcast on state television. Even now, pirate disks are openly on sale in almost every corner of Russia." BBC 02/09/04

It's Cable Vs. Broadcast In Jackson Flap The furor over the Janet Jackson Superbowl incident contrasts differences between how broadcast and cable networks are treated by the FCC. "What you're seeing now is an effect of intense competition from cable. Because of the fact that there isn't a regulatory regime that impacts their content, they have these award-winning shows that are very -- let's call them `edgy.' And what it's done is force networks to try to have edgier programming, but up to a line, and I think that tension is increasing very rapidly. The inequitable regulatory regime is causing that to happen. There's concern that if you're trying to get at the four broadcast networks, you have to get at the 104 other channels too. Because they're all just clicks on a clicker right now for the vast majority of the public." Chicago Tribune 02/08/04

Where Are The Black Women Directors? This is the year of the woman director in Hollywood. But where are the black women directors? The Star-Telegram (Fort Worth) 02/08/04

Medicis-As-Mafia Schtick A new PBS movie about the Medicis plays out like a cheap mafia yarn. "This is reenactment history, with a soundtrack of ominous and sinister music, and a voice-over (by Massimo Marinoni) that tells, in rasping and tremulous tones, a story of epic clashes of personality and temperament. Hyperbole wins the day. Everything is always a first, or unprecedented, or without equal. The Medici, who were very much of the Renaissance, are essentially given credit for the Renaissance. The actual stuff of history, the complex wars that kept the military forces of France, Spain, the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire in endless, internecine conflict, are compressed into unintelligibility." Washington Post 02/08/04

Media Companies - Follow The Porn? Mainstream media companies are battling digital piracy. But perhaps they would do well to look at the pornography industry, which has "always been among the first to exploit new technologies, including the VCR, the World Wide Web and online payment systems, is finding novel ways to deal with the threat of online piracy as well. The mainstream entertainment industry, some experts say, would do well to pay attention." The New York Times 02/08/04

BBC To Invest Heavily In New Arts Ventures The BBC says it will spend £8 million on new arts programming in the next year and a half, representing "the biggest single new commitment to the arts on British TV. The BBC currently spends £50m on arts coverage." The Guardian (UK) 02/08/04

TV Networks Flop Around Trying To Reinvent You can smell the desperation in the air. "Network television — battered by years of audience defections to cable channels and fearing the devastation that personal video recording machines like TiVo could wreak on advertising, its only revenue source — is beginning to embrace tactics considered heretical just a few years ago as it struggles to keep viewers tuned in and attentive." The New York Times 02/08/04

When Did Hollywood Give Up Happy Endings? Hollywood has been a specialist in happy endings. But lately, happy conclusions seem to be out of fashion... New York Times Magazine 02/08/04

Nudity Across The Atlantic While American media tut-tetted about the Janet Jackson Superbowl breast (but declined to run uncensored photoes with the stories, the English press gleefully published all. Why the different attitudes? "The structure of the media market seems a likelier explanation. Britain has ten competing national newspapers. Sensationalism jostles with pornography in the pages of the tabloids; softer versions of both infect the broadsheets. America's papers, which tend to be local near-monopolies, can afford a loftier attitude. Newspapers set the tone for television, and the regulators' attitudes." The Economist 02/05/04

Movieoke - You Talkin' Ta Me? Movieoke is the latest New York craze. "All you need is a high-quality DVD system with a large screen and decent speakers, a library of films, a gang of friends and you’re off. Slot the disc into the machine and amaze or appal the assembled company with, say, your re-enactment of Robert De Niro’s 'you looking at me?' speech in Taxi Driver. An exhaustive knowledge of movies and a lack of inhibitions are helpful but not essential." The Telegraph (UK) 02/06/04

Damn! - Can You Say That On TV? There's no question that language has grown coarser on TV in recent years. And the number of complaints and outrage about swearing seems less. Yet context still matters. "The problem for both broadcasters and moral lobbyists is that, rather like the gap between the rich and the poor, the gulf between liberals and puritans increases annually. A putative radio or television audience will now include some people who are more tolerant than has ever been the case, and some people more sensitive than society has ever contained." The Guardian (UK) 02/05/04

Ring Fans Pile On Critic Movie critic David Sterritt did the unexplainable - he panned Lord of the Rings. Ane then the floods of emails began arriving. "Most of the e-mails can be grouped into a few basic categories. Many come from people who feel I've hopelessly misunderstood author J.R.R. Tolkien and filmmaker Peter Jackson all my life, and want to set me straight. Others complain I'm just snooty and want to flaunt my supercilious airs. Still others take genuine pity on me, and want to enlighten me so I can love the movies too." Christian Science Monitor 02/05/04

Did The History Channel Yell Fire In A Crowded Theater? "A delegation of former Lyndon Johnson aides, led by Bill Moyers and Jack Valenti, demanded yesterday that the History Channel launch an independent investigation of its documentary charging that LBJ was involved in the assassination of President Kennedy." The network has agreed to review the issue internally, but isn't specifying how far it intends to go in complying with the Johnson staffers' demands. Initially, the network had defended its airing of the documentary as a legitimate expression of an unpopular point of view, but that defense is faltering as those close to Johnson offer evidence that directly contradicts that allegations made in the film. Washington Post 02/05/04

Get Used To The Outrage Call it lewd, call it overblown, but the fact remains that "stunt TV" seems to be here to stay. Janet Jackson's bosom-bearing moment at the Super Bowl is only the latest indication that TV networks are ready to do almost anything to get viewers to tune in for a few minutes. The idea, of course, is to convince your audience that your programming is so wild and unpredictable that, if they make the mistake of switching channels, they could miss something memorable. And for all the bluster coming out of the FCC over the Super Bowl flap, some experts believe that it was the FCC's own rulings allowing media consolidation that led to the explosion of shock programming. The Christian Science Monitor 02/05/04

File-Swapping: Who's Responsible? "A federal appeals judge on Tuesday questioned whether distributors of online file-sharing software should be held responsible for copyright infringement just because some people use the programs to swap copyright music and movies." The entertainment industry estimates that 90% of the content flowing through file-swapping sites is illegal, and argues that the company's that make the software count on pirates for most of their business revenue. "The case's outcome could determine whether music and film companies can hold distributors of file-sharing software liable for illegally swapped music and movies online." Wired (AP) 02/04/04

No Place For Pirates The Academy Awards voter who was recently charged with having passed advance copies of films on to a friend who subsequently distributed copies illegally has been expelled from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. It's the first time that the Academy has expelled a member in its history. BBC 02/05/04

A Big New Movie Museum For LA? The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is considering building a new "world-class" motion-picture museum in Los Angeles.
"Academy executives said they wanted the museum to be a 'major statement' comparable to such recently built Los Angeles cultural landmarks as the $274-million Walt Disney Concert Hall or even the $1.3-billion J. Paul Getty Museum." Los Angeles Times 02/04/04

US Congress Looks At Content Crackdown For TV, Radio "Republicans and Democrats alike are forming alliances and proposing laws to crack down on growing smut on television and radio. It seems certain that an energized Congress and president will greatly increase fines for indecency on the air, especially in the wake of Janet Jackson's exposure during the Super Bowl halftime show. This could bring a new era of activism to the Federal Communications Commission, which has found almost no time to monitor or punish broadcasters, even while under Republican control." Wired 02/04/04

Mel Gibson To Delete Controversial Line From Film A controversial line will be deleted from Mel Gibson's new movie The Passion of Christ. "It didn't work in the focus screenings. Maybe it was thought to be too hurtful, or taken not in the way it was intended. It has been used terribly over the years." The New York Times 02/04/04

L'affaire Jackson - The Horror! The morality play is unfolding right on schedule after Janet Jackson exposed a breast on American TV. "The flap - the Federal Communications Commission is launching a full probe into the whole half-time show, because a horrified nation demands it - is unfolding because the knocker was flashed on network TV during a 'family' program. The thing is, I think, that CBS is now so weirdly infatuated with the Jacksons that it believes that they're your average American family." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/04/04

A Pop Culture Moment Right Down There With The Rest Of Them "Whatever it was, the quick glimpse of Janet Jackson's bare breast during Sunday's Super Bowl halftime show has emerged as a pop-culture moment that will be remembered and debated, perhaps most significantly by the Federal Communications Commission, which quickly announced an investigation into the incident." Denver Post 02/04/04

...Because It's Easier To Get Outraged By A Publicity-Seeking Jackson Repurcussions are mounting after the Janet Jackson Superbowl incident. "There is a growing consensus that CBS so egregiously abandoned its responsibility as media gatekeeper that it calls into question the entire realm of American broadcasting - from the way network ownership has changed in the last two decades, to the actions of the federal agency set up 70 years ago to ensure that it operated in the public interest." Baltimore Sun 02/04/04

When Pixar Left Disney So the wildly successful animation studio Pixar is leaving its distribution deal with Disney. But why announce it now, when there's still two years left to go in the deal? Perhaps it has something to do with the power struggles going on around Disney chairman Michael Eisner? San Francisco Chronicle 02/02/04

FCC Chair Calls For Investigation Of Janet Jackson Superbowl Stunt The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission called for an investigation of how Janet Jackson's naked breast got on the Superbowl halftime broadcast Sunday. Jason Timberlake "blamed a 'wardrobe malfunction,' but Federal Communications Commission chief Michael Powell called it 'a classless, crass and deplorable stunt'." Chicago Sun-Times (AP) 02/02/04

Our Special Effection For The Movies "In the past decade studio budgets for special effects have exploded. Effects budgets have gone from $5 million a movie to $50 million. It's now not uncommon for movies to cost $150 million, with effects accounting for a third of that budget. There's barely any movie made today that doesn't have digital clean-up, matte painting, wire removal or fixing something out of place, like bags under the eyes on a bad day. The cost increases result largely from the growing sophistication of special effects." Orange County Register 02/01/04

More Choice = Tyranny Of Minorities The proliferation of TV channels has "brought about the tyranny of the largest minority. Because reality shows are hot right now, most networks throw them up willy-nilly, holding their noses all the way. And news, which networks used to treat more like a public trust in exchange for their licenses to operate over public airwaves, has become another profit center. Viewers bring profits, and because the people want Michael Jackson 'news' more than, say, foreign trade news, they get Michael Jackson news. But now rapidly burgeoning digital technology is threatening to narrow those audiences even further." Chicago Tribune 02/01/04

Satellite Radio Takes Hold After a somewhat rocky start, satellite radio has taken off in the US. "Over the holidays, an unprecedented number of subscribers signed with XM and Sirius, the Coke and Pepsi of orbital radio, for programming that plays through special car or indoor receivers and can be heard coast-to-coast. The services have entered into partnerships with NASCAR, NPR, Fox, Playboy and others to create content that has regular broadcasters feeling earthbound. It is a moment like the arrival of cable television, a novelty 30 years ago, and now a drain on traditional broadcasters' audience and ad revenue." Philadelphia Inquirer 02/01/04

BBC Turmoil Over Report - Many BBCers May Quit "Some of the BBC's biggest names are considering quitting in protest at the attitude of its acting chairman and the greatest-ever threat to their journalistic independence. The corporation was on the brink of civil war last night as union leaders warned that Greg Dyke's resignation as director-general had split the staff from the governors." The Observer (UK) 02/01/04

• Was Hutton's BBC Report A "Whitewash?" Thom Yorke is disappointed by the Hutton Commission's findings on the BBC. "Lord Hutton's damning report of the BBC is a whitewash. The result will create fear at the Today programme, where there should be pride. As so many times before, they were there with a story that nobody else would touch. And I still cannot see why Gavyn Davies and Greg Dyke have had to resign. It flies in the face of reality, ripping all evidence to shreds." The Guardian (UK) 01/31/04

• Dyke: Report On BBC Is "Wrong" On his way out as director of the BBC, Greg Dyke lashed out at the Hutton report that severely criticized the BBC for its coverage of the Iraq war. "We were shocked that it was so black and white. We knew mistakes had been made by us but we didn't believe they were only by us." The Guardian (UK) 01/30/04

Warning: Canadian Film Production May Decline A new report on movie and TV production in Canada warns that the industry is in danger of its first downturn in years. "The grim prognosis is due to a precipitous drop in homemade TV dramas, a slide in international financing, and increased competition from other countries' production incentives." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/30/04

Porn Sites Sue Credit Card Companies Over Piracy The music and movie industries have been combatting digital copying and downloading. Now the porn industry, which has led the web in many of its money-making innovations, is suing to protect its content. Last week adult entertainment businesses sued credit card companies that service websites that offer stolen porn. "The reason it was so hard to make money is because while we were paying for our content, there were many websites out there that were competing against us that were stealing theirs. It's pretty impossible to compete in that situation." Wired 01/30/04