Signs of the Apocalypse Roundup – May 2009 – Week 1
We are trying something different this week. Scott’s News Roundup will be split into 4 articles with one being released each day. Please give us feedback if you like it this way or prefer the one big article.
Geeks run gauntlet in ‘Ultradome’
Spike Web series to take on fanboy disputes
“Heroes” star Milo Ventimiglia is set to appear in and co-produce “Ultradome,” a new scripted Web series where passionate fanboys settle hypothetical disputes in a special effects showdown. “My whole life has been spent engaged with friends in intellectual debate … like whether Captain Kirk is tougher than Spock or if Middle Earth is a more difficult place to live than Tatooine,” Ventimiglia said. “With ‘Ultradome,’ we can bring these debates to the public and settle them in the most logical way possible: through armed combat.”
NBC to tell ‘Farrah’s Story’
Documentary chronicles actress’ battle with cancer
NBC is readying “Farrah’s Story,” a two-hour documentary chronicling actress Farrah Fawcett’s two-and-a-half-year battle with cancer. The doc, shot with Fawcett’s own video recorder, will air May 15.
Fox stations to test-run ‘Twisted’
‘TMZ’ gets behind user-generated reality series
A half-dozen Fox Television Stations are set to test-run “Beyond Twisted,” a half-hour reality strip from the producers of “TMZ” that will offer user-generated content with commentary from the show’s production staff.
NBC faces reality of poker
Network gambles on ‘Face the Ace’ series
“Face the Ace,” hosted by Steve Schirripa (“The Sopranos”), will revolve around contestants — found via an online search — who are pitted in a showdown against pro poker players in Las Vegas.
NBC reups ‘Celebrity Apprentice’
Network orders another season to Trump show
NBC has picked up another season of the Donald Trump franchise “Celebrity Apprentice.” Show is set to air in spring 2010. Pickup comes as the show has performed solidly for NBC as a two-hour weekly skein.
CMT nets ‘Singing Bee’
Former NBC series finds a new home
The musical reality competition, wherein contestants vie to see who really knows all the lyrics to those popular songs that are constantly stuck in our heads, has found a new home on cable network CMT (Country Music Television), which plans to relaunch the former broadcast series in the summer.
Business of the Business
Commentary: The growing use of DVRs
Study: About 16% of commercials will be skipped by 2011
There are about 30 million DVR households, a number expected to rise to 50 million — or 49% of U.S. households — by the end of 2011. When a show is time-shifted, as many as 70% of ads are avoided, and as users get accustomed to their DVRs, they watch more and more TV in time-shifted mode. All these numbers add up to 16% of commercials being skipped by the end of 2011, an opportunity loss of about $14 billion.
Measuring success in new media
How to quantify the value of new marketing tools
Traditional word of mouth couldn’t be easily tracked. Now – as users share a trailer with friends or post it on MySpace – it can. “For the first time in history, we’re able to track word of mouth marketing, which is incredibly powerful.”
Twitter, iPhone promote new films
Business embraces new marketing technology
“I love that one-on-one-connection,” ‘Heroes’ star Greg Grunbergs says, but tells a cautionary tale: Fans misinterpreted a tweet about the end of the season and thought the show had been canceled. “It forced NBC to announce the pickup of the show earlier than they wanted to.”
Village Roadshow falls short on funds
Film unit unable to deliver its share on four pics
Australian company Village Roadshow Pictures was unable, because of the credit crisis, to come through with the financing for the last four films it partnered on with Warner Bros. (“Get Smart,” “Gran Torino,” “Nights in Rodanthe” and “Yes Man”), leaving the studio to cover at least $120 million in costs.
Marvel posts super earnings
Movie division helps boost revenue
Marvel Entertainment’s movie division continues to pay off handsomely for the comicbook company. Overall, revenue rose an impressive 75% to $197 million, which helped put $44.5 million in profit into Marvel’s coffers. That’s down slightly from $45.2 million a year ago.
Sony offers free films on Crackle.com
Studio’s movie, TV website adding popular titles
Sony is making more of its films available for free on Crackle.com, the company’s online movie and TV video website, adding “Spider-Man 2,” “Groundhog Day,” “Stripes,” “A Few Good Men,” “1941,” “El Mariachi,” “Big Fish,” “The Fan,” “LaBamba,” “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” “Johnny Mnemonic,” and several installments of the “Godzilla” franchise. Move makes nearly 100 films available on the dot com, with the latest additions specifically targeting younger males.
Disney profits plunge 46%
Revenue dips 7% to $8.1 billion in second quarter
Walt Disney Co. profits plunged 46% last quarter to $613 million. Revenue dipped 7% to $8.1 billion. Studio entertainment revenues fell 21% to $1.4 billion and operating income decreased 97% to $13 million.
Disney joins Hulu
Library of films, ABC shows will appear on site
Disney will make full-length episodes and other content from a range of Mouse House shows, including ABC hits “Lost,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Desperate Housewives,” available. Move leaves CBS as the only Big Four network without a presence on Hulu.
Disney doubles disc choices
Home entertainment unit to offer DVD, Blu-ray
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment next month will become the second studio to deploy two classes of DVD and Blu-ray discs. Disney will price rental versions at a lower price than features-laden sell-through discs and will make either version available to rentailers so that stores can still rent out the titles with bonus features if they choose to stock the higher-priced version.
Milken panel dishes on TV’s future
Panelists high on the Web
The most loyal viewer of a TV show today only watches it on a traditional screen half the time, with the rest of the episodes viewed on a DVR or on the Web. That kind of behavior will increase as a younger generation makes watching entertainment online a habit. The panelists included Steve Forbes, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rupert Murdoch, Sumner Redstone, Eli Broad, Sam Zell, Larry King and Norman Lear.
BSkyB bucks TV’s downward trend
Pay TV company goes back into the black
BSkyB was back in the black with an 8% rise in revenue and a £287 million ($424.4 million) boost in net profit for the nine months to March 31. The U.K.’s biggest pay TV provider said it added 80,000 customers in the last quarter, with BSkyB products now reaching 9.3 million households. BSkyB’s $250 million net profit follows a year-earlier loss of $175 million.
BSkyB unveils ‘long-form’ advertising
Warner, Fox to run interactive campaigns
Audiences will be able to access extra or extended forms of commercials on-demand via a green button on Sky’s remote control. This could include, in the case of a movie ad, behind-the-scenes “making of” footage or access to exclusive content, performances or extras that relates to an advertisers’ products or services, said the paybox.
Biz balks at cost of 3-D glasses
Studios unwilling to take on the cost themselves
The economics of 3-D eyewear have become something of a free-for-all, with distributors looking to get out of subsidizing the disposable glasses and exhibitors unprepared — and unwilling — to take on the cost themselves.
Cannes to offer reusable 3-D glasses
Audiences asked to clean their own eyewear
“When you go to a bar and get a dirty glass, that doesn’t put you off drinking beer, you just send it back.”
Time Warner profits fall 14% in Q1
Results better than Wall Street expected
The conglom reported a 14% drop in net income for the frame ended March 31, at $661 million, down from $771 million in the year-ago period. Revenue sagged 7% to just below $7 billion. The movie unit, frequently in the headlines in recent quarters for “The Dark Knight’s” boffo returns or the scaling back of New Line, turned in a solid quarter. Revenues dipped 7% to $2.6 billion, mainly due to the timing of releases.
Viacom profit veers down
Dauman hopeful despite the numbers
Viacom’s profit tumbled 34% last quarter. Viacom’s net income fell to $177 million from $270 million in the quarter. Revenue dipped 7% to $2.9 billion, hit in part by unfavorable foreign exchange rates as the dollar strengthened against European currencies.
Planet of the Odd
McCain to host AMC movie marathon
Network fetes war heroes on Memorial Day
Sen. John McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate, will talk about being a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War during “War Heroes” marathon.
Koreans drink ‘Thirst’ at box office
‘Wolverine’ can’t cut into top place
Park Chan-wook’s vampire pic “Thirst” beat “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” at the Korean box office this weekend, grossing $4.1 million on more than 600 screens over four days. “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” took in $2.5 million on 559 screens.
‘Wolverine’ too violent for Swedes
Censor board gives prequel a 15 classification
“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” has been given a 15 classification, the highest rating the Swedish Board of Film Censors can deal out, because of its scenes of violence, which means that no one under that age will be allowed into theaters — even if accompanied by an adult.
Funnyman Dom DeLuise dies at 75
Comedian was star of TV, film
Dom DeLuise, a popular character actor for decades in movie and TV died in his sleep Monday night after a long illness. He was 75.
NBC exec dies on ‘Parenthood’ set
VP of drama previously worked at Sci Fi Channel
Nora O’Brien died suddenly on April 29 while on the set of the new NBC series pilot “Parenthood” in Berkeley, Calif. She was 44. O’Brien was currently VP of drama programming for NBC Ent. and Universal Media Studios. Before Jan. 2008, she was VP of original programming. at the Sci Fi Channel were she developed programs including the miniseries “The Lost Room,” and was programming exec on “Stargate” and “Stargate Atlantis.”
The Fine Print
This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.
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