Daily Marauder

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Warner Bros. says it is “stunned and devastated” by the untimely death of actor Heath Ledger. The studio still plans to release Ledger’s “The Dark Knight,” a Batman sequel, on July 18. The status of the marketing campaign for the expected summer blockbuster remains uncertain. (http://www.variety.com/VR1117979451.html  1/22)

The writers’ strike could be headed toward a settlement after the union withdrew its demand to represent reality show and animation scribes. The move reportedly could clear the way for the writers to adopt a pact similar to one approved by the Director’s Guild. Another positive sign came from the West Coast writers guild’s decision not to picket the Feb. 10 Grammy Awards, but it’s not known if striking writers will be granted an exemption to work on the show, according to this article. The New York Times (1/23)

Disney and Viacom are the biggest winners in this year’s Academy Award nominations, as co-producers for “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood.” The two motion pictures scored the most nominations, which usually bring in additional millions in ticket sales. (http://mediabiz.blogs.cnnmoney.cnn.com/2008/01/22/disney-and-viacom-get-oscar-love/ 1/22)

Media stocks dropped Tuesday in step with a broad sell-off in U.S. markets amid fears of a recession. “We could see more acquisitions,” says Standard & Poor’s analyst Tuna Amobi, “perhaps in the $100 million to $200 million range, mostly in the new media space.” (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/media-stocks-media-shares-drop/story.aspx?guid=%7BB9B8D398%2D013C%2D4A16%2D8E15%2D65A0B722AE80%7D 1/22)

So much for “pilot” season at NBC.  Jeff Zucker announced yesterday the network would no longer order up pilots as a matter of course each year leading into the upfront season, thereby saving the network tens of millions of dollars, reports The NY Times.  Typically each year, NBC and the other broadcast networks order up a series of pilots for shows in development, choose a handful of them as potential primetime series in the upcoming season, and show the pilots to advertisers during the upfront season.  No more, says Zucker.  Rather, the network would order perhaps one or two pilots each season.  Zucker says the reason for this decision is pure economics in light of the current WGA strike and due to the current US economy. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/business/media/23pilots.html 1/23)

The stock price forecasts for Time Warner and CBS are being lowered by Morgan Stanley, which says the economic slowdown will hurt advertising growth this year and next. A “long, cold winter” is ahead for media companies, says Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aHbE1xjNSQ2A1/23)

The NFL Conference Championship games this past weekend resulted in an average of 49.7 million viewers. Specifically, the AFC Championship game on Sunday afternoon on CBS (Chargers at Patriots) drew in 44.8 million; and the primetime NFC Championship game on FOX (Giants at Packers) spiked up to 53.9 million viewers. This level is almost equal to the January 1995 championship weekend when an average of 49.9 million viewers watched the Chargers take on the Steelers and the Cowboys vs. the 49ers.

The Democratic Presidential Debate presented on CNN Monday night drew in a record-breaking crowd of 4.9 million - the most of any cable-carried debate in television history. The previous record was also set by CNN in conjunction with YouTube with the November 28 Republican party debates delivering 4.5 million viewers.  The next debate scheduled will air on MSNBC tomorrow night beginning at 9p with all of the Republican candidates in tow - minus Fred Thompson who dropped out yesterday. (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i3a6ca747d7f74ddaf309eb7a26ac7737 1/23)