Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
Hollywood studios and striking writers are agreeing to terms of a new contract that could be presented to union leaders in days and end their labor clash as early as Friday. The “big breakthrough” is said to be how much writers will be paid for Web streaming of television shows. (http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN0460617520080205 2/4)
News Corp.’s Fox network hauled in $250 million in advertising revenue on the strength of the most-watched Super Bowl ever — a performance that chief Rupert Murdoch calls “the biggest day in our company’s history.” Fox says it isn’t seeing any “concerns about the economic environment.” (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3e7f3952-d37d-11dc-b861-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1 2/5)
Jeff Bewkes, the new CEO of Time Warner, is expected to “aggressively” restructure some businesses to boost the company’s languishing stock. Folding in New Line Cinema, while “not the Wall Street-shaking move that an AOL spin-off might be,” would “probably improve cash flow.” (http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/feb2008/db2008024_252949.htm 2/5)
MTV has inked a deal with Verizon that will give the telecom full episodes of its “Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew,” which premieres Thursday at 10 p.m. Under the exclusive on-demand arrangement, Verizon’s FiOS TV can run episodes for free 24 hours after they appear on MTV. (Mediaweek 2/4)
Following on the heels of a similar move by Cablevision, Comcast said Monday that it would begin offering such theatricals as “Michael Clayton,” “Invasion” and “The Brave One” to video-on-demand customers on the same day they are released on DVD. Comcast also announced that it would serve up Showtime’s “The Tudors” on VOD before the program’s second-season premiere March 30. (Multichannel News 2/4)
Tudors on Showtime
Americans are turning to their PCs to watch their favorite prime time shows more often than they’re turning to VOD, according to the new Digital Life America tracking study from Solutions Research Group. A full 20% of the 1,150 users surveyed said they watch shows online on a weekly basis – compared to only 14% who said they use cable’s VOD services weekly. 43% of those surveyed have watched at least one of their favorite shows online, up from 25% one year ago. ABC.com received the highest grades in terms of user experience with 52% describing it as “excellent,” followed by 44% giving excellent ratings to Fox.com.
Beginning in March, AT&T will tack on an additional $5 to some of its monthly DSL prices. With the change, the telecom’s basic DSL price will go from $14.99 to $19.99 a month. (OneTRAK 2/4, The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires 2/4)
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