Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
Time Warner’s New Line Cinema is being sued for $150 million by relatives of the late “Lord of the Rings” author J.R.R. Tolkien, who say they haven’t received any money from movies based on the books. Family members are trying to stop New Line from making a movie of “The Hobbit.” (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=atNpwWIe8rfM 2/11)
Barry Diller’s IAC is seeing improvement at home-shopping network HSN, which could make it easier to negotiate a deal in which John Malone’s Liberty Media would take control of the channel and possibly another asset in return for giving up its majority voting stake in the company. (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120277756721760771.html 2/12)
Rupert Murdoch is reshuffling his family’s stake in News Corp., offloading close to $10 million worth of shares. The share sale doesn’t weaken Murdoch’s grip on the media conglomerate, but it is fueling questions about the motives behind the dealings and where the money may be going. (http://business.smh.com.au/murdoch-disposes-of-11m-shares-in-wealth-reshuffle/20080212-1rtr.html 2/13)
A&E has advanced the Benjamin Bratt-starring “Cleaner” from pilot to series, marking the channel’s first original scripted show in about six years. A&E is looking to premiere “Cleaner” sometime this summer. (Broadcasting & Cable 2/11)
Denise Richards, the ex-wife of actor Charlie Sheen, is getting her own reality TV show, and it will be produced for E! Entertainment Television by Ryan Seacrest. The show, as yet untitled, will focus on Richards as a single mother and is expected to launch this summer. (Variety 2/11)
Smithsonian Channel has put together carriage deals with Charter and Verizon that will make the four-month-plus-old channel available to about 22 million homes. The deal with Charter represents the channel’s first carriage agreement with a cable company. (Broadcasting & Cable 2/11)
Comcast said it would challenge in court a rule adopted by the FCC in December, but just made official, that no cabler can serve more than 30% of all U.S. subscribers. (TVWeek.com 2/11, Broadcasting & Cable 2/11, Multichannel News 2/11)
Cablevision has struck a deal with Discovery that will bulk up the cable company’s video-on-demand menu by more than 100 titles. The Discovery shows, which will be offered for free, include Discovery Channel’s “Man Vs. Wild,” TLC’s “Trading Spaces” and Animal Planet’s “Orangutan Island.” (Multichannel News 2/11)
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The word that most succinctly sums up the headline about Denise Richards’-Ryan-Seacrest-produced reality show: Barf.
It’s not that I dislike her that much, but the premise is SO lame and unimaginative and predictable that I threw up just a little in my mouth.
Comment by Mary Joan February 12, 2008 @ 8:26 PM