Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Barack Obama, Barry Diller, Dianne Feinstein, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Rupert Murdoch, Society and Culture, United States
Jeff Bewkes, Barry Diller, Jerry Yang and other big players in media and technology don’t appear to possess a clear crystal ball on the future of the media world, writes Jon Fine. Rupert Murdoch withdrew his bid for Tribune’s Newsday because, he says, “I got scared.” (Iwantmedia 6/6, http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_24/b4088099687791.htm 6/5)
Diller sees passive story consumption making way for interactivity
Asa Mathat/AllThingsD.com
Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic candidate for president, had a lot to celebrate Tuesday night, and so did CNN. The cable news net outperformed rivals MSNBC and Fox News Channel by averaging 3.52 million total viewers in prime time on the last night of the long primary march. (Mediaweek 6/5)
The country’s growing Hispanic population — and the broader appeal of soccer among all demographic groups — has made the sport a top priority for ESPN, according to this report. And the cable sports net, which holds the rights to the men’s and women’s World Cups through 2014, will demonstrate its interest by covering 31 matches of soccer’s European Championship this year. (The Boston Globe/Associated Press 6/5)
Former child actor Danny Bonaduce, former basketball star Dennis Rodman and former Playboy playmate Nikki Ziering are among the celebs who have signed up to participate in CMT’s upcoming “Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling.” The show is currently in production and is expected to debut this fall. (The Hollywood Reporter 6/6)
It appears the final tally in sales will be only a few hundred million short of the $9 billion total from last year, as there were more dollars in play from larger advertisers than originally expected. Earlier this week, it had been predicted the networks would come in -14% in total sales compared to 2007. NBC finished its sales yesterday netting about $1.9 billion and getting a 5%-7% rate increase in CPMs for its 80% of inventory sold. Projected CPM rate increase ranges for the other networks are: +9% to +10% for FOX; +8% to +10% for ABC; +7% to +8% for CBS; and CW +6% to +8%. (Cynopsis 6/6)
Dennis Hopper will star in the original drama series Crash from Starz Entertainment and co-produced by Lionsgate based on the Oscar winning Best Picture. Production has begun in Albuquerque on the 13-episode one-hour series which will premiere in October. (Cynopsis 6/6)
Described as a “passionate TV fan” film actor Samuel L. Jackson made a first-look two-year pact with CBS Paramount Network TV to develop and executive producer projects for television. (Cynopsis 6/6)
CBS Outernet signed a deal with gaming retail chain GameStop to install its in-store digital video ad network to over 4,000 GameStop locations. (Cynopsis 6/6)
John Martin, the chief financial officer for Time Warner, said the media conglomerate would be “extremely price-disciplined and price-sensitive” in its bidding on The Weather Channel. But Martin conceded that the Landmark Communications cable network would be a nice programming companion for its CNN offering. (The Wall Street Journal 6/6)
Time Warner Cable is being sued by Los Angeles over claims the company improperly raised prices and let cable-television and Internet services decline following its 2006 purchase of two cable providers. Time Warner “must be held accountable,” says city attorney Rocky Delgadillo. (Iwantmedia 6/6, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=agfOor9ekrtk 6/5)
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