Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Alan Rosenberg, George Clooney, Gordon Ramsay, Kevin Spacey, Los Angeles, Matt Long, Sally Field, Tom Hanks
Heating up a cold January will be FOX’s American Idol slated to return for an eighth season with a two-night, four-hour premiere at 8p on January 13 and January 14. The new season begins with three weeks of audition episodes until January 29 followed by “Hollywood Round” episodes on February 3 with the first viewer voting starting February 17. (Cynopsis 12/16)
FOX is getting further fired up over a fifth season of Hell’s Kitchen opening January 29 at 9p. Chef Gordon Ramsay will preside over 16 aspiring chefs who are vying for the “Head Chef” position at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. (Cynopsis 12/16)
“The Real Housewives of Atlanta” has been picked up for a second season on Bravo. The show averaged almost 1.5 million viewers per episode, and a reunion special attracted 2.1 million adults in the 18-to-49 demo and a total of 2.8 million viewers. Associated Content (12/15) , Variety (12/15)
ABC approved a pilot order from writer Dave Hemingson for a 60m legal dramedy, per THR. The project with 20th TV producing is about a law school grad, played by Matt Long with a blue-collar background who joins a Los Angeles boutique law firm. (Cynopsis 12/16)
A cadre of more than 130 top box office actors including George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Kevin Spacey, Sally Field among others sent a petition to SAG national president Alan Rosenberg, national executive director Doug Allen and other leaders, asking for a cancellation of the strike authorization vote. SAG leaders have not publicly commented on the letter. (Cynopsis 12/16)
Reelzchannel, the basic-cable network that recommends a VOD movie each month and guarantees that subscribers will like it or get their money back, will continue with the promotion. Reelzchannel Chairman and CEO Stan Hubbard said the channel was reconsidering a number of programming options, but noted that the VOD promotion would remain in place at least through the first quarter. Multichannel News (12/15)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Box Office Mojo, CBS, Gaia Online, Internet Movie Database, NBC, Twitter, Wall Street Journal, YouTube
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Twitter’s business model (or rather lack of one) is a topic of endless debate. Like many successful startups that came before it the company has been successful in getting users and usage when it doesn’t charge a cent. But ramping up revenue is a different matter. And Twitter is now in the process of doing just that. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/16/twitter-hiring-product-manager-to-bring-in-the-revenue 12/16)
Gaia Online
, a social network/virtual world hybrid that includes one of the web’s most popular forums, has laid off 36 employees, or around 13% of its staff. Of those laid off, 16 were full time and 20 were contractors. From what we’ve heard the layoffs were unexpected by most affected employees – the site raised $11 million in July, and has been hiring employees as recently as a month ago. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/15/gaia-online-cuts-20-of-staff-despite-claims-of-record-earnings 12/15)
Amazon’s movie database IMDb.com has acquired independent online box office site Box Office Mojo for an undisclosed amount. The two sites will share content by allowing users to access one another databases but LA-based Box Office Mojo will continue to operate as a standalone site. (Cynopsis 12/16)
Despite layoffs and cutbacks the digital divisions of NBC and CBS are planning a full complement of original web shows for 2009, per TV Week. NBC is developing 4 shows that have already been sold to advertisers and is currently seeking sponsors for another 5, including a late-night talk show targeted to female viewers. CBS has at least two new web shows planned for next year including a companion to the midseason replacement show Harper’s Island. (Cynopsis 12/16)
In a relatively short period of time, online video viewing has gone from watching clips on YouTube to enjoying full TV episode and movies, and this phenomenon, according to a new study from ABI Research, will help drive the number of Web watchers from the current 563 million to 941 million by 2013. “All stakeholders in the online video ecosystem are eyeing the living room,” said Michael Wolf, ABI’s research director. CED Magazine (12/2008)
Online video is expected to be a bright spot in the advertising universe in the near future, but perhaps not as luminous as first expected. Due to the recession, research firm eMarketer has revised its growth forecast for the segment from 49% to 45% in 2009. The Wall Street Journal (12/16)
Yet again, Hulu has the lead. Hulu, Hulu, HULU!
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Filed under: WIRELESS
With Apple and Google’s on-device application stores already peddling the wares and RIM’s BlackBerry Application Center just around the corner, Palm’s making an effort to not get left behind. This evening, Palm launched an official on-device application store for both Windows Mobile and Palm OS powered handsets. (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2008/12/15/palm-gets-in-on-the-app-store-game-launches-palm-software-store 12/15)
More than two years ago, Pandora began working on a Windows Mobile client for their personalized music streaming service. At long last, the project has come to fruition. Pandora has now released a Windows Mobile client. (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2008/12/16/pandora-now-available-for-windows-mobile 12/16)
Cell phones are destined to become the standard way of connecting to the Internet by 2020, according to technology experts surveyed by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which found nearly 80% of its respondents holding that view. The group also predicted most carriers worldwide will be run under a “set of universal standards and protocols.” Network World (12/15))
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: 505 Games, iPhone, Los Angeles, Michael Phelps, United States, us, Video game
Famed Olympian Michael Phelps and global videogame publisher 505 Games announced a partnership to develop a series of next generation videogames for consoles and the iPhone. The first title is scheduled to be released in spring 2010 and will be developed by 505 Games’ newly formed U.S. studio in Los Angeles. Cynopsis 12/16)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Apple, MacMini, Men In Black: The Album, Michael Jackson, NPD Group, Personal computer, Sony, Steve Jobs
TECHNOLOGY
Steve Jobs is not going to deliver this year’s Macworld keynote. We suspected this was coming. But there’s more: Apple has confirmed that this is their last Macworld ever. (http://gizmodo.com/5111773/apple-announces-last-year-at-macworld-no-steve-jobs-keynote 12/16)
A new report out from NPD Group shows that PC sales for Apple were flat in November. However, sales of the company’s notebook computers rose 22% in the U.S., the retail-focused research firm reported. 
ClipSyndicate/Bloomberg (12/15) , Reuters (12/16) , The New York Times/Computerworld/IDG News Service (12/15)
Dell, once a virtually untouchable force in the personal-computing business, now, according to this report, finds itself beset by competitors and working to play catch-up in a devastated economy. “It appears they are boxed in on all sides,” said analyst Ashok Kumar of Collins Stewart. “I don’t know how they can possibly extricate themselves from the hole they are in.” The New York Times (12/15)
Sony announced plans Monday to sell movies and music on USB drives, including a special edition of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album for $19.99 and movies “The Da Vinci Code” and “Men in Black” for $29.99 each. But, according to this analysis, there may be some concerns about the company’s chosen delivery platform. CNET (12/15)
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