Hot Off The Press: The Latest TV News and Information - Page 2547

TUESDAY's fast affiliate overnight prime-time ratings -and what they mean- have been posted on Analyst Marc Berman's Media INsight's Blog.

Technology/Business Notes
In Piracy Debate, Deciding if the Sky Is Falling
By Jenna Wortham and Amy Chozick, The New York Times - Feb. 8, 2012

When Fred Wilson, a prominent New York venture capitalist who has backed Twitter and Zynga, wanted to watch the Knicks game last month, he got an unpleasant surprise. Time Warner Cable was not showing the game because of a contract dispute.

Frustrated, he turned to the Internet for help. Within minutes he was streaming the game illegally on his big-screen TV.

“It’s not that we don’t want to pay for our sports entertainment,” Mr. Wilson wrote on his blog after the fact. “But last night we were turned into ‘pirates,’ as the entertainment industry likes to call us.”

Plenty of Knicks fans can sympathize with Mr. Wilson’s plight. And his rationale makes perfect sense to people in tech circles, who increasingly expect to have most everything available on demand, and resent it when media companies stand in their way.

That is not how media companies and the entertainment industry see it. From their perspective, tapping into pirate streams and file-sharing sites is no different than shoplifting in the supermarket.

“Copyright violations are a serious business and we don’t condone that in any way,” said Alexander Dudley, a Time Warner Cable spokesman, when asked about Mr. Wilson’s desperate measures.

The recent highly publicized fight over two bills aimed at cracking down on online piracy threw a stark spotlight on this same disconnect between the Internet industry and the media giants of Hollywood and New York. Despite full-court lobbying by big players like the Motion Picture Association of America, lawmakers abandoned the bills after tech companies and groups, along with ordinary Internet users, mounted a frenzy of protests, saying the bills would hurt Internet freedom and innovation.

Now the challenge is for the two sides to find common ground on how to combat the piracy problem — though they can’t even come to terms on how big a problem it is.

“The fundamental issue is whether or not the sky is falling and the entertainment industry is being decimated by technology,” said James Berger, a lawyer who specializes in intellectual property and entertainment content licensing.

Seeking out an illicit stream of a game that you should be able to watch legitimately is one thing. But media companies say they are facing a relentless barrage of far less defensible thefts involving movies, television shows and music.

In a letter in December announcing its support for stronger antipiracy legislation, the motion picture association said that “$58 billion is lost to the U.S. economy annually due to content theft, including more than 373,000 lost American jobs, $16 million in lost employees’ earnings, plus $3 billion in badly needed federal, state and local governments’ tax revenue.” A spokesman for the association, Howard Gantman, said the $58 billion figure came from an economic model that estimated piracy’s impact on a range of tangentially related industries — florists, restaurants, trucking companies and so on.

Many outside the industry are skeptical of its analysis. “The movie business is fond of throwing out numbers about how many millions of dollars are at risk and how many thousands of jobs are lost,” said Art Brodsky, who works for Public Knowledge, a digital rights group. “We don’t think it correlates to the state of the industry.”

In one of the most public steps forward since last month’s fight, Mr. Brodsky’s group pulled together a coalition of more than 70 tech companies and advocacy groups, including Amnesty International, Consumers Union, Reddit and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, that sent a letter to Congress on Monday calling for lawmakers to rethink their approach.

“Now is the time for Congress to take a breath, step back, and approach the issues from a fresh perspective,” the letter says. It urges Congress to quantify the extent of piracy and its economic effects “from accurate and unbiased sources, and weigh them against the economic and social costs of new copyright legislation.”

Some in the Internet world, including Tim O’Reilly, a noted investor and chief executive of the tech-books publisher O’Reilly Media, go so far as to question whether illegitimate downloading and sharing is such a bad thing. In fact, some say that it could even be a boon to artists and other creators.

“The losses due to piracy are far outweighed by the benefits of the free flow of information, which makes the world richer, and develops new markets for legitimate content,” he wrote in a blog post. “Most of the people who are downloading unauthorized copies of O’Reilly books would never have paid us for them anyway.”

That free flow of information, media companies worry, is making consumers accustomed to getting something for nothing. Privately, several senior media executives said technology companies wanted to devalue their copyrighted content because it ultimately benefitted their business.

“If intellectual property developed by creative people and covered by copyright was as respected as intellectual property developed by engineers and protected by patents, this problem would greatly improve,” said a Viacom executive who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Viacom is currently appealing a copyright infringement case against YouTube. In 2010 a federal judge ruled in favor of YouTube’s owner, Google, which Viacom accused of seeking to profit from thousands of copyrighted clips from shows like “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” that users had posted on YouTube.

Media executives have a particular beef with Google. Some claim it initiated the online fervor over the antipiracy legislation in part to advance its own business interests. Michael O’Leary, a senior executive vice president at the motion picture association, put it this way: “I’d ask Google, ‘How many jobs do we have to lose before they start taking this seriously?’ ”

A Google spokeswoman, Samantha Smith, said the company was “heavily invested in the fight against piracy,” noting that last year it took down 5 million infringing Web pages and spent more than $60 million to root out “bad ads,” including those for illegal or pirated goods.

Google also says it has developed ways to address the piracy problem on its own sites, pointing to Content ID, a system put in place after the Viacom suit was filed that helps copyright holders identify material they own on YouTube and decide whether to remove it or leave it up and share in the ad revenue.

Media companies have no plans to immediately revisit the antipiracy legislation. Instead, several entertainment executives said they planned to reorganize and talked to labor unions, pharmaceutical companies and other backers of the legislation about a unified message so the antipiracy and anticounterfeiting movement was not just associated with Hollywood. These executives, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the issue is so heated, also said they wanted to look at how they could better harness the Web to educate the public about piracy, something they admitted they flubbed last month.

Of course, as consumers embrace online video and music in both legal and illegal flavors, media companies have also been learning new tricks. Warner Brothers, for example, now offers a digital locker, part of an industrywide push to Internet-based movie storage that allows customers who buy a DVD or Blu-ray disc to access the same movie on many different devices.

“We’re trying to create a compelling option for consumers, but at the end of the day, unlike the pirates, we’re charging them,” said Kevin Tsujihara, the president of home entertainment for Warner Brothers.

The digital locker is the latest effort to stem the decline in home entertainment revenue, driven largely by Netflix and Redbox rentals, but also by piracy. The research firm SNL Kagan estimates that industry revenue from video rentals and sales fell 10.5 percent to $18.5 billion in 2010 from the year before.

Piracy has put the impetus on media companies to more quickly strike deals to make television and movies available on the Web legitimately. In 2007, Erik Flannigan, now the executive vice president of digital media at Viacom Entertainment Group, pulled up the Google search page on a giant screen at Viacom’s Times Square headquarters. He typed in “South Park” and took senior executives on a tour of Web sites offering pirated episodes.

Today, Comedy Central makes every episode of “South Park,” “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” available free online. The efforts, Mr. Flannigan said, put a big dent in piracy. As for the television industry as a whole, Mr. Flannigan said: “You might not like the windows, or that shows go up and come down, but it’s a far cry from where we were.”

Still, Comedy Central shows do not make billions in syndication or in DVD sales like some TV series. The industry has been reluctant to make available shows like CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory,” which sold for $2 million an episode to Time Warner’s TBS and Fox. That makes piracy a tempting option.

“If they don’t make content available where consumers are, they’re just shooting themselves in the foot,” said Ron Conway, a Silicon Valley investor and the head of the SV Angel investment fund.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/te...1&ref=business

Nielsen Overnights
ABC's 'The River' has murky premiere ratings
By James Hibberd, EW.com's 'Inside TV' Blog - Feb. 8, 2012

This is a bummer: ABC's promising thriller The River got off to a relatively modest start in the ratings Tuesday night.

The two-hour opener averaged 7.5 million viewers and a meh 2.4 rating in the adult demo, up 4 percent from the comparable debut of Off the Map last year. Moreover, the show lost a tenth of a rating point each half hour during its run. The news is a bit surprising considering how successful ABC has otherwise been at launching new shows this season, often delivering stronger premiere ratings than expected. This isn't a lethal number, but I think most expected something bigger (and certainly hoped for it).

ABC also aired two episodes of Last Man Standing (7.9 million, 2.4), down slightly from a few weeks ago. The second half hour featured a guest appearance by Kim Kardashian (yes, I agree, but her episode did slightly better than the first).

So what did well last night? The 200th episode of the indestructible NCIS (20.8 million, 4.1), steady in the demo. It was followed by the slightly destructible NCIS: LA (16.1 million, 3.1), down 6 percent. At 10 p.m., Jane Curtain guest starred on Unforgettable (11.7 million, 2.2). CBS won the night in the demo and viewers.

Fox was a close second in the demo with Ricky Martin guest starring on Glee (7.7 million, 3.2), down 14 percent from last week's Michael Jackson episode. New Girl (6.9 million, 3.5) was steady and Raising Hope (4.7 million, 2.2) rose 10 percent.

NBC had Biggest Loser (6.4 million, 2.2) was up 5 percent and Parenthood (4.6 million, 1.6.) fell 6 percent to a series low. The CW had 90210 (1.4 million, 0.7) and Ringer (1.1 million, 0.5).

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/02/08/ri...gs/#more-74363

Business Notes
Time Warner Profit Beats Estimates as Ad Revenue Improves at TV Networks
By Edmund Lee, Bloomberg.com - Feb. 8, 2012

Time Warner Inc. (TWX), owner of the HBO cable-TV channel, reported fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts' estimates as subscription fees for television shows improved, and it announced a new share buyback of $4 billion.

Net income rose 0.5 percent to $773 million, or 76 cents a share, from $769 million, or 68 cents, a year earlier, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Excluding some items, profit of 94 cents a share beat the 87-cent average of analysts' predictions compiled by Bloomberg. The shares climbed 2.5 percent to $39.06 at 10:14 a.m. in New York. They have risen 5.4 percent this year before today.

Time Warner, which through its Warner Bros. unit produces The Big Bang Theory TV series, and derives more than 70 percent of annual operating income from television. Led by Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Bewkes, the owner of CNN and TNT said last quarter's advertising sales rose 2 percent at the networks unit, driven by international growth. Subscription fees for TV shows advanced 5 percent.

The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 11 percent to 26 cents a share. The company sees 2012 growth in earnings excluding some items in the low double-digit range, from a base of $2.89 a share. Analysts expected a gain of about 9 percent.

Buyback a Positive'

Time Warner's repurchase program and dividend increase answered concerns that the rate of return on capital was peaking, David Bank, analyst with RBC Capital Markets in New York, said in a telephone interview. That's definitely a positive, said Bank, who rates the shares outperform.

Advertising growth was weak compared against gains at Walt Disney Co. (DIS), Paul Sweeney, senior media analyst at Bloomberg Industries, said in an e-mail. Time Warner said growth is coming from international, so domestic actually might be down, Sweeney said. That is the only potential weak spot I see.

Box office results for Warner Bros., which released films Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Happy Feet Two at the end of the year, declined 39 percent to $369.2 million in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier, according to research firm Box Office Mojo. The end of the studio's Harry Potter franchise will make for tough comparisons this year, according to Alexia Quadrani, a JPMorgan & Co. analyst.

The studio did alright, but it was tough because of Harry Potter last year, said Quadrani, who spoke in a telephone interview before the results were released. At the same time, there's early interest in the next Batman film and their TV business is doing well overall, said Quadrani, who rates the shares overweight and doesn't own any.

Fourth-quarter sales increased 4.9 percent to $8.19 billion. Analysts had expected $8.04 billion. The adjusted earnings exclude items such as impairments of goodwill and costs related to mergers, acquisitions, investments or dispositions.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...-networks.html

Tech/Business Notes
Bridesmaids' Most Popular VOD Of All Time
By Mike Fleming, Deadline.com - Feb. 8, 2012

Universal Pictures announced today that Bridesmaids is the No. 1 most ordered VOD title of all time, with over 4.8 million rentals in just over four months of release according to Rentrak's OnDemand Essentials. Bridesmaids, which will be available on VOD through February 29, has grossed over $24 million to date.The studio estimated that through all digital platforms including internet video on demand, pay-per-view, hotel viewings, and electronic-sell-through transactions, Bridesmaids has totaled more than seven million orders with grosses of $40 million domestically.

The struggle between the major studios and exhibition chains to figure out a way to allow movies to play on VOD weeks after its theatrical bow remains at a stalemate. But the success of the day and date title Margin Call, and the prospect of Mel Gibson going straight to VOD on the action film Get the Gringo, and now this news about Bridesmaids, is sure to broaden this increasingly important revenue generator. Imagine what premium price Universal could have charged for the adult-oriented comedy a few weeks after it became a hit in theaters? It was Universal that tried to test a VOD release of Tower Heist in a couple markets for $59.99 three weeks after the film opened in theaters. I still think that studios and exhibitors will find a way to cut the latter into the ancillary revenue stream, bringing theatrical distribution into the 21st Century.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/02/brid...d-of-all-time/

TV Sports/Legal Notes
Former College Athletes Denied Access to TV Sports Contracts
By Eriq Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Hollywood, Esq.' Column - Feb. 8, 2012

EXCLUSIVE: On Tuesday, a judge in San Francisco blocked an attempt by former NCAA athletes including Bill Russell, Ed O'Bannon, and Oscar Robertson to obtain "highly sensitive" TV sports contracts and other documents pertaining to an ongoing class action lawsuit that alleges the NCAA, its members and conferences and licensing partners are unfairly profiting off of athletes' images.

The denial of a motion to compel these documents was a tentative decision by U.S. magistrate judge Nathanael Cousins, but nevertheless is a blow to the ex-athletes' wish to gain information that would purportedly show a conspiracy that the NCAA forces collegiate sports stars to relinquish their rights as various colleges and corporations earn billions of dollars off their backs.

In his decision yesterday, Judge Cousins turned down one whopper of a subpoena request, including all television contracts concerning Division I football and basketball, all licensing agreements with "outside" licensing entities, revenue or royalty reports, all documents relating to the releases and consent forms that athletes must sign, all documents relating to copyright and licensing policies in collegiate sports, all documents relating to deals with videogame publisher Electronic Arts, and more.

The decision is a relief to Fox Broadcasting, which had argued last month that it would be quite burdensome to produce this, and that by allowing the plaintiffs to win an argument that networks must get the consent of athletes before airing their images, "it would be impossible to continue televising sports."

The decision means that Fox, the Big Ten conference and probably TBS won't have to share some of their most sensitive internal information with lawyers for ex-athletes, but the athletes still have hopes of obtaining contracts from other entities from other judges.

That's because, in the last few months, the U.S. judicial system has been subject to a nationwide scavenger hunt for all documents that underpin the big business of college sports. More than 30 law firms have been involved in an effort to get or fight off subpoenas.

Many judges around the nation have yet to make a final ruling on subpoena demands from former athletes. Among the still pending cases is one in Connecticut against ESPN, one in North Carolina against the ACC, and one in Alabama against the SEC.

The plaintiffs are hoping to find a sympathetic judge somewhere. Unlike ones in Texas and Ohio who dismissed subpoena motions against Conference USA and the Ohio Valley Conference, respectively. Or a Georgia judge who on Tuesday transferred his case involving TBS to Judge Cousins in California.

There, Judge Cousins has been dubious about the "overly broad" and "unduly burdensome" nature of the plaintiffs requests. Besides turning down the above-mentioned subpoena requests, the judge on Tuesday also rejected an attempt to procure from Fox and others documents that made reference to the ongoing litigation, discussions at trade association meetings, and documents concerning the amateur status of athletes including any proposed changes the status.

The tentative ruling follows another made by Cousins two weeks ago where he turned down an attempt to get NCAA universities to hand over documents. The judge determined that the plaintiffs had failed to establish that the NCAA has "control" of its member institutions.

The plaintiffs haven't completely thrown airballs, however.

Judge Cousins recently granted the plaintiffs' request to get NCAA President Mark Emmert to sit down for a three-hour deposition. Next month, in the midst of March Madness, Emmert will be forced to answer tough questions about the NCAA's policies in the promotion of amateurism and competitive balance. Topics of discussion, according to the judge's decision, could be Emmert's opposition to a plan to pay collegiate athletes and his conversations with the NCAA membership about concerns that commercialism is overwhelming amateurism.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr...russell-287941

TV/Critic's Notes
Me-TV and Antenna TV Make It Possible to Relive CBS's Legendary 1973-74 Saturday Night Comedy Lineup Five Nights a Week
By Ed Martin, TVWorthWatching.com - Feb. 8, 2012

It's only four years old, and isn't available everywhere -- at least not yet -- but the relatively new nostalgia network Me-TV already has done something remarkable. It has made it possible for anyone old enough to remember CBS's legendary 1973-74 Saturday night comedy lineup to relive three-quarters of that singularly sensational viewing experience Monday thru Friday from 7:30-9:30 p.m. ET...

The trio of shows comprising those three quarters are M*A*S*H (which is telecast at 7 and 7:30 p.m. ET), The Mary Tyler Moore Show (8 p.m.) and The Bob Newhart Show (9 p.m.). The show that interrupts this particular flow is The Dick Van Dyke Show (8:30 p.m.), and while it was not one of CBS's early Seventies Saturday night comedy classics, it certainly feels right at home with those other fantastic shows.

If Me-TV ran All in the Family in place of The Dick Van Dyke Show it would re-create not only the best four-hour comedy block in television history, but two-thirds of the best night of television ever. (Many of CBS's various Saturday foursomes, including its 1973-74 season all-stars, were followed at 10 p.m. by The Carol Burnett Show from 1972-77.)

Happily, people who receive Me-TV (a.k.a. Memorable Entertainment Television) and the similarly classic-conscious Antenna TV can actually complete this nightly orgy of nostalgia for Saturday nights, circa 1973-74, by changing the channel at 9:30 p.m. ET and enjoying an episode of All in the Family. (Antenna TV runs two episodes of All in the Family weeknights at 9 and 9:30.)

I have to admit, I don't often do this, partly because I indulged in so many hours of All in the Family last summer (on Antenna TV and TV Land), and also because there is currently so much first-run TV to see.

But my DVR is in overdrive nevertheless. More often than not, I find myself recording the new stuff and watching it later in the evening, simply because I cannot resist M*A*S*H, Mary and Bob. On Me-TV, they're followed at 9:30 by another treat: The original single-woman-in-the-city comedy That Girl, which still sparkles all these decades later. With all due respect to the effortless charms of stars Marlo Thomas and Ted Bessell, That Girl would be worth watching just for its occasional location shoots, which lovingly showcase New York City in the late-Sixties.

I have always enjoyed reruns of All in the Family, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show, but thanks to Me-TV and Antenna TV, I have recently been reminded of how much they enhance each other when savored in one viewing experience. Like many kids and teenagers of my generation, I often stayed home on Saturday nights (or went to friends' homes) to watch these shows. During the television season, Friday was the night to go out and Saturday was the night to stay in, though once the summer rerun season began, Saturdays were wide open, too.

The long-running M*A*S*H (1972-83) was a part of CBS's Saturday schedule for only one season. Oddly, the network never found another show that fit so well with All in the Family (which ran on Saturday from 1971-75) and Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart (which stayed on Saturday throughout their runs).

Me-TV has inadvertently come up with a long-elusive answer, plunking The Dick Van Dyke Show in between the latter two. It fits like a glove, and makes for a full hour of entertainment for fans of Ms. Moore.

Seriously, the opportunity to enjoy these shows together again can be hazardous to a television fan's already packed viewing schedule -- but I'm happy to suffer the consequences.

The only thing that would make me happier is if Me-TV could also cobble together the shows that comprised ABC's 1971-73 Friday night comedy combo, which from where I sit is the second greatest comedy block in television history.

I wouldn't want Me-TV to dislodge its CBS classics from its weeknight lineup, but it would be wonderful if it turned over its primetime weekend hours to The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Room 222 and The Odd Couple. And if you're thinking that lineup should be topped off with Love American Style, you aren't alone.

In fact, Me-TV already offers three of those five shows. So we're almost there!

http://www.tvworthwatching.com/contr...ke-it-po.shtml

Studios needs to learn to tell theaters to go F themsleves. What are the theaters going to do, sell something else? The fact is that the overwhelmingly vast majority of movies make 95% of their domestic gross in the first 6 weeks. The studios would make more money by selling a movie via PPV after say 8 weeks than they'd lose by that movie not being in theaters.

Another marketing expert gets on his soapbox.

TV Notes
Fox's 'House' will end this season
By James Hibberd, Entertainment Weekly - Feb. 8, 2012

Dr. House is hanging up his cane.
The network will conclude the long-running medical drama House this season.

“The decision to end the show now, or ever, is a painful one, as it risks putting asunder hundreds of close friendships that have developed over the last eight years — but also because the show itself has been a source of great pride to everyone involved,” said executive producers David Shore, Katie Jacobs and star Hugh Laurie in a joint statement. “The producers have always imagined House as an enigmatic creature; he should never be the last one to leave the party. How much better to disappear before the music stops, while there is still some promise and mystique in the air.”

The producers and star then wrote a line that might gain attention: “The producers can never sufficiently express their gratitude to the hundreds of dedicated artists and technicians who have given so generously of their energy and talent to make House the show it has been — and perhaps will continue to be for some time, on one cable network or another.”

House is produced by Universal Television and the question has been raised in the past if the studio’s sister network NBC would pick up the show if Fox cancels it. Though line above specifies cable network, it seemingly leaves open the idea of continuing on another platform — unless they’re referring to the show’s repeats continuing in syndication? I’ll update the post as soon as I get clarity on this, but it seems unlikely a cable network could afford the series.

House‘s current eighth season ratings have remained strong, particularly for a drama airing at 8 p.m. The Monday night show has averaged 9.8 million viewers and a 3.9 rating in the adult demo. TV shows get more expensive with each passing year as cast and producer salaries climb, however, while their ratings tend to decrease. So dramas rarely make it past a sixth year, let alone eight seasons.

Another factor in the decision has been the performance of a few of Fox’s new dramas, Bones-spinoff The Finder, House companion Alcatraz and fall dino drama Terra Nova. The better these freshman shows perform, goes the thinking, the less chance Fox will need to pony up for another year of House. All three have performed OK in the ratings, though Alcatraz took a worrisome dip this week.

Last year, the House renewal went down to the wire, with House getting a pickup days before Fox’s upfront presentation in May. In November, star Hugh Laurie said he expects to retire from TV acting once the show goes off the air.

Though House has won many awards, two top prizes have remained elusive — the Emmys for best actor for series star Hugh Laurie and best drama series for the show itself (though Laurie has won a Golden Globe — twice — for the part).

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/02/08/fox-house-cancelled/

You don't think they look at adjusted numbers to make sure their "real" profits are well above prior years in "real" dollars? Or am I reading this wrong?

I'm sure the bean counters look at the adjusted numbers, but that's not what makes the headlines promoting how the latest summer blockbuster "shattered" all records.

Dormant career?? Her best work has been over the last 14 years. She has had a bunch of top ten hits during that time period.
Her last tour in 2008/2009, Sticky and Sweet, was the highest grossing tour ever by a single artist. And the record she broke was her own from 2006.

Her 2012 tour for MDNA starts in May.

Tv Notes
Syfy Renews 'Being Human' for Third Season
By Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Live Feed' Blog - Feb. 8, 2012

Syfy wants more werewolves, ghosts and vampires.

Supernatural drama Being Human has been renewed for a third season, the cable network announced Wednesday.

Coming less than three weeks after its sophomore season bow posted a 27 percent gain in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic, the Sam Witwer, Meaghan Rath and Sam Huntington series has been picked up for 13 additional episodes.

The Jan. 16 Season 2 premiere also posted gains of 15 percent in total viewers and 35 percent in the adults 25-54 demographic, with the episode delivering 2.4 million total viewers and ranking as the second-most-watched episode of any season for the network and up 3 percent compared with the series premiere.

With the success of Season 2, Being Human has become a premier destination forSyfyviewers, Syfy president of original content Mark Stern said in a statement announcing the news. [Executive producers] Jeremy Carver and Anna Fricke have taken this series to new heights this year and we're excited to see where the third season will go.

Witwer, Rath and Huntington star as a vampire, ghost and werewolf, respectively, who navigate life together in a Boston brownstone as they strive to live normal lives.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/liv...n-three-288197

TV Notes
Thursday's Highlights: 'The Mentalist' on CBS
By Los Angeles Times' 'Show Tracker' Blog - Feb. 8, 2012

[ALL TIMES LISTED ARE PACIFIC TIME]

A WOMAN ON TRIAL for murder may be innocent and Jane (Simon Baker) intends to prove it on The Mentalist at 10 p.m. on CBS. With Ian Kahn.

SERIES

The Vampire Diaries: Klaus (Joseph Morgan) sends out invitations to a formal ball at his newly renovated mansion. When Elena (Nina Dobrev) gets hers, Stefan and Damon (Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder) both insist on going with her in this new episode (8 p.m. KTLA).

American Idol: In Hollywood, vocalists try to advance to the semifinals (8 p.m. Fox).

Party Like: Through two parallel events, centuries apart, the new episode The Queen of France tells the story of masquerades, one of the world's most popular and enduring types of party (8 p.m. National Geographic). In a second new episode, at 9, viewers see how a Roman Emperor may have partied.

The Office: Dwight and Andy (Rainn Wilson, Ed Helms) try to decide who should accompany Dwight to Sabre headquarters in Tallahassee for a special project. Jenna Fischer, James Spader and John Krasinski also star in this new episode (9 p.m. NBC).

The Finder: When an amateur magician's (Jonathan Slavin) disappearing act goes a little too well, he asks Walter (Geoff Stults) to help find his assistant, who has vanished for real (9 p.m. Fox).

Austin City Limits: Wilco performs (10 p.m. KVCR).

MOVIES

On the Shoulders of Giants: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the executive producer and a co-writer of this 2011 documentary about the New York Renaissance, an all-black basketball team that was born in a Harlem ballroom in 1923 and became one of the dominant teams of the 1920s and '30s, when the sport was still segregated (8:30 p.m. Showtime).

SPORTS

College basketball: Wisconsin at Minnesota (4 p.m. ESPN); Colorado at Arizona (6 p.m. ESPN); St. Mary's at Gonzaga (8 p.m. ESPN2); Washington at Oregon (8 p.m. FSN); Loyola Marymount at Portland (8 p.m. FS Prime).

Hockey: The Kings visit the Florida Panthers (4:30 p.m. FSN).

Pro basketball: The Lakers visit the Celtics (5 p.m. TNT).

Women's college basketball: USC at Stanford (6 p.m. FS Prime).

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/show...st-on-cbs.html

TV Sports
Clint Eastwood to help create new TV golf channel
By Michael Hiestand, USA Today - Feb. 8, 2012

Clint Eastwood will be the "creative chairman" of a new TV golf channel with shows like Hole Lotta Love and Beer Cart Girl.

Back9Network, which pitches itself as a "lifestyle network as much as a sports channel," hopes to launch this spring. Thewould-be channel says Hole Lotta Love will involve golfing bachelors and bachelorettes winning dream dates while Beer Cart Girl is a comedy about delivering beers on-course until "hilarity ensues." Other shows being hyped by Back9Network include comedian JackieFlynn taking his "wise-guy attitude to the fanciest golf courses in the world" and Extreme Golf with action played from the top or buildings or in deserts.

Eastwood, 81, who will also be a "founding shareholder" of Back9Network, will advise the network on things like casting. He's known Back9Network CEO JamesBosworth since Bosworth was an assistant golf pro at the famed Pebble Beach golf course, in which Eastwood is an investor.

http://content.usatoday.com/communit...golf-channel/1

Legal Notes
Golden Globes Trial Analysis: Time To Bring In A High-Powered Mediator?
By The Deadline.com Team - Feb. 8, 2012



Freelance journalist Domenic Patten is covering the trial for Deadline.

After two weeks of testimony and more than a dozen witnesses including current and past presidents of both Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Dick Clark Productions, their court battle over TV rights to the Golden Globes is now in a holding pattern. At the core of the dispute is a 1993 amendment to DCP's longtime contract with the HFPA. The production company says the amendment grants them rights in perpetuity to the Golden Globes as long as the show is broadcast on NBC, which it has been since 1996. The HFPA says it does no such thing. When DCP signed a $150 million deal with NBC in 2010 extending the network pact until 2018, HFPA took the production company to court.

On Tuesday, Judge A. Howard Matz implored both parties to take the time before their lawyers begin closing arguments on Friday, February 10th to try to come to a settlement. As Deadline reported previously, neither side is talking to the other and some close to the case believe a settlement is unlikely.

Having watched almost every minute of the trial, here are a few observations both sides might want to consider:

CLEAN HOUSE: DCP certainly has issues of its own, like bald-faced lying to NBC during negotiations more politely known as bluffing. But the cloistered 85-odd members of the HFPA need to clean house and create a professional organization. The parade of former HFPA presidents such as Phil Berk and Mirjana Van Blaricom and staff members have revealed a viper's pit of in-fighting. It has also revealed a lack of business savvy which is pretty bad when you are handling a multi-million-dollar asset like the Globes.

RIGHTS = RICHES: This is of course all about money. Nobody would be wasting more than five minutes in court if the once very nearly D.O.A. Globes weren't now worth many millions of dollars. NBC, which has been broadcasting the show since 1996, is paying $21.5 million annually, split 50/50 between DCP and the HFPA minus overhead, to broadcast until 2018. It is also, as DCP's often glib CEO Mark Shapiro noted, about rights. Not just the rights to the show but the rights to all the other associated Globes branded content that either didn't exist or wasn't considered when DCP and the HFPA made their agreements back in the 1980s and '90s.

DIGITAL, PRE-SHOW, POST-SHOW, ARCHIVE there are all sorts of Globes rights just waiting for someone to assemble a comprehensive package. Shapiro testified that in the late spring of 2010, while beginning negotiations with NBC, he had discussions with Phil Berk and HFPA representatives on broadening the HFPA-DCP deal to include these new rights and the potentially lucrative revenue they represent. Shapiro said he seriously considered, with DCP Board approval, dropping the 1993 perpetuity amendment for a single 20-year extension and the ability to shop the show to networks other than NBC if he could make those other rights part of the package. If maximizing revenue is the goal for the HFPA and DCP which is now owned by private equity firm Red Zone Capitol then they might want to stop fighting old wars and think about mutually seizing the bigger prize right in front of them.

BACK TO THE FUTURE: Without a settlement any ruling by Judge Matz is certain to be appealed by the losing side. As Matz noted, that would mean the 2013 Globes would take place under the same legal cloud as this year's event. So why not agree to let time and cooler heads prevail? The clock on the contract in dispute will run out anyway in 2018. Both sides could tell the judge that they want to spend the next approximately 2,170 days, as the Globes continue to air on NBC, working out a new, comprehensive deal.

It is not unimaginable. As DCP CEO Shapiro said during the trial, both sides conducted themselves professionally to ensure the 2012 Globes went off smoothly. With the money at stake and the risk that if this isn't resolved, NBC/Comcast might decide to weigh in legally to protect a scheduled asset. Detente seems far more preferable for both sides than mutually assured litigation which is where this looks to be heading.

CLASH OF THE TITANIC EGOS: Watching the personalities involved on both sides, it isn't hard to see why this has ended up the way it has. If Phil Berk and his faction at the HFPA and DCP's Mark Shapiro and his corporate masters Dick Snyder and the Red Zone gang can't work it out, perhaps they should bring in a mediator. Previous attempts at mediation have failed, but what if a credible industry heavyweight was brought in? Maybe a former studio head, media company CEO or other mogul could gain the respect of all concerned and play broker.

Otherwise, as DCP lawyer Marty Katz pointed out in his opening statement more than two weeks ago, the Golden Globes could easily again become damaged goods and nobody wins.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/02/gold...ered-mediator/

I'm sure they do, but to say a movie today that takes in $400 mil doesn't count as taking in more money than Jaws which took in $260 mil because ticket prices were lower is silly.

TV Notes
Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys to Perform at the Grammy Awards
By Tim Kenneally, TheWrap.com - Feb. 8, 2012

Expect some good vibrations at the Grammys this year.

The reunited Beach Boys, including long-estranged singer-songwriter Brian Wilson, will perform at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 12. The reconstituted group will deliver their first live performance together in more than two decades, playing with Grammy nominees Foster the People and Maroon 5.

The group announced that it was reforming with its original lineup -- minus Dennis and Carl Wilson, who died in 1983 and 1988, respectively -- in December for a new album and international tour in celebration of the band's 50th anniversary. Brian Wilson, who's notoriously wary of live performances, has not toured with the group since 1965. The group's current lineup consists of Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks.

Joe Walsh, Diana Krall and Maceo Parker will also perform at this year's ceremony, the Grammy organization announced Wednesday.

The newly announced artists join a roster of performers that also includes Adele, in her first performance since undergoing vocal cord surgery last year, Kelly Clarkson, Tony Bennett, Chris Brown, Coldplay, Rihanna, Paul McCartney, Katy Perry and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

This year's ceremony, hosted by rapper-turned-actor LL Cool J, will be aired by CBS on Sunday from 8 to 11:30 p.m.

http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/br...y-awards-35232

TV Notes
For 'Swamp People,' a moment of glory
The History channel show was among distinguished company
By Louisa Ada Seltzer, Media Life Magazine - Feb. 9, 2012

Amid the myriad car, beer and soft drink commercials during Sunday's Super Bowl on NBC was one that stood out from the rest: a spot advertising the third-season premiere of History's "Swamp People."

It's rare that a cable network makes a Super Bowl buy, and so media people will be interested to see whether the risky strategy helps goose ratings for "Swamp," which returns tonight at 9 p.m.

History targets men 18-54, which makes sporting events a logical advertising venue, and in fact it has made local Super Bowl ad buys in previous years. It advertised the premiere of "Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy" in Los Angeles and New York last year.

But this was the first time History paid the huge premium to advertise nationally in the game, which cost a reported $3.5 million for a 30-second spot.

The strategy got a lot of attention not just from trade magazines but also from consumer media outlets like the Chicago Tribune and USA Today. Though the spot didn't do particularly well in the postgame ad polls, the extra media hype probably helped raise awareness of tonight's premiere, and History will be studying the ratings carefully to decide if the big outlay was worth it.

"Swamp" already draws strong numbers for History.

It's the network's No. 3 series, behind "Pawn Stars" and "American Pickers," averaging 4.1 million viewers during season two, according to Nielsen. It was also cable's No. 7 reality series last year among adults 25-54, averaging 2.1 million viewers.

The show films in a Louisiana swamp, where the residents, mostly alligator hunters, maintain the same way of life as their great-grandparents.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/art...t-of-glory.asp

Business Notes
News Corp. second-quarter net income jumps 65% to $1.06 billion
By Dawn C. Chmielewski, Los Angeles Times' 'Company Town' Blog - Feb. 8, 2012

Strong performances from the film and cable television business helped propel a 65% jump in News Corp.'s net income for its second quarter from a year earlier, the company said Wednesday.

The media conglomerate reported revenue of $8.98 billion for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, up 2% from the same time a year earlier. Net income rose to $1.06 billion, compared with $642 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose to 42 cents.

"The significant growth we reported in the second quarter in the cable network programming, television and filmed entertainment segments clearly validates our strategy to develop and distribute superior wide-ranging content," Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch said in a statement.

Cable television remains the engine that drives News Corp. Operating income rose 20% to $882 million for the second quarter, reflecting improved results at Fox's Regional Sports networks, reduced rights costs associated with the NBA lockout, and the continued performance of Fox News.

The film group saw its operating income more than double, to $393 million, from $189 million in the same period in 2010. The strong results were driven by home entertainment sales of the animated film "Rio" and summer releases "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and "X-Men: First Class," as well as the strong second- quarter box office performance of "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked," which generated more than $300 million in worldwide ticket sales. The company also released the multiple Academy Award nominee "The Descendants."

The television group, which includes the Fox broadcasting network and a local television station group, reported a 25% increase in operating income from a year earlier, to $189 million for the second quarter. The growth reflects increased ad revenue from the network's stronger fall schedule, led by "X-Factor" and "The New Girl," as well as a 100% increase in fees paid to distribute network programming.

Publishing took a hit in the second quarter, with operating income falling 43% to $218 million, partly because of the lack of contributions from the now-defunct News of the World tabloid -- closed after revelations of phone hacking and bribes -- and weak advertising revenue from the company's Australian newspapers.

News Corp. took an $87-million charge related to the costs and ongoing investigations connected with the London phone-hacking scandal.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ente...d-quarter.html

TV Notes
'All fireworks' ahead for 'The Walking Dead'
By Carol Memmott, USA Today - Feb. 9, 2012

What going to happen in upcoming episodes of AMC's The Walking Dead?

First, a recap: Last fall, survivors of the zombie plague hit the road with hopes of reaching safe haven at Fort Benning. Instead, they spent their time

"We ended our first half of the second season with It was a big moment, and that's just the beginning of an escalation all the way through the finale," says creator Robert Kirkman. "These last six episodes are action-packed."

MORE: Norman Reedus talks about Daryl

Online trailers offer limited details (no spoilers):

Continued squabbling between Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Shane (Jon Bernthal) over what's best for the group.

A horrific car crash.

Hershel and Rick encounter two shadowy strangers.

"The second half is all fireworks," says actor Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon). "It's just bang-bang-bang the whole time."

Concerning online chatter about an upcoming death, Reedus says: "There's at least one major loss coming, but I don't think it's exactly what people think. There are a lot of rumors going around."

And what about Daryl's missing brother, Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker), making an appearance? "You might see that big brother of mine, but I don't know what I can talk about," Reedus says. "I like my job and want to try and keep it as long as possible."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/televis...ead/53015690/1

Nielsen Notes (Broadcast)
'Downton Abbey' Enjoys Ratings Upswing, Unlikely Runner-Up Status
By Michael O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Live Feed' Blog - Feb. 8, 2012

Downton Abbey is probably closer to a critical mass than anything that's ever come out of PBS' Masterpiece Classics franchise.

The British import, nearing the end of its stateside run's second season, has been performing well above its freshman average of 3.6 million. And this past Sunday, it was the second most-watched broadcast during its time period -- after the record-breaking Super Bowl.

Down just a shade from its season average (roughly 4.34 million) on the biggest TV night of the year, Downton Abbey finished second place to the big game with 4.0 million between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. It topped repeats the whole of cable and the broadcast networks.

It's a number that's likely to gain significantly with DVR viewings. Live + 7 day ratings for Downton Abbey -- including DVR and online viewings and encores -- pushed its Jan. 8 season premiere up 50 percent, from 4.2 to 6.3 million viewers.

Downton Abbey hit its season high in its fourth week, bringing in 4.8 million viewers on Jan. 29 episode. It will continue on PBS through Feb. 19.

A third season is scheduled to start production in the U.K. this month.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/liv...er-bowl-288220

TV Review
Black Power Mixtapes' revisits heyday of Stokely Carmichael and other radical leaders
By David Hinckley, New York Daily News - Feb. 9, 2012

Watching this splintered but fascinating documentary on the incipient black power movement of the late 1960s calls to mind the Gil Scott-Heron line about how the revolution will not be televised.

Whatever goals black power leaders had in those early days, primarily community empowerment, they knew they weren't going to reach them by discussing the movement with a Swedish filmmaker.

That's probably why The Black Power Mixtapes feels more like commentary on the game from the booth upstairs than a report from inside.

That distance doesn't make its content less interesting or valuable. It does give the documentary a first draft of history feeling, more like a running series of news reports than something digested and put into a larger context.

Much is made in the promotional material for the film about how Swedish filmmaker Goran Hugo Olsson won the trust of his subjects, many of whom were not inclined to trust white folks.

The film itself suggests there's some truth in that trust business. It also says the trust had its limits.

Stokely Carmichael, who became Kwame Ture and turned the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) into one of the most radical organizations of the movement, had incisive analytic conversations years later with black media people he trusted, like Gil Noble and Imhotep Gary Byrd.

In this film, he's primarily seen giving speeches warning that the white man will never voluntarily give up power and control.

His skill as a speaker and motivator is vividly clear.

Angela Davis, in a sit-down interview, articulates many of the same points, despite her apparent skepticism that her interviewer will fully grasp what she's saying.

Eldridge Cleaver speaks from exile while his wife, Kathleen, talks about the mission of the Black Panther Party from a small California office.

The documentary is chronological, weaving historic events like the Vietnam War and the Apollo moon landing into the film's own material as the years progress.

Still, the film has a fragmentary feel, as if we're looking at a scrapbook of snapshots rather than a narrative tying them together.

That may be one reason the filmmakers let much of the footage sit for 30-plus years before it was assembled into Black Power Mixtape.

Within the eight years this documentary encompasses, the black power movement itself underwent significant changes. Leaders were killed, missions morphed. Groups known for militant street protests shifted part of their attention to breakfast programs.

Black Power Mixtape touches on all of that, but leaves to someone else the task of wrapping it all together and exploring the extensive impact the movement had on subsequent American life.

What it does do is give those future chroniclers another rich batch of material to work with.

'INDEPENDENT LENS: THE BLACK POWER MIX TAPE'
Network / Air Date: Thursday at 10 p.m., PBS
Rating: ★★★★ (out of five)

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...icle-1.1019241

Nielsen/Technology Notes
Youths Are Watching, but Less Often on TV
By Brian Stelter, The New York Times - Feb. 9, 2012

Television is America’s No. 1 pastime, with an average of four hours and 39 minutes consumed by every person every day.

But more and more young people are tuning in elsewhere.

Americans ages 12 to 34 are spending less time in front of TV sets, even as those 35 and older are spending more, according to research that will be released on Thursday by Nielsen, a company that tracks media use.

The divide along a demographic line reveals the effect of Internet videos, social networks, mobile phones and video games — in short, all the alternatives to the television set that are taking up growing slices of the American attention span. Young people are still watching the same shows, but they are streaming them on computers and phones to a greater degree than their parents or grandparents do.

It has long been predicted that these new media would challenge traditional television viewing, but this is the first significant evidence to emerge in research data. If the trends hold, the long-term implications for the media industry are huge, possibly causing billions of dollars in annual advertising spending to shift away from old-fashioned TV.

Gary Carr, a senior vice president for TargetCast TCM, which buys ad time for companies, said that while the dip was “not cause for panic,” it merited concern and careful monitoring. “Young people are always the first group to be doing other things, trying other things,” Mr. Carr said.

Echoing those sentiments, executives at several major media companies said their proprietary research affirmed that there had been a dip in overall youth viewership in recent months, though they said it had not yet led to a meaningful effect on the ratings for individual channels.

The television industry has been expecting — and dreading the day — that TV viewing peaks, and then either plateaus or slowly declines in the face of encroaching Internet and phone use. According to data that Nielsen will release on Thursday, television viewing as a whole is steady, in part because older Americans — particularly those over the age of 65 — are watching more than ever before. Digital video recorders deserve some of the credit for the uptick, since they let people stockpile shows.

But for three straight quarters, there have been declines in viewing among Americans under 35, even when DVR viewership is factored in, according to Nielsen data analyzed by The New York Times.

Adults ages 25 to 34, for instance, watched about four and a half fewer hours of television in the third quarter of 2011 than at the same time in 2010 — the equivalent of about nine minutes a day. Viewers ages 12 to 17 also watched about nine fewer minutes a day. The demographic in between, those ages 18 to 24, watched about six fewer minutes a day.

Pat McDonough, a senior vice president at Nielsen, said this week that the company was watching youth viewing behavior “very closely,” and acknowledged in an interview that she had seen “a little bit” of a drop-off in youth viewership. She cautioned, however, that there had been fluctuations in the past, and noted that traditional television viewership in 2010 was very high. (This is possibly a reflection of economic circumstances, since television viewing tends to grow when the American economy does not.) The shorter National Football League preseason in 2011 may have also influenced year-over-year comparisons, she said.

As behaviors shift, there is likely to be a scramble to identify winners and losers. Viacom, the owner of Nickelodeon, criticized Nielsen last fall after ratings showed that the channel suffered from a sudden drop in children’s viewing.

According to data for the first nine months of 2011, children spent as much time in front of the television set as they did in 2010, and in some cases spent more. But the proportion of live viewing is shrinking while time-shifted viewing is expanding.

Zach Dulli, a director of operations for the National Council for Geographic Education in Washington, has noticed that his children, Max and Huck, like the TV set, but they like laptops and cellphones more. Now that Huck has mastered the finger swipe to turn on an iPad, Mr. Dulli and his wife, Stephanie, prepare “Baby Einstein” for him to watch on the device. Huck is eight months old.

“To us, TV is separate from the other media we use,” Mr. Dulli said. “To my sons, it’s not.”

To a child, television shows on the iPad are still television, but to Nielsen, it’s not: the company counts computer and mobile streams of shows separately, making it difficult for the television industry to get a handle on changing habits.

On Sunday, for the first time, the Super Bowl was broadcast online as well as on television, but the ads were sold separately and the ratings were reported separately. About 2.1 million unique users watched the live stream at some point during the game, while about 111.3 million people watched on television at any given time during the game. NBC says there was some overlap, but that it was hard to know how much. But the network has said that the game was the “most-watched single-game sports event ever online.”

Accordingly, there is a growing sense of urgency within the industry to make online and mobile viewing as measurable as traditional couch-bound viewing. Ad-buying agencies are gradually moving some client money to the Web to reach the 20- and 30-somethings who are becoming harder to reach with traditional television.

“Television still reaches young audiences in a major, major way,” said Billie Gold, the director of programming research for Carat USA, an ad-buying agency.

That said, just before a phone interview on Wednesday, Ms. Gold ran the preliminary numbers for the first few weeks of 2012, and she saw a dip in youth viewing compared with the same period last year. “This is why we’re incorporating more digital and online video” into our advertising plans, she said. “We know it’s a place to replace some of the young audience that is leaving television.”

Just ask Jay Rishel, a system administrator in York, Pa., whose son Cory, 4, has become accustomed to watching television via Roku, a small box that streams shows through the Internet. On Tuesday night, Cory asked his dad if he had watched television via Roku growing up. When his dad said no, Cory then asked, “So you could only watch DVDs?”

“Since it was bedtime, I didn’t try to explain we had four channels available when I was growing up,” Mr. Rishel, 31, said. “I don’t think he knows what a channel even is.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/bu...ref=television

Carl Wilson lived until 1998.

NBC has switched out the 10pm Grimm repeat for a repeat of the Post-Super Bowl season premiere of The Voice.

Oh, I quite agree with that. Personally, I think all these numbers are stupid. It's just like quarterback stats when so much changes over the years, and not just in the rules. I know they like numbers to show shareholders and to brag, but they are all really pretty bogus if you ask me.

No way.

1st 10 years had 25 top 10 songs.
Last 10 years had 2 top 10 songs.