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TV Sports
With swimming, gymnastics finished, will NBC ratings dip?
By Michael Hiestand, USA Today - Aug. 8, 2012

Sometimes the second week of an Olympics can get dodgy for broadcasters. At a Summer Games, the traditional marquee U.S. TV draws — swimming and women's gymnastics — are over. And with any Olympics, some viewers might be getting tired of watching night after night.

NBC's own ongoing London Olympics research, says Alan Wurtzel, president/research and media development for NBCUniversal, shows about half of Olympic viewers who work in offices say they're "watching more than I should" at work - whether via NBC TV or digital coverage - while about half of all viewers say they're "staying up so late I need to get more sleep."

But what's different about NBC London coverage is that, with ratings up over the Beijing 2008 Games in each time slot including prime time up 9%, it has already overdelivered to advertisers — meaning it has met its various ratings' guarantees. While Olympic networks in the second week of a Games sometimes worry about ratings and providing advertisers with so-called make-good ads — essentially free ad time to compensate for ratings shortfalls — NBC has been selling that ad time rather than keeping it in reserve.

"Historically, the ratings go down a bit in the Games second week, although there's no real pattern to it," Wurtzel says. "The Olympics back end is never going to be as high as the front end, and you expect it."

So why should NBC even sweat the ratings and therefore worry about tweaking its coverage, at this point?

While Olympic coverage is scheduled well in advance and prime time is heavily scripted, NBC has made tweaks that were meant to boost ratings. It moved the men's and women's tennis finals to live coverage when it was clear each matchup would have enough star appeal that it could do well in an early-morning time slot. And it dropped event action from most of the first hour of Sunday's prime time after NBC did a long interview with Michael Phelps and, not surprisingly, decided it could become an extended prime-time draw.

And NBC has at least a little motivation to consider future tweaking, if not major changes, in coming days. It wants as many viewers as possible to see its relentless on-air promos for upcoming sitcoms and other NBC shows. And NBC has a chance to break a pretty big record: So far, London coverage is on track —by 2% — to top its 2008 Beijing coverage and thus attract the most total viewers of any U.S. TV event. (Current recordholder Beijing drew a total of 214.5 million viewers. A viewer is defined as someone who watched at least six total minutes of Olympic coverage on any NBC TV channel carrying coverage.)

And, of course, there's the big motivation: London's ratings will be used to sell advertisers on NBC 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games. NBC's ad people, says Wurtzel, "will start those Olympics as soon as everybody gets home."

Not that advertisers can look at any Games' ratings — good or bad — and assume they'll be replicated in the next go-round. With Brazil, there will be new time-zone issues and questions about American stars. It will be the first Summer Games without Michael Phelps since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Says Wurtzel: "Absolutely, the Olympics are unique in television."

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/story/2012-08-07/Will-NBC-ratings-dip-with-top-draws-over/56853020/1

She's smart and pretty with a voice that makes nails down a chalkboard sound good, but the bottom line is (as always) the same - girls don't belong on football game coverage. We all know why they're there, and it's not because they are good sports reporters. Go look at any of the non-pregame shows on NFLN and ESPN etc. and it's always the same - guys talking football. The girls only show up for pregame and sideline coverage, and that's because the nets know that serious football talk is for guys.

*ducking*
Edited by slowbiscuit - 8/8/12 at 6:10am

They say that every PGA golfer ought to give a share of his earnings to Tiger Woods who was in large part responsible for the dramatic increase in purse sizes on Tour over the last decade and a half. In a similar vein, Erin Andrews ought to give that poor ol' Peeper (who's probably in jail or something) a significant cut of her future earnings. The truth is, she'd be just another anonymous blond sideline reporter toiling in the trenches if it wasn't for him.

I would understand that comment 10 or 20 years ago, not now. There are a lot of women reporters and announcers that know the game and can talk with the best of them, and plenty of them are on ESPN. Their conversations flow naturally (unlike the early years where they were a news reporter thrown into the sports spotlight just because they were female, and expected to perform flawlessly) and they really do know what they are talking about. No question their looks are a plus, but when I see a female reporting I don’t even give it a second thought. CSN Washington has an excellent Redskins reporter in Kelli Johnson. Unfortunately, so far this preseason, after years of being an exclusive Redskins reporter, some knucklehead took her off the Skins, put her in the studio, and had her doing a Ravens report yesterday. That so pisses me off that CSN is getting an email from me today. Yeah, I’d take Kelli over any male, any day, she is that good.

I can think of some:
Nicole Zaloumis hosts on NFLN the new NFL AM show weekdays.
Lindsay Rhodes hosts on NFLN total access almost every weeknight.
Sara Walsh & Wendy Nix host on ESPN NFL Live weekdays frequently.
ps: the *ducking* is funny.

Speaking of NFLN tonight @ midnight is their NFL fantasy draft show with Michael Fabiano of NFL.com who gives out great info & fantasy info is like those aforementioned hot chix....you can never have enough of either of them.

I know plenty of MEN on Tv that are supposed "experts" on football that don't know jack. One of my favorite things is seeing the "predictions" of the "experts" then coming back to them at the end of the season an see how woefully wrong they were.

Enough!!!! I swear these "people" do this stuff just to screw with peeps who prefer to wait and watch in the comfort of their own home theater rooms.

Home theaters getting too good? I know, let's instantly make every piece of HT equipment obsolete and make 'em replace everything yet again.

SD to HD ok ... HD to 3D-HD, dubious ... 24fps to 48fps, ridiculous! DOA.

A lot of the so called 'experts' would *kill* to be Jimmy Kimmel right now.

If you don't know, Jimmy has been predicting the winner of Dancing With The Stars for the last 10 cycles, always making his prediction on the first night of the season's competition. He's been right 6 times out of 10. (YES! SIX!) With two more winding up in the final three. So only twice has he bombed out (Ian Ziering and David Arquette). And he's willing to put his money where his mouth is - betting $1,000 on his choice - hey, some Vegas place has got to be willing to lay odds.

That's quite the track record (no wonder he calls himelf "NostraDancemus"!). I know it's not the same (predicting the Super Bowl winner vs. predicting the winner of DWTS), but still...
Edited by humdinger70 - 8/8/12 at 1:23pm

"...and our apologies to Matt Damon, we simply ran out of time."

My bad, I haven't caught up with the daily shows in a while and when I do watch one it's usually CFB, which thankfully is usually just guys. Doesn't change my opinion though, and yes I was putting on the flame-retardant suit.

I don't know whether to agree with you or throw my stiletto at you .

Some women do know their stuff and some are eye-candy. I think I'd take a few female reporters over Joe Buck and some of the Fox crew.

No problem with the ladies. At least they are better than the ex-jocks that can't carry on an intelligent conversation. And have a 'you know' every other word.

That is one of my biggest pet peeves when they interview athletes.

Ya and you know, ummm, ya and, ummmm, you know, ummm

Rinse and repeat

It used to be: “You know what I’m sayin’? Not so much now.

At least on the tv we can put the motionflow setting on to simulate it.
Yea it has haters cause of the video look but i like it....gives you that real live you are there its happening now feel.

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

Nielsen Overnights (18-49)
Univision remains solid against Games
'La Que No Podia Amar' is night's top non-Olympic show
By Toni Fitzgerald, Media Life Magazine - Aug. 8, 2012

Univision continued to be the top non-Olympics broadcast network last night with ABC, CBS and Fox largely in reruns.

The Spanish-language network had the night's top non-Games show, "La Que No Podia Amar," which averaged a 1.7 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights.

The 10 p.m. show has ranked either first or second to the Games every weeknight since they began more than a week ago.

Univision also had the evening's No. 2 non-Olympic program, "Abismo de Pasion," which averaged a 1.4 at 9 p.m.

Among the other non-Olympic Big Four networks, ABC had the only original program, "NY Med," which was up 17 percent over last week's episode to a 0.7.

Note, accurate ratings for NBC's Olympics coverage will not be available until later today, at which point they'll be posted on Media Life. Early numbers indicate the network was up over the same night at the 2008 Games.

NBC led the night among 18-49s with a 9.3 average overnight rating and a 27 share. Univision was second at 1.4/4, Fox and CBS tied for third at 0.9/3, ABC was fifth at 0.7/2, Telemundo sixth at 0.5/1 and CW seventh at 0.2/1.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback, which includes shows replayed before 3 a.m. the night before. Seven-day DVR data won't be available for several weeks. Forty-four percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

NBC once again led each hour of the night with Olympics coverage, beginning with a 6.7 at 8 p.m. Univision was second with a 1.1 for "Por Ella Soy Eva," CBS third with a 1.0 for a repeat of "NCIS," Fox fourth with a 0.9 for a "MasterChef" rerun, ABC fifth with a 0.7 for repeats of "The Middle" and "Last Man Standing," Telemundo sixth with a 0.4 for "Rosa Diamante" and CW seventh with a 0.2 for a rerun of "Hart of Dixie."

At 9 p.m. NBC was first with a 10.1 for Olympics, followed again by Univision with a 1.4 for "Pasion." ABC, CBS and Fox all tied for third at 0.9, ABC for a "Wipeout" rerun, CBS for a repeat of "NCIS: Los Angeles" and Fox for more "MasterChef." Telemundo placed sixth with a 0.5 for "Corazon Valiente" and CW seventh with a 0.1 for "The L.A. Complex."

NBC extended its lead at 10 p.m. with an 11.2 for Olympics, while Univision remained second with a 1.7 for "Amar." CBS was third with a 0.8 for a repeat of "Person of Interest," ABC fourth with a 0.7 for "Med" and Telemundo fifth with a 0.5 for "Pablo Escobar: El Patron del Mal" (0.6) and "El Rostro de la Venganza" (0.4).

Among households, NBC finished first for the night with a 17.3 average overnight rating and a 28 share. CBS was second at 3.7/6, Univision third at 1.9/3, ABC fourth at 1.7/3, Fox fifth at 1.5/2, Telemundo sixth at 0.7/1 and CW seventh at 0.4/1.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/univision-remains-solid-against-games/

Business Notes
Liberty Spinning Off Starz
By Tim Molloy, TheWrap.com - Aug. 8, 2012

Liberty Media is spinning off premium cable network Starz into a separate company, it announced Wednesday.

Starz, which runs the Starz channels as well as Encore, will become a separate listed company with about $1.5 billion in debt.

Liberty CEO Greg Maffei said the deal will provide better transparency, improve Starz's capital structure and increase liquidity at Liberty Media. The increased liquidity will "preserves all our options with respect to SiriusXM and Live Nation," he said.

“I believe this stand-alone structure is the first step to unlocking the real potential growth opportunities for our business,” added Starz CEO Chris Albrecht.

http://www.thewrap.com/tv/column-post/liberty-spinning-starz-51176

TV Notes
ION Acquires ‘Law & Order: Criminal Intent’
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - Aug. 8, 2012

On the heels of its pickup of the off-network rights to Numbers, ION Television has acquired another long-running procedural, Law & Order: Criminal Intent. ION has bought all 10 seasons (195 episodes) of the Law & Order spinoff series, which started its run on NBC and ended it on USA Network.

At ION, it joins Numbers, Flashpoint, Criminal Minds, Cold Case, Leverage and WWE Main Event.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/08/ion-acquires-law-order-criminal-intent/

Business/Legal Notes
Los Angeles County Sues Time Warner Cable for Not Paying Bill
By Eriq Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Hollywood Esq.' Column - Aug. 7, 2012

The county of Los Angeles says that Time Warner Cable owes it almost $700,000.

In what might provoke a sense of schadenfreude for any Los Angeles resident ever late in paying a cable bill, the county is now taking TWC to federal court, looking for money owed plus a judge's declaration that the company has violated the law.

Could the cable company be in any danger of being booted from California?

The dispute emanates in part from quirky changes in the way cable franchises are set up in the state.

Prior to 2007, cable franchises were issued by local governments. Cable companies were required to pay franchise fees plus they had to provide facilities and channels for public, educational and government ("PEG") access.

Thanks to the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006, that changed. Under the new law, incumbent cable operators transitioned from locally issued cable franchises to video service provider franchises issued by the state of California. Fees still were paid locally, it seems. In 2007, Los Angeles updated its code to require each state-franchised video service provider within its borders to pay a franchise fee of up to five percent of gross revenue plus a one percent PEG fee. Late payments incurred interest, of course.

TWC obtained two franchises from California, but according to the lawsuit filed by Los Angeles, the company was required to honor PEG requirements in connection with its prior 21 local franchises.

Los Angeles says that TWC owed PEG fees for 2008 in the amount of $695,571.90.

In May 2011, TWC sent a check for $694,258, leaving an underpayment in the amount of $1,313.90 (plus interest).

But...Los Angeles also says that TWC owed it a state franchise fee payment of $837,304. TWC then sent a payment of $143,046, leaving a balance of $694,258, or the same alleged amount that was owed for the PEG fee. In other words, TWC seems to have changed its mind about paying the PEG fee.

According to the complaint, TWC has taken the position that "during any year where an incumbent provider was subject to any grandfathered PEG obligations, the provider was not required to pay the PEG fee." (A spokesperson for the company hasn't yet returned our request for comment to confirm this.)

But Los Angeles says the offset of PEG amounts against state franchise fees does not constitute a deduction authorized by law.

So now, Los Angeles wants its owed money and is suing TWC for violation of the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act as well as its own local code.

Yes, nearly $700,000 is at stake, but what else?

According to the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act, "The commission shall not renew the franchise if the video service provider is in violation of any final nonappealable court order issued pursuant to this division."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/time-warner-sued-los-angeles-unpaid-bills-359112
Edited by dad1153 - 8/8/12 at 10:30pm

TV Notes
‘General Hospital’ cast is happy with show’s revival, but the prognosis remains cloudy
By David Hinckley, New York Daily News - Aug. 7, 2012

BEVERLY HILLS — With daytime soap operas dropping faster than housing prices the last few years, “General Hospital” fans have been worried their fave would join the casualty list.

Turns out they weren’t nearly as worried as the cast — or as relieved, now that the prognosis is at least temporarily improved.

“We’d been living on Death Row,” Anthony Geary told TV critics here. Geary has played Luke Spencer on and off since the 1970s, when he was half of the most famous soap opera wedding ever, that of Luke and Laura (Genie Francis).

But then Frank Valentini came in as executive producer a season ago and, the cast agreed, turned things around.

“We were kind of like the walking dead for little while,” said Nancy Lee Grahn, who plays Alexis Davis. “It was like we were heading for the iceberg going, ‘Why doesn’t somebody do something?’ And ABC did. ... He [Valentini] has made a tremendous difference.”

One of Valentini’s first moves was to add some characters from “One Life to Live,” a fellow ABC soap that was killed off.

That was “a little bit of a way to honor the ‘One Life to Live’ audience and also create a story that was good for the current cast,” said Valentini, though he adds that he felt “General Hospital” was already solid when he inherited it.

What he did, he said, was “not rebuilding, but maybe remodeling. The show was in terrific shape, but needed some tweaks. It’s much more my taste for the show to go just a little bit faster, but I [also] thought there were some key characters missing, certain archetypes that were important.”

Concern heightened about the future of “General Hospital,” the country’s longest-running active soap opera, now nearing its 50th anniversary, when ABC announced the Katie Couric daytime show that will start this September.

But Couric herself gave the show a strong endorsement, and when ABC’s new daytime show “The Revolution” faltered, “General Hospital” got a renewal. It will move to the 2 p.m. slot, just ahead of “Katie,” beginning Sept. 10.

That doesn’t ensure a permanent future, since soap ratings continue to decline in general and networks have been replacing them with lower-cost talk shows. ABC is bullish on its new “Good Afternoon America,” which is getting a test run this summer. If that is picked up permanently, something will have to go.

Valentini says he’s only thinking about the present and has only gotten support from ABC.

“All I can say is they invited us here [a television critics press tour],” he said. “To me that’s a great sign, and they’re behind us 100%.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/general-hospital-cast-happy-show-revival-prognosis-remains-cloudy-article-1.1128322

Critic's Notes
Bianculli's Best Bets
By David Bianculli, TVWorthWatching.com - Aug. 1, 2012

2012 SUMMER OLYMPICS
NBC Sports Network, 2:15 p.m. ET
At 2:15 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network presents live coverage of the gold medal match in women’s soccer, with the resilient USA team facing, in this year’s Olympic final, the efficient and impressive squad from Japan. The match that got the USA here, a thriller of a game against Canada, was perhaps the most exciting soccer game I’ve ever seen – with the US scoring the winning goal in the final minute of extra overtime, and emerging as victors, 4-3, without lining up for a shootout, which was imminent in less than a minute of play. Even with so many other events occurring today, this one – in which Japan gets to defend its 2011 World Cup victory against this very team – easily gets the gold so far as I’m concerned.

BURN NOTICE
USA, 9:00 p.m. ET
For the first time this season, Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) and Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) are working together, side by side, on a mission. But this week, it’s not the only mission – and they’re not the only operatives.

P.O.V.: "SHORT CUTS"
PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET
This seems to be an annual tradition now, and a very welcome one: a collection of brief, disparate film shorts, presented under the P.O.V. banner. Tonight’s selection includes one Oscar-nominated short (The Barber of Birmingham, about an influential Alabama man who cut hair, and raised civil-rights consciousness, for more than 50 years), and, among other treats, a new collection of animated versions of the public radio StoryCorps project (pictured). Check local listings.

LOUIE
FX, 10:30 p.m. ET
I love this guy. Who else but Louis C.K. is taking self-effacing self-examination to such painfully hilarious levels these days? Part of tonight’s episode has the comic watching a retrospective TV special presenting clips from his standup routine when he just started out: clean-shaven, thin, with a full head of red hair and a lot of green jokes. And what pains Louie the most while reliving this, apparently, are the jokes.

TOTALLY BIASED WITH W. KAMAU BELL
FX, 11:00 p.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: Chris Rock is damned smart, and damned funny, about popular culture and race, and he’s the executive producer of this new FX standup comedy series featuring W. Kamau Bell, who is damned smart, and damned funny, on those same topics as well. Like the same network’s BrandX with Russell Brand, this series is performed and taped at the last minute to increase topicality – but grading on a Bell curve, expect a lot more substance, as well as genine laughs, here. Take, for example, his unforgettable mathematical proof about why black culture can lay claim to country music: “Country Music = The Blues Minus Slavery.”

http://www.tvworthwatching.com/

Legal Notes/TV Sports
Judge Orders NCAA to Turn Over TV Licensing Revenue Documents
By Eriq Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Hollywood Esq.' Column - Aug. 7, 2012

One of the remarkable standouts of this year's Summer Olympics is 17-year-old swimmer Missy Franklin, who after winning four gold medals in London has signaled her intent to forgo millions of dollars in potential endorsements in favor of a chance to compete in college. After all, Franklin won't be able to accept sponsor money if she wants to maintain her amateur status, which the NCAA requires for athletic eligibility.

Then again, an ongoing lawsuit against the NCAA and its licensees like Electronic Arts hopes to change that situation. The plaintiffs assert that the defendants have engaged in an antitrust conspiracy to fix at zero the amount of compensation that athletes like former UCLA basketball star Ed O'Bannon can receive for the use of their names, images and likenesses. The plaintiffs are seeking to have the waivers that NCAA athletes sign that give up their rights to "name and image" be declared null and void.

On Monday, the athletes scored a small victory by getting a California judge to order the NCAA to turn over information relating to revenue that its members receive from broadcast television, radio and Internet rights as well as reports tied to income from sponsorships, licensing, sales of advertising, and more.

Barring any settlement, this dispute will not end for some time -- perhaps not by the time Franklin is competing for a college-level championship -- but the big challenge to the NCAA's "amateurism" rules is going forward.

The plaintiffs in the case have been pushing for details about the NCAA's income from media sources for quite some time. They say they need it because it "may form the basis of a calculation of damages" and "demonstrate the magnitude of the benefit that the NCAA and its members receive as a result of exploiting the name, likeness and/or image rights of college athletes."

Earlier this year, the plaintiffs went on a nationwide scavenger hunt to find a judge willing to compel third parties like Fox and TBS to hand over their "highly sensitive" TV contracts. Many of the requests landed under the review of U.S. magistrate judge Nathanael Cousins in San Francisco, who found the requests "overly broad" and "unduly burdensome."

But on Monday, Judge Cousins was more lenient on the plaintiffs' motion to compel the NCAA itself into turning over revenue reports.

The NCAA, which has resisted efforts to pay collegiate athletes over concerns that commercialism would overwhelming amateurism, fought the handing over of certain financial documents over their relevancy as well on First Amendment grounds.

The athletic association has already turned over some of its agreements with licensees, but there were many contracts that were signed at the conference or university level. The NCAA argued that disclosure of the requested information "could chill the willingness and ability of the NCAA and its members to engage in candid and sensitive communications going forward, based on their fear that a future litigant might also seek discovery relating to those communications.”

Judge Cousins finds that "unpersuasive" because the NCAA failed to articulate its reasoning and because the confidential information such as TV contracts would be subject to a protective order whereby the defendants would be prohibited from sharing it. (Of course, leaks sometimes happen in cases like this.)

The type of information to be handed over goes beyond run-of-the-mill reports of how much money that a conference like the Big Ten gets paid for live games. That's included too, of course, but the plaintiffs have also been seeking stuff like the millions of dollars purportedly reaped from rebroadcasts of classic games, DVD highlight films, streaming, stock footage licensing to corporate advertisers, photograph sales, and more.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/ncaa-london-olympics-missy-franklin-359007
Edited by dad1153 - 8/8/12 at 10:29pm

Legal Notes/TV Sports
Tough Selling Season For Showrunners As Networks Prove Very Picky In Early Going
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - Aug. 8, 2012

The traditional overall development deals have already been overshadowed by the so-called “showveralls” as TV studios opt more and more to sign overall deals with writer-producers who are tied to some of their key shows or are willing to staff. Those expensive development-centered deals are taking another blow in the early round of this development season as the broadcast networks have shrugged off projects from top TV writers. I’ve counted at least a half-dozen pitches by A-list showrunners, all under multi-million-dollar overall deals, that failed to sell over the past couple of weeks. The same thing has happened to a couple of feature writers. “The networks are being extra picky this year,” one top agent said. “The areas in which they choose to buy are narrower, and it feels like auspices are not as important.” This marks a stark departure from the proceedings a year ago. “Last year, you’d walk in the door with a name and you’d get a commitment on the spot,” an insider said. “It was more about being in business with those (writer-producers) than the actual idea.”

Heading into this development season, the networks, especially NBC and ABC, which overspent last year, have indicated that they will buy less. “It seems like it is indeed happening,” another agent noted. Signs that the broadcast networks, in search of fresher voices, were opting to go with less-experienced show creators began towards the end of the last development cycle when a staggering seven pilots, mostly on the comedy side, were picked up to series despite not having an experienced showrunner at the helm.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/08/tough-selling-season-for-showrunners-as-networks-prove-very-picky-in-early-going/

Business Notes
News Corp. fourth-quarter results marred by $1.6-billion loss
By Meg James, Los Angeles Times - Aug. 8, 2012

News Corp. reported lower earnings and revenue in its fourth quarter as the global media giant controlled by Rupert Murdoch struggles to manage the financial fallout from a devastating phone-hacking scandal at its British publishing subsidiary.

For the April-June quarter, News Corp. reported a net loss of $1.6 billion, or a loss of 64 cents a share. That compared with a $683 million profit, or 26 cents a share, for the fourth quarter of 2011.

The quarterly results included a $2.9-billion pre-tax impairment and restructuring charge, primarily related to the company's publishing businesses.

The company took a $224-million charge for the 2012 fiscal year for costs associated with ongoing investigations over the bribery and phone-hacking scandals at its now-shuttered London tabloid News of the World.

The company said it generated revenue of $8.4 billion, a decline of 7%, from the nearly $9 billion it took in during the year-earlier period. Strength at the company's key cable TV networks, including FX and Fox News Channel, were weighed down by issues elsewhere in the company.

News Corp. warned that the film group, which delivered strong results in the prior quarter, would post a "significant decline" in the fourth quarter. The film studio's major June releases, Ridley Scott's highly anticipated sci-fi thriller "Prometheus," and "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," disappointed at the box office. Twentieth Century Fox's strongest release of the year, the animated film "Ice Age: Continental Drift," was released in July, at the start of the next fiscal quarter.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-news-corp-reports-fourth-quarter-earnings-20120808,0,6195931.story

HDTVChallenged does have a point, though. If their only goal was to deliver a superior viewing experience, they would shoot movies at 60 FPS to make them automatically compatible with all HDTV sets. Using a frame rate like 48 could be a ploy to push 3DTV sales, since non-3D sets have no reason to use a 240 Hz refresh rate, and basic sets still use 2:3 pulldown, instead of native 24/30 FPS support via a 120 Hz refresh rate.

I can't stand any of those shows. They don't cover football,they cover the stuff that happens AROUND football. Endless pointless blather.

You are correct. Once HD TV penetration hit a certain point, the manufacturers felt they needed something else to drive sales. 3D was going to be it. While 3D has been well received in the rest of the world (amazingly China heads the list), the coveted US market has not embraced 3D. Because of that, 3D is considered a failure. The manufacturers have for the most part moved on to the "next thing" which appears to be the 48 fps rate. I doubt this will go very far either. It is a geek, wonk kind of thing that Joe 6pack will not see or understand. No WOW to it like HD was. KISS principle. Keep It Simple Stupid. With HD, you could instantly see the difference. With 48 fps, not so much and J6P doesn't understand the difference of 24/48 fps vs 3:2 pull down, etc.
Edited by foxeng - 8/9/12 at 4:50am