news corp
Alec Baldwin Talks About His Axed Emmys Sketch & Schweddy Balls Ice Cream (VIDEO)
Alec Baldwin wasn't at the Emmys on Sunday night, but he still managed to occupy some of the spotlight. Word leaked out before the ceremony that the '30 Rock' actor had originally been slated to be in the Emmys opening montage, but dropped out of the sketch when Fox execs nixed a News Corp. joke about the phone hacking scandal. Baldwin went on 'Access Hollywood Live' (weekdays, syndicated on NBC) to talk about that, and the new Ben & Jerry's Schweddy Balls Flavor, inspired by an 'SNL' sketch he starred in as Pete Schweddy.On the Emmys sketch, Baldwin said he thought News Corp. might have some sense of humor about the scandal, but when they didn't, he simply asked that his bit be removed from the sketch. His part was replaced by Leonard Nimoy, and Baldwin was perfectly cool with that.
Stephen Colbert Talks Rupert Murdoch Scandal With NY Times' David Carr (VIDEO)
Stephen Colbert sat down with 'New York Times' columnist David Carr to get his take on the Rupert Murdoch scandal on 'The Colbert Report' (Weeknights, 11:30PM ET on Comedy Central). Considering that the 'Times' is not owned by News Corp. or Murdoch, Colbert couldn't wait to hear Carr's opinion.But first, a potential conflict of interest: "Shouldn't you non-Murdoch papers have to recuse yourselves from this story, because you can't be objective?" Colbert asked.
Carr agreed it's a juicy story. Ironically, it's the very kind of story many of the News Corp. media outlets would have salivated to get their paws on, if only it hadn't been about them.
Could the Time Warner/Fox fight disrupt college football?
In the words of Martin Lawrence from Bad Boys 2, "s#&$ just got real." The never-ending spat between Time Warner Cable and the Fox dynasty could put some big college football games in jeopardy of not getting any airtime. If the two sides don't reach some kind of middle ground soon, it could put the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, the Fedex Orange Bowl and the Allstate Sugar Bowl in danger of a blackout.
Of course, the threat of losing the American earned right to sit on the couch and watch an endless series of football games during a holiday has spurred the government to take action. Senator John Kerry, the head of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communication, Technology, and the Internet, has sent a letter to the two companies asking them to finish this thing up by New Years' Day. I wonder, can Congress declare war on a major media conglomerate? Guess we'll find out soon enough.
Networks, advertisers teaming up to take on Nielsen
Everyone is always up in arms about the Nielsen ratings, saying they don't accurately represent the shows that a lot of people like or aren't measured correctly or simply don't matter in this age of DVRs, iTunes, network web sites, and DVDs. Now it looks like the networks are giving a thought to providing an alternative. CBS, NBC, Disney, News Corp, Discovery, Time Warner, and Viacom are getting together and hope to have some sort of plan on what the "consortium" will do by the end of September. A VP at Starcom MediaVest, one of the companies involved, says that they don't necessarily want to replace Nielsen but there's no reason why another company can't "come in and do both [TV measurement and digital measurement]"
[via TV Tattle]
Olbermann, O'Reilly told to end personal feud, which just creates another feud
It seems the never-ending feud between Keith Olbermann and Bill O'Reilly has become a kangaroo boxing match. The worst thing you can do is get in the middle of it. That's exactly what the parent owners of Fox News and MSNBC tried to do when they arranged a "cease-fire" between them and their top-tier shows' "lieutenants."
The cease-fire, however, didn't last long. It's another case of the ol' Rufus T. Firefly conundrum for peace. Either side might be willing to do whatever it takes to end this war, but they've already paid two months' rent on the battlefield.
WGA Strike: week two updates
We've entered Week Two of the WGA Strike, and although we're not getting any closer to a resolution, there's still plenty of WGA Strike news to report:- The WGA-East declares that "Ellen DeGeneres Not Welcome in NY."
- Lost's co-creator Damon Lindelof announces, "Television is dying" in the New York Times.
- Some soap writers are crossing the picket line to resume work.
- Today (Tuesday) was dubbed "Picketing with the Stars" as 100 actors from 30 TV shows joined the picket line at Universal Studios in a show of solidarity.
- Seventeen entertainment blogs went dark for a day in support of the writer's strike.
- Peter Chernin (president of Fox's parent company, News Corp) bragged that the strike is "probably a positive" for the company as it will most likely save them money.
- CBS News is preparing for a possible strike by 500 of their news writers.
- The Simpson's Mr. Burns tells striking writers they can't have the internet: "It's Mine!"
Hulu is NBC and News Corp's answer to YouTube
NBC and News Corp have announced a name for their YouTube competitor. Hulu doesn't seem to stand for much of anything, but it's "short, easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and rhymes with itself." Since hulu is positioned as an alternative to YouTube, I suppose they're tied with YouTube for syllables, and have a slight edge in the number of letters. As for content, right now, there's nothing. Hulu is accepting e-mail addresses from anyone interested in signing up for a private beta, which will launch in October.
YouTube killer and video ad sites prepared to launch
Early next year NBC Universal will launch Didja.com, a YouTube-like video site made just for advertisers. The site will feature TV spots both old and new, movie trailers and other brand-related stuff. Advertisers will also include special offers and promotions to coincide with their specific channel.
The idea was concocted by executives at the NBC Universal-owned USA cable network, so expect lots of ads for that particular network when the site launches. Eventually, other NBC Universal properties will show up on the site, as well.
NBC and News Corp add more channels to new online video service
We've been telling you about NBC Universal and News Corp's new YouTube-esque video service for awhile now, and today The Hollywood Reporter has news that the service has added the following channels to its lineup:
- Fuel TV
- Sundance Channel
- Oxygen
- Speed
The Simpsons: Kent Always Say What You Want (season finale)
(S18E22)
Rod: Daddy, what are you doing?
Ned Flanders: Imploring people I never met to pressure government with better things to do to punish a man who meant no harm for something nobody even saw, that's what I'm doing!
Like I said in my other review, the "24 Minutes" episode, on the surface, seemed like the better choice for the 400th episode, but I'm glad they picked this one. The only reference to this being a milestone of some sort occurred in the opening: a short from the Tracey Ullman days showing Homer trying to take a picture of his family. It was nice and simple and a way of saying, "hey, we've been going at it this long, and we're going to keep going." Maybe I'm just not one for a lot of fanfare and hoo-ha, but I found that quite touching.
CNET joins NBC and News Corp's new online video venture
You've all heard about the upcoming video-sharing site from NBC and News Corp. Well, now CNET has joined the venture and will be providing content for the new site. CNET, which also owns GameSpot.com and TV.com, will provide "thousands of clips" to the new service and also serve as a distributor. NBC and News Corp already have distribution deals with Yahoo, MySpace, MSN, Comcast and AOL (which owns TV Squad).
The site launches this summer with full TV episodes and more from close to twenty television networks and two movie studios.
I'm always in favor of more ways to view television programs, so I'm anxious to see how this new site turns out. I just hope they allow user comments like YouTube does, because if I can't read a comment from CyberMonkey56 in Sheboygan telling me "thjs showes is sucks!" it's just not worth my time.
Idol Gives Back content available on iTunes
If you somehow found yourself feeling unsatisfied after last week's inspirational "Idol Gives Back" smorgasbord, you can always head over to iTunes for a second helping.
For a limited time, iTunes is offering video and audio versions of the performances as well as some exclusive content that wasn't televised during the original air date.
While you can expect to pay a nominal fee for everything you download, all proceeds will be distributed to relief organizations within the U.S. and Africa via the Charity Projects Entertainment Fund.
Although "Idol Gives Back" has already brought in $60 million in donations, it's nice to see some ancillary methods like this iTunes arrangement continuing to bring even more money to the charitable cause.
Check out the American Idol official Fox Site for more details.
Idol contestants to perform anthem written by Bono
We're halfway through American Idol's self-proclaimed "historic" charity event. Last night, News Corp donated 10 cents for every call received (up to 50 million calls). Tonight, a bunch of celebrities (including Ellen DeGeneres, Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion, and a mystery duet) will take to the stage to entertain America and raise even more money and awareness.
And before one of the Idol finalists gets booted, the kids will perform a special anthem -- "American Prayer" -- written by Bono and Dave Stewart about the AIDS emergency in Africa.
News Corp. and NBC to team up and take on YouTube
The YouTube phenomenon is certainly making for some interesting business arrangements. It seems like every "old guard" media company is either striking deals with YT to make sure their content is legally shown on the service. But now that Google is in the picture, it seems like companies are banding together to fight the online behemoth and create their own product. Some companies have done both.Take NBC, for example. Last year they struck a deal with YT to create a channel for them to place legal clips of their shows on the service. But now, they've decided to join forces with News Corp., the owner of the FOX network, to create an online video site to show TV shows and movies from both companies. The networks will leverage their content partnership deals with Yahoo, MySpace (owned by News Corp.) and our corporate benefactors at AOL to distribute and link to the videos. This LA Times article goes into the details.
Could OJ's book still go public?
Citing sources close to OJ Simpson, Time is reporting that certain publication rights from his book, If I Did It, Here's How it Happened, could revert back to him before next Christmas. That means the book may still see the light of day, somewhere. Several European publishers have expressed an interest in the book, a "fictional" account of how Simpson would have committed the murders he was accused of had he actually done it. If the book ever gets published, here or abroad, Simpson is welcome to use this hypothetical blurb, written in the spirit of the book, based on what I would have said had I actually read it:
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