Broadcast TV Ratings for Tuesday, October 3, 2006 October 4, 2006 4:26 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Broadcast TV Ratings, Nielsen Ratings, Television.1 comment so far
With FOX starting their Baseball coverage, ABC pulled out an easy win. Friday Night Lights struggles out of the gate, while Veronica Mars premieres even with last season.
Fall 2006 TV Review, Part Six (”Friday Night Lights”) October 3, 2006 11:41 pm
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Lets get right into the sixth part of my mini-review feature; “Friday Night Lights” (here is part one, part two, part three, part four and part five).
Broadcast TV Ratings for Monday, October 2, 2006 October 3, 2006 11:24 pm
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For the first time in the new season, CBS surpasses NBC for first in A18-49 on a Monday evening.
EA Purchases the Maker of the Battlefield Franchise October 3, 2006 2:38 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Video Games.add a comment
Electronic Arts will acquire DICE Studios ( Digital Illusions CE) for the approximate price of $23.9 Million.
The deal had been in the works since the 2004.
More information about the deal and its history can be found at Hollywood Reporter.
FX Purchases Exclusive Cable Rights to “Invincible” October 3, 2006 2:38 am
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The cable network FX, has purchased the exclusive cable rights to the Buena Vista feature film starring Mark Wahlburg; Invincible.
It is suspected that FX will pay 10-12% of the domestice boxoffice take of the movie, which is currently at around $56.3M.
“Hustle” Renewed October 3, 2006 2:38 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Renewals, Television.1 comment so far
The AMC series (co-produced with BBC) has started production in London on the fourth season.
6 episodes will make up the fourth season, with the season premiere set for March of 2007.
FOX Gives Justice A Little Support October 3, 2006 2:38 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Television.1 comment so far
Perhaps giving the show a little show of support, FOX has ordered three additional scripts for the new TV series.
The series is currently on hiatus until November, when FOX’s Baseball Playoffs end.
Justice premiered on August 30th to an audience of about 8.86M viewers. After dipping to less than 5.6M viewers, the show rebounded some in its last aired episode to a little over 7M and continues to hold most of its lead-in’s audience (Bones).
Movie and TV Piracy Costs American Economy $20.5 Billion October 3, 2006 2:37 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, Piracy, Television.1 comment so far
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Movie and TV piracy has run rampant in the United States, but perhaps the dollar figure amount will surprise some; $20.5 Billion. This according to an analysis by the Institute for Policy Innovation.
To read more facts and figures from the analysis, please follow the source link.
Source: Video Business
Yahoo! Begins Streaming Showtime TV Shows For Free October 3, 2006 2:37 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Television.add a comment
Showtime, this month, will begin offering free episodes of a select few of their programs online through the Yahoo! TV service.
Some programs said to be part of the service are Weeds, Dexter, Sleeper Cell and The L Word. These programs, and others will be available to view on the site from October 6-13.
While it’s not unusual in this day and age to stream shows online for free, it is when the medium is on a premium cable station (Showtime has done this sort of thing in the past with it’s critical favorite, but ratings starved original-series Huff).
The service will also stream free previews of new Showtime projects such as The Tudors, which will premiere on the network in 2007.
MTV Set To Premiere New Comedy Sketch Program October 3, 2006 2:37 am
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Set to premiere in the first quarter of 2007, “Nick Cannon Presents: Short Circuitz” has been given an 8 episode order by MTV.
TBS Prepares Late-Night Programming Block October 3, 2006 2:37 am
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TBS has set in motion two new shows to anchor their late-night programming block.
Beginning Monday, November 27, 10 Items or Less will premiere in the 11:00 PM time-slot. The improv comedy program centers around a Manhattan businessman who is coping with the responsibilities of having to take over the family restaurant after his father’s death.
My Boys, a female centered program, will premiere the following night in the same time-slot.
Other programs down the line include a puppet talk show from The Jon Henson company, a project from comedian Frank Caliendo, and a possible sketch comedy show, in the vein of those on Comedy Central, from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart producer Jenny Hunter.
BBC America Expands Its Portfolio October 3, 2006 2:36 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Television.add a comment
BBC America has set forth to double their current programming budget, in an effort to get more viewers to the network and increase their market penetration (BBC America is currently available in 49.7M homes).
The network has green-lit two new series (Goldplated and The Innocence Project), one tv-movie (After Thomas) and purchased the rights to air three new dramas (Eleventh Hour, Northern Lights and Afterlife).
More information about this news can be found at MediaWeek and Broadcasting & Cable.
Microsoft Zune Priced and Dated October 1, 2006 11:27 pm
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Microsoft has set the price and release date of its personal multimedia iPod like device.
The Microsoft Zune will launch on November 14th this year for the MSRP of $249.99. The 30GB model’s price is $50 less than the comparable iPod model from Apple.
Users can purchase a Zune Pass ($14.99/month) and have access to millions of songs, or they can download individual songs for 79¢ per track (also less than what Apple charges – 99¢ per track).
The press release from Microsoft follows below:
Superman Returns DVD Premieres in China October 1, 2006 11:25 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in DVD, Movies, Piracy, Superman Returns.1 comment so far
The Superman Returns DVD, this past Thursday, launched in China. A full two months before its North American launch of November 29th.
In an effort to combat piracy, a very big problem on the Asian continent, Warner Brothers has decided to release the movie on DVD much earlier than is normal, and for a low dollar amount.
Priced between $1.80 and $2.80, the DVD packs the full release encoded with a hard-to-copy disc encryption. Because the studio has to compete with the pirated copies (in retail stores no less), it’s almost impossible to sell for a higher retail price in China.
You can read more about this and some background on the piracy problems at Video Business.
Xbox 360 HD DVD Disc Drive – Price and Release Frame October 1, 2006 11:22 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in HD DVD, High Definition Optical Disc, Microsoft, Movies, Video Games, Xbox 360.3 comments
Microsoft has announced its price point ($199.99) and release frame (mid November) of its HD DVD Disc Drive for the Microsoft Xbox 360 Core or Premium Console.
The add-on device will be capable of outputting the formats full 1080p resolution, and will connect via USB 2.0.
At current prices, an Xbox 360, equipped with the required add-on to play the movies, will run anywhere from $499.99 to $599.99, the same price range as the formats competing Blu-ray technology from Sony.
This November, Sony will release the PS3 in two models, one for $499.99 and one for $599.99. Both models will be capable of playing back full 1080p Blu-ray movies.
Neither console will be capable of paying both formats.
Currently, Toshiba and RCA sell HD DVD units for $499.99 to $799.99, while Samsung has the only Blu-ray player out at $999.99.
More hardware manufactures are expected to release their own units come holiday season.
The Full Press Release is viewable below:
Robert Downey Jr. Cast as Iron Man October 1, 2006 9:48 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies.add a comment
Robert Downey Jr. has been cast to play the part of Marvel Comics superhero Iron Man.
The movie Iron Man, the first movie to be independently produced by Marvel Comics, will premiere on May 2nd, 2008.
The film is being directed by Jon Favreau and will be distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Casting is underway for all secondary roles and filming is scheduled to begin sometime in February of 2007 in Los Angeles.
The Amazing Race Gets an 11th Season October 1, 2006 9:48 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Renewals, Television.add a comment
CBS has decided to go ahead with a new season of their Emmy winning reality based tv-series.
The series premiered its 10th season this past Sunday to the tune of 10.57M viewers (#38) and a 3.9 Rating in A18-49.
The 11th season will launch in the Spring of 2007.
NBC Picks Up New Cop Drama Pilot October 1, 2006 9:48 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in New Show Orders, Television.1 comment so far
NBC has picked up a new drama pilot titled “Life” from sister company NBC Universal Television Studio.
From Source (TV Week):
The one-hour pilot, titled “Life,” follows a falsely imprisoned police officer who rejoins the force a changed man to find out who really committed the crime he was charged with.
“Life,” which is from executive producers Rand Ravich and Far Shariat, will be shot sometime this season and is expected to be in contention for a series pick up in fall 2007.
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