CABLE
Faced with the news of Saddam Hussein's capture just before the start of
mid-Sunday football, ESPN deftly handled sharing the news with the American
public. [USA Today]
USA Today

The Oxygen network will begin airing new episodes of "Absolutely Fabulous,"
Britain's bitingly funny tale of fashion victims Patsy and Edina, in early
January. [Yahoo! News]
Yahoo! News

An actress is suing MTV and rapper Snoop Dogg over an episode of his "Doggy
Fizzle Televizzle," in which she claims she was unwittingly made to appear as
if she was naked and engaging in sexual contact with another actor. [Yahoo!
News]
Yahoo! News

BROADCAST
German music star Dieter Bohlen's house was burglarized while the singer
appeared live on television on the RTL hit, "Germany Seeks a Superstar."
[Bloomberg]
Bloomberg

Sandra Diaz-Twine, an office assistant from Fort Lewis, Washington,
outwitted, outplayed and outlasted the other contestants on CBS's hit "Survivor: Pearl
Islands." She takes home a $1 million prize and a new GMC Envoy. [Yahoo! News]
Yahoo! News

After an unprecedented 12 percent drop among 18-49-year-olds, NBC is beefing
up its schedule, offering viewers new reality series, "The Apprentice," about
Donald Trump's search for a business mogul in the making. [Yahoo! News]
Yahoo! News

RAI's 50th TV Aniversary
RAI, Italy's state broadcaster, has selected VideoAge to publish the Official
Salute in celebration of its 50th anniversary of TV. The Salute will receive
bonus distribution at NATPE and the AFM.
Created in 1954, the TV division of RAI is today one of the world's
leading TV broadcasting organizations, with an annual turnover of $ 2.9 billion and
a programming acquisition budget of $300 million.
Besides providing the Italian film-TV industry with a large pool of
technical and artistic talents, RAI has provided the international entertainment
community with super-stars in music, TV and cinema.
www.rai.it

ADVERTISING
Furniture supplier Pier 1 Imports is letting pitchwoman and former "Cheers"
star Kirstie Alley go in favor of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's" Thom
Filicia. [Dallas Morning News]
Dallas Morning News

Liquor advertisers, who long ago ended their relationships with broadcast
television, are finding a new place to pitch their wares: cable TV. [New York
Times]
New York Times

With a new ad campaign, MTV Networks Europe is hoping to turn Burmese
opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, into a Nelson Mandela for a new generation.
[International Herald Tribune]
International Herald Tribune

BUSINESS
Despite long-term gains for shareholders of Disney stock since Michael Eisner
took over the company, Disney stock has not performed as well over the last
five years as many people think. [Los Angeles Times]
Los Angeles Times

TECHNOLOGY
Hitachi, Panasonic, Philips, Sony, Thomson, Toshiba and Silicon Image got
together to create a more elegant solution to DVI (Digital Video Interface).
Their design, HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface), is smaller and can
carry an uncompressed stream of both audio and video. [International Herald
Tribune]
International Herald Tribune

Some of Finland's top broadcasters will start sending commercial TV programs
to cell phones next year. [Yahoo! News]
Yahoo! News

FILM
The Boston Society of Film Critics named Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River" as
best picture of the year. Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation" won the
director's award. [Boston Globe]
Boston Globe

Though 2003 is quickly drawing to a close, DreamWorks is still looking for a
hit. They hope to have one in the Vadim Perelman film, "House of Sand and
Fog." [New York Times]
New York Times

The American Film Institute named "The Lord of the Rings," "In America,"
"American Splendor" and "The Last Samurai" as some of the top ten movies of 2003.
[Reuters]
Reuters

"American Splendor," based on the life of comic book creator Harvey Pekar, is
an amazing amalgam of the real-life Pekar and his on-screen self. [New York
Times]
New York Times

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