PROGRAMMING
Britain's ITV is planning a political version of "Pop Idol" to locate a new
member of Parliament in an effort to get people interested in politics again.
[The Independent]
The Independent

While the world tunes in each week to NBC's "The Apprentice" to watch Donald
Trump fire reality contestants vying for a job at his company, the Donald's
empire might be crumbling. [International Herald Tribune]
International Herald Tribune

Julian McMahon, star of the FX network's "Nip/Tuck" may have lost his Aussie
Twang, having been in the United States for so many years, but he still
retains his sense of adventure. [Daily Telegraph]
The Daily Telegraph

CABLE
European independent record producers are threatening to boycott MTV in
protest of a 55 percent cut in royalty payments for music videos. [Times of India]
Times of India

SATELLITE
Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB is poised to take control of horseracing on British
television. Among the changes it plans to make is the introduction of a
horseracing channel. [The Observer]
The Observer

VIDEO GAMES
Microsoft lowered the price of its Xbox video game console from $179.99 to
$149.99 in the hopes of boosting the video game industry's bottom-line. [Yahoo!
News]
Yahoo! News

INTERNET
The world's youth is more vulnerable than anyone else for developing an
online addiction--Web surfing. [Korea Herald]
The Korea Herald

ADVERTISING
Though television advertising seemed to have a hard year, what with the
widespread use of Tivo, Israel's Channel 2 and Channel 10 did quite well, as
advertisers seemed to be afraid to be the first to abandon the creation of
commercials. [Haaretz]
Haaretz

TELEVISION SETS
Dell hopes its new flat panel monitors will encourage people to bring their
PCs into their living rooms. [CNET News]
CNET News

HOSPITALIZED
Vincent Ford, Jr., 42, who had a recurring role on ABC's hit sitcom, "The
Drew Carey Show," was shot in the chest and jaw by his father, who has
Alzheimer's disease, during an argument over his mother's battle with cancer. [Yahoo!
News]
Yahoo! News

FILM
Actor and humanitarian Peter Ustinov has died at the age of 82. He won Oscars
for his supporting roles in "Spartacus" and "Topkapi." [International Herald
Tribune]
International Herald Tribune

Tom Cruise, 41, and Penelope Cruz, 29, aren't cruising along any more. A
spokesman for the defunct pair announced that the similarly monikered stars have
parted ways after three years together. [USA Today]
USA Today

Six weeks before last year's James Bond blockbuster "Die Another Day" was
released on DVD in Germany, T-Online, an Internet Service Provider owned by
Deutsche Telekom, released the movie for high-speed download, in what is becoming
an increasingly popular move across Europe. [International Herald Tribune]
International Herald Tribune

ROAD TO L.A. SCREENINGS
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