PROGRAMMING
Jason Alexander lifts the "Seinfeld" curse . . . for now. Alexander's new
sitcom "Listen Up" premiered with good enough ratings on Monday night. [E! Online
News]
E! Online News

Could Paris Hilton be the next Monica Lewinsky? Fox is allegedly considering
setting the next season of "The Simple Life" in Washington, D.C., with Nicole
Richie and Paris working as government interns. [E! Online News]
E! Online News

Donald Trump certainly showed Dallas Maverick football team owner who's boss
last week. ABC's "The Benefactor," which has received comparisons to NBC's
"The Apprentice" debuted last week with only 5.5 million viewers, whereas "The
Donald" attracted almost three times as many. [The New York Times]
New York Times

AWARDS SHOWS
ABC's Sunday night broadcast of the 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards lagged
behind in the ratings department. The awards, which honor the best and
brightest TV stars and programs, failed to win the night's ratings battle. [E! Online
News]
E! Online News

EXECUTIVE SHUFFLE
Disney has announced plans to hire an executive search team to find a
successor to mouse house CEO Michael Eisner. Rumors that Eisner might be ousted
before 2006 have already begun to arise. [The New York Times]
New York Times

BUSINESS
TLN, the U.K.'s biggest cable company, will sell its network of TV
transmission towers in an effort to cut its significant debt in half. [The London Times]
The London Times

Indian businessman Prannoy Roy challenges Murdoch's news supremacy in India
with 24-hour news channel, New Delhi TV. Last year, Roy created waves in India
by jumping off Rupert Murdoch's Star network. [The Guardian]
The Guardian

CONTROVERSY
A war of words has been waged as "60 Minutes" executives and correspondents
respond to anchor Dan Rather's admission of faulty research. Some CBS jobs are
feared to be in jeopardy as a result of the hoopla. [The Daily News]
The Daily News

LEGAL
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission slapped CBS with $550,000 in fines
for Janet Jackson's notorious 'wardrobe malfunction' at the 2004 Super Bowl.
The breast seen 'round the world will cost each of the 20 CBS-owned television
stations $27,500. [The Daily News]
The Daily News

OBITUARY
Russ Meyer, Hollywood director and writer famous for films which celebrated
women with (ahem) curvy bodies, dies at 82. The "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!"
director was originally slammed by critics but
managed to attract a large cult following. [The London Times]
The London Times

FESTIVALS
The Toronto Film Festival, the largest of its kind in North America, wrapped
up on Saturday. Top awards were bestowed upon films that dared to tackle
serious issues. [E! Online]
E! Online News

FILM
Die-hard "Star Wars" fans will find out if the DVD of their favorite sci-fi
movie was worth the wait as 20th Century Fox Home Video releases the highly
re-mastered and extras-filled DVD today. [The New York Times]
The New York Times

PRESS RELEASE CLIPS
Canada's CHUM Television announced the acquisition of new Asian titles,
equaling over 100 hours of programming.
CHUM

Discovery Networks International, the international arm of U.S.-based
Discovery communications announced the names of three new international lifestyle
channels: Discovery Travel & Living, Discovery Home & Health and Discovery Real
Time.
Discovery

Gina Brogi has been promoted to vice president, worldwide pay television at
Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution.
Fox

FremantleMedia, one of the world's largest producers and creators of TV
formats has opened up a new production company in Japan.
FremantleMedia

Playboy TV International adds a 60-minute documentary about Rita Hayworth,
called "Rita" to its MIPCOM slate.
Playboy

F.Y.I.:
VideoAge's MIPCOM Issue will feature an interview with Haim Saban's
ProSiebenSat.1 Group.

Day 4 of VideoAge's MIPCOM Daily will be a special MIPCOM/ MIFED/ AFM Issue
distributed at all three markets.
VideoAge International

This newsletter is also available at www.videoage.org

This free service is directed to international television executives.

To subscribe, please e-mail us at vaieditor@aol.com.

To unsubscribe, please send a reply to this e-mail with "remove" in the
subject line.