PROGRAMMING
The last “Star Wars” movie is set to hit theaters next month, but that
doesn’t necessarily mean Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia will be out of their
jobs. Director George Lucas has announced plans to create a live-action TV series,
as well as a 3D animated half-hour series based on the hit movies. [Channel
News Asia]
Channel News Asia

Apparently bland late-night programs don't plague the U.S. only! In an effort
to stand out from canned-laughter driven television, late-night sketch
comedy, “The Great Indian Comedy Show,” on Star One in India is grabbing guffaws by
unconventional, quirky and twisted humor. [Rediff]
Rediff

Without Botox or plastic surgery of any kind at all, “The Simpsons” have
managed to avoid any signs of aging. The cartoon will air its 350th episode this
Sunday, in the midst of its 16th season. According to producers, the show,
which is already the longest-running animated series in history, and the
longest-running comedy currently on the air, has no plans to go anywhere. [E! Online]
E! Online

BUSINESS
Competition is fierce in the world of Canadian pay-TV. Though Astral Media
and Corus Entertainment currently enjoy monopolies on the regional pay-TV market
in Canada, things are about to change. Former Alliance Communications Corp.
executive George Burger and Toronto construction and sports magnate Larry
Tannenbaum have submitted a bid to the CRTC to launch a competing service called
Spotlight. But that’s not all . . . execs at Spotlight submitted only one of
seven applications for a new national, general interest pay-TV channel. Among
the other competitors are Bulgarians and Serbs. [The Globe and Mail]
The Globe and Mail

It’s a woman’s world… at least in Hollywood. Women have truly made their
mark in an industry which historically favored men. Four of the six major studios
have women in the top creative decision-making roles, — Paramount Pictures
chief Gail Berman; chairman of Universal, Stacey Snider; chairman of Sony
Pictures, Amy Pascal; and Nina Jacobson, president of Walt Disney Company's Buena
Vista Motion Pictures Group. [The New York Times]
The New York Times

ADVERTISING
So . . . we’ve all come to terms with the fact that broadcast TV advertising
needs a little updating if it wants to survive. In an effort to revitalize its
advertising, Fox is offering marketers a new choice: Customized ads — spots
that can be digitally altered to appeal to different demos at different times.
[The Wall Street Journal]
The Wall Street Journal

TECHNOLOGY
A new digital channel is coming to the U.K., and Channel Four is hoping its
advertising profits will help boost revenues. Channel Four’s E4 will be geared
toward the youth market and will be available on the non-subscription Freeview
service. Programming will include “The O.C.,” “Smallville,” “ER,” and UK
sitcom “Peep Show.” [BBC News]
BBC News

Though originally dominated by Japanese tech companies, the flat-screen TV
industry is now being ruled by the South Koreans, who are able produce the
coveted TVs at a lower cost. There are currently three main options in flat-panel
TVs: plasma, liquid crystal or the bulkier rear-projection screens. Experts
say that the race eventually will be between Plasma display panels, or PDPs, and
the rival liquid crystal displays, or LCDs, — both sectors in which South
Korean companies started behind their Japanese counterparts, but managed to push
ahead by pouring billions of dollars into research and engineering.
[International Herald Tribune]
The International Herald Tribune

While the war over the next generation of DVD formats wages on, tech giants
Toshiba and Sony are looking to find a compromise. Toshiba is promoting the
HD-DVD format, while Sony is backing Blu-ray technology. Both companies want to
avoid a format war over the the new DVDs — which will store much more,
including high-definition video — and, therefore, are looking to create hybrids. [BBC
News]
BBC News

CONTROVERSY
While there is no debate over Indian screen queen Aishwarya Rai’s beauty, her
personality is another story. Many Indian critics have panned Rai’s
appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” saying that she should have done more as
India's brand ambassador than she has done so far. Unfortunately for Rai, her
not-so-well-accepted appearance on Oprah’s show came right after a critically
acclaimed appearance by fellow Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan on “The Charlie Rose
Show.” [The Times of India]
The Times of India

FILM
The box office Down Under has been anything but booming. As box office sales
in Australia continue to decline, the country’s Film Finance Corporation has
introduced a radical plan to decide whether a film is worth producing. New
rules call for a consultation between film producers and the corporation's
bureaucrats on such things as script, crew, cast and distribution strategy.
Filmmakers are subsequently worried that this kind of government involvement will
impede their ability to create art. [ABC Online]
ABC Online

PRESS RELEASE CLIPS
“Atomic Betty” has a couple of trips in store for her. Breakthrough
Entertainment has signed a deal with Middle Eastern kids entertainment channel, MBC 3,
to bring “Betty” to the Middle East, starting this fall. “Betty” will be
spending Christmas in the U.S. and Canada, with a one-hour holiday special
licensed to Cartoon Network in the U.S. and TELETOON in Canada.
Breakthrough

CHUM Limited is undergoing a major makeover. The company has announced the
reorganization of its television division. Responsibility for the division has
been realigned across three functional groups, headed by Roma Khanna, senior
vice president, Content, CHUM Television; Peter Palframan, senior vice
president, Operations, CHUM Television; and David Kirkwood, executive vice president,
Sales and Marketing, CHUM Television.
CHUM Limited

Kenneth Locker has been appointed to the newly created position of senior
vice president of Digital Media at Cookie Jar Entertainment. Locker will be
responsible for leveraging new and existing content for the company, across a
variety of platforms, including the Internet, wireless, broadband and IPTV.
Cookie Jar

At MERCADOC 2005, RTVE will present a documentary about the life of Spanish
film director Carlos Saura. The documentary mixes Saura’s actual testimony with
accounts of his friends, colleagues and fragments of his movies.
RTVE

Warner Home Video has teamed up with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in an
exclusive multi-year agreement to create a new line of home-video releases based
on MSLO’s television programming library. The theme-based DVD product line
will provide customers with “how-to” programming by fourth quarter 2005.
Warner Bros.

It's true, all publishers sound alike...

We're the best… we're the most important… and so on.

So what is a distributor to do in order to ensure that a few advertising
dollars can stretch further?

Here's what. For the L.A. Screenings ‘05, find:
1. The publication that serves your buyers by publishing a truly helpful list
of pilot pick-ups.
2. The publication that is sent to all buyers’ hotel rooms (how do you know
which publication is delivered? Simple. Just look if they have a complete list
of buyers in the magazine).
3. The publication that offers the most up-to-date information on all
distributors' suite numbers.
4. The publication that gives you the most visibility in terms of program
listings, editorial coverage and photo reports.

If your preferred publication can satisfy ALL of these four points, it is
your No.1 media buy, and you shouldn't settle for less (even if the cost is
almost nothing).

This message is brought to you by VideoAge.
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http://www.videoageinternational.com/screenings.html)

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