PROGRAMMING
News junkies with attention deficit disorder can soon rejoice, as Al Gore's Current channel gears up for its U.S. launch next week. The channel, aimed at the 18-34 demo, will rely on its viewers for much of its material. Rather than packaging its programs in 30 and 60-minute segments, Current plans to air 3-to-10-minutes segments, in order to appeal to the channel-surfing generation. [The New York Times]
The New York Times

Britain's Ricky Gervais certainly seems to have the Midas touch, as all of his TV shows turn to comic gold. Gervais, creator of The Office , scored a ratings hit with his new sitcom, Extras, in which he plays a struggling and frustrated actor. Last Thursday's BBC Two premiere attracted 4.5 million viewers. [BBC News]
BBC News

Now that the hard part is over, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has chosen a sight for the 2012 games, it's the TV industry's turn to decide which broadcasters can air the highly coveted games. Seem easy? Not quite. Uncertainty in the Australian media market has forced the IOC to delay talks over lucrative broadcast rights for the 2012 London Games and 2010 Vancouver winter Games. The Seven Network has been the Australian home of the Olympics since 1992, but now the Nine Network appears to be the most likely rights holder. Deals have already been decided for the Olympic TV rights in the U.S., Europe and Canada. [Fox Sports]
Fox Sports

Acclaimed producer Steven Bochco has taken on quite a challenge, and entered into quite a bit of controversy as well. Wednesday night will mark the beginning of Bochco's 13-episode miniseries, titled Over There. The series, which is a fictionalized account of American soldiers' experiences in Iraq, is the first television drama about the Iraqi situation, and first American television series that has depicted a war that it is still being fought. [The New York Times]
The New York Times

Though often deemed as the main threat to the scripted-TV world, one new reality show is hoping to bring the sitcom back to its glory days. Situation: Comedy, a new reality series airing on the U.S.'s NBC-owned Bravo cable station, seeks to find the next great sitcom, providing winners with an opportunity to air their laffer on NBC. [The New York Times]
The New York Times

BUSINESS
Well, he's certainly got some rather large (and tumultuous) shoes to fill. Daniel Battsek, executive vice president and managing director of distribution and production for Buena Vista International U.K., has been chosen by Walt Disney Co. to take over leadership duties at Miramax in October, after Disney's acquisition of the company is finalized, and Harvey and Bob Weinstein, the larger-than-life founders of the company, depart. Battsek will relocate from Britain to New York. [The Los Angeles Times]
The Los Angeles Times

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, which, on Wednesday posted a larger loss in the second quarter than a year ago, is in cahoots with cable company Discovery Communications. Discovery will rebroadcast Stewart's upcoming daytime TV show (airing on NBC in the fall) and will air a new home improvement reality series. [Forbes]
Forbes

ADVERTISING
The U.S. radio and television networks have sharpened their claws and are ready to duke it out for advertising dollars. A recent study by the Radio Advertising Effectiveness Laboratory (which is funded by radio networks), argued the increased effectiveness and value of advertising on radio. The study found that radio ads were about half as effective as television ads in lifting product sales, but, according to the radio nets, since radio ads cost far less than half the price, this statistic makes them a better buy, The Television Bureau of Advertising fired back with a press release entitled, "Radio Study Documents TV's Power," pointing out the higher sales resulting from television ads. Furthermore,in an interview, Jack Poor, a vice president of the television trade group, called the study "artificial," because it compared national television with local radio. [The New York Times]
The New York Times

TECHNOLOGY
After years of debate, it seems as though the Hollywood studios have finally settled on new technological standards allowing movie theaters to show digitally produced movies. As it gets more expensive to make and market movies, studios have realized the cost-saving potential of digital distribution. [The New York Times]
The New York Times

CONTROVERSY
First, a "purple heart" controversy hurt John Kerry's chances of winning the U.S. presidency; now, a new "purple heart" debate is taking its toll on the movie industry. New Line Cinema has come under a lot of heat from army veterans for including a feature on its Weddding Crashers website through which users could print out their own phony medals. The purple heart medals, which are symbols of having been injured in battle in the U.S, were abused by the movie's main characters in order to attract women. While movie audiences seemed to find the Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson scheme funny, the war vets didn't find it quite so amusing. New Line has since taken the web feature down. [E! Online]
E! Online

FILM
Already a hot spot for filming Bollywood movies, Rajasthan is getting a financial boost from its government, in an attempt to make the Indian state into a hub for Bollywood producers. A film city is set to open in the state's capital city of Jaipur within the next two years. The Rajasthan government has already included this project in its budget for 2005-06, and directors and producers have been given a detailed audio video presentation on the matter. The government also decided to allot an officer to each producer who comes to Jaipur for shooting. [Express India]
Express India

Filmgoers at the Montreal World Film Festival will witness a frightening and controversial story unfold before their eyes. Karla, a documentary about Canadian serial killer Karla Homolka, will have its world premiere at the festival next month. [CTV]
CTV

Distancing himself more and more from action movies like Lethal Weapon and romantic comedies like What Women Want, Mel Gibson has announced plans to direct a new film -- spoken entirely in an obscure Mayan dialect. The film, dubbed Apocalypto (a greek term meaning unveiling), is set 500 years in the past. Just as with his last colossal film, The Passion of the Christ, Gibson plans to finance the entire production personally, with his production company, Icon Productions. [E! Online]
E! Online

PRESS RELEASE CLIPS
Atlas Media has received the green light from Scripps-owned cabler Food Network to produce a new series called Behind the Bash, featuring Giada de Laurentiis, which will go behind-the-scenes of some of America's most glamorous parties.
Atlas Media

At MIPCOM 2005, which will take place from October 17-21, the show's organizer, Reed Midem, will honor Gustavo Cisneros with its 2005 Personality of the Year Award. Cisneros is chairman and CEO of the Cisneros Group of Companies.
MIPCOM

NBC Universal Television Distribution, Wolf Films and TF1 have made international TV history with the announcement of a format deal for the French version of successful U.S. procedural crime show Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In other NBC Universal news, the company has launched a new original content unit what will partner with local media companies to develop and create local programming globally. The new international production unit will exploit NBC's library assets through scripted and non-scripted sales, as well as create, develop and produce new local content for all forms of electronic media, outside of the U.S. The unit will be lead by Leslie Jones, vp, International Sales and Format Production at NBC Universal Television Distribution.
NBC Universal

The first-ever PROMAX&BDA event in China has been planned for 2005. The PROMAX&BDA China Conference and Awards will be held in Sichuan, on November 26, as part of the 8th Sichuan Television Festival.
PROMAX

The pre-MIPCOM issue of VideoAge is coming out in September, with a focus on:

* Children's TV at MIPCOM Jr.
* Reality TV
* Cinema in Italy (Venice Film Festival)
* Cinema in Canada (Montreal and Toronto Film Festivals)
* TV in Greece

For more information, please e-mail Dom Serafini at dsvideoag@aol.com.

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