VIDEOAGE "PAPER CLIPS": A WEEKLY PRESS REVIEW

PROGRAMMING
ABC has scraped the bottom of the celebrity barrel to come up with its new cast for the third go-round of Dancing with the Stars. L.A. Law's Harry Hamlin, Saved By the Bell's Mario Lopez and talk show king and former Cincinnati, Ohio mayor Jerry Springer will be among the would-be hoofers trying to sway their ways back to stardom this fall.
E! Online

MTV's decision to name an unpopular girl as narrator of the third season of Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County has some viewers concerned that the reality show has lost its way. Tessa, a dark-haired, freckled teen with a creaky voice, makes her debut on tonight's season premiere of the doc-lite series.
The New York Times

Operating under an assumption that a region with a primetime landscape dominated by telenovelas would take to the campy confection that is Desperate Housewives, the makers of the hit ABC series are franchising Spanish- and Portuguese-language versions of the show's first season for broadcast in Latin America. Three new versions of the series are under way, each tailored to a different area of Latin America.
The New York Times

OBITUARY
Actor Bruno Kirby, best known for playing a journalist who found Meg Ryan's Sally unattractive in When Harry Met Sally, died of leukemia Monday in Los Angeles. He was 57. The actor, who'd only recently been diagnosed with the disease, had worked steadily in films such as City Slickers, This is Spinal Tap, Good Morning, Vietnam and Donnie Brasco. His wife, his father and his brother survive him.
E! Online

CONTROVERSY
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has mailed letters to the owners of 77 TV stations questioning their use of video news releases, a type of programming some critics refer to as "fake news." Video news releases are packaged stories that seem like real news, but employ paid actors to play reporters. The letter campaign was sparked after allegations were made that some stations were airing the releases without informing viewers who'd paid for the spots.
The Globe and Mail

In an effort to boost its country's ailing animation business, China has banned The Simpsons and other cartoon show imports from airing during primetime. Bugs Bunny, Pokemon and even the BBC's Teletubbies will be prohibited from airing between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., the hours when the bulk of the region's 250 million kids tune in to China Central Television.
E! Online

TECHNOLOGY
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. will soon start selling 20th Century Fox movies and television shows on its websites. Films such as X-Men: The Last Stand will sell for $19.99 and episodes of series like 24 will cost $1.99 each to watch. The service will be available through the firm's IGN Entertainment film and game sites in October, and later on MySpace.com.
The New York Times

Even as it rolls out a local free wireless Internet service in Mountain View, California, the city where the company is based, Google maintains that it has no plans to position itself as a national provider of such services. Execs said that they'd embarked on the project simply to demonstrate the value of competition in providing Internet access.
International Herald Tribune

A partnership of the two top satellite television companies that qualified as the top potential bidders in the U.S. federal government's airwaves auction, have all but dropped out of the bidding war this week. Wireless DBS, a partnership of EchoStar Communications and the DirecTV Group, was the top qualifier, posting a $972.5 million deposit. But because of inactivity, the partnership's ability to bid shrank. Verizon Wireless held the winning bid o $2.8 billion on four licenses.
The New York Times

BUSINESS
Pay-TV operator Astro All Asia Networks has announced plans to add seven new channels to its current line-up of 56. Among them will be Aruna, an Indonesian drama channel; Kirana, an Asian and European movie channel; and a domestic cartoon channel called Ceria.
The Edge Daily

ADVERTISING
If you use Yahoo's search engine to research hydrid cars, you are "Consciously Cruising." If you shop for wedding cakes, you might be labeled as a future bride or groom. Yahoo has introduced a computer system that uses complex models to analyze records of what each of its 500 million users do on its site. Though some users might be deterred from using the service, Yahoo asserts that this method of tagging is benign since it doesn't collect personal information like names and addresses.
International Herald Tribune

VIDEO GAMES
Boldly going where no gamers have gone before, Bethesda Softworks will, for the first time, bring together all five captains from all five Star Trek TV series for Star Trek: Legacy, a new videogame marking the 40th anniversary of the long-running sci-fi franchise this September. Bethesda will also release Star Trek: Tactical Assault for PSP and Nintendo DS this fall.
E! Online

FILM
The Myanmar Motion Picture Organization is calling on local filmmakers to produce more documentaries and short films in order to increase the number of films from Myanmar (the Southeast Asian country formerly known as Burma) that are submitted to international film festivals. Officials at the organization hope that making directors more aware of invitations to compete in these international festivals will prompt them to make films that are appropriate for submission.
Myanmar Times

Added DVD, Online Value For VideoAge Advertisers

Starting with VideoAge's MIPCOM publications, advertisers who place ad(s) in either VideoAge Monthly or VideoAge Daily will have the opportunity to an up-to-3-minute audiovisual promo, which will be placed on a DVD and distributed with every copy of VideoAge Monthly at marginal cost

In addition, the same 3-minute promo will be made available for free, through streaming media, on VideoAge's web site for the duration of one month.

Specifications:
· The self-contained promo must be sent to VideoAge's NY* offices on a stand-alone DVD (preferably on a Region 0 - Region Free standard) 30 days prior to the issue's publication date.

· Cost to VideoAge advertisers is an additional $1,000 net per issue. For non-advertisers, cost per issue is $4,500.

· The DVDs inserted in VideoAge will use the Region 0 NTSC format during North and Central American and Asian trade shows, and Region 0 PAL during European and South American markets.

A limited number of DVDs will be sent (upon request) to those program buyers whose players are not compatible with the format of the DVD provided.

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