VIDEOAGE "PAPER CLIPS": A WEEKLY PRESS REVIEW

PROGRAMMING
It seems Fox's breakout hit Prison Break isn't quite as popular now that the characters have broken out=2E Monday's second-season premiere of the dramatic series with the less-than-plausible premise was down 11 percent from last year's series premiere, watched by 9=2E3 million=2E The show's two-hour 2005 debut averaged 10=2E5 million viewers=2E
E! Online

CONTROVERSY
Though smoking bans may not be in effect in local pubs, the Brits are kicking some butts in the cartoon world=2E In an effort to curb the portrayal of smoking as cool, Turner Broadcasting, which runs English kids channel Boomerang, has agreed to edit out puffing animated characters in roughly 1,700 episodes of such classic cartoons as Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones and Scooby Doo=2E
AOL News

Two Shanghai-based kids' channels say it's still too early to say how a primetime ban on foreign cartoons will affect viewership and revenues when it goes into effect next month=2E The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television recently announced that TV channels are no longer allowed to show foreign cartoons in primetime hours -- a move aimed at safeguarding the domestic animation industry=2E Toonmax TV, which currently fills its schedule with Japanese cartoons, will have to undergo a complete overhaul, while Shanghai Oriental Children's Channel (more commonly known as Haha TV), will only have to swap out one program for another, as it only airs one cartoon in primetime a night=2E
Shanghai Daily

MusiquePlus, Quebec's answer to what MTV used to be, has launched an investigation to find out who leaked an embarrassing video outtake from an interview with actress Lucie Laurier=2E During a July interview with the Bon Cop, Bad Cop star, her nipple slipped out of her shirt=2E While the boob shot never appeared on the network, it did crop up on video sharing website YouTube, attracting more than 22,000 viewers before it was taken down=2E
National Post

BUSINESS
Polish cable TV operator Stream has big plans to double its subscriber base to 150,000 by the end of next year=2E Though the company previously concentrated on acquiring new customers through the acquisition of sector competitors, it soon realized that this method would be slow in bringing about results=2E Stream has yet to reveal its grand plan to get more subscribers=2E
Warsaw Business Journal

Bahrain-based Batelco has launched video telephony solutions in collaboration with a slew of leading Internet Protocol (IP) telephony vendors=2E In response to a growing demand for video telephony, Batelco will be equipped to provide its business customers with a service that will work on almost any network since it operates on Batelco's broadband service=2E
Gulf Daily News

Paramount Pictures has elected to discontinue its 14-year partnership with couch-jumping Scientologist Tom Cruise, citing his recent off-camera behavior as the main reason=2E While Paramount reportedly offered Cruise and his producing partner, Paula Wagner, a two-year $2 million-plus expenses deal, the new terms were a far cry from the luxe circumstances the pair had been enjoying previously=2E Insiders are speculating that Mission Impossible III's somewhat less-than-stellar box office returns might also be to blame for the split=2E
E! Online

ADVERTISING
Shanghai-based Focus Media Holdings, China's largest overseas-listed advertising company, will soon enter the movie theater advertising market=2E The company has joined forces with ACL, a British Virgin Islands firm that leases screen time from movie theaters in Chinese cities, to buy 70 percent of ACL's shares for $2=2E8 million=2E
Shanghai Daily

TECHNOLOGY
Sony Pictures Entertainment has acquired Grouper, a YouTube-like website that features videos contributed by users, for $65 million=2E Despite its emphasis on allowing users to share homemade fare, many of the most popular clips on Grouper are short productions, including music videos and commercials=2E Grouper averages eight million visitors a month=2E
The New York Times

FILM
Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the brains behind Comedy Central's crass hit South Park, have signed on to develop two live-action features for Paramount Pictures=2E The first film will be a high school comedy called My All-American; the second will be a spoof called Giant Monsters Attack Japan! Parker will direct both, while Stone will produce through the pair's Important Pictures=2E
E! Online

Bon Cop, Bad Cop came out on top of Quebec's movie box office for the third weekend in a row, earning C$947,180 on 131 screens, beating out Snakes on a Plane=2E Outside of Quebec, the bilingual caper starring Colm Feore and Patrick Huard, didn't fare as well, earning just C$292,675 on 114 screens=2E
The Globe and Mail

MegaStar Media JV Vietnam (JVC) will build five cineplexes in 2007 for $25 million=2E MegaStar, a joint venture between Phuong Nam Corporation (PNC) of Vietnam and Envoy Media Partners, based in the British Virgin Islands, will build the new theaters in Hai Phong City, Hung Vuong Plaza, Ho Chi Minh City, the Dong Nai province and Hanoi=2E The venture's first, an eight-screen complex with over 1,100 seats, opened its doors in April 2006 in Vincom City Towers in Hanoi=2E
Thanhnien News

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