VIDEOAGE "PAPER CLIPS": A WEEKLY PRESS REVIEW

PROGRAMMING
After the success of their MTV celebrity prank show Punk'd, producers and Katalyst Films-owners Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg are heading for the Internet. The production duo plans to create short-form shows for AOL.com and the AOL Instant Messenger service. The deal calls for the creation of five programs with at least 20 episodes per program.
Reuters

Australia's SBS TV news show Dateline featured previously unpublished film images of Abu Ghraib prison abuse on its Wednesday night program. Some of the pictures have now been re-broadcast on U.S. networks and on Arab satellite channel al-Arabiya. Al-Arabiya is broadcasting half a dozen of the new Abu Ghraib images, though it has refrained from showing the most shocking.
BBC News

Poor Arrested Development. The critically acclaimed show -- to paraphrase Rodney Dangerfield --- "gets no respect." Exacerbated by the fact that the Olympics' opening ceremony was broadcast at the same time, the comedy series' (presumed) finale on Friday night suffered the same low ratings that have plagued the show throughout its run. And while there had been talk that Showtime or ABC might buy the show once Fox dropped it, that now seems highly unlikely.
E! Online

BUSINESS
ProsiebenSat.1 Media is off the market. On Monday, Haim Saban announced that his company will not seek a buyer. The announcement came after the cartel office in Germany blocked the broadcaster's sale to Axel Springer, Germany's largest newspaper publisher. Springer, which owns German newspaper, Bild, had offered 4.2 billion euros for an acquisition that would have joined one of the country's largest broadcasters with its largest publisher.
The New York Times

Former soccer announcer and quiz show host Eddie McGuire will face quite a few catch-22s as he takes up the reins as chief executive of Australia's Nine Network. In a recent interview, McGuire spoke specifically of the need to attract younger audiences to free-TV without losing older viewers; the need to meet audience demand for new mobile small-screen services while also catering to consumers with wide-screen home entertainment systems; and, above all, the need to address the long-term challenge of declining audiences while focusing on the immediate problems of ratings, revenue and morale.
The Australian

TECHNOLOGY
Joining the ranks of the U.S. networks that have made their TV shows available for download through Apple's iTunes website, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) is negotiating with Google and Apple on a deal that could lead these companies to offer downloadable television content in Canada. The CBC is taking advantage of the fact that it is one of the few Canadian networks that owns the rights to many of its programs.
The Globe and Mail

CONTROVERSY
While most family dramas effect only the feuding familial relations, the stakes are a bit higher when the drama takes place among a media mogul's family. Brent Redstone, son of Viacom and CBS Corp. controller Sumner Redstone, has filed a lawsuit looking to force a break-up of his father's empire, charging that he has not been treated fairly and his sister is being favored. Brent Redstone is asking that his father's $8 billion movie theater company be dissolved. He wants access to his one-sixth interest in the company, valued at $1.3 billion. That stake is currently in a trust to which he does not have access.
The New York Times

ADVERTISING
Nielsen's decision to include DVR playback in its ratings research could serve as a major asset to broadcasters. But Madison Avenue may not serve to benefit quite as much from the data. Ad buyers are being faced with a multi-billion dollar uncertainty as to what the implications of this research are, and how much they should rely on these statistics when deciding which TV shows and networks to support.
The New York Times

FILM
In an effort to thwart filmmakers from leaving, Ontario is extending its tax credit for another year. The province's 18 percent tax credit was set to expire at the end of March, but will now continue until March 31, 2007. The tax credit is for foreign productions only, and was established as filmmakers increasingly moved their projects to British Columbia, Quebec and the United States.
The Globe and Mail

The Czech Republic's crown jewel studios, Barrandov, have gone through quite a few changes in the last year...and the changes keep on coming. Last year, the studios' management changed, and a finance executive -- not a film executive -- was chosen to head the facility. Now, the studios will increase their film production capacity with a new 43,000 square foot studio, a plan designed to boost local as well as international moviemaking in the country.
THE Prague Post

The New Montreal FilmFest is no more. The brainchild of Montreal festival guru Alain Simard only experienced one highly unsuccessful edition before folding. Telefilm and Quebec funding agency SODEC had created the fest to replace Serge Losique's World Film Festival, but, the FilmFest's fate didn't exactly turn out as planned.
The Gazette

Are you ready for some MIPing around?

At the world's premier TV market VideoAge will have:

Dailies with 22 years of proven market distribution leadership:

Sat.-Sun.: Documentaries and new technology (MipDoc+MILIA)
Monday : Focus on Europe (Italy, Germany, U.K.)
Tuesday : Focus on Canada
Wednesday: Focus on Latin America
Thursday: Road to the L.A. Screenings

A monthly with 25 years of proven market and editorial leadership.

A great combo for any marketing and sales strategy.
Plus, at MIP-TV "VideoAge" will have:

Hand distribution outside the Palais
Magazine bins
An exhibition stand
Hotel distribution
Exhibition stands distribution
Guaranteed editorial coverage for all its advertisers

If your marketing and advertising budget is small, VideoAge's editorial vehicles and services are for you. After all, we've been serving you for 25 years!

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 paperclips@videoageinternational.com.

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

Copyright © 2006 Video Age International. All Rights Reserved.