VIDEOAGE "PAPER CLIPS": A WEEKLY PRESS REVIEW

PROGRAMMING
When Dick Clark returned as host of ABC's New Years Eve countdown this year (after suffering a stroke last year that prevented him from hosting that telecast), he was faced with increased competition across the board. The U.S. broadcast networks all featured top TV personalities -- including Regis Philbin, Carson Kressley and Clark's co-host Ryan Seacrest -- vying to become the next venerable New Years Eve host.
The New York Times

Sports fans in the United Arab Emirates were treated to a pleasant surprise on New Years Day. It was then that the Dubai Sports Channel was re-launched to feature more impressive content (including leading experts in sports media) and more up-to-date packaging. In an effort make the channel on par with leading sports channels around the world, Dubai Media Inc. -- the company's owner -- has also set up new state-of-the-art studios around Dubai.
AME Info

E! viewers are going to get their fair share of Ryan Seacrest in 2006. The American Idol host has signed a plethora of deals with the entertainment channel: Seacrest will be executive producer and co-host of E!'s Live from the Red Carpet programs; his duties will begin with a pre-Golden Globes show on January 17. In March, he will become managing editor and lead anchor of E! News. He will also produce series for the channel through his production company Ryan Seacrest Productions (as part of the deal, Seacrest also has the option to sell shows to other nets). Lastly, he will produce and host various celebrity interview specials for the channel.
CNN

Expect quite a few more couch potatoes in Malaysia next year. The broadcast industry continues to grow rapidly, and Malaysian TV viewers will have access to over 150 channels in 2006. Two new pay-TV stations, MiTV, and Fine TV, as well as already-established pay-TV station Astro, are all expected to add additional channels this year.
The Star Malaysia

BUSINESS
Starz Entertainment Group is branching out into a new cutting-edge technology service called Vongo. The provider of TV movie channels is offering a $9.99-a-month subscription service that will allow customers to download movies from the Internet and watch them on their computers, portable video players and TVs.
The New York Times

ADVERTISING
Not all product placement is created equal, as more and more broadcasters are beginning to replace traditional product placement with virtual placement. This version of advertising, which uses computer graphics and digital editing to put products like potato chips, soda and shopping bags into television programs after the shows are filmed or taped, began in the 1990s but has begun to catch on with more frequency.
The New York Times

A new advertising campaign for the Oxygen Channel's upcoming series Campus Ladies stresses vulgarity -- a tactic usually reserved for male-skewing shows. The series, which follows two middle-aged women who return to college and engage in bawdy behavior, is marketed though ads which include an online banner ad depicting a woman who says she wants "a frat boy with rock hard abs" and a Mrs. Robinson spoof print ad featuring a college-age man standing in the entry of a bedroom, with a woman's shapely leg stretched out in the foreground. The ad campaign is being handled by two-month-old New York ad agency Toy.
The New York Times

TECHNOLOGY
Mobile TV viewing is coming to Switzerland, and thanks to a joint agreement between Ericsson and Swiss operator sunrise, channel surfing is going to be a breeze. A new deal between the two companies will make sports, entertainment and news clips available to the Swiss on-demand via their cell phones. Ericsson will also provide sunrise with the world's quickest channel selector, which requires only one click to change channels.
Yahoo! Finance

CONTROVERSY
In response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's order to create a TV broadcaster free from various group influences, Russia's Culture and Press Ministry has drafted a bill that would turn state-controlled television into public television. Under the ministry's bill, public television would consist of existing state television and radio broadcasting companies, and be controlled by a council that includes representatives of civil society.
The Moscow Times

EXECUTIVE SHUFFLE
In a bit of a surprise move, former Nightline anchor Ted Koppel, who left ABC News in November, has joined the non-fiction cable net Discovery Channel. Koppel and long-time executive producer Tom Bettag will be joined by eight other former staff members of Nightline, and will produce a series of special news programs -- at least six a year. The three-year deal commences immediately, with Koppel's first program set for the fall.
The New York Times

FILM
Narnia ruled at the U.S. and U.K. box offices over the holiday weekend, kicking Peter Jackson's King Kong out of the top spot. The Disney adaptation of C.S. Lewis' classic book took in £33 million (U.S.$5 million) in the U.K. over the weekend, bringing the film's total U.K. box office revenue to £334.2 million($60 million). The movie took in $227 million during its first four weeks in the U.S.
This is London

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