VIDEOAGE "PAPER CLIPS": A WEEKLY PRESS REVIEW

PROGRAMMING
Thanks to video website YouTube, Nobody's Watching -- a sitcom which NBC passed on earlier this year -- has been granted a new breath of life. NBC has announced that new made-for-the-Internet episodes will be produced thanks to the popularity of the never-aired pilot on the site.
E! Online

British fans of Doctor Who have something new to look forward to. The BBC has confirmed that a sci-fi spin-off of Doctor Who will launch on BBC Three in late fall. Torchwood will focus on a squad of secret agents facing human and alien enemies, with John Barrowman reprising his role as time traveler Captain Jack.
BBC News

Can former basketball star Dennis Rodman save ITV1's Love Island from sinking? Well, at least that's what the British broadcaster is hoping. The former Chicago Bulls star will join the reality show for up to a week as the show's third surprise guest. The second season of Island has struggled to find viewers, with audiences rarely higher than two million.
BBC News

BUSINESS
Canada's Astral Media, Quebecor and Cogeco are being left with CHUM's crumbs. After being outbid by Bell Globemedia for ownership of CHUM, the companies will be deprived of the highly-coveted pan-Canadian TV presence, being left, instead, to consider buying the small-town CHUM stations BGM plans to sell -- or coming up with a new strategy altogether.
The Globe and Mail

U.S. specialty channel Outdoor Life Network is set for a major overhaul. Come September 25, the net will be renamed Versus, and undergo a major rebranding campaign. Boutique agency Taxi has been chosen to handle the campaign.
Advertising Age

ADVERTISING
No one can accuse TiVo of not trying to appease advertisers. The company, which pioneered digital video recorders in the U.S., is starting a research division to sell data about how its 4.4 million users watch commercials -- or, more often, skip them. The service is based on an analysis of the second-by-second viewing patterns of a nightly sample of 20,000 TiVo users. It is intended mainly for advertisers, in an effort to help them understand how to get more people to watch recorded commercials.
The New York Times

EXECUTIVE SHUFFLE
The changing of the Ofcom guards is happening sooner than expected. Stephen Carter, CEO of the U.K. communications regulator, announced in May that he would resign from his post in mid-October. But, he has chosen to step down ahead of schedule -- at the end of July. David Currie, Ofcom's chairman, will assume the role in the interim until the recruitment of a new CEO.
Digital TV Group

CONTROVERSY
ABC is mad as hell at the Academy of Television Arts& Sciences and isn't going to take it anymore The anger comes after ABC's hit shows Lost and Desperate Housewives failed to receive Emmy noms. As a result, ABC is expected to counterprogram the TV debut of popular movie Pirates of the Carribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl against NBC's airing of the Emmy ceremony. This is unusual as, traditionally, TV networks air reruns on Emmy night, in deference to the awards.
Advertising Age

Canada's public broadcaster, CBC, recently had some bones to pick with private network CTV. During pre-show festivities for the live taping of CTV's reality show Canadian Idol, two mounted police, a cruiser and a police van descended on the scene, following a noise complaint from the CBC (which is situated across the street). Police surveyed the crowd and said no noise bylaws had been compromised. CBC has recently seen dismal early ratings for its talent showcase, The One: Making a Music Star.
The Globe and Mail

FILM FESTIVALS
Moviegoers at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) may be pulling some (almost) all-nighters. TIFF has unveiled 2006 Midnight Madness slate of off-kilter genre flicks. The late-night program will include Larry Charles's Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan; Jonathan King's Black Sheep; Jonathan Levine's All the Boys Love Mandy Lane; Nacho Cerda's The Abandoned and Kim Chapiron's Sheitan.
The Globe and Mail

FILM
A new study is proving the old adage that any publicity is good publicity. According to a study conducted at the University of Arizona and published in the Journal of Marketing, the amount of Internet buzz a movie generates correlates directly with its box-office take. But, somewhat surprisingly, whether posters liked or hated the movies had little effect on the box office numbers.
The New York Times

Maybe they should rename it Casino Royal. Forthcoming James Bond film Casino Royale has been chosen as the 60th Royal Film Performance. The 21st official Bond film, starring Daniel Craig, will receive its world premiere on November 14 at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. It is not yet known which members of the royal family will attend the screening.
BBC News

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