VIDEOAGE "PAPER CLIPS": A WEEKLY PRESS REVIEW

PROGRAMMING
Just like the protagonist himself, this week's episode of The Sopranos suffered a real blow. The HBO mob hit's return to primetime (after an almost-two-year hiatus) saw a significant decline in ratings. The season premiere attracted 9.5 million viewers, down from the 12.1 million who watched the opening episode of the previous season. But as several HBO executives noted, the television environment has changed since March 2004. Now there is increased competition from Desperate Housewives on ABC, and from multiplying outlets where HBO shows can be seen: on cable, computers and hand-held devices.
The New York Times

Contrary to logic, an increase in news outlets in the U.S. does not mean an increase in news reporting. A survey by the Project for Excellence in Journalism examined how a variety of outlets, including newspapers, television, radio and the Internet, covered a single day's worth of news, and concluded that there was enormous repetition and amplification of just two dozen stories.
The New York Times

BUSINESS
After only a couple of weeks on the market, Univision is already seeing some heavyweight bidders. An international consortium -- that includes Mexican television giant Grupo Televisa (which currently has a programming contract with Univision through 2017), equity firms Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners, the Cisneros Group of Venezuela, and media entrepreneur Haim Saban -- is looking into acquiring the U.S. Spanish-language network. Media giants like CBS and Time Warner are also said to be seriously weighing bids.
The New York Times

After a three-year plunge in ratings, Discovery's TLC Network is looking to re-brand itself, and attract an (eek!) older audience. "Live and Learn" is the new tagline the cabler is using to convey to viewers that the channel is now a place for adults in their 30's who are "in transition" -- buying their first house, getting married or having children. Replacing the broader "life unscripted" approach, TLC is going back to its roots as The Learning Channel, with shows geared toward an audience of 28- to 42-year-olds.
The New York Times

CONTROVERSY
Even after it's been cancelled, the problems surrounding the ill-fated New Montreal FilmFest haven't abated. The Fest is now facing an investigation around Montreal's main culture agency having awarded more than C$500,000 to organizers L'Equipe Spectra and a movie-industry coalition. A cultural affairs critic discovered that another Montreal organization -- not the Spectra group -- had actually scored highest in the initial evaluation to find an organizer for the festival. The festival turned out to be a flop, anyway, with fewer than 100,000 patrons and a deficit close to $900,000. The 2006 edition has been cancelled.
The Globe and Mail

TECHNOLOGY
MTV Canada and MuchMusic's much-anticipated brawl should have little to do with TV sets. Both Canadian youth-skewing music networks are ambitiously pursuing digital strategies such as video downloads, online communities and cell phone broadcasts. In fact, since MTV Canada's license is limited to talk and lifestyle programming -- while rival MuchMusic features music videos -- Internet downloads and streaming broadcasts could provide the network with a freedom that its TV license doesn't allow.
The Globe and Mail

Personal video recorder company TiVo is managing to appease kids' advocacy groups everywhere with its KidZone system. The system uses age-based recommendations from diverse interest groups to help parents cherry-pick which live and recorded shows come into their homes. TiVo has announced that the conservative grass-roots Parents Television Council and the more moderate nonpartisan Common Sense Media will each submit a list of recommended programs that parents could either adopt or customize on KidZone. On Tuesday, TiVo executives announced that two more sets of guidelines -- a menu of children's educational and informational programs and a list from the learning-focused Parents' Choice Foundation -- will also be available on TiVo when the system launches in June.
Los Angeles Times

AWARDS SHOWS
This year's Rose D'Or Awards ceremony should be funnier than usual. Ricky Gervais, creator of The Office and Extras will receive an honorary award at the annual event in Lucerne, Switzerland. Gervais' Extras is nominated in the sitcom category as well, and will go head-to-head with the U.S. version of The Office, on which Gervais is an executive producer.
BBC News

EXECUTIVE SHUFFLE
Hey, you can't blame an almost-90-year-old man for wanting to take it easy. Mike Wallace, the 88-year-old 60 Minutes anchor, who has been with the show since it launched in 1968, has decided to leave his post this spring. While CBS announced nearly three years ago that Wallace would cut his workload, he has shown no sign of slowing down, and had 11 original reports on the show just last season.
The New York Times

FILM
Despite box-office revenue being down around the globe, Canada-based giant screen company Imax Corp. managed to have a very successful 2005. The company's revenues and shares shot up, and, as result, executives are considering putting the company up for sale.
Toronto Star

Even though the film's director hails from China,Brokeback Mountain is unlikely to make it to that country. The movie, about two gay cowboys fighting their mutual love, has not been and probably will not be approved for showing in mainland China. In fact, director Ang Lee's Academy Award acceptance speech, though televised in China, was censored by the authorities who omitted references to gays and Taiwan.
International Herald Tribune

It's looking as though John Travolta and Jennifer Lopez better don their cowboy boots and hats. The two actors have reportedly been approached to play the male and female leads in a big screen remake of hit 80s U.S. TV series Dallas. The show was exported all around the world. 20th Century Fox plans to start filming at the end of this year, and has tapped Australian Robert Luketic to direct.
BBC News

The "Road to the L.A. Screenings*" Starts at MIP-TV

During Day 4 of MIP-TV '06, VideoAge Daily will feature a take-along Special Report on the upcoming L.A. Screenings.

All distribution companies participating at the Screenings are asked to please e-mail as much preliminary information as possible to:
vaieditor@aol.com; re: LA Screenings

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For additional info, please visit www.videoageinternational.com/screenings.html or www.VideoAgeLatin.com

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