VIDEOAGE "PAPER CLIPS": A WEEKLY PRESS REVIEW

PROGRAMMING
The Sopranos won't be sleeping with the fishes as soon as everyone thought. HBO plans to air an extra episode of the series after series creator David Chase and his fellow producers decided that eight wasn't enough to tie up all the loose ends on the mobster drama before it ends next year. The Sopranos' final season is slated to begin airing April 8, 2007. The series finale will air in June..
E! Online

BUSINESS
Canadian entrepreneur Michael Cowpland, who founded Corel Corp. and helped put Ottawa's high-tech sector on the map, is taking a big gamble on Internet television. His company, ZIM Corp., recently launched ZIMTV, an online TV platform offering free content to viewers on personal computers and mobile phones. ZIM isn't the first company to offer televised content online with advertising, but the service is unique because of a partnership with PPLive.com, which broadcasts using peer-to-peer technology.
National Post

Israeli start-up Metacafe Inc. has inked a deal with U.S. producer extraordinaire Steven Bochco, the brains behind such hits as NYPD Blue and LA Law. But while speculation is running rampant as to what the agreement entails, Metacafe will not yet disclose the nature of the collaboration.
TMCnet.com

Clear Channel Communications will merge with a private equity group and sell its broadcast television division, as well as more than 40 radio stations. The equity group, led by two Boston, MA-based firms, Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Bain Capital Partners, will shell out $18.7 million for the San Antonio, TX-based company. Shareholders will receive $37.60 for each share of common stock, a premium of about 25 percent over the company's average closing share price of $29.99 during the 30-day trading period ending October 24.
Cincinnati Business Courier

After recently entrusting its online marketing strategy to Ebizproduction, Lebanon's leader in Web marketing activities, Alsumaria TV's website has had ten times more visitors. The Iraqi satellite network has become one of the most watched TV stations in the country in just two years, but the site's traffic was lagging behind. The overall number of hits in April was 4,215. By September, the total number of visitors was up to 45,000.
Iraq Updates

CONTROVERSY
Calls for tougher supervision on free video-sharing websites are getting louder as four in five video clips were found to have infringed upon copyrights. In fact, only 13.5 percent of video files were self-made products, according to Korea's Copyright Deliberation and Conciliation Commission, which inspected 4,500 files, and found that most were copies of TV shows, movies, videos and animation. Broadcasters have begun talks with the government on how best to stop this copyright infringement.
Korea Times

Prague's television advertisers and their marketing experts are urging politicians to postpone a new law that would cut the number of commercials allowed on Czech Television (CTV) by 50 percent beginning January 1. The law, which passed through Parliament in June 2005, will completely prevent CTV from airing commercials by 2008.
Prague Post

OBITUARY
M*A*S*H director Robert Altman died Monday, November 20 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA due to complications from cancer. He was 81. The prolific filmmaker, who directed Gosford Park, The Player , Short Cuts and the recent A Prairie Home Companion, was in pre-production on a film that he planned to begin shooting in February.
E! Online

FILM
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment inked a deal with China's largest video distributor, Zoke Culture Group, making the firm the sole partner in China to distribute the studio's library titles. With a plan to shorten release windows to beat copycats, Fox will release its first wave of DVD and VCD titles this month. The launch will be led by Garfield 2, Ice Age 2 and X-Men 3.
Xinhua

VIDEOAGE AT NATPE '07 FOR YOU
VideoAge's NATPE editorial vehicles:
Issue: Sección en Español
Monday Daily: Latin America Edition
Tuesday Daily: U.S. Syndication Special (with SNTA)
Wednesday Daily (second market day): Focus on Canada, U.K.
So, for NATPE 2007, leverage VideoAge's editorial strength to get your message across to your buyers.

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