August 14, 2001
Edited by Lew Irwin
Copyright © 2001, Studio Briefing. All Rights Reserved
FOX BOWLING FOR DOLLARS
Fox is "floating" a price tag of $2.4 million to $2.5 million for Super Bowl XXXVI, set for Jan. 27, 2002, the trade publication Advertising Age reported Monday. However, Ad Age noted, "because of the sinking economy, few advertising executives take this price seriously." The magazine observed that the figures are about par with those bandied about by CBS around this time last year. However, that network was eventually forced to cut its price to around $2 million, the trade publication noted.
END OF THE TRAIL FOR JACKASS
MTV has yanked its controversial Jackass series following the resignation of its popular host, Johnny Knoxville. The show set off a blaze of political controversy after several youths were injured attempting to recreate stunts performed on the show -- causing Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman to remark: "There are some things that are so potentially dangerous and inciting, particularly to vulnerable children, that they simply should not be put on TV, and this is clearly one that crosses the line." As an apparent result of the controversy, MTV cut back on promotions for the show, something that Knoxville, in an interview with Monday's Knoxville News-Sentinel, described as "frustrating." He told the newspaper that he wanted to quit while he was still ahead. "With this kind of comedy," he said, "people become inured to the shock value."
THE "I" GETS SMALLER AT NBCi
NBC has continued to downsize its ill-starred NBCi website, dropping numerous features and pulling on-air promotions for the site. Amid reports that NBC plans to scrap the site entirely and replace it with the generic NBC.com address, NBCi posted notices at several of its home-page links noting that it was "making certain changes to our portal offering that may affect the way you use the site." It said the alterations were necessary "in light of recent changes in the Internet advertising and financial markets." A report on the Lost Remote website Monday said that NBCi lost one million visitors last month.
RATHER TAKES MORE HEAT ON "READ A NEWSPAPER" REMARK
Dan Rather has expressed surprise at the reaction to his remark following President Bush's address on stem cell research that viewers who are "really interested in this" ought to read "one of the better newspapers tomorrow." Rather told Monday's Chicago Tribune that fellow broadcast journalists who criticized his recommendation are "a cosmos apart from the real world." He added: "Sometimes you just state the obvious and it becomes a thing." But Paul Friedman, executive vice president of ABC News, told the Trib, "I do not agree that it's something that television can't do at least as well as newspapers. In point of fact Nightline did it as well as or better than any newspaper last night." Oddly, CBS News posted a rather elaborate, interactive explanation of "the politics, the ethics and the science" of stem cell research on its website <http://cbsnews.com/htdocs/stem_cells/framesource.html> that went unmentioned by Rather (and, later, by his critics).
CNN CO-FOUNDER BLASTS NEW CHAIRMAN
CNN founding president Reese Schonfeld has expressed dismay at current CNN Chairman Walter Isaacson's recent decision to "reach out" to the Republican Congressional leadership. On his website <http://www.meandted.com/bits.htm>, Schonfeld wrote, "If [Isaacson] thinks courting Republicans is the best way to increase CNN ratings, he's got another think coming." Speculating that Isaacson is now trying to woo conservatives who have migrated to rival Fox News, Schonfeld noted, "A professional doesn't go after the audience that belongs to the other guy. He goes after the audience that the other guy ignores. ... Isaacson seems to believe that in order to succeed, CNN must compete with Fox News on Fox's terms and that's a God forbid."
LIMBAUGH SAYS HE'S "LISTENING" TO CNN EXECS
Rush Limbaugh has confirmed a report that appeared in USA Today Monday that he is in discussions with CNN to host a talk show on the news network. Limbaugh told a caller on his radio talk show Monday. "CNN is talking to me. Am I talking with CNN? No. I'm listening." He noted that some listeners had written email messages to him following the USA Today report in which they complained that he was selling out to the liberals. "Some of the reaction has been vitriolic, really anger-filled," Limbaugh said. "Many say, 'How dare you sell out? We just knew it was too good to be true. Conservatives always try to be liked by the liberals.'" Citing a CNN insider, today's New York Daily News reported that Limbaugh might anchor a once-a-week series or a weekend show.
ACTORS ENJOY RECORD EMPLOYMENT
Despite growing concerns about runaway production, the Screen Actors Guild on Monday reported that the number of jobs for its members in radio and television jumped from 49,662 in 1999 to 53,134 in 2000, an increase of 7 percent. Its Casting Data Report also noted that African Americans received 14.8 percent of all roles cast, up from 14.1 percent the year before. Other minorities, including Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans also saw their jobs increase to record levels, the guild said. Nevertheless, SAG President William Daniels observed in a statement, "We are delighted to see gains for all ethnicities on the large and small screen, but there's no question there's still plenty of room for growth in diversity in the television and film world."
PIE TAKES BIG SLICE OF BOX OFFICE
American Pie 2
confounded many analysts over the weekend by taking in $45.1 million in ticket sales despite an R rating that many theaters are meticulously enforcing. Analysts had predicted that the rating would prevent the core teen audience for the original film from seeing the sequel and thereby depress revenue. As it was, the film debuted as the most profitable debut ever for an R-rated comedy. [Still, analysts suspected that teens got in anyway. In an interview with Bloomberg News, industry analyst Art Rockwell remarked that the movie "hit its demographic perfectly. ... It's not a reviewer's film, but it's what the teen audience wanted to see."] Disney's ghost movie The Others debuted with an all-right $14.1 million for fourth place, while Warner's Osmosis Jones tanked with $5.3 million for seventh place. Rush Hour 2, last week's winner, followed recent trends as it lost more than half its opening-week gate, dropping to second place with $33.1 million. Sales for the top 12 films totaled $148.5 million, up 54 percent from the same weekend last year.
The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. American Pie 2, Universal, $45,117,985, (New); 2. Rush Hour 2, New Line, $33,117,312, ($133,525,381); 3. The Princess Diaries, Disney, $14,216,447, ($52,092,481); 4. The Others, Miramax/Dimension, $14,089,952, (New); 5. Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Fox, $13,302,881, ($148,717,365); 6. Jurassic Park 3, Universal, $7,524,975, ($160,396,215); 7. Osmosis Jones, Warner Bros., $5,271,248, (New); 8. America's Sweethearts, Sony, $4,405,836, ($83,247,240); 9. Legally Blonde, MGM, $3,774,114, ($78,696,785); 10. Original Sin, MGM, $3,075,072, ($12,517,699).
DIRECTOR SMITH: ONLY KIDDING, TIM
Director Kevin Smith says he was only joking when he accused fellow director Tim Burton of stealing the ending of Planet of the Apes from one of his Jay and Silent Bob comic books. In a message posted on his <www.viewaskew.com> website, Smith wrote, "Lest anyone think some sort of holy jihad is brewing betwixt me and the mighty Tim, I'd like to set the record straight here. I do not think the Planet of the Apes ending was stolen ... nor am I thinking about taking anyone to court. I called the similarities (which I believe are simply coincidental) to the attention of my good friend Lou Lumenick [a New York Post film critic] and made a few jokey comments about being pissed and litigious that seem to have been taken seriously. This story has gotten way out of hand."
WINGER ANGERED OVER LOCARNO JURY AWARDS
Debra Winger walked out of a news conference in Locarno, Switzerland Sunday as awards were being announced for the Locarno Film Festival, the New York Post reported today (Tuesday). According to the Post, the jury, headed by former New York Times film critic Janet Maslin and including seven women and one man, was "bitterly divided" over the winning films. Before storming out of the press conference, Winger remarked that it was "the first time, and probably the last" that she would sit on a festival jury. The Golden Leopard top prize (which included not only a trophy but also a cash prize of $24,000 to be shared between the director and producer) went to Maurizio Sciarra's Alla Rivoluzione Sulla Due Cavalli (To the Revolution on Two Horses). The best actor award went to the film's star, Andoni Gracia. The best actress award went to Korea's Kim Ho-Jung for the film Nabi.
NO MORE PHONY REVIEWS, SONY ASSURES OREGON OFFICIALS
Heading off a possible fraud prosecution, Sony Pictures on Monday signed an agreement with the state of Oregon in which it promised never to cite phony critics in newspaper ads for its films. The agreement came following revelations that two Sony marketing executives had included quotes from an imaginary film critic in ads for several recent films. "It's a basic violation of our consumer protection laws and we thought, they have really gone over the line on this one," Jan Margosian, a spokeswoman for the state attorney general's office, told the Associated Press Monday. "They always use puffery, but to fabricate somebody and put them up on a billboard and everything -- that's going too far."
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© 2001 Studio Briefing. All Rights Reserved.