SHELLY PALMER offers up some alternative theories for the OSCAR‘s incredibly low ratings this year. It could be that the films were dark and the actors were foreign, but it could also have to do with something much less variable.
SAG‘s New York board is urging the Guild to begin contract negotiations with the AMPTP soon. The board issued a resolution stating that SAG is “wasting valuable time and Guild resources” in its talks with AFTRA and by ignoring the tactic of early discussions with the AMPTP taken by the DGA. AFTRA has also asked SAG to speed things up in their negotiations and has threatened to begin AMPTP talks this month without SAG.
NBC U and the MPAA issued filings with the FCC on Friday supporting the right of Internet service providers to throttle Internet connections to file-sharing networks. Both parties claimed that Internet congestion caused by pirated material will hinder their ability to provide reliable, legal content and will harm consumers by interrupting access to that content. NBC U and the MPAA asked the FCC to give Internet providers enough freedom to prevent such network slowdowns from stunting the growing legal online video market.
THE TVB said that Broadcast TV revenue was down 4.4% in 2007 and down 5.6% in Q4 year-over-year. Local TV revenue was down 9.5% during the year. 9 out of 10 of the top local advertisers reduced spending, with the top four spenders reducing by more than 20%.
THE WILLIAM MORRIS AGENCY will partner with AT&T to create a new fund that will invest in digital media start-up companies. Venture capital firms Accel Partners and Venrock will also participate. AT&T says it is looking for technology that improves mobile ads and mobile integration with social networks.
MICROSOFT will expand its online software offerings and open testing to thousands of small businesses. Bill Gates is expected to announce new online e-mail, calendars, video-conferencing and other apps. Called Microsoft Online Services, the initiative is a defensive move to protect against Google’s growing slate of online software.