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Nielsen is reporting that this years Academy Awards show was watched by nearly 36.3 million people. The show’s ratings increased 13% over last year, which was the lowest rated Oscars in the history of the program. While the numbers are up, the 81st annual Academy Awards will go down as the third-lowest rated broadcast of the event.
Peter Cherin, the President and COO of News Corp, announced that he is set to leave the company. Chernin, who has acted as Rupert Murdoch’s number 2, will now head a new film and television production division associated with Fox. Chernin’s departure has spurred rumors that shakeups at Fox’s film and television divisions are on the way.
A new Nielsen survey notes that Americans are now watching more television than ever. In the fourth quarter of 2008, the average American watched 151 hours of TV a month, up from 146 hours last year. Despite the rising popularity of internet video, viewers are using technology like digital video recorders to ingest more television. The survey also reported that average internet video viewer spent 2 hours and 53 minutes watching video on the web a month.
The Blogosphere and Tweetosphere were a buzz yesterday with stories of President Obama canceling a helicopter program which would have created new jobs. As it turns out, the VH-71 helicopter program is more than 100% over budget. If something as simple as advocating fiscal responsibility can be this badly misinterpreted by superficial soundbite seekers, imagine what’s going on with truly complex news.