Jeffrey Immelt, the chairman and chief executive of General Electric Co., paid a Thanksgiving Eve visit to the Paris headquarters of telecommunications company Vivendi -- in an effort to jump-start the stalled negotiations between the two companies, according to people familiar with the matter.
Vivendi has two weeks to decide whether it will exercise its option to sell its 20% stake in NBC Universal. GE, which owns the majority 80% stake of the media empire, would like Vivendi to hurry up and decide to exit so that GE would be free to sell control of NBC Universal to cable television giant Comcast Corp. GE cannot move forward with its deal to partner with Comcast (Comcast would own 51% of the joint venture and GE would own 49%) until Vivendi agrees to bow out.
The negotiations between GE and Vivendi hit a snag in the last few days because Vivendi has been unhappy with the amount offered by GE for Vivendi's 20% interest.
The French company believes its stake is worth more than $6 billion. But valuations placed on NBC Universal, as part of GE's proposed deal with Comcast, would generate significantly less money for Vivendi, according to people familiar with the talks. The two sides have been about $500 million apart.
If Vivendi and GE cannot agree on a price, then Vivendi could push for a public offering of its shares in NBC Universal. That has long been an option, of course. But an IPO would be a long, drawn-out affair with an uncertain outcome -- not a prospect that GE relishes.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Immelt's visit to Vivendi. A person familiar with the matter said it was just one stop during Immelt's trip to Europe. Still, the visit to Vivendi's Paris headquarters demonstrated Immelt's motivation to work out a deal with Vivendi so that he can finalize GE's deal with Comcast during the first two weeks of December.
-- Meg James
Photo of Jeffrey Immelt by Daniel Acker / Bloomberg
"New Moon" will fade over the long Thanksgiving weekend, but it still has a virtual lock on No. 1 at the box office.
While three movies -- "Old Dogs," "Ninja Assassin," and "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" -- are opening or expanding nationwide on today, the biggest story will be how much "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" declines from its massive $142.8 million domestic opening. All signs point to a drop about equal to that of the original "Twilight" on Thanksgiving weekend last year: 62%. Ticket sales for the sequel have followed roughly the same trend as its predecessor each day since opening Friday.
An equivalent decline over the holiday would give "New Moon" a domestic gross of about $85 million from Wednesday through Sunday and $55 million for the three-day weekend. By the end of the week, its domestic total could easily be $250 million.
Overseas, where the "Twilight" sequel opens in 33 new territories this week on top of its existing 24, the total could easily be the same. So far its international gross is $132 million.
After "New Moon" blew away expectations last weekend, however, few in Hollywood feel comfortable making predictions on how it will perform going forward. It's quite possible that the movie could beat industry predictions once again.
Last weekend's No. 2 picture, meanwhile, has a good shot at holding on to that position as well. Alcon Entertainment's "The Blind Side" opened to a very strong $34.1 million and earned a perfect A+ score from audiences, indicating that its second weekend decline will be mild.
The highest-profile movie opening today may be the one in the most trouble. Walt Disney Studios' comedy "Old Dogs" is on track to significantly underperform the very similar "Wild Hogs." While the latter picture, which also starred John Travolta and was directed by Walt Becker, opened to $39.7 million in March 2007, the new movie will likely sell less than $30 million worth of tickets over the five-day holiday weekend, according to people who have seen pre-release polling.
"Old Dogs" appears to be generating some interest among adults over 30, but it's unclear whether families -- needed to boost the box office -- will attend.
"Ninja Assassin" is targeting young men and is tracking decently with that audience. Dark Castle Entertainment and Legendary Pictures produced the action movie, which stars the Korean action star Rain and will be distributed by Warner Bros., for a little less than $50 million. It's on track to gross about $20 million over five days.
20th Century Fox is opening its well-reviewed stop-motion animated flick "Fantastic Mr. Fox" around the country after it racked up a healthy $562,000 over the last two weeks in four theaters. While the studio is trying to market the film to a family audience -- one ad touted it as "from the studio that brought you 'Ice Age,' " although the two pictures are very different in style -- it doesn't appear to be catching on and may struggle to gross more than $10 million from Wednesday through Sunday. "Mr Fox," which cost about $35 million to produce and is based on the children's book by Roald Dahl, appears to be generating more interest from young male fans of director Wes Anderson than parents of young kids.
In the U.K., home country of Dahl where the movie opened Oct. 23, it has already collected a solid $13.7 million.
In limited release this weekend, The Weinstein Co. opens the post-apocalyptic drama "The Road," based on the Cormac McCarthy novel, in 113 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. 2929 Productions financed the film for about $25 million, but Weinstein Co. is distributing it and footing the marketing costs.
Disney's "The Princess and the Frog," the studio's first hand-drawn animated feature in five years, debuts at two theaters in Los Angeles and New York City today. Because ticket prices will be exceptionally high as part of an experience including games and other activities, per theater grosses will undoubtedly be large.
--Ben Fritz
Top photo: Ella Bleu Travolta, John Travolta and Conner Rayburn in "Old Dogs." Credit: Ron Phillips / Disney.
Bottom photo: Rain in "Ninja Assassin." Credit: Juliana Malucelli / Warner Bros. Pictures.
After the coffee. Before beating the holiday traffic.
Is NBC's "The Biggest Loser" a disaster waiting to happen? The New York Times weighs in (yes, bad pun) with a hard-hitting piece on NBC's weight-loss reality show "The Biggest Loser." The story says that the winner from the program's first season is back over 300 pounds and two contestants from this season had to go to the hospital. The participants featured are more overweight each season, and some doctors question the show's methods. J.D. Roth, an executive producer on the show, acknowledged to reporter Ed Wyatt that at times the show is extreme but added, "It needs to be extreme in my opinion. ... For some of these people, this is their last chance."
New boss at Disney Channel. Walt Disney Co. has tapped Carolina Lightcap, who had overseen Latin America for Disney Channel, to take the CEO position left vacant by Rich Ross when he was named to run Disney's movie studio. Gary Marsh, the cable channel's programming chief who was seen as an obvious candidate outside of Disney, has added the title of chief creative officer. Details from Los Angeles Times and Variety.
Time Warner Cable takes battle public. The nation's second-largest cable operator is launching an ad campaign decrying the rise of programming costs, per the Wall Street Journal. The company is currently in a fight with News Corp. over paying to carry the company's Fox TV stations and some of its cable channels. Time Warner Cable is telling consumers rising programming costs are to blame for higher cable bills.
So much for covering the country. The Washington Post is shuttering its remaining U.S. bureaus in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, the latest in a series of painful cuts at the once-legendary newspaper. The six reporters hurt by this -- including witty TV columnist Lisa de Moraes -- will be offered positions at the paper's D.C. headquarters (please keep Lisa covering the biz!). Washington Post media columnist Howard Kurtz, who used to toil in the paper's New York bureau, quotes the paper's editor saying in a memo that "we are not a national news organization of record serving a general audience."
Not a Blockbuster night. The Wrap looks at Blockbuster's fading fortunes. The video-store chain could shutter 950 outlets by the end of next year. Meanwhile, Netflix and Red Box continue to grow.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Adam Lambert's appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America" was canceled after the singer's, uh, interesting performance on the "American Music Awards." While ABC passed, CBS jumped in and said welcome home and got Lambert on its morning show. Betsy Sharkey on "The Princess and the Frog."
-- Joe Flint
The Morning Fix will be off Thursday and return on Friday. Happy Thanksgiving.
Obi-Wan Kenobi dropped in on Silver Lake this week.
Traveling far from his starring role in "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith," Scottish actor Ewan McGregor has joined Christopher Plummer and "ER" actor Goran Visnjic in a low-budget independent movie called "Beginners" that has begun filming on the streets of L.A.
In the movie, which is set in the Silver Lake area, McGregor portrays a young man whose world is shaken when his father, played by Plummer, reveals a double whammy -- that he has terminal cancer and is gay. In a far cry from his role as the heartthrob doctor in "ER," Visnjic is cast as Plummer's partner.
The $3-million film, directed and written by Mike Mills, is among about 50 projects that received approval for tax credits under the state's new film incentive program.
The city figures prominently in the film. So far, the production has shot at Griffith Park, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and on Monday will move to Highland Park to film a Halloween party scene. The crew will also spend several days downtown filming at the Biltmore Hotel.
Even the city's Silver Lake dog park will have a bit part in the movie, location manager Chris Miller said.
Despite the movie's small budget, Miller is especially grateful for the local storyline. His last job, working on the remake of the musical "Fame," ended seven months ago.
"There's so little work out there, I'm just fortunate to be working right now," he said.
Carolina Lightcap, the senior vice president and chief creative officer of Disney Channels Latin America, has been named president of Disney Channels Worldwide -- an announcement that underscores the global nature of the network.
The 20-year veteran of the entertainment industry, who began her career in Los Angeles, is known for building Disney Channel Latin America into a top cable channel in the region. The promotion takes effect immediately.
"Carolina has made enormous contributions to Disney over the past decade, especially in launching and building Disney Channel Latin America," Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks, said in a statement. "She's a highly respected member of our global team."
Disney Channel Entertainment President Gary Marsh, the executive responsible for successful programming including "High School Musical" and "Hannah Montana," was elevated to a newly created position of chief creative officer.
He will report to Lightcap.
"Gary is the creative force behind Disney Channel's tremendous success and some of The Walt Disney Company’s most heralded and popular franchises," Sweeney said in announcing Marsh's new title.
The top job has been vacant since Rich Ross, the former president of Disney Channels Worldwide, was named in October as chairman of Walt Disney Studios. Ross helped transform the network from a sleepy cable backwater that ran old films and educational fare to a tween powerhouse and reliable profit center responsible for creating brands for Disney.
After the coffee. Before shopping for the yams and cranberries.
Mayhem from Malone. Cable mogul John Malone continues to speak out about Comcast's efforts to take over General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal. In an interview with CNBC, Malone said he thought NBC's affiliates might line up against the deal out of fear that NBC would drop them and create channels with Comcast. Of course, that kind of talk about the deal being bad for the future of broadcast TV is exactly what will make regulators nervous. Malone, whose spent a career battling broadcasters and regulators, seems to have another agenda at play here along the lines of, how much trouble can he cause Comcast and NBC and what can he get out of it. Details from Broadcasting and Cable and another look at the irony in Malone's actions from the Los Angeles Times.
"New Moon" over FX. Cable channel FX has snagged the rights to Summit Entertainment's smash "New Moon." It's the second week in a row that the News Corp.-owned network has bought the rights to the No. 1 movie as last week it acquired Sony's "2012." Although "2012" makes sense for FX, one wonders how a movie aimed primarily at women and girls fits in with a cable network whose original programming is aimed directly at men ("Rescue Me," "Sons of Anarchy," "The League."). Details on the deal from the Hollywood Reporter.
Vivendi likes Canal Plus. While it continues to haggle with General Electric Co. over the value of its 20% stake in NBC Universal, French conglomerate Vivendi has bought more of France's pay-TV giant Canal Plus, according to PaidContent.
BMW drives back into Hollywood. BMW, which once made a big bet on Hollywood by launching a new model in a James Bond movie, has signed up with marketing giant Propaganda Gem with an aim of boosting its image on screen. Variety reports that, as of late, BMW has become the car of choice for bad guys while the good guys cruise around in an Audi or a Mercedes.
The future looks like the past. Advertisers are making a big bet on Internet television shows, or webisodes, as they are known in industry jargon. New York Times advertising ace Stuart Elliott explains how this is reminiscent of the old days of television when advertisers had a much more prominent role in the making of TV shows.
Black Friday forecast. Video games and television sets will be hot this holiday season, which officially kicks off the day after Thanksgiving. The Wall Street Journal says households are expected to spend about 7% less than usual, but the cuts will come in the clothes department.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: "New Moon" box office keeps rising. Dan Neil on National Geographic Channel's new image campaign. "Avatar" star Zoe Saldana promises the James Cameron movie will be "big." Well, if you say so, Zoe.
Summit Entertainment's estimates of how many filmgoers outside North America saw "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" was low. Way low.
As more exact information continues to roll in from overseas markets, the independent studio updated its estimate of ticket sales in the 24 countries where its blockbuster vampire movie played over the weekend.
Its new total, $132.1 million, is a full $14 million, or 12%, higher than its estimate Sunday morning of $118.1 million. Combined with the newly updated domestic total of $142.8 million, $2.1 million higher than Summit's Sunday morning estimate, it now turns out that "New Moon" opened to $274.9 million, the sixth highest worldwide bow of all time.
Because Summit doesn't have its own foreign distribution operation, it works with a variety of distributors in different countries and thus international grosses are coming in much slower than at major studios. Further updates are yet to come, just in case anyone is worried that "New Moon" didn't make enough money this weekend.
"The Princess and the Frog," Disney's first hand-drawn animated feature in five years, isn't only a throwback in style.
When it opens Wednesday, it also will be the first Disney animated film since 2003's "Brother Bear" to start in limited release in New York and Los Angeles. Like that movie and many other of its traditional cartoons, including "The Lion King" and "Hercules," the studio is pairing the two initial runs of "Princess" with an "experience" that includes games, actresses dressed as Disney princesses, props, costumes and other activities that give kids fun time beyond the film. [Updated 3:05 p.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said that "Brother Bear" was Disney's last hand-drawn animated film. It was 2004's "Home on the Range."]
All those extras mean ticket prices will be substantially higher than for a normal picture. Disney is charging $30 for general admission tickets, $50 for the best seats and $20 per person for groups at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City and on the studio lot in Burbank. (Disney's El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, its traditional spot for high-profile L.A. runs, is currently using its 3-D projection system to play "A Christmas Carol.")
The "ultimate Disney event," as the studio's website calls it, will play until Sunday, Dec. 13, the first weekend that "The Princess and the Frog" plays nationwide. Disney already has racked up more than $3.2 million in pre-sales. In Burbank, all but one show from Wednesday through Sunday is sold out, while the larger Ziegfeld in New York has fully booked half of its screenings over the holiday weekend.
In the meantime, high demand and inflated ticket prices -- more than six times the U.S. average at the top end -- means "Princess" should see huge grosses for a two-theater run. It's no accident that the top seven per-theater averages of all time on Box Office Mojo are all Disney animated runs, and it's very likely that "The Princess and the Frog" will join them this weekend, particularly with Friday being a holiday.
-- Ben Fritz
Photo: A scene from "The Princess and the Frog." Credit: Walt Disney Studios
Having managed to woo Oprah Winfrey away from her lucrative daytime television platform in 2011 after 25 years, Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav now faces his next big challenge: getting cable and satellite distributors to pay big bucks to carry the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Winfrey's tears had barely dried from her on-air announcement of her departure when industry insiders started speculating about how much Discovery, which is Winfrey's partner on OWN, would try to get for the cable channel.
Winfrey's OWN will take the slot currently held by Discovery Health Channel starting in January 2011. Discovery Health is in around 70 million homes. The cost to carry it is about 13 cents per month, per subscriber, according to SNL Kagan, an industry consulting firm. Others familiar with the channel say the fee is much lower. Regardless, Discovery is going to look for a big bump for OWN, perhaps as much as 50 cents per subscriber.
That is a huge price for an unproven service. It would match the price tag for cable networks such as USA and TBS that are established and would not be far behind the almost $1 per subscriber fee that TNT commands.
Of course, that is just starting off a point and odds are OWN will end with a much lower fee from cable and satellite operators. While no one doubts the power of Winfrey's brand, it's not like she'll be a 24-hour presence on the channel. She will have a show on the network but distributors are going to need more than that before shelling out what they pay for already successful channels. On top of that, Discovery is also going to be knocking on doors trying to boost fees for its new kids channel it is launching with Hasbro.
Discovery's Zaslav is nothing if not a persuasive salesman. He convinced Winfrey to bet on Discovery for her network and prior to that he was able to boost subscriber fees for MSNBC and CNBC when he ran NBC's cable business. But given the current economy and the turmoil that has already led to OWN to be delayed several times, Zaslav might not want to get too aggressive here. If he does decide to go that route, here's a piece of advice: Bring Winfrey with you. We hear she can work a room.
-- Joe Flint
Photo: Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav. Photo credit: Discovery Communications
After the coffee. Before going to D.C. to try out as placekicker for the Redskins.
"New Moon" rocks the daylight too! Summit Entertainment's vampire saga "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" sucked the box office dry with a $140.7 million opening weekend. That was much higher than even optimists were projecting and made for the second-biggest non-holiday weekend opening ever behind "The Dark Knight." Warner Bros. tearjerker-football-saga and chick-flick "The Blind Side," starring Sandra Bullock, also was very visible, taking in a higher-than-anticipated $34.5 million. Box-office analysis from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Variety, Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood.
Microsoft, News Corp. chatting. No, it's not a merger. News Corp. and its chief, Rupert Murdoch, have issues with Google. Microsoft has Bing, a search engine trying to compete against Google. The Financial Times reports the two companies have had talks about Microsoft paying News Corp. to "de-index" its news content off of Google. Complex stuff but important for newspaper publishers, which I guess means it's important to me too.
First look at Ross the boss. Disney Studios' new boss, Rich Ross, is keeping quiet, but his actions are speaking for him. The Los Angeles Times looks at the first 50 days of the Ross regime. Among areas he is focusing on is marketing and how better to sharpen promotional pushes for movies. He's also been busy putting his own team in charge.
Oprah: Chapter 2. Discovery Communications, Oprah Winfrey's not-so-silent partner in her cable channel, will now look to leverage the talk-show queen's stature to drive up the cost to carry the network. Word is, Discovery will look for as much as 50 cents per subscriber to carry OWN when it launches in 2011. That's a price tag on par with USA and TBS. Expect push back! Meanwhile, lots of talk shows are hoping to fill the void when Winfrey leaves daytime. Details from Broadcasting & Cable , Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.
Discovering Discovery: Barron's takes a look inside Discovery, the growing cable-programming giant whose stock has managed to make gains while other media companies have struggled. It's not just Oprah Winfrey and Jon & Kate that make the company hot on Wall Street.
Harpo gets hot! Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions is developing a steamy drama for HBO, says Variety. The show will follow a woman who abandons her happy marriage to pursue the underbelly of life.
"Cougar Town" shuts down. Production was shut down on ABC's freshman comedy "Cougar Town" so star Courteney Cox could deal with a family matter. No other details were provided, said the Hollywood Reporter. The show, which has been given a full-season order, was already headed for a break for Thanksgiving.
The tan's not the only thing that's fake. The Wall Street Journal looks at the fine art of spray tanning on shows such as ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" and Fox's "American Idol." Tom DeLay says no to six-pack abs!
Inside the Los Angeles Times:Denise Martin's look at how Nickelodeon and other kids channels are using stardom as a programming theme for kids. Ann Powers on the women who ruled the American Music Awards. The latest (until something changes) on NBC Universal's efforts to cut a deal with Vivendi.
Summit Entertainment had the kind of opening studio executives dream about this weekend, but it's hard to find anyone in the movie business who's not smiling.
Although Summit's "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" opened to a massive $140.7 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates, it wasn't the only film to perform well. "The Blind Side," which Warner Bros. distributed for financier Alcon Entertainment, opened to $34.5 million, very strong for a modestly budgeted drama. Festival and critics' favorite "Precious" more than tripled its theater count and kept up its winning ways, grossing $11 million at 629 locations.
With one huge hit, numerous strong performers and no real flops, total box-office receipts expanded to nearly $260 million, according to several studio executives and Hollywood.com. That's the second-biggest nonholiday weekend ever, behind only the one in July 2008 when "The Dark Knight" launched and movie theaters collected just over $260 million.
"It's a really good sign for the industry," said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. "It just goes to show you that good movies can expand the marketplace."
Several movies are well positioned to keep playing strongly throughout the holidays, most notably "The Blind Side," which garnered an average grade of A-plus from moviegoers, according to market research firm CinemaScore. It's only the second film this year to get a perfect grade, along with "Up." It could easily collect more than $150 million by the end of the year, making it very profitable for Alcon and Warner Bros., which receives a distribution fee.
"New Moon" is sure to drop significantly after its massive debut. The first "Twilight" fell 62% from its opening on Thanksgiving weekend and the sequel will probably do the same. Nonetheless, if it follows the path of its predecessor, "New Moon" will end up grossing more than $300 million domestically and the same amount overseas, making it one of the most profitable pictures of the year. Summit spent only $50 million to produce its second teen vampire flick based on the bestselling novels.
Overseas, "2012" continues to perform extremely well. It grossed $100.5 million overseas, down 37% from its international debut last weekend. That was helped by a huge $7-million launch in Japan, the biggest for any nonlocal movie this year. Domestically, "2012" dropped 59%. The worldwide total gross for Sony's disaster flick from director Roland Emmerich, which cost $200 million to produce, is a very strong $449.8 million.
Two films performed extremely well in limited release in the U.S. and Canada. Sony Pictures Classics opened the Pedro Almodovar picture "Broken Embraces," starring Penelope Cruz, to $107,597 at just two theaters. On its second weekend, Fox's stop-motion animated picture "Fantastic Mr. Fox" collected $199,200 from four theaters, down just 25%. It starts playing nationwide Wednesday.
First Look Pictures opened the new Nicolas Cage crime drama "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans," directed by Werner Herzog, to a so-so $257,267 at 27 locations.
Here are the top 10 movies at the domestic box office, according to studio estimates and Hollywood.com:
"Twilight" No. 2 had the No. 3 opening weekend of all time.
Summit Entertainment's "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" sold an astounding $140.7 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada this weekend, according to studio estimates, blowing away already huge expectations and giving the teen vampire saga the third-biggest domestic debut of all time.
In the 25 foreign countries where "New Moon" launched, it added an extra $118.1 million, giving it a mind-bending worldwide total of $258.8 million. That's the seventh-biggest worldwide launch of all time and is particularly notable given that several international markets where the first "Twilight" performed very well, including Germany, South Korea and Russia, haven't gotten the film yet. [Updated 9:21 a.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said that the worldwide ticket sales total was $248.8 million.]
The domestic debut is the biggest, by a margin of $38 million, for a film opening outside of the summer movie season, between May and July, when the biggest tentpoles traditionally launch. The No. 1 opener of all time is "The Dark Knight," which opened to $158.4 million in July 2008, followed by "Spider-Man 3," which started with $151.1 million in May of 2007.
Ticket sales plummeted 41% on Saturday from Friday, the biggest such decline for any picture this year, reflecting the massive pent-up interest among devoted young female fans of the franchise who gave it the most lucrative midnight shows and opening day of all time.
Despite the movie's record-breaking first day, however, the Saturday decline was virtually identical with the first "Twilight," demonstrating that demand to see the movie hasn't shifted up in the schedule, but grown significantly. It appears that more adult women turned out for the sequel, along with the teenage and tween girls who fueled the original.
Assuming it continues to follow the path of the first "Twilight," "New Moon" will likely end up grossing well over $500 million worldwide, representing a windfall for its independent distributor Summit Entertainment. The movie cost just under $50 million to produce, including Canadian tax credits.
The first "Twilight" collected $385 million worldwide.
Despite the dominance of "New Moon," it was a big weekend overall at the box office. Alcon Entertainment's inspirational drama "The Blind Side," starring Sandra Bullock, opened to a much-bigger-than-expected $34.5 million, a very strong launch for a modestly budgeted drama.
"Planet 51," which Sony Pictures distributed for financier and animation studio Ilion Studios, debuted to a so-so $12.3 million.
Lionsgate's well-reviewed festival film"Precious" continues to play very strongly as it expanded to 629 theaters and grossed a healthy $11 million, bringing its total thus far to $21.4 million. The independent studio bought the hard-hitting drama at the Sundance Film Festival for a minimum guarantee of $5.5 million.
Sony's "2012" fell a sizable 59% from its huge opening, taking in $26.5 million in third place this weekend. Disney's "A Christmas Carol" lost a bit of its mojo, dropping 45%, significantly more than the 26% it declined on its second weekend.
--Ben Fritz
Photo: Fans Deeanna Lopez, left, Sabrina Lopez and Ilrimani Cisneros at the opening of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" in Universal City on Friday. Credit: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times.
Comcast Corp.’s plan to take control of NBC Universal has encountered a roadblock.
The Philadelphia-based cable operator, which had hoped to have a deal announced this week to acquire a 51% stake in the entertainment giant, is being held up as NBC Universal owners spar over the value of the company, according to people close to the negotiations.
General Electric Co., which owns 80% of the television and movie company, and French telecommunications firm Vivendi, which owns 20%, have been negotiating for several weeks over the value of the minority stake. GE needs to reach an agreement with Vivendi before it can sell majority control to Comcast.
But Vivendi and GE are still at least $500 million apart in agreeing on a value for the French company’s stake, according to two people with knowledge of the talks who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are meant to be private. A third person estimated that the two parties could be as far as $900 million apart.
GE has placed a value on NBC Universal of $27 billion to $30 billion, said people familiar with the negotiations. At the lower end, that would mean the value of Vivendi’s stake was about $5.4 billion.
However, Vivendi determined earlier this year that its 20% stake was worth substantially more -- $6.2 billion, according to the company’s filings.
At an investor conference Thursday in Barcelona, Philippe Capron, Vivendi’s chief financial officer, said GE’s negotiations with Comcast complicated the picture.
"This year the situation is a bit more complex," Capron said, according to Bloomberg News. "We are not forced to do anything. We could just also say no.”
Analysts think such an outcome is unlikely. But negotiations could drag on until Dec. 10, when Vivendi's window to exercise its option to sell its stake officially closes. After that time, Vivendi wouldn’t have the oportunity to sell, perhaps even through an public offering, for another year.
Vivendi declined to comment, and a GE spokeswoman was unavailable Friday.
Analysts and some NBC Universal insiders believe that a deal is within reach but that both GE and Vivendi are seeking to maximize their leverage, delaying the completion of the Comcast deal. GE plans to sell much of its stake to Comcast, which would control 51% of the new entity. GE would have the remaining 49%.
GE’s partnership with Vivendi dates back to 2004, when the industrial giant acquired Vivendi’s profitable entertainment assets -- which included Universal Studios, Universal Pictures and cable channels USA Network and SyFy -- in an effort to strengthen NBC’s portfolio and diversify its revenue. At the time, Vivendi received $3.4 billion in cash and the 20% stake in NBC Universal.
The assets that Vivendi contributed to the venture have turned out to be the most profitable -- particularly the cable channels USA and Syfy. And that fact is not lost on Vivendi.
"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is poised to break its second box office record in a single day.
According to four people who have closely watched ticket sales data today but requested anonymity because they are not authorized to release the information, the teen vampire phenomenon is all but certain to gross more than $67.2 million, the record set by "The Dark Knight" last year for the biggest single-day take at the box office.
By 5 p.m., the movie had already sold more than $50 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada. When evening shows are included, the total will likely be more than $70 million, the people said.
Given the huge amount of pent-up interest among fans, who are rushing out to theaters on opening day, ticket sales are expected to drop significantly on Saturday and Sunday. Nonetheless, a total weekend gross of more than $110 million is all but certain and more than $120 million is very possible. That would give "New Moon" the biggest weekend gross for any movie this year and make it one of the top five pictures of all time at the domestic box office, not accounting for ticket price inflation.
Ticket sales from the 25 foreign countries where "New Moon" is opening this weekend will almost certainly push the worldwide weekend gross to more than $150 million.
Summit Entertainment, the studio behind the "Twilight" films, will release an official total for Friday ticket sales on Saturday morning.
Update (Nov. 21, 8:50 AM): Summit reports that "New Moon" grossed $72.7 million on Friday, easily breaking the single day sales record set by "The Dark Knight." It will now likely collect more than $120 million through Sunday.
Inspirational drama "The Blind Side," starring Sandra Bullock, sold $10.9 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada on Friday, setting it up to be no. 2 for the weekend with an impressive $30 million-plus.
Photo: Moviegoers wait to see "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" at
the AMC movie theater at the Westfield Century City shopping mall in
Los Angeles Thursday night. Credit: Matt Sayles / Associated Press.
Pamm Fair, deputy national executive director of the Screen Actors Guild, is resigning.
Fair, who heads SAG's legislative affairs and communications divisions, will step down by the end of the year, a person close to SAG said.
SAG officials declined to comment on the reason for Fair's resignation. Fair was among the guild's highest paid staffers and saw her responsibilities grow during the controversial tenure of Doug Allen, the union's former executive director, who was fired by the SAG board earlier this year over his handling of a protracted contract standoff with the studios.
Fair declined to comment.
Update (1 p.m.): In a statement, the Screen Actors Guild Executive
Director David White credited Fair for her efforts to redefine the
guild's new media initiatives, organizing efforts and legislative
advocacy on key guild issues. "Her contributions to the guild have been
varied and significant and I thank her for her dedicated service. I
know I speak for all of us in wishing her continued success," White
stated.
It's probably not much fun being Jeff Zucker these days.
Over the last year or so, the NBC Universal President and CEO has faced harsher criticism than usual. A press favorite when he was the wunderkind producer of NBC's "Today," those days are long gone and now he is pretty much a punching bag. Earlier this month, New York magazine called him a "reviled wonder boy" and said the "beleaguered and tattered Peacock Network deserves better." For every story that says Comcast is planning on leaving Zucker in charge if it takes control of NBC Universal, there are snickers from industry insiders and snarky comments on Twitter and blogs elsewhere on the Internet questioning Zucker's management skills.
While much of NBC Universal is doing well -- particularly news and cable -- Zucker is ripped for NBC's prime time woes. There is certainly plenty of material there for his critics. The network has been struggling for several years. Its decision to put Jay Leno on at 10 p.m. was seen as a sign that it is throwing in the towel on making high-quality dramas like "Law & Order" and "ER" that used to be a staple on the network. While NBC insiders swear that the Leno show is doing better financially than what the network was doing with dramas, the ratings are way down and NBC affiliates are hurting big time from the weaker programming.
A look at the numbers under Zucker don't do him any favors. He first took over NBC Entertainment in December 2001 and he rocketed through the executive ranks even though the network's prime-time performance had been lackluster. In Zucker's first year, NBC averaged 13.5 million viewers in prime time; now it averages under 8 million. Among the coveted adults 18-49 category, NBC went from averaging well over 5 million viewers to about three million. While broadcast television in general has faced erosion over that same time period, NBC's declines have been far steeper than its rivals'.
Zucker often likes to note that most of NBC's revenue comes from its cable networks including USA, Bravo, MSNBC and CNBC, among others, and that NBC itself represents a very small part of the company's bottom line. To be sure, Zucker has oversight over cable too, and those networks -- particularly Bravo and USA -- are flourishing. Of course, NBC acquired both of those channels and the executives who run them didn't come up through Zucker's farm system.
According to four people close to the movie, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" sold more than $22.2 million worth of tickets in midnight shows last night, beating a record set this summer by "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."
Two people close to the picture said the exact gross, which is still being calculated by Summit Entertainment, could be as high as $26 million.
In addition, one person with access to ticket sales data said the original "Twilight," which was re-released in theaters last night, collected $1.2 million from rabid fans who turned out.
Morning ticket sales for "New Moon" are also huge, according to the person, already totaling $13.9 million. That's a clear sign the sequel is on track for a massive Friday at the box office.
Summit is expected to release official estimates soon.
Update (10:45 AM): Summit's official estimate for midnight ticket sales is $26.27 million. Its official estimate for the gross of the original "Twilight" last night is $1.3 million.
Update (7 PM): "New Moon" is poised to have the biggest day ever at the domestic box office. Details here.
-- Ben Fritz and Claudia Eller
Photo: Tickets for the midnight showing of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" sold out at a movie theater in Nampa, Idaho. Credit: Mike Vogt / Associated Press
After the coffee. Before getting my audition tape to replace Oprah ready.
Oprah makes up her mind. Oprah Winfrey gave official notice that she is leaving her talk show when her deal is up in 2011 and will focus her efforts on the Oprah Winfrey Network, the cable channel she is launching in partnership with Discovery. The move, while not unexpected, is still a big blow to broadcast television. She has ruled daytime TV for almost a quarter of a century and reinvigorated the talk genre. She was able to both mingle with world leaders, authors and Hollywood talent and do tawdry shows that might seem better suited for Jerry Springer without soiling her own reputation. Analysis on the winners and losers and the big picture from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood, which first broke the news two weeks ago that Winfrey was making the leap.
Waiting for Vivendi. The big hurdle for a Comcast-NBC Universal deal remains Vivendi. The Financial Times reports that NBC U parent General Electric Co. and Vivendi are "at least" $1 billion apart on what the French conglomerate's 20% chunk of NBC U is worth. It now looks like there may not be a deal until after Thanksgiving, which is good news for the reporters covering it since we can enjoy our turkey in peace.
"New Moon" will be full. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," will have a big bite at the box office and could take in $90 million. That's a lot of teenage girls. The Los Angeles Times looks at how much blood the vampire flick will sock away this weekend.
AOL 3.0. Or is it a 4.0? Whatever it is, it sure will be smaller. America Online, which is breaking away from its parent Time Warner in a few weeks, is looking to cut 2,500 jobs and about $300 million in costs. The cuts represent a third of the staff there. Details from the Wall Street Journal.
How's that print thing working out for ya? Both Business Week, which is now owned by Bloomberg, and the Associated Press made drastic staff cuts yesterday. Reuters has the grim details.
Jonas Bros. going `Mad Men.' Teenyboppers the Jonas Bros. are becoming pitchmen for Microsoft's Xbox.360. New York Times reporter Stuart Elliott interviewed Nick and Kevin Jonas (bet that made your day, right Stuart?), who told him they take their Xbox on the road with them all the time.
Goodbye Jon & Kate. Monday marks the final episode of TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8," which went from a modestly successful reality show to a huge juggernaut as the country and the tabloid industry became obsessed with the bickering couple and their collapsing marriage. The program was hit for TLC, but the dollars that came in were equaled by the headaches that came with the Gosselin family. We're not free yet. Kate's solo show will start in the spring. The Associated Press takes a look at the dynamic duo of reality TV.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: The winners and losers out of Oprah's decision. Since "New Moon" is probably review proof, here's Betsy Sharkey on the Sandra Bullock tearjerker "The Blind Side."
Oprah Winfrey's decision to walk away from her daytime talk show after 25 years when her contract expires in 2011 will have a ripple effect throughout the television industry.
The big winners are Discovery Communications, which is partners with Winfrey on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) that is due to launch in early 2011, Ellen DeGeneres and Warner Bros., which syndicates her daytime talk show and all the TV stations that will no longer have to compete against Winfrey in daytime.
The losers include CBS, which will no longer be able to count on the hundreds of millions that "The Oprah Winfrey Show" delivered in license fees and advertising revenue over the years. ABC is also probably not too happy. Many of its big city stations carried the show and it delivered a sizeable audience to their local news. Sony is also grumbling; it was trying desperately to woo distribution rights to Winfrey's daytime show away from CBS when her deal expired. Winfrey herself may be a loser because odds are that, at least in the short-term, she will take a financial hit by abandoning daytime talk -- although, of course, in the long-term she is building an asset that could have tremendous value.
While Winfrey and OWN are keeping quiet, the talk show queen is expected to have a visible presence on the channel when it launches. She probably will do a daily show, although it will not be a carbon copy of her current effort. This will help OWN build a brand and boost its distribution for the network.
Winfrey's departure will be the end of an era for daytime talk. She burst onto the national scene in 1986 after toiling in local TV in Nashville, Baltimore and Chicago, which is where she has made her home for almost 30 years. The late Roger King, a legendary salesman known as much for his hard-living as for his deal-making acumen, signed her to King World and made her a star, and she made him and his brother Michael incredibly rich. CBS later bought King World for $2.5 billion.
When Winfrey premiered, daytime talk was still ruled by Phil Donahue, who dealt with politics and social issues in a more refrained manner. Winfrey was boisterous and enthusiastic and endeared herself to her audience and guests. She was able to woo political leaders and movie stars to her couch and at the same time dip into the more tawdry topics that have also become a staple of TV without soiling her own reputation.
The exit of Winfrey from broadcast TV to cable is yet another sign of the paradigm shift between the two mediums. News Corp., Disney and Viacom all are powered by their cable networks, as is Time Warner. Comcast wants control of NBC Universal not for its broadcast network and TV stations, but for its cable networks. Winfrey is making the decision that she can make more money and build her brand better on cable than broadcast. A few years ago that would have seemed unthinkable, but it is clear that the greater value lies in the broadband medium. OWN, which will debut in 2011 in roughly 70 million homes, will be turbo-charged by having her on board as a regular presence.
At the same time, her own visibility will decline, at least for awhile. While actors bounce back and forth between broadcast and cable, personalities of Winfrey's stature generally stay put. Ted Koppel left ABC's "Nightline" for Discovery Channel but his presence in the cultural zeitgeist diminished and he no longer is associated with the network. Howard Stern gave up his perch on FM radio for satellite radio and though his pay day grew tremendously, he is no longer part of the daily conversation around the water cooler. Winfrey probably will have a similar adjustment. Cable is great at building some stars such as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but those who move there from broadcast face smaller audiences and diminished limelight.
Of course, after a quarter of a century of being in the spotlight, maybe Winfrey won't mind some quiet time.
-- Joe Flint
Photo: Oprah Winfrey. Credit: Chris Pizzello/Associated Press
The talk show diva who has ruled daytime TV for almost a quarter of a century is pulling the plug when her current deal expires in the fall of 2011. She will likely resurface on OWN, the cable network she is starting with Discovery Communications.
The move was not entirely unexpected. Once Winfrey agreed to partner with Discovery on the Oprah Winfrey Network, there was a general assumption that she would ultimately focus all her creative efforts there. OWN, which was originally supposed to launch this year, is now looking to debut in January 2011.
Winfrey will have an on-air presence on OWN as well as behind the scenes. While OWN is keeping mum, Winfrey is expected to have a daily show, although the approach will probably be different than her current studio audience-and-guest format. OWN declined to comment.
Winfrey made her national debut in 1986 when Phil Donahue was still ruling talk. It didn't take her long to drive him off the airwaves. Over the course of her show's run it has veered from classy and educational to tabloid and sleazy. She spawned a host of imitators and clones ranging from Jerry Springer to Ellen DeGeneres. Daytime television was a sleepy business that Winfrey revolutionized. Her syndicated show generated hundreds of millions of dollars a year in revenue.
-- Joe Flint
Photo: Oprah Winfrey at the Vanity Fair party following the 2007 Academy Awards. Credit: Rich Schmitt/AFP/Getty Images.
