The Morning Fix: OWN CEO spills some beans. More (sigh) on Comcast-NBC. Redstone wins family feud. Should Dick Clark hang it up?
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After the coffee. Before finding a girl to see ‘The Blind Side’ with so I can pretend I don’t want to see it.
Oprah’s OWN role. In her first major interview since Oprah Winfrey announced a quit date for her daily talk show to focus on her cable channel, OWN, Christina Norman, the CEO of OWN tells USA Today that while Winfrey will have a big presence on the network, it won’t be in the form of a daily talk show. ‘Her show as you know it is not coming to OWN,’ Norman said. So what is coming to OWN? Most likely a mix of reality shows that focus on relationships, self-discovery and ‘messages of empowerment.’ While the channel will be primarily aimed at women, Norman doesn’t want ‘guys to run screaming from the room.’
Another day, another dozen Comcast-NBC stories. By this time Thursday, Comcast’s plans to take control of General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal should be official. Not sure what there will be left to write about, though, so the stories should be pretty short. Today, the New York Times checks in with a puffy piece about NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker, who will likely stay on at least through the year-or-so transition in ownership. Zucker is praised for NBC’s strong cable networks -- most of which were acquired by his predecessor, Bob Wright, and are run by executives that came with them -- and given a pass on the prime-time woes of the network. Also in the paper, a piece about how Comcast’s sports channel, Versus, could become a viable competitor to ESPN.
Domestic Box Office nears $10-billion mark. With four weeks left in the year, the domestic box office is up ‘a healthy 8%’ from 2008 and should easily pass $10 billion, according to Variety. Of course, just looking at the dollars doesn’t tell the whole story because ticket prices are always on the rise and admissions are up just 3% and there were also a lot of 3-D releases that boosted the numbers. That said, looks like the industry will survive ‘Land of the Lost.’
Redstone’s version of modern family. Media mogul Sumner Redstone, who controls Viacom and CBS, prevailed in a legal battle with his nephew. For Redstone, who has previously battled his own son and daughter, these sorts of feuds have become routine. Details from the Los Angeles Times.
If he’s still rocking, should he have to retire? New Year’s Eve is still a few weeks away (phew), but one thing is for sure: Dick Clark will be counting down to 2010 on ABC. Jeff Zaslow, author of the ‘Moving On’ column in the Wall Street Journal asks the touchy question of whether its time for the 80-year-old Clark to step down. Is Clark a symbol of resiliency or a grim reminder of the aging process, Zaslow asks. Ouch.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Should NBC affiliates worry about Comcast owning their network? Nielsen firms up plan for combined Internet-television measurement system. Steven Seagal plays cop. James Rainey on Roseanne Barr’s radio life.
-- Joe Flint
