The Morning Fix: Stewart and Colbert off Hulu! Remake of ‘Gilligan’s Island’ in works (I vote Lindsay Lohan for Ginger). Cablevision vs. Disney gets uglier. New TiVo box!
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After the coffee. Before trying to snag Nicolas Chartier’s Oscar ticket.
No Hulu for you. Viacom’s Comedy Central has yanked Jon Stewart’s ‘The Daily Show’ and ‘The Colbert Report’ from Hulu, the Internet video site majority owned by News Corp., NBC Universal and Walt Disney Co. The two could not agree on a new deal for the shows and how to best split the ad revenue they were generating. The move may be a sign of things to come. Hulu was designed as a one-stop shop for television and movie content but the companies that make that content (that are not already owners in Hulu) may decide that they are better off keeping their programming on their own sites. More on the split and what it means from the Los Angeles Times and New York Times.
Hope it doesn’t run three hours. Warner Bros. and Alliance are teaming up for a big screen version of ‘Gilligan’s Island.’ (And you thought it was bad to make ‘The A-Team’ into a movie.) No word on who will play Gilligan, but we suggest Johnny Galecki from ‘The Big Bang Theory.’ Maybe Lindsay Lohan will be available for Ginger. Details from Variety.
Cablevision vs. Disney: Day Three. The battle between Walt Disney Co. and Cablevision over doing a new deal for the New York cable operator carry Disney’s WABC-TV there escalated with each side spewing venom at each other. Disney is threatening to pull the WABC-TV signal from Cablevision on the day of the Oscars telecast if a new deal isn’t reached. Cablevision says it already pays enough for other Disney content including the high-priced ESPN. Both are taking ads and using their platforms to attack each other. This one might get uglier than the Fox-Time Warner Cable battle late last year. Analysis and babble from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Los Angeles Times.
TiVo’s new toy. TiVo is introducing a new digital video recorder it says will make it easier to find content from both television and the Internet as well as Netflix and Blockbuster. What it can’t do, according to USA Today, is access video-on-demand content from cable operators. Oh, and you can still skip commercials. Hey, for $300 it better cook dinner, too. For more on the technical aspects of the device, go to Broadcasting & Cable.
Escaping liability. Los Angeles may be cracking down on illegal giant billboards but so far the movie studios who are advertising on them seem to be avoiding any punishment. The Wrap takes a look at the controversy.
That’ll teach him! Nicolas Chartier, the overzealous producer of ‘The Hurt Locker’ who e-mailed Oscar voters suggesting they vote for the war drama over ‘Avatar,’ has been banned from attending the awards show this Sunday. Oh well, he’ll save on the car and tux rental. The story from the Hollywood Reporter. If you’re feeling bad for Chartier, who claimed ignorance about the rules, don’t. Deadline Hollywood’s Mike Fleming reports he’ll be attending a private party thrown in his honor.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Patrick Goldstein on the latest flap over ‘The Hurt Locker.’It was a February to forget for CNN. Jay Leno had a solid opening in his return to late night. Ann Powers on the men of ‘American Idol.’ A shakeup at video game company Infinity Ward, the makers of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
-- Joe Flint
