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The Morning Fix: ‘Hunger Games’ wins! Tribune, DirecTV go to mattresses

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After the coffee. Before deciding what interests me less, Katie Couric on ‘Good Morning America’ or Sarah Palin on ‘Today.’

The Skinny: I want to thank DirecTV and Tribune for making me work this weekend! It’s not like I had anything better to do. Monday’s headlines include box office results, Keith Olbermann’s latest drama and the war brewing between Liberty Media’s John Malone and Sirius XM’s Mel Karmazin.

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The Daily Dose: Perhaps in a sign of things to come, Fox and Time Warner Cable are fighting over a new deal for a regional sports channel in San Diego. Fox won the rights to the San Diego Padres but has been unable to get Time Warner Cable to agree to carry its new channel, meaning Padres fans will be missing a lot of games this season. Later on this year, closer to home, Fox and Time Warner Cable are expected to square off in a battle for TV rights to the Dodgers.

Big appetite.‘The Hunger Games’ took in more than $60 million in its second weekend and easily dominated the competition. ‘Wrath of the Titans,’ the sequel to ‘Clash of the Titans,’ took in $34.2 million, which is much less than what the original opened to a few years ago and less than industry analysts had projected. ‘Mirror Mirror,’ a new take on ‘Snow White’ starring Julia Roberts, took in $19 million. ‘Bully,’ the documentary from the Weinstein Co. that was released unrated, got off to a solid start limited release. Box office coverage in the Los Angeles Times and Movie City News.

Going to the mattresses. Los Angeles Times parent company Tribune Co. yanked its television stations off satellite broadcaster DirecTV over the weekend. The two are the latest media giants clashing over program fees. Tribune wants DirecTV to pay to carry its local stations and its national cable channel WGN America. DirecTV says it’ll pay but the two sides can’t agree on terms. Viewers, in the meantime, are left in the lurch. Coverage from the Los Angeles Times and Multichannel News.

That was fast. Current TV gave Keith Olbermann his walking papers just eight months after his show debuted there. Olbermann, who has clashed with bosses at just about every place he’s worked (ESPN, Fox, MSNBC), has threatened to sue. Current banked on Olbermann to turn it into a serious competitor in the news/talk game and gave him a five-year, $50-million deal. More on the latest Olbermann drama from the Daily Beast.

Mel vs. Malone. Liberty Media, the holding company controlled by cable mogul John Malone, is putting the squeeze on satellite radio company Sirius XM. Liberty, already the largest stakeholder in Sirius XM, is trying to make the case that it is in defacto control and has asked the Federal Communications Commission to award it Sirius XM’s radio license. Sirius XM, which is headed by Mel Karmazin, is fighting back. More on the drama from the Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times.

Bubble-bursting time. USA Todaylooks at which shows are in danger of being cancelled and asks its readers to vote on which ones should be spared the death penalty. Among the programs in danger of being cancelled are NBC’s critical darling ‘Community’ and Fox’s ‘Fringe.’

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Bottle, not draft. James Bond will have a Heineken in this fall’s ‘Skyfall,’ according to Ad Age. Not sure if that means he has sworn off martinis or is just trying something new, but it does go to show you what money can buy!

Inside the Los Angeles Times: It was supposed to be a slam dunk, but Oprah Winfrey’s OWN has had problems since Day One. Adam Sandler’s ‘Jack and Jill’ was a big winner at the Razzies, the awards that honor uniquely bad movies.

— Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter and we can be right together. Twitter.com/JBFlint

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