The Morning Fix: Time Warner says good bye to AOL, record labels getting friendly with Internet, Idol controversy more smoke than fire and...no Twitter clips today!
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After the coffee. Before the marine layer burns off.
Goodbye. Time Warner will spin off AOL by the end of the year. The move had been long expected and follows Time Warner’s recent spin off of its cable systems as the media giant becomes more focused on its content. The move comes almost ten years after the AOL - Time Warner merger that was supposed to signal a new beginning of synergies between old and new media but instead turned into a cautionary tale. The Wall Street Journal
Record labels are being more accommodating to web companies by being flexible on licensing arrangements. The New York Times details how Imeem, a music site was able to avoid shutting down by cutting new deals that will keep it going. ‘The recording industry is considering an all-digital future in which it needs popular Web services like Imeem, both as sources of revenue and as supplements to older channels of promotion like radio and MTV.’
The latest flap over American Idol will no doubt add to the conspiracy theories about the show’s voting process, but The Los Angeles Times says in this case there may be more smoke than fire.
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman tells Wall Street Paramount Pictures will return to profitability now that DreamWorks is out of the way. Variety
We’re not even near the dog days of summer and NBC is already posting record low ratings for the month of May. The network averaged just 4.4 million viewers last week. While everyone’s numbers dropped since the season ended, NBC’s performance was noteworthy and indicative of the challenges it faces as the fourth place network in viewers and key demographics. Associated Press
President Obama was in town for a fund-raiser but while Hollywood is showing him the money, The Wrap asks if the president is showing the love in return.
No your eyes didn’t deceive you. No Twitter news today. Could be the start of a trend.
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-- Joe Flint
