The Morning Fix: Emmy flip-flop; Redbox vs. Rupert; Fox and MSNBC still going at it; Michael Jackson is the new Elvis ... again
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Emmy flip-flop. After announcing it would time shift (i.e. cut) some Emmy writing-award presentations out of the live broadcast -- a move pitched as a way to make the show livelier but seen as disrespectful to writers and the cable networks that employ them -- the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences backtracked. News and analysis from the Los Angeles Times, Variety, Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap.
Redbox vs. Rupert. Video kiosk operator Redbox is suing 20th Century Fox, the movie studio unit of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., for ‘naked restraint of trade,’ which sounds like a movie pitch for Cinemax or CNBC after dark. At issue is the studio’s plan to withhold its DVD titles from the dollar rental service Redbox for 30 days after they’ve been released elsewhere. Universal is also in a legal battle with Redbox while Lions Gate and Sony have struck deals with the company. Details in the Los Angeles Times.
Independent thinking. With fewer dollars out there, independent filmmakers are getting innovative when it comes to getting product to the screen ... any screen. Michael Cieply of The New York Times looks at how a few directors are trying to beat the odds.
So much for peace. The spat between MSNBC and Fox News and their respective parent companies General Electric Co. and News Corp. shows no signs of slowing down. The Associated Press reports that G.E. has called a recent report on Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly about the company ‘irrresponsible and maliciously false.’ MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, meanwhile, keeps firing bombs at O’Reilly.
Discovery bets on Comcast. Discovery Communications, parent of Discovery, TLC and several other networks, will take part in Comcast’s OnDemand Online trial, which offers cable content online to consumers who can vouch that they already subscribe to a pay TV service. Broadcasting & Cable.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: The new Elvis? Michael Jackson’s estate could double in value by the end of the year. Sneak peak at James Cameron’s ‘Avatar.’ Green movies dont’ always make the green, says John Horn. Martin Scorsese weighs in on LACMA’s decision to cut its weekend film program.
-- Joe Flint
