Advertisement

The Morning Fix: Icahn beats pill! Sumner’s rerun. Lifetime to get makeover. Tough quarter for DreamWorks Animation

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

After the coffee. Before what better be the last visit to the chiropractor.

Icahn kicks pill. The British Columbia Securities Commission has voided the poison pill that movie company Lions Gate was hoping would derail investor Carl Icahn’s takeover efforts. Icahn has made a $7 per-share offer for Lions Gate, which has an April 30 deadline that may be extended. Lions Gate, meanwhile, may sue the Canadian commission. More on the back-and-forth between Lions Gate and Icahn from Bloomberg and the Financial Times.

Advertisement

Sumner’s rerun. Last year, Viacom and CBS topper Sumner Redstone was interviewed at Michael Milken’s big conference. He made a bunch of jokes about living forever and took swipes at News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch’s love for newspapers. You’d think he’d have come up with some new material, but no, he just rehashed all the same old stuff this year. The only difference is Larry King wasn’t the one interviewing him. Now that would’ve been fun as they could have given each other dating tips. Bloomberg has coverage as I skipped this one (glad that idea proved to be the right move).

The family who watches together. The Wall Street Journal uses ABC’s Family Channel as a hook for how television these days is presenting loving relationships between parents and kids rather than constant clashes. Executives at Family Channel and the obligatory academic say its because this generation of parents really coddles their kids and is much more involved in their lives versus previous generations. That may be, but it was also because the TV industry recognized it was better commercially to have shows that the whole family could identify with, and that meant including parents that real parents might actually enjoy watching. As for this generation’s ‘helicopter parents,’ who hover over their kids, I guess that makes me slightly more grateful for my ‘flyover’ parents.

Conan speaks! First he tweeted. Then he performed. Now Conan O’Brien will actually talk, sitting down with ’60 Minutes’ on Sunday to discuss what he’s up to these days. Of course, with the tweets, tour and an obsessive press, we already know. He’s still legally limited from saying a whole heck of a lot about, well, you know what and you know who, but we’re sure that somehow he and CBS will get his digs in. I’m more curious to know if as part of the piece David Letterman or Jay Leno agreed to be interviewed or were asked. Details from the Wrap.

Trojans vs. Bruins. We include this link for all you USC and UCLA alumni. Variety’s Brian Lowry (a UCLA grad) writes about the challenges Teri Schwartz, the new dean of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television, will have trying to compete with USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and its Annenberg School for Communication. As for me, I went to New York University, where all the film graduates learn the most important words they’ll need to know for their careers: Do you take milk with your coffee?

Inside the Los Angeles Times: DreamWorks Animation endured a 65% drop in profit in the first quarter, primarily because it didn’t have a big holiday release last fall. News Corp. is not looking to sell its extreme-sports network Fuel TV after all. That’s because it is now under sports chief David Hill, and he wants to keep it. History Channel chief Nancy Dubuc will now add Lifetime to her résumé and will be overhauling the network.

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter.

Advertisement
Advertisement