The Morning Fix: Miramax bids in! MPAA opening hard to fill. Net neutrality ... not! Conan tweets, we drool.
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After the coffee. Before deciding whether to renew your gym membership.
Disney’s decision. A motley trio of bidders have emerged for Walt Disney Co.’s specialty label Miramax. Since Disney shut down the little production company we’re basically talking about a library sale. Although Disney is keeping very mum on the whole process, the deadline for bids was earlier this week and the three bidders are Ron Burkle and the Weinstein Bros.; Alec and Tom Gores, who run separate investment groups; and David Bergstein’s Pangea Media. It is unknown if any of the bids will hit Disney’s ask price of around $700 million, and if not, the company could just hold onto Miramax. Coverage from the Los Angeles Times and the Wrap.
Hard seat to fill. The Motion Picture Assn. of America is on the hunt for a new leader, but it’s a slow-moving search. A combination of tougher lobbying laws and the prospect of having multiple bosses, all with different agendas, apparently doesn’t make what on paper should be a glam job all that appealing. The Los Angeles Times looks at who is in consideration and why finding the right person is proving to be a challenge.
Net Neutrality ... not. A D.C. Appeals Court dealt a blow to Internet neutrality Tuesday, ruling that the Federal Communications Commission overstepped in a ruling against Comcast over how the broadband provider controlled the flow of traffic online with regards to so-called peer-to-peer services. Yes, this one is dry and complex but it does matter. There is debate over whether the court’s ruling means the FCC can’t try to force broadband providers to treat all Web traffic the same (hence the phrase ‘net neutrality’) or if this decision is very limited in its scope. For more, here’s the Wall Street Journal’s take.
Studios help Blockbuster. Struggling video store chain Blockbuster got some help from Warner Bros., Sony and Fox with regards to when they can offer new movies for rent. Details from the Hollywood Reporter.
Reality check. Variety’s Brian Lowry says take all those recent glowing stories about how big cable is becoming with a huge grain of salt. Smaller audiences make the tiniest growth seem more dramatic than it is, and cable plays on a different field than broadcast. As usual, he has a point. Conan tweets, media drools. The New York Times looks at how in just a few months former ‘Tonight Show’ host Conan O’Brien has made Twitter his major platform of communications. Of course, when your huge exit package from NBC also has pretty tight restrictions on when and where you can speak, you learn to make the most of 140 characters. It doesn’t hurt that most of the media is clearly on Team Coco and more than happy to provide deep analysis of his every tweet. We won’t read too much into the fact that he was able to sell out his tour with no advertising. Bruce Springsteen’s been doing that for years.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: John Goodman on his role in HBO’s ‘Treme.’ Could ‘Iron Man 2’ beat ‘Dark Knight’s’ box-office record?
-- Joe Flint
