The Morning Fix: More drama for Relativity! CBS tries to squeeze Madison Avenue. Gaga for Gaga!
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After the coffee. Before asking about getting better hours.
The Skinny: When Katie Couric, Leslie Moonves and Jeff Zucker are showing up in your dreams, it’s time to take a vacation. When Ryan Kavanaugh makes an appearance, it’ll be time for the rubber room. Thursday’s headlines include the latest on Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media, CBS’ push to squeeze advertisers, and Prince’s amazing takeover of Los Angeles.
Relative mess. Another day, another drama for Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media and investor Elliott Management. First it was that Kavanaugh was going to sell Elliott’s stake in his production company to JPMorgan. Now it’s Elliott that is going to control Relativity’s fund that is used to co-finance movies at Universal Pictures. It’s hard to keep up with everything that is being spun and separating fact from fiction, but it seems safe to say things are not hunky dory between Relativity and Elliott. The latest from Deadline Hollywood, Hollywood Reporter, Wrap and the Los Angeles Times.
Piracy foes invade Capitol Hill. The movie industry took the fight against piracy to Congress on Wednesday, pushing the House of Representatives to pass legislation that would make illegal streaming of content a felony. The cable industry is slightly concerned that as worded now the legislation could cause some potential headaches for their own streaming plans. More from Variety.
Gaga for Gaga. Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ had a very strong debut, but will the revenue reflect the popularity? Discount sales may mean less going into Gaga’s wardrobe fund. Analysis on what the marketing and sales of ‘Born This Way’ say about the music business from the New York Times and Los Angeles Times.
Two-week wait. News Corp. expects to have a decision on what to do with MySpace in about two weeks, a top executive said Wednesday. The company had hired investment bank Allen & Co. to help look at options for the social networking site, which could include a sale. The latest from Bloomberg.
CBS gets aggressive. CBS is playing hardball with advertisers who want to buy commercials on the network this fall. According to Advertising Age, CBS is seeking increases of almost 20% in the rates it charges advertisers. At an investor conference Thursday morning, CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves said he’s been hearing that the audience for the first episode of ‘Two and a Half Men’ featuring Ashton Kutcher could have ratings comparable to the AFC Championship game. I’ll take that bet.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Betsy Sharkey on the surprise success of ‘Bridesmaids.’ Randy Lewis on how Prince does it his way.
-- Joe Flint
Follow me on Twitter. I’m not like the other sheep. Twitter.com/JBFlint
