The Morning Fix: More Murdoch drama! Potter vs. Captain America
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After the coffee. Before making my bid for Hulu.
The Skinny: I hear it’s quite hot back on the East Coast. The only thing I miss about the dog days of summer is running in that thick humid soup. Don’t ask why, I just love it. Well, if you need to get out of the heat, you can go see the final ‘Harry Potter’ movie or ‘Captain America’ or, if you’re really desperate, ‘Friends With Benefits.’
Potter vs. Captain America. This weekend, the latest ‘Harry Potter’ movie will have to beat back a challenge from ‘Captain America’ to stay in first place. Something tells me this won’t be too difficult. Also opening is ‘Friends With Benefits.’ This might be the weekend I finally see ‘Bad Teacher.’ Box-office projections from the Los Angeles Times and Variety.
Setting son? Two former News of the World executives have accused James Murdoch of lying to Parliament with regard to just how much phone hacking was going on at the News Corp.-owned tabloid. Murdoch, son of News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch and a top executive at the company, has said he stands by his testimony. Meanwhile, the Economist asks if the era of the mogul is over and whether it is time for Rupert Murdoch to step down. Coverage from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, which reports that the Justice Department is getting involved in the probe into whether the News of the World hacked into voice mails of 9/11 victims and families, a charge that the company has said has no supporting evidence behind it.
Don’t buy the beer yet. The National Football League’s owners have agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement, which led to a lot of stories that the lockout was over and football will resume. Alas, the players (remember them) have not signed off on a new deal yet. The latest from Sports Ilustrated.
How about Aphu? First it was Yahoo looking at Hulu, now Bloomberg reports that Apple is interested in it. I don’t cover tech companies, but it seems to me that Apple’s culture has always been about building, not buying. I’m not quite sure what Hulu would bring Apple that it doesn’t already have or could make better itself. Do you really see Steve Jobs getting up on a stage in front of thousands to say, hey we just bought Hulu? Snoozers! I always notice in these stories that the sourcing is ‘two people with knowledge.’ My guess is one or both of the two work for either the banks trying to sell Hulu or the company itself.
Hole in the box. Redbox President Mitch Lowe said he is resigning from the video-kiosk concern, a move that comes as the company’s parent, Coinstar, reported preliminary second-quarter results that were below what Wall Street was anticipating. Details from the Los Angeles Times and Reuters.
Like chocolate and peanut butter. The Wall Street Journal, in anticipating of the upcoming sci-fi western ‘Cowboys and Aliens,’ looks at the shared history of westerns and outer space. Hey, they even talked to Leonard Nimoy, so it must be a serious piece.
Did she run out of things to say? Sharon Osbourne is leaving CBS’ daytime chat show ‘The Talk,’ the latest change at the show that goes through people the way the late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner used to go through managers. The story was broken by Daytime Confidential. Osbourne later confirmed it to AOL TV, saying she wanted to spend more time with her husband but that she could return later. Wanna bet?
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Reviews of ‘Captain America’ and ‘Friends With Benefits’
-- Joe Flint
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