The Morning Fix: Netflix’s TV bet! ‘Chronicle’ tops box office.
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After the coffee. Before preparing for seven months without football.
The Skinny: I hope the Federal Communications Commission doesn’t spend the next year determining whether M.I.A.’s finger can be considered a fleeting obscenity. I was pretty disappointed in the commercials except for Matthew Broderick’s Honda spot. Why Jerry Seinfeld used Jay Leno instead of Wayne Knight (Newman!) as the kicker to his Acura spot is beyond me. Monday’s headlines include Netflix’s move into television, weekend box office and how newspapers are building their own live channels.
The Daily Dose: With commercials going for $3.5 million apiece during Sunday’s Super Bowl, it is no wonder that NBC did most of its self-promoting before kickoff. Still, the Peacock network managed 11 plugs during the big game, including three each for ‘Smash,’ which premieres Monday night, and ‘The Voice,’ which made its Season 2 debut right after the game. The best promo, at least in my opinion, was the spot for ‘America’s Got Talent’ featuring new judge Howard Stern taking a fire hose to some contestants lacking in talent.
Big bet on small screen. When Netflix launched, its primary goal was to eliminate drives to the video store and offer a new way to rent movies. Now though the company is putting its money behind television. Not only has it been buying up reruns of shows old (‘Star Trek’) and new (‘Mad Men’), it is also getting into the original programming business. A look at Netflix’s gamble and what is motivating it from the Los Angeles Times. Meanwhile, Verizon is moving ahead with its plans to challenge Netflix and it is bring Red Box along for the ride. Details from the Associated Press.
‘Chronicle’ had story to tell. ‘Chronicle,’ a found-footage film (which means one of those ‘Blair Witch’ flicks), surprised the industry by taking in $22 million on what is normally a very slow weekend. ‘The Woman in Black,’ Daniel Radcliffe’s first big non-’Harry Potter’ movie, also did well, taking in $21 million. Overall, ticket sales were up almost 40% compared with 2011’s Super Bowl weekend. Box office recaps from the Los Angeles Times and Movie City News.
Studio Ghibli hopes to crack U.S. market. Its films, including ‘Spirited Away’ and ‘Ponyo,’ have been critical darlings, but Japanese animation production house Studio Ghibli has not found the big audiences here that it has in other parts of the world. The company, which works with Disney on U.S. distribution, is hoping to change that with its newest release, ‘The Secret World of Arrietty,’ based on Mary Norton’s popular children’s book. A look at Studio Ghibli’s latest push in the U.S. from the Wall Street Journal.
The future of print is ... video? Looks like several newspapers are going to try to follow the Wall Street Journal’s lead in creating a video outlet to offer live content via the Web. It makes sense. After all, at some point broadband will surpass cable and satellite as the way most people view content. A look from the New York Times at how some papers are turning into television channels.
Oops. There always has to be one at every party. This time it was rapper M.I.A. who flipped the bird during her part of Madonna’s halftime show. NBC wasn’t able to blur it in time (although I didn’t notice it and I’m guessing many didn’t until they hit pause and rewound it after hearing about it on Twitter). NBC and the NFL have apologized, although how are they supposed to know what M.I.A. is thinking? Hopefully this will be a one-day story and not turn into a cause for media watchdogs and keep Federal Communications Commission lawyers busy for the next decade. More on the fleeting finger from the Washington Post.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Mary McNamara on NBC’s new musical drama ‘Smash.’
-- Joe Flint
Follow me on Twitter. I’m the Eli Manning of tweets. Twitter.com/JBFlint
